Barnaby Joyce insists he’s not crying poor after saying he can’t afford to go out for dinner and that buying coffee is a “treat”.

The former deputy pm gets paid $211,000 a year and can claim a significant amount of costs back from the taxpayer.

Despite this, Mr Joyce gave an interview saying he is killing his own meat, buying the cheapest groceries, not going out for dinner, turning off his heater (even in winter) and trying to fix things himself to save a dollar.

The backbencher has raised his struggles to explain why he’s calling for an increase to unemployment benefits.

Mr Joyce tells Steve Price he’s not asking for sympathy from anyone.

“There should be none because I’m on a very good wage, I’m certainly not skint.

“What I’m basically getting through is, obviously by my own circumstances, I’ve got two families.

“It’s not that I’m skint but things are a little bit tighter than one would expect and I’ve got to make ends meet.

“And that gives me a real sense of how on earth does someone get by on $280 a week on Newstart.”

Click PLAY below to hear the full interview

Image: Getty/Tracey Nearmy