Soaring home mortgage and rental costs are triggering penny-pinching South Aussies to tighten the bag strings and reduce more discretionary costs, experts say.According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics information on home costs, South Australia has experienced the most significant drop of any state over the past month of any state.Its average home spend dropped 0.1 per cent over the past month– equal with the ACT and 2nd just to the NT where their spend dropped by 2.3 per cent.According to the data, monthly invest in liquors and tobacco dropped 1 per cent and clothes and footwear invest was down 1 per cent.The average spend on furnishings and family equipment was down by 1.6 per cent, while families saved 0.5 percent on the previous month’s invest in entertainment and culture.In what will come as a blow to the state’s tourist and hospitality industry, spend on hotels, coffee shops and dining establishments was also down by 1.8 per cent.Despite the cutbacks in some locations month-to-month spend on fuel stayed the same and, potentially reflecting a boost in living expenses, invest in food was up by 0.4 percent,
health 0.8 percent, and various goods and services 3.1 per cent.