cost of living – phonakins

It’s all about timing

In the featured image for this post you will see Maxi looking pleased with himself because he got to tag along for a 2km drive to the end of the road with his head hanging out the window, past the cows in paddocks and the construction for the new twin servos off the M1, to get petrol before the prices jumped on Tuesday with the news about conflict continuing in the Middle East. Obviously, Maxi didn’t care about the oil prices, but I was pleased to say I got $50 of fuel into my tank at $1.65 before it went up 25c overnight at that particular station. The ABC was reporting that households could see an extra $14 a week needing to go to petrol over the coming months, which to some isn’t much, to some a lot, and to me who’s still making 3 80+km round trips a week to see mum in hospital (she’s moved to the rehab hospital which is AWESOME) it matters that I was able to work it so I put petrol in Tuesday instead of tomorrow when my pension goes in.

Waiting on the indexation amounts to be published so I can redo my budget for the next 6 months. It’ll probably be about $20 more a fortnight overall between rent assistance and disability.

I got my first “weird hot cross buns” of the year yesterday at my bread collection – Carrot Cake Inspired ones from Aldi. I microwaved one for 15 seconds and it was awesome! Little bits of cream cheese icing inside and nice and soft and spiced.

Been perfecting my “getting a car park at the hospital” strats. Yesterday I let all the cars go off ahead of me and waited where I was since there was noone behind me needing to go. And I lucked out a Mum and her twin boys came out of the elevator and indicated they were going to their car just in front of me. Score! Sadly, I was charged the advertised parking price for pensioners of $6.80 for the day rather than the $5.60 they have been charging me. Swings and roundabouts I guess.

Mum’s been getting assessed and set up with physio, occupational therapy and speech pathology goals and activities to get her moving again. It’s exhausting for her but she’s hopefully going to make good gains. I’m still aiming to go in Monday, Wednesday and Fridays to see her and support however I can. Yesterday we got outside for a little walk around the grounds. It was super humid! No wonder there’s mould in so many of the local hospitals :/ Nothing is drying anywhere!

That said, I’m attempting to get the sheets and towels washed today, whether they dry or not is another story!

Love yas!

Wanna help me with petrol and parking costs or send some snacks?

Corollin’ along

Spending a lot of time in my little Corolla at the moment. Mum had a second brain bleed on the weekend and so while a lot has settled back to a routine since then, we’re all a bit more on edge and really wanting things to keep steady and on the path to rehab for her. I’m taking today away from the hospital, stocked up on snacks and hope to be rested to head back in tomorrow (I will regardless, I just want the rest first – Maxi was nagging me to take my meds last night right on 9pm too and get to bed, so he knows it too).

Still super appreciating having Everyplate meals ready to cook when I get home – even if they did stuff me around with saying they replaced the parley for a meal with coriander but they’d really replaced the coriander for another meal with the parsley. Neither was a really suitable substitute and I got credits on my account but I don’t really have the brain power for that, so I made up my own substitution for the coriander using some chives I got a week ago in a free fruit and veg bag, and now I realise I DO have parsley, I’m glad I didn’t buy any and will make that meal tonight.

So yeah, trying to look after myself, keep mentally and physically well too so I can keep helping. Trying not to feel guilty about letting other things slide, or being away from the house more, or not being as available.

Mum’s waiting on a rehab bed, bed block is everywhere. The Rehab doctor from that hospital seemed to be estimating about an 8 week stay there once that happens and then hopefully home. In that time we’ll see what supports she needs to go home and hope that’s organisable and not too much of a fight… And what role I’ll play in that.

Even though the days are long at the hospital I feel better for being able to be there most days because I hate to say it there are days on the wards when patients don’t get all the care they need because they’re short staffed or just have the right amount for no emergencies or other contingencies and me being there means I can help with practical things like meals and helping mum with talking to all the allied health and doctors coming around. She was seen by a gaggle (legit term for them I swear) of final year speech students yesterday for her swallowing and higher language skills and I was trying not to remember how useless I felt on my hospital placements.

Send snax or energy drinks, gift cards or cold hard (electronic) cash if you wanna help me out at the moment, but if you’ve got my on Bluesky or Instagram, a heart on a post here and there goes a long way, because I’m feeling so out of touch with the online part of my life.

Two More Years (for Eraring Power Station)

Eraring power station has always been a part of my life. Construction started in 1977 and it and I were unleashed on the world in 1982. It was announced this week they were going to again extend its life another two years, this time until 2029. Transitions are well under way and it’s surely becoming more and more expensive to keep it alive. There’s a battery project well underway locally by Origin, and will the huge amount of private households getting their own solar systems and batteries the load on the station is being shifted. Workers are getting support for training in related industries and people should be pretty damn confident that the old girl won’t be needed by its new closure date of 2029.

