Saturday 23rd - Sunday 24th May 2020 - Must Complete To Do List Weekend

Saturday 23rd May 2020
I woke up at 6 am this morning with a "Oh S***!" I forgot to pay my weekly rent yesterday. This was the first thing I did this morning at 6am. I don't want to be evicted - landlords in general are not very nice people.

Being unemployed is no excuse when you are on welfare payments to forget to pay your bills unless you can't. Being on welfare payments which is usually less then the minimum weekly wage is actually really good for learning to keep to budgets and manage your limited finances.

In Australia a normal welfare recipient would receive before any tax deductions per fortnight around approx $565 & without any other subsidies as not all welfare recipients can receive other subsidies such as rental or electricity and gas for example. If I was solely on the above fortnightly base welfare payment of $550 with no other income, I would only be able to cover my weekly rent and very basic food for the fortnight. I would not be able to pay for any other bills I currently have such as public transport, phone bill, storage rental or other insurances. Welfare payments in Australia have not increased for a long time.

During the Corona virus pandemic the Australian government have been more generous with a Corona virus stimulus subsidy and doubled fortnightly welfare payments ( JobSeeker)  as well as keeping other subsidies welfare recipients maybe entitled to which are probably pro rata  - I am unsure if my rent and electricity/gas subsidies paid to me are fixed amounts or calculated  based on the amount of my weekly rent paid - the amount of subsidy I receive certainly does not cover the full amount of my weekly rent paid - probably less then 1/3 of it I estimate ( remembering it is a fortnightly subsidy paid not a weekly one) .

So at the moment I have been able to survive solely on welfare payments and continue to intensively look for a job - I would not be able to continue to look for jobs if the government had not doubled the fortnightly welfare payments. I still keep to my very tight budget and constantly plan ahead with what bills I have to pay and when they are due as well as how much I can afford to pay of them verses how much the whole bill is - I am constantly payment planning .

So far I have asked for financial relief from my private health insurance who from near the end of March 2020 gifted me with approximately 3 months of "free" insurance which expires just before the end of June very close to the end of the 2019/2020 financial year. This was nice of them but I have been with the same private insurance company since I was 25 years old so I should be entitled to something after all that time! ( that's 2.5 times as long as my long service leave).

Then there was my mobile phone service provider where my last bill is now over $200! The first bill I received last month was $158 so I lodged a complaint to my service provider and finally got a credit for $80 which means I still owe them $20 I think  - I don't understand this as my monthly bill is $59 for 15 Gb data and extra data over 15Gb is charged at $10 per 1 Gb and received an email to notify me that bills are capped at $100 earlier. Well the problem was and still is 1. I'm using my wifi a lot more in my apartment not my service provider yet I am still being charged for the data ( I keep getting pop up sms messages sometimes daily charging me an extra $10 for 1 Gb of extra data) and my bill was way over the $100 cap and therefore not capped at $100.
2. I lodged a second complaint when my last bill arrived and when requested to close my first complaint have not because my second complaint has not been responded to and resolved - so besides constantly keeping on top of budgeting and managing my finances, submitting complaints and following up on my complaints to have them resolved is also a skill I have become good at.

It is good that I have Accounting qualifications but I should have studied Law as well!

7 am and it looks like it will be a nicer weekend. There are people preparing breakfast for themselves downstairs in the kitchen and laundry area as I can hear the banging and clicking of cutlery and crockery so I will have to wait to use the laundry ( I use both industrial washing machines at the same time to separate whites from colours)

I might just have breakfast and do some other things for now.

Can't believe it , it's not even 10 am and I've had a shower, washed all the dishes , taken out the rubbish to the dumpster AND put both piles of my laundry into the washing machines downstairs which will take about an hour to complete both wash rinse cycles together. One machine is defaulted to 45 minutes or so and the other 30 minutes and these times can't be changed for some reason.

