Consequently, it is essential that we have a few thousands in the bank to tide us over. In the past few years, welfare agencies such as Salvation Army, St Vincent De Paul, The Smith Family have experienced a marked increase in applications for assistance. These are people who have had steady well-paid jobs and then suddenly found themselves unemployed and with no money in the bank. They have to go to welfare agencies to obtains assistance to pay the mortgage. If we think about it, there is a certain priority for expenditure.
First priority is food.
We cannot live without food. Next comes clothing. We cannot survive for long or work without clothing. Next comes shelter. In an urban environment, this can mean anything from a rented room to a house on a quarter-acre block.