Cost of living will be “front and centre” of Labor’s budget ahead of the federal election, as new data shows the price of an average basket of groceries has soared since the Albanese government won power three years ago.

According to research by comparison website Finder, grocery spending reached a record high in January this year.

A household comprising a couple with two children spends an average of $270 per week on groceries, or around $14,000 a year, it found.

Finance Minister Katy Gallagher said the budget, to be handed down next week, would follow the same path as the previous three delivered with a focus on driving down inflation and helping households.

“The fourth Albanese budget will have a higher premium on responsible economic management,” she told reporters in Canberra on Monday.

“Of course, cost of living will be front and centre making sure that we are supporting households where we can now that we’re seeing inflation come back to the more normal range.”

Finder research, published on March 5 and involving more than 1000 people, also found 80 per cent of Australians were trying to reduce their grocery bills by cutting back on non-essential items, switching to cheaper brands and using coupons.

Cabinet minister Tanya Plibersek said the government is keeping pressure on the supermarket sector.

“We keep saying to those supermarkets they have got to do something at the checkout because families are really feeling those grocery price increases,” she told Seven’s Sunrise program.

“We’re proud of the fact that we have brought inflation down from six per cent, which we inherited under the Liberals, to just over two per cent.

“But there’s still more to do to make sure that people are feeling a bit of relief at the supermarket checkout.”

Coalition MP Barnaby Joyce said Labor’s energy policy was to blame for the rises.

“We have to look at the fundamentals that underpin the reason why grocery prices are going up, why people’s cost of living is running away, and one of the fundamentals is the cost of energy,” he told Sunrise.