the cost of living

I've spent the past few weeks worrying about pondering the ever-increasing cost of living. Our simple life is becoming expensive and it's rather shocking to see the bills go up while our (rather humble) income stays the same. 

I realise the "grocery bill" issue is a ubiquitous one but me oh my, the cost! My big fortnightly shop has risen by a good $50 and my sneaky "top-up" shops are far more frequent, disappointingly so (what happened to the memo about the insatiable hunger of five-year-olds?).  To keep up with our fresh food intake I'm ordering a bigger box from our organic home delivery service, raiding Popa's vegie patch and encouraging my own seedlings to grow, grow! Popa is also helping me establish a Bush Turkey-proof raised garden-bed so we can eat more from the garden and buy a little less. 

But still, food is only one part of the equation and even though Daniel managed to knock $30 off our monthly telstra bill last week (he spent over an hour on the phone, he's good like that) there's still a long list of outgoings. 

So, this week I'm doing the classic magazine feature where the journo writes down every single thing she buys. But let's be realistic, there's not going to be any "taxi fares" or "drinks with friends" or "must-have leather handbag". There will be a whole lot of "2 litre milk," "take-away coffee"* and "pre-school fees." Boring but insightful. 

Budgeting is absolutely necessary but I'm wondering, what is the best way to realistically budget so everything is covered and there's enough money for all the little everyday things? 

*I already know that cafes are costly...but gosh I do enjoy them. 

Photo: Popa's abundant garden..inspiration for my own