Why a mum with a fixed rate loan is down to one meal a day and can't afford ... trends now

Australia's mortgage crisis is now so bad a mother-of-two is down to eating one meal a day and can't afford Easter eggs for her children.

Mandy Chen, 45, is among the 880,000 Australian borrowers whose ultra-low fixed rate loans are expiring in 2023.

Those who fixed their rate at less than 2 per cent in 2021 face their monthly repayments surging beyond 7 per cent when they roll on to a 'revert' variable rate. 

The Reserve Bank's 10 consecutive monthly interest rate rises since May 2022 have taken the cash rate to an 11-year high of 3.6 per cent.

For fixed rate borrowers like Ms Chen, life is already very difficult.

She is now eating one meal a day - just noodles at lunch so there's enough food for her children. 

'I only have my one meal a day,' Ms Chen told Daily Mail Australia.

'I don't have breakfast, I don't have dinner.'

The Darwin mother has put off visiting her elderly parents in Taiwan, as rising mortgage repayments mean she can hardly save.

With Easter only a week away, she is also worried about not being able to even afford Easter eggs for her son, 8, and five-year-old daughter.

'I'm panicking, kind of, but you just have to keep the hopes up - especially having young kids, you can't show your depression in front of them,' she said.

'Easter's coming: no chocolate for kids. 

'How hard is that?' 

Ms Chen and her husband took out a $210,000 loan to buy a Darwin unit in 2016 with a 25-year term.

With the remaining $201,000 of their loan, they fixed $121,000 of it for two years in 2021, with the remaining $80,000 on a variable rate.

The 1.74 per cent fixed rate is expiring in April, which means they face moving on to an 8.05 per cent 'revert' variable rate.

Their total monthly loan repayments are now at $1,000, based on the Commonwealth Bank calculator.

But if Ms Chen was forced on to an 8.05 per cent revert rate, that fixed portion of her loan would next month surge by $440.

Her overall monthly repayments would climb to $1,451 - a 40 per cent increase. 

Stephen Morfea, who works in the finance sector, had faced his mortgage rate surging to 7.89 per cent in June when his ultra-low 1.89 per cent ANZ two-year fixed rate was due to expire.

He borrowed $670,000 over 25 years to build a four-bedroom house with a double garage and a pool in Brisbane's north. Under a fixed rate, he was paying $2,800 a month. His repayments would surge to $5,000 a month repayments - a 79 per cent spike - if he didn't refinance.

Mr Morfea dropped to a 5.29 per cent variable rate, taking his repayments to just over $3,900 a month. That limited the increase to a more manageable but hefty 39 per cent.