The cost of living is, not a problem in its own right, but rather a result of other contributing factors that all add to the cost of living. But, the underlining cause of these other contributing factors to the increase in the cost of living is, the National and State debts, that have been allowed to accrue unchecked. Therefore, the debt is the single most important issue confronting us today. This ever-increasing debt, with its compounding interest, will eventually consume the entire country’s budget to the point where our annual tax revenue will not be enough to meet our interest repayments. To ignore the debt or to consider it a secondary issue, is to consign our country to ultimate ruin. Controlling, managing and reducing the debt, should and must be the number one priority of any Government.

The cost-of-living means, what it costs you to pay for the things that you either need to live or have to pay for to live, from your take home pay plus any benefits that you receive from the State. It is commonly referred to as a crisis, but a crisis would indicate that it is temporary and will eventually go away. The reality is, that the cost of living is not a crisis, but an everyday fact of life, which is not going away anytime soon. The cost of things are what they are, the question is, are the prices we are paying correct or are they inflated through greed and incompetence. If it costs $3 to make a loaf of bread, then the retail price will be $4 and there is nothing we can do about it. Why it costs $3 to make the loaf is due to a number of factors, cost of labour, cost of materials, cost of energy to bake and the embedded taxes throughout the whole process. If we were to change some of these factors then the price may come down, but by how much, probably not a lot. Not enough to have any significant effect on the cost of living.

It is therefore important to focus on the big-ticket items that drain the most amount of money from you. Below is a table of the estimated living costs on everyday items that we all have to pay for. Whether you are well paid or low paid, some costs will be the same, whereas the prices of other items will be affected by your life style choices. The list is not exhaustive and may miss many other things that one purchases, but it is clear, that for some, the cost of living is greater than their disposable income, warranting reductions in their spending.