Over the past decade spending continued to rise - in most years outpacing household incomes.
• Saving from disposable income dropped again in 1998 continuing a downward trend over the past decade.
• In real terms we're spending (and earning) less - $685 per week per household in 1998 compared
with $724 in 1989.
• We're spending more on services, reflecting increasing user-pays in health, education and tertiary education.
• Although we're spending proportionally less on clothes and appliances than we did a decade ago, we're getting more for our money.
• New car sales rose from 123,858 (1995) TO 154,095 (1998) while used imports rose from roughly 62,000 to 100,000 over the same period.
• While the total spend on food has remained virtually unchanged over the decade people are spending more on takeaways and less on meat.
• One third of households had home computers compared to 12 per cent a decade ago.
• 21 per cent of households had access to a cellular phone - up from 13 per cent in 1996.
• Housing, meaning the cost of owning and maintaining a house, increased as a proportion of total household expenditure from 21 to 26 per cent.
