By Ally Foster
The image has been shared widely across the internet in recent days, garnering a huge amount of reaction from social media users.
Popular X user, Kuame Oliver, is one of the people who recently shared the photo, which shows a piece of paper titled 鈥淕oals. Jan-June 2025鈥.
On the paper is a list of five goals that have been altered to things that are seemingly more achievable.
The first one, 鈥渂uy a car鈥, was changed to 鈥渂uy a carpet鈥, and 鈥渟ave $10,000鈥 was changed to 鈥渟ave $10鈥.
The word 鈥渃ase鈥 was added to the end of the third goal of buying a new phone and number four reading 鈥渓ive a happy life鈥 was changed to simply read 鈥渓ive鈥.
The last goal, 鈥渟tart my own business鈥, was tweaked to read 鈥渕ind my own business鈥.
The post went completely viral, being viewed more than 23 million times and attracting more than 1500 comments.
While it is clear the photo was meant to be light hearted and satirical in nature, it gave an insight into just how many people are struggling with cost of living pressures this year.
鈥淭his is one of the most realistic posts I鈥檝e seen on the internet,鈥 one person said, with another commenter branding the list 鈥渧ery relatable鈥.
鈥淕otta keep them goals realistic,鈥 another said, with someone else saying the photo 鈥減retty much sums it up鈥.
One person noted they too have already had to change their plans for the year after being hit with unexpected financial commitments.
鈥淪o brilliant 鈥 but I admit that I am bored of having to continuously lower my expectations,鈥 another commenter said.
鈥淢y wife says, carpets are too expensive; change it to carrot,鈥 one person joked.
Another added: 鈥淐rossing out 鈥榓 happy life鈥 and just having 鈥楲ive鈥 took me out cause we just out here barely surviving at this point.鈥
In Australia, many people are still reeling from the cost of living crisis, despite the consumer price index coming in at 2.1 per cent for May, dropping from 2.4 per cent in the 12 months to April.
Hopes for further rate cuts have also been bolstered after the trimmed mean inflation rate came in at 2.4 per cent, the lowest level since November 2021.
While slowing inflation is positive news, many Aussies are still feeling the pinch as the price of goods and services are still significantly higher than pre-pandemic levels.
Research from financial comparison website, Finder, found there is a growing divide emerging across the country.
According to Finder鈥檚 Consumer Sentiment Tracker, the average Australian has $45,475 in cash savings in June 鈥 up from $31,179 in June 2023, and a record high since Finder began tracking in 2019.
The amount Aussies are saving each month is also at its highest, now sitting at $932, up from $614 in June 2023 and beating the previous record of $925 in March 2021.
However, there is a significant gap between those on lower combined household incomes and those on higher combined household incomes.
Average households with a combined income of up to $49,000 have just under $16,500 in savings, down from $22,377 in June 2024.
Households with an income over $50,000-$99,999 have an average of $35,263 in cash savings, about $1,100 higher than the previous year.
Those with a combined income of $100,000-$250,00 have an average of $67,463 in savings, up from $51,715 a year ago.
Sarah Megginson, personal finance expert at Finder, said many households are having to dip into their savings to cope with increased costs.
鈥淓ven though the rate of inflation might be slowing, the reality is that prices for everyday essentials like groceries, housing, healthcare, and energy are still much higher than they were a year or two ago,鈥 she told news.com.au.
Ms Megginson said while using savings to help with the cost of living might provide some temporary relief for immediate financial stress, it ultimately reduces people鈥檚 safety net for the future.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a really hard time for many Australians because even a block of cheese can be $15, eggs can be over $10 a carton, and just paying for the essentials can wipe you out,鈥 she said.
鈥淪taying really close to your spending and making sure you鈥檙e not paying more than you need to on your everyday household bills is a really good way to get some breathing space back in your budget.鈥