Cost of living continues to bite hard on Tamworth residents

Chloe O'Brien recently gave birth to her new baby girl, but due to the high price tag attached to her doctor's appointments she has decided to put off her check-ups.

"I have a 10-week old baby and I still have not been for my six week check," she said.

"The reason is because the doctor's fee is $90 and then there are all the referrals on top of that. So I put her first for her health and then I take care of my own."

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Recent data from Compare the Market reveals that since last year the number of Australians cutting back on their health appointments has jumped from 19.1 per cent, to 21.6 per cent.

Barton Lane General Practice GP Daniel Rankmore said he personally had not seen his patient numbers drop off, but he would not be surprised if people were cutting back on appointments.

"Knowing the cost of everything is going up, health remains a difficult space where funding has not kept up with inflation," he said.

Dr Rankmore said people who saw their health issues as minor, such as routine check-ups, would opt to push them back to pay for more pressing things, such as the power or water bill.

The data also reveals Australians are ditching other non-essential luxuries such as beauty treatments, car servicing, and gym memberships.

Ms O'Brien's family has cut back on various non-essential spending habits.

"We've cut back on going out to dinner, public transport, school photo packages, and the number of sports my children get to do," she said.

Twenty-year-old university student Mitchell Macaulay said the high-cost of living in Newcastle resulted in his decision to move back home to Tamworth.

"I couldn't really afford to work and do university in Newcastle, so I decided to move back home and I've had to cut down on uni and work more to make a bit of money so I can eventually move back [to Newcastle]," he said.

Already two years into his degree, Mr Macaulay said the decision to move back and drop down to part-time study had added two more years onto his degree.

He commutes to Newcastle weekly for his studies because the university does not offer classes online

Despite his efforts to keep costs down, Mr Macaulay said his petrol costs had gone through the roof, as he went from living 20 minutes from the centre of Newcastle CBD to now four hours away.

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