If the recent interest rate rise is the first of many, thousands of households around the country will feel the pinch. In Canberra, 71,490 households have a mortgage. Data from Digital Finance Analytics shows one in four - 17,801 households - are mortgage "stressed" and 636 at risk of defaulting on their loan.

If rates rise by 2 percentage points over the next two years, in 25 basis point increments, the number of Canberrans in mortgage stress would rise to 18,151.

Digital Finance Analytics principal Martin North says that's an increase most Canberrans should manage.

"Most can handle a 2 [percentage point] rise, as I would expect given the bank uses a 2.5 [percentage point] buffer when assessing loans ... but 3.5 [percentage points] would be more of a problem," he said.

The Aquilina household is a typical Canberra family. Elise is a public servant and Matthew is a school teacher. They have two children: Hamish, 3, and Sophie, 18 months.

Like many Australians, they are juggling mortgage payments with day-to-day life and planning for the future.

The Aquilinas have always been conscious of their spending. With children now in the picture, they've become more aware. They minimise financial stress by tracking money that comes in and prioritising mortgage repayments and essentials.

"This way we know what money we have left for other things and can make sure we are living within our means," Mr Aquilina said.

"We try to balance what’s leftover to cover non-essential purchases, luxuries, savings for bigger items and holidays and having money aside for emergencies."

Interest rates have been at a historic low for more than two years, and this month's moves would have raised concerns for many families not only about how to cover the extra repayments but what is still to come.

The pain of slow wage growth has been somewhat ameliorated for home owners by those low mortgage rates, currently about 5 per cent.

But about 7 per cent was standard through the early 2000s.

The Reserve Bank is unlikely to begin ratcheting up rates again until later this year at the earliest, and it is expected to do it relatively slowly to minimise the pain. But when it happens, it will still hurt plenty of people. And, as the table and maps below show, some parts of the ACT are harder hit than others.

Data compiled by Digital Finance Analytics estimates that more than 996,000 households across the country are under stress, with more than 23,000 in severe stress.

The ACT has one of the lowest proportions of people in stress - a fact Mr North said was partly due to higher incomes and faster-growing wages.

Households are defined as "stressed" when income does not cover daily costs. Households in mild stress have little leeway in their cash flows. Those in severe stress are unable to meet repayments. In both cases, households manage by cutting back on spending, putting more on credit cards and seeking to refinance, restructure or sell their home.

Earlier this month, the Aquilinas refinanced their mortgage. When they bought and built their Bonner home in 2013, they used a mortgage broker.

"Since then, we’ve regularly checked in with him about the interest rate we’re paying and how it compared with other rates in the market," Mrs Aquilina said.

"This is the second time we've refinanced, as our interest rate had increased with our previous lender and we knew there were more competitive rates we could access.

"This has reduced our monthly mortgage repayments, even after accounting for refinancing costs."

She said refinancing saved them about $1200 a year.

Frequently checking for a better deal is the most common mortgage advice, and Mr North has a few more tips.

"Do a cash flow, only half know what they are spending," he said.

"Stop using credit cards with high rates of interest. Prioritise spending carefully and remember the banks have a legal obligation to assist in hardship – so talk to them early, no putting your head in the sand and hoping. That won’t work."

The Northern Territory has the smallest proportion of households under stress, at 24.9 per cent, and South Australia the largest, at 36.5 per cent.

Mr North said the ACT was doing pretty well.

"The level of mortgage stress is not as high and there are no postcodes where we really detected severe stress, unlike some areas around Sydney and Melbourne where in fact there are some households which are quite severely underwater," he said.

But across the country people are dipping into savings for ordinary daily expenses.

"Continued rises in living costs, notably childcare, school fees and fuel, whilst real incomes continue to fall and underemployment is causing significant pain," he said.

In the ACT, the Canberra households in stress were classified as "mild".

In postcodes such as 2600, which covers Parkes, Barton, Canberra, Deakin, Deakin West, Duntroon and Harman, about 911 households have a mortgage; of them 364 are experiencing mild stress.

In areas such as Amaroo, Bonner, Forde and Harrison, about 5154 households are borrowing and, of them, 2086 are in mild stress. Mr North said those Gungahlin postcodes were young growing families. He said they were often just starting out and had kids in childcare.

The figures for postcodes covering Hall, Tuggeranong, Greenway, Acton and Black Mountain should be treated with caution as the number of people with mortgages is below 250, a small sample.

Rising rates are a particular worry for first-home buyers who recently entered the market. Canberra’s median house price has risen 6.2 per cent over the past 12 months, according to the latest Domain report, while other parts of the country have already experienced a slowdown, and price falls.

Canberra’s median house price in July was $750,000, a big jump from July last year, when it was $705,900.

Rising rates raise the risk of new home buyers, in particular, facing negative equity – where they owe more than their home is worth.

That's not helped by the fact Canberra is the toughest capital in the country for people trying to buy under $400,000, with just 2.4 per cent of houses priced under the threshold.

Rising interest rates have broader implications for the ACT economy. Economists, such as Deloitte partner Chris Richardson, often note the ACT has a "massive mortgage belt". Low rates mean people are able, and willing, to spend more, keeping things ticking along nicely. Higher rates mean less money flowing through to the economy, including to small business.

For single homeowners like Briony Young, money worries are constantly on her mind.

"In winter I stress a little more because the heating costs are huge. I don’t run the heater much at night, in fact, I try not to run it at all – nothing like a hot water bottle to keep you cozy."

"But sometimes I feel like I'm living from pay to pay."

Ms Young, who's a full-time marketing manager and also runs a small business from home, has two mortgages.

She bought her first home in Ngunnawal in 2009. When she bought her second home in 2013, the first was turned into an investment property. Ms Young said selling off her investment property was not an option.

"I’ve always been taught to never sell your properties ... I've thought about selling it but because I have a goal I've made sacrifices in other ways," she said.

"By having that investment property, it'll give me peace of mind for when I retire because I know that property will bring in money."

Some changes include riding her bike instead of taking the car to work, staying in at a friend's house instead of going out for dinner.

"In the summer months I’ll ride a bicycle to work - it actually takes a lot of stress off because petrol prices are expensive," she said.

"I actually see that when I ride my bike and I’m not filling my car, that actually takes a load off plus I’m getting exercise. Petrol’s going up, everything just seems to be going up. But what can you do?"