We may even fall behind.

Sure, low and middle income earners can expect between $200 and $530 to become available when they do their taxes at the end of the 2018/19 financial year.

This is prompted by a change to the tax brackets.

But really how is that going to match up against potential increased costs of living? 

Who has ever experienced a year when the costs of living haven’t increased by more than this?

For those fortunate enough to benefit from the full $530 this equates to an extra $10.19 a week.

That’s little more than two cups of coffee from many outlets in the Shoalhaven, indeed across the country, where the average price for a cuppa is $4.50. 

The current inflation rate in Australia sits at 2.2 per cent and this is expected to increase to 2.3 per cent in the first quarter of the 2018/19 financial year.

According to the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) the average weekly spend per household in NSW as of March 2018 was $1525.

That amounts to $79,300 a year per household.

If that figure is to increase by 2.2 per cent, based on the current inflation rate, the cost of living will go up by $1744.60 for the financial year to June 30, 2019. Or $33.55 per week.

With this in mind a $530 gain from a tax break means nothing.

Even with two people in a household receiving the top tax break of $530 this still falls short of the predicted increased cost of living per household.

It looks like those two extra coffees a week will not become a reality.

In fact you will probably have to cut back.

If this is the case then the suggestion that extra money in the pocket will prompt more spending would seem unlikely.

Without a doubt the numbers will vary from one person to the next, based on how much they earn and how much they spend. Some may even have their income boosted by an industry wage rise.

But the bottom line is that the financial boost promised by federal treasurer, Scott Morrison, is not all that it seems at first glimpse.

Perhaps the best advice for all is to watch your pennies.