Rising costs approaching 'scary' levels for home owners

Staring down a likely Melbourne Cup Day interest rate rise, the rising cost of living is sitting front of mind for residents across regional Western Australia.The Reserve Bank is expected to raise rates for the fifth time this year when it meets later today.In Geraldton, 420 kilometres north of Perth, 27-year-old Liam Bristow bought a house six months ago and said his mortgage had already increased by $90 a fortnight.He says the added pressure has forced him to search for a housemate."I was excited to live alone," he said.Some residents in the City of Greater Geraldton are concerned about the continuing rate rises. (ABC News: Chris Lewis)Mr Bristow said he would be cutting some of the "fun stuff" from his spending, such as four-wheel driving and working on his car."I can get by, but it is pay cheque to pay cheque," he said. "Since I've got the house, I haven't been able to put any savings away."Elsewhere in Geraldton, Roy Mckay is currently homeless and reliant on a $600 fortnightly payment from Centrelink.Roy Mckay is currently homeless and says the rising cost of everything is making it harder to survive. (ABC Midwest & Wheatbelt: Brianna Melville)"It's very hard," he said."Fifty dollars is gone like that. You go and do some grocery shopping, you only get down half an isle and it's gone."You just can't survive. You've got a car, you've got to pay for petrol, and that's gone up. Everything's just gone up."But the rate rises drew a different view from Laura and Gavin Anderson, who hope to move to Perth by the end of next year.Laura and Gavin Anderson can only afford to go out for coffee once a week with the rising cost of living. (ABC midwest & Wheatbelt: Brianna Melville)"We don't own a house, so for us, we're actually quite happy that the interest rates are rising for now, but conscious that it's obviously not tenable," they said."We're also hoping that this interest rates actually pushes the price of property down, so that that puts us in a better position."Day to day spending has still been impacted for the couple who said they do not eat out at all and only go out for a coffee once a week."When we first moved here two years ago, we'd come out for a coffee three times a week maybe," they said.The 'Pilbara tax'The further north in WA you go, the cost of everything rises, making any cost increase harder for locals to deal with.Connie and Aaron Curtis moved from Sydney with their young family to Wickham, about 1,550km north of Perth, two years ago.Connie and Aaron Curtis moved from Sydney to the Pilbara town of Wickham two years ago. (ABC Pilbara: Kimberley Putland)Ms Curtis said they already felt the pressure of prices going up."We feel as though we can't physically cut back on much else," she said."We cut our own hair, we cook everything from home."Ms Curtis said she does not expect the cost of living to improve any time soon."I track our groceries every week and I notice when things go up even 50 cents an item, a dollar an item," she said."I don't see any reprieve."Karratha retail worker Annie Duffy said she had a mortgage, so another rate rise was "scary".Annie Duffy works in retail in Karratha and says the potential interest rate rise is "scary". (ABC Pilbara: Kimberley Putland)"It's not just the first time it's happened this year, it just keeps happening and happening."Ms Duffy moved to the mining town from Tasmania earlier this year, and said the difference in cost between the two places was "astronomical"."They call it the Pilbara tax … everything is so much more expensive here."Halimah Barnes works as a ranger in Broome, 2,000km north of Perth and has just turned 18.She hopes to buy her own house in the future, but said affordable options in the tourist town were limited, and she was currently living with her parents to make ends meet.Halimah Barnes says she can't afford to rent a home on her own, let alone buy a house. (ABC Kimberley: Andrew Seabourne)"I'm trying to work really hard just to save up, to be able to afford one," she said."I don't go out much anymore."There's no way I'm going to be able to rent a house by myself."Hard to make ends meetAt the opposite end of the state, Narrikup business owners Hayley and Dale Wyland said it felt like the goal of retirement keeps moving further away.[Dale and Hayley Wyland manage a business in regional WA and say it is getting harder and harder to make a living. (ABC Great Southern: Will Corbett)"We've just started a business three years ago and it's just harder and harder to make a living," Mr Wyland said."We aren't paying ourselves a wage because it's not doable. Getting a house, it's completely off the market for us. It's not going to happen."Ms Wyland has little confidence in any relief."It just feels like they [government] are moving the finish line," she said."It's getting further and further away. It doesn't feel like it's going to happen."