Thread: Cost of living

Originally Posted by aldav

Well, even if times are tough you obviously are pretty happy with the way you're travelling, Chris. I remain unconvinced that you're travelling that well that you should be giving timber away , and including postage!
Good on you. All the best.

David

All good Dave
I have plenty and postage isn't a sheep station.
No I am not rich but I am happy
That's all that matters really
Cheers mate

Log Dog

Originally Posted by Log Dog

Here's a piece of fiddleback Acacia celsa from my stash.
Measures 425mn long x 240mm wide x 30mm thick.
Heavily figured with prominent fiddleback throughout.
Also quartersawn and seasoned... ready to work!
Make for a beautiful lidded box folks

Yep...times are tough
So offering this piece for free!
Postage included (only in OZ)
Just say 'I'll take it' and it's yours
First to respond here will be the claimant

Log Dog

If it’s still available, I will take it with thanks.

George

Originally Posted by cava

If it’s still available, I will take it with thanks.

George

All yours mate
Send me through your postal address thanks George

Log Dog

PM sent.

Also popped in to Bunnings a few weeks back for a browse at the gardening section
Very few plants under $20 each
Wheelbarrows used to be around $100...now over $140
Decided to go to a local nursery as I was specifically looking for banana plants
Finally found some for sale
They were only small specimens but were $50 each
Didn't buy any but purchased a passionfruit vine for $17 instead.
I think it was the cheapest plant in the nursery.
Wasn't game to price the fertilisers


Log Dog

Originally Posted by Lyle

Maybe we should start a list of things that have stayed at the same price or even gone down in price.
I reckon it'll be a short list.

My dog has a serve of tinned sardines with his dinner every day, the price 6 years ago was 90 cents a tin and is now 95 cents at my local IGA, given inflation is probably cheaper now than it was 6 years ago.

That's all I can think of.

Originally Posted by Log Dog

Wasn't game to price the fertilisers


Log Dog

That's one of the main reasons why I have set up a "worm farm" in the back yard. We grow a lot of our own vegetables and the soil around here needs a bit of a boost on a regular basis - even the lawn. We renovated one of the bathrooms a while back and the old cast iron bath tub was replaced with a newer more modern one, so I knocked up a steel support frame and put the old tub up the back and made a cover for it out of wire fencing mesh and shade cloth. All of our vegie scraps go in there and the worms turn them into fertilizer. About twice a year, I get a huge tub of worm "castings" which the wife uses in potting mix and for seedlings etc - and about once a fortnight I get a 20 litre bucket of worm "tea" out of the bottom of the tub through a filtered drain. This is diluted down and mostly used as fertilizer in the vegie gardens - we don't need to add anything else other than home made compost and mulch as a general rule. Any that is left over goes on the lawn - I have made up a venturi arrangement so that the liquid can be sucked out of a bucket and into the sprinkler feed so is diluted down as it is spread on the lawn.

I used to buy the occasional bag or two of blood & bone for the lawns from Bunnings - but the prices these days have put me off even going into the garden section there.

Originally Posted by Lyle

Maybe we should start a list of things that have stayed at the same price or even gone down in price.
I reckon it'll be a short list.

My wages have stayed the same

Cheers Andrew

Originally Posted by Rudyvm

My dog has a serve of tinned sardines with his dinner every day, the price 6 years ago was 90 cents a tin and is now 95 cents at my local IGA, given inflation is probably cheaper now than it was 6 years ago.

That's all I can think of.

King Oscar brand... 😋

Log Dog

i honestly think alot has a bit to do with energy prices.

if fuel and electricity are going up, and we have to use it to make and transport the goods. well its the consumer that pays

Originally Posted by havabeer69

i honestly think alot has a bit to do with energy prices.

if fuel and electricity are going up, and we have to use it to make and transport the goods. well its the consumer that pays

You are absolutely correct, the most prosperous countries in the world are those with the lowest energy costs. Australia had one of the highest standard of living in the world a few decades ago and now we are mixing it with 3rd world countries. Very sad to see.

The other side of it is that governments around the world have created the problem with all the debt filed spending and contrary to what they say publicly they actually want higher inflation because it erodes all that debt away. 10% inflation over 3 or 4 years halves their debt.

Sadly I don't see things getting better any time soon. I hope I'm wrong.

Originally Posted by Log Dog

Also popped in to Bunnings a few weeks back for a browse at the gardening section
Very few plants under $20 each
Wheelbarrows used to be around $100...now over $140
Decided to go to a local nursery as I was specifically looking for banana plants
Finally found some for sale
They were only small specimens but were $50 each
Didn't buy any but purchased a passionfruit vine for $17 instead.
I think it was the cheapest plant in the nursery.
Wasn't game to price the fertilisers

I live in a newer region of Canberra. New suburbs, everywhere.

Plant theft has become a MAJOR issue. People are waking to find newly planted tube and rootstock is flogged over night.

Originally Posted by Log Dog

King Oscar brand... 😋

Log Dog

Nope, black and gold......King Oscar is way more expensive, though very much loved Chester is still just a dog and am not sure he would notice the difference anyway as is gone in seconds.

The cost of living has always risen. It is fanciful to think that it won't. The real question revolves around how much it has risen and whether it is out of wack with general trends. The last year has seen a huge rise in CPI:

CPI.png

It is the highest rise for more than thirty years.

More information here:

Consumer Price Index, Australia, December Quarter 2022 | Australian Bureau of Statistics (abs.gov.au)

Regards
Paul