Rising petrol costs and increasing mortgage expenses are but two of the factors putting pressure on families around the country.

Those watching their pennies most carefully will be thinking twice before putting "extras" in their supermarket trolleys.

Yesterday, the government offered a helping hand, of sorts, with the launch of its GROCERYchoice website.

The site gives a comparison of supermarket prices across the country.

The list of items and locations of supermarkets is comprehensive, though it is not without its faults.

It will, for instance, only update once a month, meaning some prices could be out of date reasonably quickly.

How useful the site will be, and whether or not consumers will respond in great numbers, remains to be seen.

What we do know, however, is that smart shopping will make a difference to the bottom line.

Encouraged by www.GROCERYchoice.gov.au, The Courier did its own mini-audit of local supermarkets yesterday.

The results, published today, show that some significant savings can be made by doing a bit of research first.

Gentleman footballer hangs up his boots

IN A week when the AFL got front page publicity that it neither wanted nor needed, it was refreshing yesterday to change focus to a positive element of the game.

Not that the retirement of St Kilda's Robert Harvey is anything to be pleased about in itself, but it does bring attention to what is great about AFL.

Harvey announced yesterday that, after 21 seasons, it was time to hang up the boots.

He is, unquestionably, one of the game's greatest ambassadors. His character, both on and off the field, was among the finest the game has ever seen.

Robert Harvey is someone younger players in the game - players like Collingwood's Heath Shaw and Alan Didak - should look to for inspiration.

He is everything an AFL player should be, and the game is richer for his involvment, poorer for his retirement.