From fuel to groceries, here are five ways to beat rising costs

March 14, 2026 — 5:01am

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Two weeks since US and Israel began bombing Iran, fear of the inflationary effect in Australia has taken hold.

Indeed, due to petrol alone, a forecast from NAB last week suggested our consumer prices index may spike more than a whole percentage point, to above 5 per cent.

And that raises the spectre of more interest rate rises than already expected. But I’ll come back to that. Here are five immediate ways to contain your rising conflict costs.

Petrol: If we’ve seen one thing since the war broke out and the oil price entered whiplash territory, it’s how little control we have over this as a country (notwithstanding the move to allow ‘dirtier’ fuel here for 60 days and also, just on Friday, to unlock Australian oil reserves).

As I type, the Brent crude price is close to $140. However, locally, there’s no doubt some service stations are playing silly buggers with the petrol cycle, given the immediate jump at some fuel pumps and huge variation between others.

Worried falling markets might ruin your retirement?........

© The Age