Do they have to postpone their beloved footy practice because of skyrocketing transport costs? Are Friday night bevvies at the pub off limits? Maybe even essentials such as fresh fruit and vegetables have now become an unaffordable "luxury".

Many people The Border Mail spoke with at Wodonga's Junction Square and Albury's busy Dean Street were lucky enough to still afford their indulgences, but others were struggling and forced to make painful sacrifices, with one Albury teenager even moving interstate to earn enough money to survive.

"There's nothing new in the cost of living - but, mind you, when I was young, our houses were $35,000 not $600,000.

"With retirees, there are very few benefits for us, especially from the government.

"We've worked all our lives, paid a lot of tax, but you're not linked to CPI on your super pension, you're going to struggle as time goes forward.

"As for kids, with the huge interest rates that keep gong up, they're not going to be able to afford them and having a young family must make it hard."

"I try not to think too much about it because it's so depressing. I bought ingredients to made a stir fry and I looked at the receipt and thought, why did it cost so much?

"Capsicum was like $3.80 and it makes you think about how much it costs to do simple things.

"But we can still enjoy a coffee, that will never change - it's hard for some, though."

"For me the cost of petrol is quite expensive - I live in Wang and drive up here so working a few days a week up here is quite expensive.

"It costs me about $15 a day to get to work and back - with three, four days a week it adds up.

"My car is diesel and the price of diesel really hasn't gone down at all - it's gone up to what it used to be.

"It used to be cheaper once upon a time - but now it's stuck at the $2.30 mark.

"Luckily my kids are really little so we don't have to drive around too much, so that's not such a big deal.

"But living in Wangaratta and working in Wodonga I really have to rely on my car to get around with no public transport.

"I used to live in Melbourne where I could cycle everywhere but not here.

"But the cost of groceries, fresh produce is really expensive.

"We haven't had to go to that length of buying frozen stuff, but the cost of groceries certainly takes up a big proportion of the weekly spend.

"I try not to buy frozen anyway because fresh is healthier and has a better taste.

"We don't really eat out because the kids are so little.

"But costs are definitely going up everywhere - we've had to delay renovations on the house, and that kind of thing because builders are really expensive too, the cost of wood.

"So we have to keep delaying that - it's difficult."

"My living costs have gone up by about $100 a week in a relatively short time because everything is so expensive but it's good that I've had a pay rise - some pay packages don't increase in line with inflation.

"Our company is very good in this regard, they also pay for my fuel and my food expenses, so I'm lucky.

"But other things are so expensive - I'm also lucky that I live by myself at this stage, so fortunately that isn't too much of a problem.

"We go to the cricket club in Albury but because I live in Albury I can cycle there, that's a very nice thing about living here. As for food, I usually try to stay away from restaurants and takeaway but since I'm travelling tonight, it's KFC for me today."

"There's a big difference between the challenges we face now and the younger ones.

"I'm very lucky that [with the rising cost of living] I don't have to sacrifice much because I'm comfortably retired, but it's different if you're young.

"The kids have got to have everything when they're 20 and 30, well, we have everything at 50 and 60.

"When we were growing up we always had hand-me-downs and the same with furniture - we didn't go to Freedom or places like that but now kids need to buy everything new for a brand new house.

"We don't go out much because we cook at home - we're great cooks.

"Fresh fruit and vegies are more expensive than ever, but we pick and choose - if lettuces are expensive, you choose things that are cheaper, for example citrus is in at the moment, so you put your citruses in your salads.

"It's safer that way anyway, everyone around us has got COVID, so if we're going to go out and grab something we're happy to sit outside."

"We just put a deposit on a block of land about eight months ago and a lot of things have changed since then.

"Prices have gone up but we're not too stressed, yet.

"We shop for frozen fruit and veg, but we often shop at Arnolds or the markets.

"I have a kid coming along, due in September, and that's pretty scary as well because living expenses are about to increase.

"It's my last day of work today.

"After COVID I was thinking about how much money we spend when we go out, but we don't go out a lot."

"I live at Corryong now but I lived in China for five years which is a fantastic place and cheap to live.

"With people struggling with living costs, I think the government could come up with far better ways to spend money to help people than to buy nine nuclear submarines.

"The cost of electricity is another thing that is hurting a lot of people at the moment. Let's move away from coal and use wind or solar, the community would benefit so much more from that.

"The cost of living in China is significantly better than here - even though I don't make as much money, I save more.

"Power costs here much higher. In china your normal prices like fruit and meat and basic food, that's controlled by the government much better, so most people don't have a problem with that side of their living costs.

"Electricity there is hugely cheaper than here - in Australian dollars, it cost me maybe about $50, $60 a month including air conditioning and so on.

"It doesn't matter what flavour of government is in power here, their expenditure doesn't really seem to help the people.

"Recently Australia just seems to go hand in hand with what America does.

"I can't see this working for normal people."

"At the moment we're looking at getting a house loan but interest rates have gone through the roof now.

"I've got to work more and save more to try to get a higher deposit which is much more difficult than it was.

"I work in mines in Western Australia so it's not too bad for me to try to save money but when I do come home it's expensive.

"Albury is my home, I was born here, but now I fly in and out of Western Australia.

"I'm there for two weeks, then I'm back here for a week.

"I did a carpentry apprenticeship here in Albury but on $400 a week and trying to pay for fuel costs, that was really hard.

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"So I can't imagine any other person my age surviving on the wages an apprentice gets when things are so expensive.

"It was the cost of living that forced me out of here.

"The company pays for all the accommodation and flights and stuff, so that help me immensely.

"Working there has been to save money and get enough to get a house deposit then come back here.

"Before I went to Western Australia I was looking at getting a rental to move out but I just couldn't afford it being on $400 a week .

"Groceries and fuel are just far too expensive for young people to cope with.

"When I come back home to visit I have noticed basic things are so much more expensive everywhere, just basic things.

"It's difficult living away from my family, it makes it difficult, but I have to do what I have to do to get that house.

"I just want to buy a house and settle down with my girlfriend, that's the long-term plan.

"If I was still doing my apprenticeship here in Albury, on just $400 a week, that would have been impossible to achieve."

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