Linda Hall: Getting bang for your buck

Linda Hall

I never thought I'd see the day when I could carry $120 worth of groceries from the car to the house in one trip.

I've done it twice now - last Saturday and again this Saturday. The first time it was easy and when I mentioned it to someone at work they suggested I needed to buy more canned food and less loo paper.

This Saturday it was a bit harder. The bags were heavy but I still did it.

I can remember when the back seat of my car was covered in grocery bags and it cost me only $100. It would take me four or five trips from car to house.

Yes, it is a sign of the times, inflation and all that, but what really annoys me is the sneaky way some brands get you to buy more.

About the middle of last year I noticed the cat food sachets I had been buying for ages were suddenly smaller. The price was the same but there was definitely a size change. Nothing was written, no notice was given that consumers were getting less product for the same price.

I have since changed brands. Tissue boxes have gotten smaller and loo paper doesn't seem to last as long.

Then last week when I opened a new bottle of dishwashing liquid and squeezed some into the sink, I thought "heck, I must have squeezed too hard" because a big squirt came out.

When it happened the next time, I looked at the top of the bottle and I swear the hole is bigger. A cunning plan to get consumers to use more without changing the size of the vessel.

What's more, it's working. I've been putting the same amount of pressure on a dishwashing bottle for years and years.

It's a habit you learn, how hard to squeeze to get just enough.

It's so ingrained in me that I have been doing it all week and every time I do it I end up with too many bubbles.

At least Cadbury had the decency to tell consumers it intended to downsize its chocolate bars.

I really wish other manufacturers would be as open and honest with us. It may seem like a trivial thing but when it's all added up, we consumers are the losers again.

Speaking of buying groceries, have you been to the supermarket this Easter?

I wasn't organised enough to stay away. It was crazy. People and cars everywhere. It wasn't just the supermarkets doing a roaring trade, either. Hawke's Bay has been buzzing all weekend.

The gorgeous weather is a big drawcard, I'm sure.

So, Happy Easter everyone. I hope you enjoy the last of your four-day weekend today. I'll leave you with a little story about Easter told to me by Miss 4: "Jesus is God's son and he died on the X. People took him up a hill and put him on the X with some nails. But he came back to life. So if you are ever feeling sad or lonely you just need to call out to him and he will come and walk beside you. Actually he is in this car with us, you just can't see him because he is invisible. He is everywhere."

-Linda Hall is assistant editor at Hawke's Bay Today.