I am back upstairs again blogging and watching tv and will work on some other things or try to anyway today. I try to avoid going downstairs as it is really filthy down there but this morning it is looking quite clean and there is a mop and bucket along with a vacuum cleaner on top of the second washing machine. Someone has also placed 3 pot plants on the kitchen bench above the microwave however there is no bin downstairs again. About time the kitchen / laundry area was cleaned!

After my laundry dries in a few hours, I planned to go for a walk outside however the weather has turned a little overcast and the bright sun that was out earlier before 10 am this morning has disappeared and is now only occasionally peeping in and out of the clouds. No rain so far but it might become a little windy today indicated by the leaves on the tree outside my window swaying.

A few hours later my laundry in the dryer is still not 100 % dry so I have left it in there for another 20 minutes. I hope it will dry properly by then. I almost forgot to add the detergent and sanitiser into my colour load in the washing machine and left out a few pieces of clothing that was meant to go into the drier therefore added them into the second 20 minute round of drying.

Whilst waiting for my laundry, I continued with my Dear Australia letter which I am hoping to post today along with my letter to Centrelink. The nearest post box is in Lanecove I think so it is a bit of a walk. I wonder if I should wait until tomorrow or not - I feel like some take away food therefore could go for a little sticky beak down in Lanecove to find out what cafes are now open for sit down or take away which is probably almost all of them now.

I decided not to leave my apartment today as the weather did not improve and actually became a bit cold. I managed to finish my laundry and am almost finished with my Dear Australia letter ready to post off tomorrow with my Centrelink letter and not today.

I still haven't gotten very far with my IT related course online today maybe tomorrow and I need to look at how Zoom works before my meeting tomorrow to work as a volunteer.

I need to finish folding my laundry as well.

Dinner in between was nothing fancy just instant Tom Yum noodles pimped up with florets of cauliflower, broccoli and salmon.

It is only 7 pm - very dark outside.

I did a bit more study online and completed almost all of week 1 but am still behind a full week. I feel asleep after completing the first quiz.


Sunday 24rd May 2020
I had a bit of a sleep in today but only until 7 am. It is really dark. As I wake up I look out my window and it is a little wild and woolly out there. It is very overcast although the sun is trying to peep out but only for a minute or so and it is definitely windy outside - very windy! The tree outside my window is blowing not just swaying at times.

Breakfast whilst watching the SBS Food channel was leftover cold lasagna with a little bit of cream cheese and spinach/ rocket leaves on wholemeal  bread as well a a banana with some nutella and a cup of hot tea. I may have some juice later as well.

Now blogging trying to get myself up and venture outside to the closest post box which is in Lane Cove a 15 to 20 minute walk away or Chatswood Station a bus ride away. It is cold, windy, overcast and just miserable outside! A real watch tv and stay in bed day today.

I managed to drag myself out today after having a shower and washing the dishes to take the bus to Chatswood. I have my trusty mask on again.

First stop to drop my letters to Dear Australia and Centrelink into the red postboxes near the train station. Next I walk down to Kmart to see if I can get some sort of exercise equipment- resistance bands or a balance board- sold out of both. I had been thinking about buying a slow cooker but held off as it was not cold enough yet. It is now getting colder therefore I decided to purchase the 3.5 L today from Kmart. I didn't have much choice as the larger one was ad out and the smaller 1.5L one at Woolworths was unavailable at both of the closest Woolworths.

Next a shopping trip to Coles where I did a small top up of non perishables as well as the largest packet of sliced cheese available.

Final stop before heading home was to Fruitez for some punnets of strawberries - for all the chocolate cakes I bake!

On my way back to the station I spot the homeless woman chatting to a long haired guy who looks as if he is a hippy. She was bare armed and  legged before which I was a bit worried about as it was and still is quite cold. By the time I spotted her with the long haired guy she had rugged up in a long hooded padded jacket. Nice to know she is ok otherwise I would have bought her a blanket.

There is something I have wanted to blog about but have been trying to avoid bloging about as it seems to be getting out of control so I am a little relieved that I have not become involved in it as it has become quite a complex issue with both employer and employees. I have mentioned it very briefly in a previous  blog but have stuck to only blogging about the Jobseeker payment I am on.

