While the Reserve Bank pausing the cash rate at 3.6 per cent is welcome news for residents hit hard by a year of rate hikes, it provides little immediate relief for people struggling with the cost of living.
Thomas Hammond, 26, has had to pick up a part-time job on top of his full-time job so he can afford his increasing mortgage repayments.
He commutes to his workplace in the CBD most weekdays before returning to West Gippsland and working an evening shift at a supermarket.
"Because interest rates have risen so much in the past year-and-a-half, two years, I've had to pick up a part-time job," Mr Hammond said.
"So that's night-time work and weekend work and with both of those jobs I still only save about $100 a week.
"If I didn't have that second job at the moment, I'd be going backwards quite badly."
Impact on small business
The economic situation is also affecting businesses as consumers tighten their belts, including a Gippsland gift store that has closed due to a significant drop in customers over the past six months.
Located in Yinnar in the Latrobe Valley, Aster and Folk was the only gift store in town.
Co-owner Krystal Kosakiewicz said customer numbers had dropped because people could only afford the essentials.
"People just aren't out. They're not spending money on things that aren't essential," she said.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics' monthly consumer price index, annual inflation dropped to 6.8 per cent in February, down from 7.4 per cent in January and a peak of 8.4 per cent in December.
But the increasing cost of goods and food has also put pressure on business owners like Ms Kosakiewicz.
"We've got three small children, and between school costs, bills and groceries, it's costing us an absolute fortune," she said.
"There's just no money left over. It's really hard."
The 10 consecutive interest rate hikes have raised average monthly mortgage repayments by nearly $1,000 over the past 12 months.
Mr Hammond said having two jobs for the past nine months was not sustainable and was impacting his personal life.
"I expected rates to rise but not to the extent they did," he said.
"Sixty hours a week is not really a life in terms of a social life or anything else.
"A standard shift might be 9pm to midnight or until 2am or 3am, and then I'll go to sleep and then I have to wake up at 7am or 8am."
A 'sensible, welcome' decision
Bendigo Bank chief economist David Robertson described Tuesday's rate pause as a "sensible and welcome" decision from the Reserve Bank.
"It's welcome news for home owners who have had to deal with higher interest rates and also the impact of the inflated cost of all goods and services," he said.
However, Mr Robertson said this may not mean an end to rate hikes.
"We can't rule out further increases, potentially up to 3.85 per cent," he said.
"But I think the messaging suggests there's a reasonable probability that rates are on hold at 3.6 per cent for a few months."
Mr Robertson said the RBA would be watching the quarterly data due out at the end of the April.
"The quarterly CPI number will be very important. I think we certainly can't rule out one more rate hike," he said.
