While money trouble is a familiar problem to many, living on $40 a day perhaps offers a reality check of exactly how hard some of our neighbours in the Hunter are doing it.
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More than 720,000 people in Australia face that challenge on the Newstart Allowance, which the federal government has ruled out adjusting by a relatively modest $75 a week.
Reporter Phoebe Moloney has spoken to four Hunter residents who receive the Newstart allowance, exploring what they think of the govenrment's position and how they get by.
Their answers may surprise you.
It's clear that an extra $75 a week would alleviate some of the pressure on Len Thomas, Majlinda Maroulis, Melissa McDonnell and Dean Waters as they work to get back on their feet. Their four stories are very different, yet all four make it clear that life would be simpler if they could simply head to work every day instead.
Hopefully the government's focus on job creation can deliver that same level of help for these four Hunter residents and the hundreds of thousands in the same position as them.
