As grocery and petrol prices continue to skyrocket across Australia due to a raft of factors, consumers are looking for any practical help that will assist with the cost of living.
Channel 7 Finance Editor Gemma Acton appeared on The Morning Show to shed some light on when prices may eventually plateau - as well as share some tips on saving money at the supermarket and the petrol bowser.
Watch the video player above for tips to save money as the cost of living rises
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Having recently reported on what she calls the “baked bean indicator” after the price of the tinned Aussie staple rose from $1.70 to over $2, Acton spoke about why prices for goods and services are going up across the board.
“We’re looking at tinned spaghetti, coffee, taxis, bread, airfares, you name it.
“The price pressures are huge and they’re all around us, I’m sure everyone would have also noticed at the petrol pump,” said Acton.
With the cost of fuel and groceries rising over the past few months, Acton explained the reasons behind the increase hitting Australians in the back pocket.
“Fuel is certainly an important one because so much needs to be transported around Australia, so things need to be transported from farms to supermarkets to our tables.
“Also if you look at Russia and Ukraine, they produce a quarter of the world’s grain, so it’s known as the world’s breadbasket for a reason.
“Something like grain, obviously if there’s pressure there, yes bread is an obvious item but you wouldn’t necessarily think that that would cause the price of chickens to go up, but chickens eat grains of course so there are so many flow-on effects from this as well.
“But certainly fuel is the major reason for the price increases.”
When it comes to filling up your car, Acton offered this suggestion.
“The advice is that things are moving really quickly, so if you see something that’s really highly-priced, and you can afford to wait a day or two, then do.
“A good example is we are starting to see fuel prices come down a little bit, and that does feed through after about seven to 10 days.
“So if your fuel tank isn’t desperate and you can hold on, just keep watching the trends, you can check online you can see where fuel prices are that are updated in real-time.
Acton also offered suggestions for Australian families looking to save money at the supermarket checkout.
“Something that’s really gone up in price is fresh produce, your fruit and your vegetables. Speaking to the head of IGA he was saying it can take 24 hours only for price changes to feed through.
“So if you go in and your broccoli is incredibly expensive if prices are set to come down, they can come down very rapidly so be smart and shop around.”