The was another government subsidy which started taking registrations in April quite a while after the JobSeeker government stimulus package which is called JobKeeper. Although JobSeeker and Jobkeeper are very different Government stimulus packages they do overlap. I will try and explain the differences between them now that they are establish and could be phased out sooner then expected ( remember the Tiktok video I mentioned previously where someone tried to demonstrate the differences between the two and which was the preferred one by stood down employees in a humorous way)?

When were the government stimulus packages announced?
Jobseeker March 2020
JobKeeper Beginning of April 2020

When did the first payments start being made to recipients?
JobSeeker April 2020 backdated to when you lodged your intention to claim
JobKeeper registration in April payments scheduled to commence May 2020 back dated. Still pending as of 24th May 2020?

Which government organisations run the stimulus packages?
JobSeeker Centrelink
JobKeeper ATO ( Australian Taxation Office)

Who applies for these stimulus packages?
JobSeeker Ex employees that have become unemployed , hours reduced or made redundant from their jobs
JobKeeper Employers (nomination of and on behalf of employees) that have been stood down, made redundant or had their hours cut.

What documentation is required to claim each stimulus package
JobSeeker An Employment Separation Certificate from your employer and other information normally required to be declared by you in order to claim normal welfare payments such as assets and other income streams. Completion of all online questions and attachments of all supporting documentation requested by Centrelink. Initial attendance at Centrelink office for assessment ( I had my Employment Separation Certificate from my former emploer but this was not actually required to be uploaded online or presented at assessment)
JobKeeper Employer has to prove the following according to the online publication as at date below.

"Your business has faced either a: 30% fall in turnover (for an aggregated turnover of $1 billion or less) 50% fall in turnover (for an aggregated turnover of more than $1 billion), or. 15% fall in turnover (for ACNC-registered charities other than universities and schools)"May 15, 2020 

What are the other conditions required in order to claim each stimulus  package? Yes there are other conditions!

JobSeeker 's main condition is that you must be looking for work otherwise you should be not be on it or on one of the other welfare benefits. Besides declaring any income you earn including self employment on a set fortnightly reporting date. You normally have to attend all their appointments at Centrelink and interviews at the approved employment service provider referred to you by Centrelink as well as to keep records of you job searches which to be I think used to be 10 jobs a monrh in an employment or job diary. At the beginning of the announcement of the JobSeeker stimulus package the 10 jobs searches  a month was reduced to 4 job searches a month as part of your job plan in your mutual obligation requirements by a set date. Initially mine was 27th April which was a little unfair as I  did not receive my first payment until around 17th April after waiting 4 weeks or so. It was then deferred to 22nd May and now deferred again to 1st June. After that my fortnightly payments will be cancelled if I don't fulfil all the conditions and requirements of Centrelink.

JobKeeper' s main condition is to keep employees who have been stood down or hours reduced or even cut to stay in employment ie keep their jobs ie if the employer qualifies for JobKeeper they then nominate which employees they want to register for the JobKeeper stimulus package to the ATO. Not all employees will qualify as casual employees have to have worked for their employer for 12 months otherwise they don't qualify and have to apply themselves for JobSeeker payments. The employer does not have to pay eligible employees their wages , the ATO pays a subsidy to the employer to pass on to their eligible employees to either fully cover, partially cover or more then cover their fortnightly wages. The employer must pass on the full fixed subsidy amount to each eligible employee regardless if there is  or how much there is work for them. In turn these eligible employees continue to work however I don't believe an employer can enforce an employee to work extra hours or enough hours equivalent to the subsidy amount paid to eligible employees eg work excessive hours, change work duties or conditions or rosters.

