Lived Experience Forum

[ArraDreaming]

Is anyone else just a little worried about the direction we’re heading in terms of cost of living? 

I keep telling myself it’s fine but I know it’s not and it’s it’s a lingering kind of thing in the back of my head. And every time I shop it really concerns me… 
Everything is going up and it’s going up so fast. 

We’re spending $500 on groceries a week and that’s not including the 
plus $150 on fuel, plus rent, bills and general living costs. It’s starting to worry me a lot. Every time a bill comes in the mail  I just think oh here we go. 

Instead of whinging about it, although sometimes I like a good old whinge which is what I’m in the mood for today, I wondered if there’s other people on here who can suggest things to help reduce the strain on living costs? 

[hanami]

Hey @ArraDreaming 

Yep I hear you! I do feel lucky that 3 or my 4 kids are now adults and supporting themselves. I can remember when they were at home spending so much on food! That said, I do still worry about the prices rising, especially food. I did hear on the news today that while some veggies have tripled in price others have actually gone down. Like apples, pumpkin, potatoes, oranges and avocados. I think it's a matter of looking at those types of things - what's in season, what fresh food is cheaper, cutting down on meat and eating more legumes (super cheap). That's about the limit of my budgeting tips, I'll lookout for what others have to offer. 

Hanami 

[hanami]

Oh and I should add that a good old whinge can do wonders for the soul - especially on a Monday 😂

[Paperdaisy]

I hear you @ArraDreaming definitely feeling that with 2 young kids, the food bill is through the roof and the cost of petrol is next level. We have been trying to walk as much as we can, not go on big car trips and as @hanami said beans are a good one, we make Mexican style meals. Take sandwiches everywhere, instead of buying out but if we do buy out we just try and buy 2 adult meals and share it amongst us and the kids. 

Whinge here whenever you like! 😂

[hanami]

@Paperdaisy Mexican is the best for using beans as a substitute for meat. I'm vegan so I'm fine with it but my meat loving husband and daughter will even eat beans in a Mexican dish. 

🥘😋

[Bow]

It’s certainly something that I worry about. My daughter is so fussy with what she eats.  The single parent pension doesn’t go far after rent. 

[ArraDreaming]

@Bow We’re on 1.5 incomes and it’s hard, can’t imagine a pension I am so sorry to hear. We also have a fussy one here 4 y/o will only eat noodles, chicken nuggets and white bread sandwiches, but will eat our pantry empty when it comes to snacks including fruit, go figure…. At least our 1 yo eats what we cook 

[ArraDreaming]

Thanks @hanami

yeah we went to the fruit shop to get our fruit + veg and they often have “seconds” so like the stuff that’s about to go bad tomorrow, they have it super cheap almost free so we’ve be cutting it up and freezing but sometimes it’s hard to do that because it means we have to go to multiple shops just get it all done, you end up going to three places because Aldi doesn’t always have everything you need either. 

[ArraDreaming]

Thanks @Paperdaisy we never get takeaway anymore or takeaway coffee. 

It’s hard when you budget and you’re like oh yeah this is doable so you think it’s fine and then things just go up, I work part time and my partner works full time and we’re fortunate that she is on a relatively good wage, nothing exuberant but liveable for us, but even pre rising living costs living in one wage we had to make sacrifices and that’s fine that was all taken into consideration but we didn’t expect a zucchini to cost us $4 and petrol to be $2.40 a litre…. 

[Paperdaisy]

It all adds up doesn't it @ArraDreaming and then when the kids throw that $4 zucchini on the floor or turn their nose up at it, it's just infuriating! 

It's very hard at the moment. I hear you. It's exhausting having to think about everything. Do you ever do bulk buys on nappies and stuff like that? I have friends who save a lot of money in the long run by doing that.