All those people who are buying land for the McMansions in the shadows must be a little disappointed but the further push back. They, like us, get to experience the localised particulates for another couple of years. At least housing prices will hold for that time I hope, don’t wanna know how much more the local area will go up once we’re free of it. The small Myuna colliery was opened to directly supply coal to the station, and its workers are still waiting to hear if Origin will continue to buy coal from them til 2029 or finally stop as they keep threatening to do. Every time there’s a looming closure people talk about how everything will change and businesses will suffer, but we’ll see.

As a kid, I remember having this cold-war fear that my area of the world would only be a target for nuclear annihilation because we hosting the biggest Power Station in the land. That little concern bubble up whenever the world leaders tick us a little closer to doomsday, but all in all it’s pretty chill here in Lake Macquarie.

We used to travel to ovals near the station for interschool softball days. I think the netball girls also headed there. The local primary school closed in 2014 after having no enrolments for 2015. They rocked a brown and yellow uniform. It’s unlikely that Eraring itself would need a primary school again but the smaller public schools like Dora Creek and Cooranbong are going to see huge numbers once the estates are filled with families moving up from Sydney for affordable detached housing. There’s a twin service station being built on the M1 that’s only 2km from me, but fortunately no exits from the highway to the towns are planned. There’s two water trucks that run on a loop from the estate here to the build site for the servos ferrying water for dust dampening.

There’s SO much that needs to be done up here in terms of services to support the growing population. Like we still only have a two hourly train service on weekends, hourly through the week, there’s only steep steps to the platform, and there’s no bus connection between Dora Creek and Cooranbong, the two towns shall not meet. Cooranbong with its new sea of grey roofs (it’s always a little hotter over there) in Watagan Park Estate got a Woolworths last month (which is great and quiet – but my partner did day it all feels litlle Sydney out there).

Our little semi-rural town’s need to get some support to handle our new residents and commenters in the coming decades.

What we ate last week – Week 1 2026

Welcome to what we ate last week, a series of blog posts I’m intending to write every Monday in 2026 to document our meals, how I cobble together a healthish menu for three adults from meal kits for two, Aldi runs, food bank discount purchases and food rescue freebies and my lil brain. It’s to rekindle my food blogger ways, reassure myself I can do this, and give me a goal that’s focused on looking after my lil family that still lets me write about the systems.

bags if groceries in my trolley — Ozharvest haul from Friday

Like everything I do, it may peter out quickly, we’ll see.

two bowls of spaghetti Bolognese and a garlic bread

On Monday we had a jar sauce Bolognese. I got a bulk pack of 3 star mince from Aldi and froze 5 portions and because there was only two of us cooked 1 of the garlic breads from Aldi. Sneaky grate of parmesan cos it was in the fridge.

three places of mashed potatoes, beans or peas, silverside and white sauce
in the background ts the rest of the meat and pot of sauce

On Tuesday I slow cooked a silverside. And made white sauce based on this recipe. I didn’t even make it lumpy because I was slow and patient. We had the leftovers the next day.

Cooked portion of silverside and a pot of white sauce on a wooden cutting board

Rissoles for a New Years meal. No, we didn’t see midnight, but that’s okay. The rissoles stretched to the next day. I kept forgetting to get onions but that’s okay because I never chop them small enough for rissoles and my meat cakes fall apart! Perhaps a skill to work on this year.

2 plates of rissoles, mashed potato and peas 3 plates if rissoles and mashed potato and greens

I went to Aldi on Friday morning and bought poatoes, onions and a tray of sausages. But just after I got home, the local charity posted that they were getting an Ozharvest soon, so I went down and they pushed so much food on me, including a tray of porterhouse steaks, so I cooked three of them for dinner (overcooked :/ again out of practice) and froze the other two. We had beans and corn I also got from that delivery, along with mashed potatoes. I could have gotten free potatoes but since I got a bag that morning I didn’t grab any. Should have a chance again this Friday so I’ll hold off on any grocery shopping til after that. Also got some yummy sodas in that haul.

three plates of steak, beans, corn and mash

The sausages I cooked Saturday night and froze the other six. There were two bags of free beans I brought home so extra greens since they were each 4 serves.

three plates of sausages, mash and beans

Punnetts of cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, salt, pepper, oil, herbs, tomato paste, mince, penne, passata, butter, onion, garlic bread and garlic.

Last night I cooked up a Bolognese with mince from the bulk pack, mushrooms and cherry tomatoes from the Ozharvest haul, the other garlic bread from Monday and Harris Farms penne I’d gotten for $1 a pack from the food pantry before Xmas. The tomato pasta and passata were from Everyplate meals I didn’t make or they sent too much for. How cute’s the oil bottle? Someone got it off my wishlist for Xmas and it’s so handy for my oil, and I have olive in that one and a black lidded one for canola.

