Yahoo Finance Med student working 6 days a week and struggling with rising costs: ‘It’s exhausting’
Lachlan is currently on full-time clinical placement and works one day a week at a GP practice.
Full-time medical student Lachlan Dokter has noticed the cost of his rent and groceries go “through the roof”, with the Sydney local forced to move houses following a $200-a-week rent increase.
“Rent is insane in Sydney and the rest of the country. I know Sydney is an expensive city but, compared to when I first started living here, the rise has been exponential,” Lachlan told Yahoo Finance.
“Groceries, as well, are so much more expensive than they used to be. I used to shop at Woolworths because there is one nearby but I started going to Aldi and it saves a lot of money. You have to buy everything ‘homebrand’ because there’s just no room in the budget for it.”
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Lachlan is currently on full-time clinical placement five days a week and works one day a week on Saturdays, doing medical administration at a GP practice.
“It sucks, I’m so over it. I’m lucky because I’m getting to the end of my degree, I only have about a year left and I just need to hang in there for another year but it is so exhausting,” he said.
“We work so hard as medical and other healthcare students in this unpaid placement and then we have to go to another job on the weekend and still don’t have anything to show for it.”
The 25-year-old is currently receiving Youth Allowance and said it was “really difficult” to keep up with rising costs without any family support.
“A lot of people are lucky enough to be in the position to have financial backing. My family is blue collar - my dad is a tradie and my mum works at Woolworths, so I don’t have that same financial backing.”
Lachlan said a lot of people he knew had been forced to move back home with their parents while studying. But this isn’t an option for him, with his parents living near Byron Bay.
‘You need an outlet’
In addition to moving into a more affordable five-bedroom share house and changing his grocery habits, Lachlan has stopped buying takeaway food altogether and pulled back on going out and socialising with friends.
“I’m 25 and still want to go out and have fun and enjoy my life but you can’t afford to do it frequently because it’s just too expensive,” he said.
But there’s one relatively small expense Lachlan is continuing to budget for - his gym membership.
“The main reason I’ve kept the gym membership going is because it’s so important for your mental and physical health, especially doing quite a stressful degree, you definitely need an outlet,” he said.
Lachlan currently spends $15 a week on his gym membership and gets a discount as a NSW Health employee. He also spends $7 a month on a student Spotify subscription. He recently got rid of his Netflix subscription and a Sydney pool pass because they were too expensive.
Gen Z prioritising subscriptions
New data from ubank found its Gen Z customers were still spending the same amount on subscriptions, year on year, while every other generation had bought into the “great subscription cancellation”.
According to the bank’s data, Baby Boomers have slashed their subscription spending by 50 per cent, year on year, while Gen X has cut spending by 39 per cent and Millennials by 27 per cent.
ubank chief product and growth officer Andrew Morrison said the Gen Z trend was a reflection of the generation’s digital upbringing.
“Having grown up in a tech-immersed era, they inherently seek the seamless accessibility that subscriptions effortlessly provide, a perfect match for their dynamic and on-the-go lifestyle,” Morrison told Yahoo Finance.
“For the younger generation, subscriptions represent a gateway to a diverse array of offerings without the weight of tangible possession, aligning perfectly with their evolving perspectives.”
The top provider customers were subscribed to was Spotify, followed by streaming services - including Netflix, Stan and Disney+ - gym memberships - with Anytime Fitness and Fitness First - and food-delivery services like HelloFresh.
Gen Z are only spending about $17 per month - or $203 per year - on average, on subscriptions. Millennials are spending the most at $23 per month - or $272 per year - while Baby Boomers are spending the least at $14 per month - or $169 a year.
For those looking to save money on their subscriptions, Morrison offered the following five tips:
Do a subscription health check and unsubscribe from underused subscriptions
Opt for bundle deals that combine services at reduced costs
Pool subscription costs with family and friends
Utilise free trials but don’t forget to add a reminder to your calendar to cancel if you don’t want to commit
Create a monthly subscription budget and stick to it
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