Households buying fewer clothes, less fruit, due to energy bills

SOME households are treating fruit as a luxury item when grocery shopping as a survey suggests two in three Aussies are struggling to pay power and gas bills.

ONLY a quarter of families with children living at home are coping “reasonably well” with paying energy bills, a survey has found.

And some households are even treating fruit as a luxury when grocery shopping as high power and gas bills bite.

A cost of living study for RACV suggests two in three Australians struggle to pay their accounts or consider them a big burden on budgets.

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High energy bills are forcing households to cut other spending. Picture: iStock

Many said they were buying fewer new clothes (59 per cent), dining out less (57 per cent), or going to the movies or events less frequently (51 per cent).

Other spending sacrifices included weekend getaways (50 per cent), new shoes and accessories (50 per cent), and grocery “luxuries” like fruit or expensive meat (46 per cent), the YouGov Galaxy online poll found.

“People are genuinely stressed,” RACV Home divisional programs manager Bess Nolan-Cook said.

“Utilities bills used to be something that hung around in the background but are now top of mind.”

It was alarming that some even viewed fruit as a luxury item when juggling expenses, she said.

Some simple measures to help reduce energy costs included swapping halogen for LED light globes, using heavy duty curtains on windows, and blocking draughts with door snakes.

RACV is displaying an energy efficient concept Tiny Home with features such as double-glazed windows, solar panels and superior insulation as part of this weekend’s Open House Melbourne.

The RACV energy efficient Tiny Home. Picture: Supplied.

Almost all of the 1021 adults quizzed last month felt their cost of living had increased over the last three years.

Only a quarter of low and middle-income families and those with children managed to cope reasonably well paying their energy bills.

A major Australian Competition and Consumer Commission review has recommended sweeping changes to the nation’s electricity market to improve affordability.

Earlier this year, the Herald Sun revealed electricity and gas retailers had been disconnecting almost 1000 Victorian households a week over unpaid bills.

Record numbers in hardship programs owed tens of millions of dollars.

@KarenCollierHS

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