Brooke Haebich's partner was made redundant the week before Christmas and a medical emergency that saw their six-month-old son airlifted to a Melbourne hospital left the Wangaratta family on the brink of homelessness.
Ms Haebich is just one of the thousands of Australians experiencing financial stress as the cost of living continues to rise.
Despite living in a regional area, she says the cost of rent is a real concern.
"We love where we are living and we love the property that we're in, but the cost of living on top of rent is just crazy at the moment," she said.
A new report by the Community Housing Industry Association (CHIA) has found 35,900 households in regional Victoria are experiencing homelessness or living in overcrowded properties and many are spending more than 30 per cent of their income on rent.
For Ms Haebich and her partner, rent is more than half their weekly income.
"If you've got a child to support, which we do, how do you afford the cost of living on top of a roof over your head?" she said.
A dire situation
It wasn't always like this for Ms Haebich and her family.
Her partner was forced to take unpaid leave from work when their son was in hospital for several weeks. As a result, their rent and other bills went into arrears.
His redundancy followed, which came as a shock, and the payout was barely enough to get them through the next month.
"Every day you're counting your pennies on what you can afford and what food you can get," Ms Haebich said.
Their tight budget has been suffocating for the young family.
"You don't have any room to live. You don't have any room to enjoy life," Ms Haebich said.
"It's really just about getting through day by day, week by week at this stage."
CHIA chief executive Jess Pomeroy says similar stories are being reported across all regional parts of the state.
"We've been seeing people that are really struggling to get housing," she said.
"[They're] either leaving the region or living in camper vans and really transitional accommodation that's not intended to be long-term housing.
"The numbers that we're seeing suggest that people are really struggling to get appropriate housing that they can afford and regional Victoria is growing."
According to the CHIA report, Ballarat is in the most need of housing but Ms Pomeroy says it's a dire situation right across the state.
"The study found it's quite consistent: Between five and seven per cent of the population in every regional area in Victoria are in housing need," she said.
"People are really struggling to get appropriate housing that they can afford."
Regular government investment needed
The Victorian government has made significant investments in social and affordable housing but Ms Pomeroy says it's not enough.
"It needs to be a regular investment," she said.
"They need to treat it like they do any other form of infrastructure like hospitals and schools."
Ms Haebich has reached out to several services for support and, as a last resort, she's created a fundraising website to help with expenses until her partner starts his new job later this month.
He has only been able to secure work in Melbourne — 250 kilometres away — which will bring a new set of challenges for the regional family.
"We're not really quite sure how to manage. We're sort of scrambling at the moment," Ms Haebich said.
"I'll be pretty much living like a single mum at home because my partner has to go further away to get a job that will pay enough to keep us afloat."