What are the differenes in the JobSeeker and Job Keeper payments and  any complications which may be a result of either or both of these stimulus packages?
JobSeeker fortnightly payments are approximately per fornight  temporarily doubled for anything up to 6 months as it includes the Corona virus supplement of $550 with additional one off economic support payments  of I think $750 on top of this which is automatically paid to JobSeeker recipients to encourage spending in order to stimulate the economy during a downturn (My economic support payment went directly into paying a few bills due as soon as I received it!)
JobKeeper fortnightly payments are fixed $1500 per fortnight regardless of how many hours you are or aren't employed for each fortnight - a windfall for some and  a breakeven or loss for others (still  pending scheme's current overhaul in May and was going to be phased out original as soon as September). The two systems both have complications. Some employees will only be eligible for JobKeeper, some employees will be eligible for both and other employees will only be eligible for JobSeeker. For those who are eligible for both this is where the complication is. Due to timing I have only applied for JobSeeker as it was already established. Although it took up to 4 weeks to receive the first payment back dated, it was faster then waiting to receive the JobKeeper payment and I was advised to apply for this first by a relative of mine down in Canberra who works in the public sector. I did not go back to my employer to ask about whether I could get the JobKeeper payment as I wasn't sure if the company was even eligible to apply or register for it. If I did get the JobKeeper payment as well I would have to report this as income fortnightly on my Centrelink account which is an administration nightmare in itself as the fortnightly reporting periods are different for both JobSeeker and JobKeeper payments. Therefore it is up to the JobSeeker receipient to do their own prorata calculations to report their JobKeeper payments online with their JobSeeker income reporting dates. Confused? Yep I am , it's a bit like completing my annual tax return - can't wait to try and do that this come end of this 2019/2020 financial year!! I will probably end up with a tax liability - it's going to be extra complicated ( there is assistance with your calculations of JobKeeper payments to report but I would not count on it from Centrelink). I am a fan of KISS ( keep it simple stupid).

I often what would have happened if there was no JobKeeper stimulus package the budget so let went towards a much larger JobSeeker stimulus package. There would probably be a lot less administration for employers and employees. This is what I think should happen. Everyone that has been stood down, made redundant or had their hours of employment cut can apply for JobSeeker and everyone would get current JobSeeker payments ie the basic welfare payment, the Corona virus payment per for night except increase it to the same level of JobKeeper to the $1500 amount instead of the approx $1200 fortnightly amount. In addition everyone gets the addition one off economic support payments. So so far everything remains the same e.g. welfare payments are still taxable, you are still entitled to the other welfare subsidies, you still have to report fortnightly income situation etc etc with a few major changes

1. Keep the ATO out of it. Businesses complete and lodge their monthly , quarterly, half  yearly or yearly reporting obligationdas normal to the ATO.

2. Ditto for payroll tax to NSW Department of Revenue

3. Employer keep employees on and they work as they normally do whatever possible whilst receing the JobSeeker payments ie similar to working for the dole or performing volunteer work whilst on JobSeeker payments. Similar conditions would apply such as not taking advantage of  free employee labour. This way you are still keeping jobs without disadvantaging employers. Again it would not be a perfect  system as there will be some employees who will have a windfall, some break even and others a loss. The system could be tweaked to be a fully online system and could include employets getting involved in assisting employees in applying for JobSeeker payments. Would this alternative model work instead of the JobKeeper stimulus still being in limbo? Would this balance out the economy and the Governments budgets and allocation of funds? There could be similar outcomes to present system for example the creation of jobs as a result of an increase in JobSeeker applicants which could be performed remotely and I maybe less like to be unemployed because I would know I still had my job to go back to at no cost to my employer and without the adminstration nightmare and eligibility criteria.

Distracted I took a break from writing this blog to apply for another admin position at Unbun which I forwarded a copy of my resume via email to.

I still haven't ironed folded or put my laundry away- must do tomorrow.

Dinner was a store purchased chicken and bacon pizza with a fresh salad of baby cucumbers, capsicums, pear, celery and rocket/spinach leaves.

I watched Masterchef and fell asleep once  again during their fish challenge so will have to catch up again tomorrow on who was eliminated on tonight's episode.