By Lachlan Forsyth
Twelve months ago Rohani Alexander agreed to take part in an experiment - we asked her to buy a trolley load of groceries from her local supermarket, keep buying them regularly, and keep track of any changes.
For the last year change has been a constant theme for Rohani and her husband Richard.
A new baby, new city, new jobs - there have been tough times but things are now starting to look up.
For the last 12 months the family have been getting by on around $750 a week. When on a tight budget any changes to the weekly shop do tend to be noticed.
And there are often further expenses - like debt - that drive the cost of living much higher
“I think we've done really well to service our debt on a really low income, so to be able to put more into it on a really low income is really satisfying,” Rohani said.
“But it's still there, it's still a big monkey on the back and it doesn't help.”
Officially food prices have increased 6.2 percent, electricity 4.6 percent, and petrol 18 percent - overall the Consumer Price Index (CPI) has increased 4.6 percent.
According to the CPI figures Rohani’s groceries should have increased in cost by 4.6 percent - so how does her October 2011 shopping trolley compare with that of last year?
- In September, before last year's GST rise, Rohani's trolley cost $123.30.
- After the GST increase the same groceries rose 10.3 percent, to $136.02.
- The grocery bill peaked in October at $157.24 before starting to fall.
- Now, those groceries cost $147.84 - a 19.9 percent increase on the pre-GST cost, and 8.7 percent on the post-GST figure.
A closer look at the list shows a kilo of rice has increased from $2.79 to $3.31 (18.6 percent), pasta sauce up from $2.89 to $3.66 (26.6 percent), chickpeas - no change at $1.72, while seasonal offerings like silver beet ($2.49 - $2.28 -8.4 percent), kiwifruit ($2.99 - $2.48 -17 percent) and cauliflower ($3.99 - $3.48 -12.8 percent) have all fallen.
It totals an extra $25 since last September on the same items.
It is up from last year, but down from a few months ago, and when you're a family watching the wallet, that's welcome news.
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