How to save money on food and energy costs as prices go up

RMIT University senior industry fellow and sustainability expert Alan Pears' recommendations to combat rising food costs included prepping meals in batches and freezing food so it lasted longer.

"It saves money and reduces the time you need to spend each night slaving away in the kitchen," he said.

"[Freezing food] saves meals from going to waste and if you have something ready to go in the freezer, you're less likely to default to takeaway.

"Defrosting food overnight in your fridge, rather than heating it in the microwave, also saves a lot of energy."

Recent data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) showed a yearly jump of nine per cent on food prices, with fruit and vegetable prices up 16.2 per cent and dairy products by 12.1 per cent.

The rises stemmed from a range of issues including supply chain disruptions, weather-related events, such as flooding, and increased transport costs.

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And it's not just food that has become costlier.

The federal budget forecast electricity bills could increase by 20 per cent in 2022 and a further 30 per cent in 2023 to 2024, marking a potential 50 per cent increase in power bills over the next two years.

Gas bills are also expected to increase by up to 20 per cent in the next year, and then by 20 per cent in 2023 to 2024.

Mr Pears said Australians needed to find ways to cut back on energy use to afford potential cost increases.

That included using less energy-intensive cooking appliance such as an air fryer instead of an oven, cleaning heating and cooling system filters to maximise efficiency, and checking a home's hour-by-hour energy use on a provider's website to pinpoint inefficient appliances.

And, he suggested one that "might seem a little strange": Putting bubble wrap over glass windows.

"But trust me, it works," he said.

"When you've got a single glass window most people don't realize that nearly three quarters of its insulating properties are not the glass window itself [but] the layer of still air that usually clings to the window on the inside."

"If you do fit some bubble wrap on the inside what you're then doing is you're creating a still air layer between the glass ... so you're actually getting a very good equivalent of sort of double glazing the window."

BIS Oxford Economics head of macro consulting Emily Dabbs said with rising costs for essential goods and services, in addition to higher interest rates and increasing mortgage payments, Australian households were facing "tough" conditions this year.

"Looking forward price pressures are expected to linger for a while yet with headline inflation peaking later this year before decelerating through 2023," she said.

"Recent flooding events are likely to boost food prices further and the cost of utilities and rents are expected to remain elevated for much of 2023. Interest rates are also expected to rise further, peaking in early 2023."

While ABS wage data, released on Wednesday, showed many workers received a strong increase in pay over the September quarter, Ms Dabbs said the cost of living pressure isn't going away any time soon.

"Even the headline wage growth figure of 4.3 per cent over the year was below headline inflation of 7.3 per cent over the same period so for many households, pay rises are just going towards covering the rising cost of living," Ms Dabbs said.

"While households are likely to benefit from stronger wage growth over the coming year, the pressure on budgets will remain a concern for many households."