Western Australia is expected to be the state hit hardest by the Reserve Bank’s latest interest rate hike, with the move leaving many facing difficult decisions.
Among them is Siska Aini, who is just about to take out a mortgage and is having to work out how to adjust for the rise.
"It's going to be a little bit hard, but what can we do? Nothing, really," she said.
"[It] means I have to budget a little more and work a little extra."
And there are concerns about what the news means for those already pushed to their limits, with more rises tipped to come.
Yesterday's increase to a rate of 0.85 per cent was well above what many had expected and looks likely to be one of many more rate hikes ahead.
There are now expectations the cash rate will reach 2.5 per cent towards the back half of next year.
It would mean a borrower with a $500,000 loan balance could see their monthly repayments increase by $652 a month by the end of 2023.
WA inflation pressures
Independent economist Conrad Liveris said the rate hike will bite particularly hard in WA.
"That's because Western Australia has the highest inflation rate in the country at 7.6 per cent," he said.
"At the same time, we actually have the lowest wage growth of all the states at 2.2 per cent.
"So we've got this pretty significant chasm going on of wages growing at such a low level and inflation [rising] at almost 3.5 times that rate of wages."
Mortgage stress kicking in
West Australians trying to pay off mortgages are being left with less and less to make ends meet.
And for an increasing number of people, it is leaving their budgets at breaking point.
"They may not have needed the help before, but they're definitely going to need it this year," was the assessment of Lyndsey Fitzgerald, who runs the Jacaranda Community Centre in Belmont.
Through the centre, and the support it provides to those struggling to pay their bills or put food on the table, Ms Fitzgerald has seen first-hand the impact of rising cost-of-living pressures.
She's also concerned about what the news means for renters, who may now face higher rents as landlords try to cover their own rising costs.
And her experience shows that with growing pressure comes rising rates of domestic violence and mental ill-health.
"If you're in financial stress, it's easy for someone to think they could take it out on their partner. Not acceptable, but they will think that they can do that," Ms Fitzgerald said.
"If power, gas, food, rent all goes up, their income's stayed the same so something's got to give."
Interest rates a correction: economist
Yesterday's increase was in large part a response to high inflation, with the annual rate across the nation hitting 5.1 per cent in the March quarter.
That it reached even higher in WA at 7.6 per cent showed how badly things needed to be corrected by increasing interest rates, according to Mr Liveris.
"What the RBA's trying to do is actually a good thing, it's trying to calm things down so that the cost of living eventually is a bit more even and more in line with where wages are," he said.
"Things are pretty wild over here in the economy, we shouldn't be seeing inflation so high and we shouldn't see wages as low as what they are.
"Something is amiss here, and so while increasing the cash rate is going to cause some pain for some people … the reality is that the overall economy needs this."
But that's likely to do little to soften the blow of those now left working out how to adjust their budgets, including Maddy Price.
"It's going to mean cutting back on certain things, finding that extra $80 per month, whatever that's going to mean," she said.
"Whether that's going out less or going to see friends and things a bit more, but definitely budgeting a lot more tighter than what we would've had to before."
Even for people like Foday Bundu, who do not have a mortgage, there are still changes to brace for.
"It's very hard to make a budget because every day you wake up there are price increases," he said.
"So it's very hard to target when you don't know what tomorrow's going to be."
