- Look out for temporary supermarket specials. Use them to lower your food costs.
- Use Powerswitch to find the cheapest electricity deals.
- Take sensible steps to lower your electricity use (like turning off appliances when they're not being used).
- LPG seems overpriced right now. It may not be the cheapest way to heat your house or run your vehicle.
- Companies with a strong market position seem to be trying to restore their balance sheets by increasing prices rather than working smarter. If enough companies do this, they'll end up crunching household spending and deepening the recession. Anti-competitive market structures that allow excessive pricing put at risk the whole economy, not just the consumers who bear the brunt of price increases.
More information
- Powerswitch - www.powerswitch.org.nz
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Report by Susan Guthrie
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