3 plates of penne Bolognese

So this coming week I have a Marley Spoon box coming, so less planning from my part, and then next week I’ll try to use some things from the freezer and whatever I get from the community centre Friday and supplement with Aldi or Woolies shops as needed. We got a new Woolies in the next suburb just before Xmas which is super convenient, but they don’t have a great bakery so don’t have nice breadrolls *sadface* but there IS a Baker’s Delight opening soon, so will check out their end of day $10 bundles they sell through the Too Good To Go app, plus when everything reopens at the end of the month I’ll be getting plenty of free bread again. Yay!

Just do the little things to stay sane so you can rage against the big ones

Content warnings – suicide, death, social murder

Just sorting out my meds this morning, making sure I’m ready for another week. Looking after me so I can look after me and then look after others.

rainbow day and night pill box

We lost another community member.

David’s death is at the hands of the politicians who talk about helping others but leave them in the gutter. That put maintaining the status quo of more investment properties for themselves and their mates over having a public housing safety net for all who need and want it. Who want to make sure that the NDIS is seen as tough and efficient but can’t get back to applicants with supports and then make them reapply all over again, but oh look there’s another barrier because a report is now out of date or their drivers license is expired and so they can’t make ID points.

I’m tired and angry and sick of all this and it doesn’t have to be this way but those in the powers that be in governments and social services keep it this way.

Like, is this a good news story from the weekend? Daniel was repeatedly and illegally cut off his meagre welfare payment, surviving off the small amount his father was able to give him to pay for his medications. Daniel was made homeless by an uncaring system that can’t even get his own processes right. Daniel is getting nearly three years back pay – but that is only $52k. And he held off revealing his story until that was paid because through fear it would be withheld by a system that’s known to dish dirt on the poor and vulnerable to protect its own image and keep its system working.

They have learned nothing from Robodebt except that they can get away with it. That Daniel and David will be blips on their radars, that no matter whether it’s the red or blue team they can sweep them aside and keep their jobs or move into better ones. Royal commissions and NACC mean shit when Scotty’s got a new job and Bill Shortens robot got binned but people are still out there dying because the “Welfare” system doesn’t care about the welfare of the worst off.

$A screenshot of a news article from the Sound Telegraph by Ava Berryman, dated Wednesday, 15 October 2025.The headline reads: "New SecondBite charity warehouse helps The Crew feed more locals suffering from food insecurity."The main image is a photograph showing a person in a high-visibility vest holding a cardboard box filled with fresh produce, including lettuce and red onions. The box has the SecondBite logo on the side with the tagline: "Ending Waste. Ending Hunger."The caption under the image states: "A new charity warehouse helps feed more hungry locals. Credit: Supplied"The text from the article snippet reads:"The launch of a new $2000 \text{sqm}$ warehouse in Kewdale could see about 20 million more meals per year provided to those in need through the help of one of Australia's leading food rescue organisations, SecondBite.The warehouse will help tackle food insecurity head on, with a goal to increase the amount of food rescued in WA by one million kilograms per year over the next two to three years."$

Kylea Tink is Foodbank’s new CEO. You may remember her as a teal independent, but now she’s pretending to make a difference by expanding the amount governments and individuals spend on food relief – on the food itself, on the warehouses, the trucks, the fundraisers and the branding. Oh the branding. She joins former NSW Premier John Robertson who’s the NSW CEO. Because we need multiple layers of CEOs.

They’ll put out press releases about how many are going hungry and how you too cold help out by giving their particular organisation (or OzHarvest, or Second Bite) money to fund x amount of meals or a food hamper. These press releases rarely mention that this poverty is manufactured by supermarkets that would rather over order and over change and feel good donating excess stocks than running their businesses at slightly less profit but still making a motsa and not creating food waste. Or the politicians that give another grant for another warehouse, another charity another photo opp to support the needy, but could lift so many out of this situation with a nimble piece of legislation that lifts welfare payments above the poverty line. Or at all levels buying and building public housing (States and Federal and even local councils) so that people can be immediately housed rather than renting hovels through layers of community housing providers that don’t provide guarantees of tenure.

Poverty has risen over the three years of a Labor government, and people are dying. People are dying because they’re being left behind. They’re not able to afford to feed themselves properly or to attend to their health care – people can’t afford to go to the doctor or to buy the meds their need to stay healthy. NDIS is cutting supports that are working for people while telling us that no, noone’s losing supports and here we are losing our minds. Being house should be a given but relying on the private market when public housing has ten year wait lists and crisis accommodation is two weeks in a seedy mote with a dozen others at the worst points in their lives is certainly not helping anyone.

It’s a thousand straws on each camels back, and they all carry so much weight. People can’t do it alone but too many are forced to. And they struggle on and if they get the hand their need to make it through they just might. Is that hand going to be on a case by case basis from and for an individual or will our governments actually step up to provide the supports that people need? To everyone?

So I’m going to take my meds that I’m blessed to be able to afford and stay strong for myself so that I can look after myself so I can look after others.

In terms of mental health numbers, in NSW I’ve found the mental health helpline useful for support for myself and others. There are other services and ideas listed on that page. Lifeline also has sms and online crisis chat in certain hours as well as the usual phone – 13 11 14.