KEY POINTS:
Depressed about the rising cost of living? Crack open a beer, eat a chocolate bar, and forget about the morning after _ cheap pain relief will be close at hand.
An informal Weekend Herald survey shows a cold can of lager has scarcely gone up in price for more than a decade.
And while vegetable prices might have pushed salad off the shopping list, a king-sized chocolate bar can be yours for less than a stump of lettuce and a cucumber.
Salad ingredients pushed the price of food to new highs this month, with statisticians singling out lettuce (up 32.4 per cent) and cucumber (up 27.9 per cent) as the biggest culprits.
Chocolate has shirked rising milk and cocoa costs to stay temptingly cheap.
A king-sized block of Whittakers was selling this week for $2.99, a step up in price from recent specials offering two Cadbury blocks for $5. And if you're not too health-conscious, a beer is also well within reach.
Twelve years ago, Liquorland advertised a popular brand of twist tops on special for $12 a dozen. By this week, a savvy shopper could expect to pay $15 for the same drop.
And if all that sounds like a morning headache waiting to happen, rest easy. Panadol is a steal at less than 20c a tablet, less than a few sweets at the dairy.
