You should tell these people, for example:

HOUSEHOLDERS will have to find up to $600 more to meet soaring energy and water bills next year.

A significant portion of the spike in annual utility bills is the increase in the cost of water - almost $300 more a year for a family of five - to fund Adelaide's $1.83 billion desalination plant, according to the state's peak welfare body.

The SA Council of Social Services (SACOSS) said many people already were making sacrifices to meet the rise in basic cost of living bills.

Families were not running heaters and airconditioners, not sending their children on school excursions and even skipping meals.