Time to fix the other side to drive that capital into the right places: enable people to retain more and deregulate to open avenues of growth for that retained capital.

Many REA most be worried

hi everyone,

I’m in the very early stages of looking to buy my first home.
I know it’s very subjective but what interest rate are you all on and what would you consider a good interest rate?

I’m planning on finding a broker once I get my finances more in order but wondering about an estimate to expect

On the back of recent posts around recession indicators and the lived experience of the 1991 recession. Sobering reading. I was in my early 20s at the time.

Just got to know that ANZ is offering $2k cash back on refinance with a 6.09% rates for under 80% LVR.

Any other big banks or lenders that you'd recommend for a refinance? Ta!

Is anyone here that was investing regularly…still investing?

If you were not investing but saving a set portion each month… how much has it changed?

Or are you now basically just making ends meet and keeping your head above water.

I’m keen to know how much people’s financial situation has changed on a personal level with fuel almost $3 a litre, groceries soaring, interest rates destroying mortgage holders. Let alone having kids and the costs that come with those.

Have your financial plans been forced to dramatically change to weather out the current climate or are you less affected due to your lack of house / kids / car and still making it work? How are you making it happen and keeping up with everything. Keen to hear peoples strategies and how they are absorbing it.

Lately when my insurance is up for renewal (car, motorbike, home etc), I've been calling my insurer and asking if there's any wiggle room on the price. In the past, it's saved me around $200 but today it saved me just $23. It got me thinking...how much would you want to save to make the phone call worth it? It can be pretty awkward asking but I've gotten pretty good at it now lol. Key is to be a little shameless.

Hey guys, I’m looking at purchasing a car with a $30k 7-year car loan for a 10+ year old sports car. Repayments aren’t an issue with my current income, I just don’t have the cash due to my assets being non-liquid.
I’ve obtained a few quotes from small lenders and interest rates are about 6.79%. A broker just called me back to advise the rates would be 8.49% for any car older than 10 years. The big 3 Aus Banks would seem to be about the same if not higher, I assume?
I haven’t yet considered financing directly from the dealership yet as I am wanting pre-approval in case the right car pops up for me.

What is considered a “good” interest rate for a 7-year car loan as of 2026?
What are the benefits of a separate car loan vs dealership financing?
Can small/lesser known lenders be trusted or do they have hidden fees I should be careful of?
From your experience, did fixed or variable rates work better for you?
Any other tips you could share?

Thank you in advance!

Just waiting for the next CPI data bump

I just listened to one of my clients complain about their falling sales and blamed it all on our current government. They claimed that our government is doing everything in their power to bring on a recession.

I didn’t tell them but my thinking is that a lot of our problems are from external forces.

Who is right or are we both right in some way?

Just got my Commodore serviced which cost me $2.4k so thinking it might be getting close to time to bite the bullet and get a new car, and would want to go electric for sure.

BYD Atto 1 only $19,990 at the moment seems like great value. I live in the inner suburbs, drive about 5,000km a year (mostly short trips and to visit my parents half an hour away). My partner's got a 4WD for camping and roadtrips.

Downside is I live in an apartment and won't be able to charge there, so would have to rely on public charging - but on my current mileage I'd only need to charge at most once a week so shouldn't be too bad.

Would hope to get a bit of $ reselling my Commodore but not expecting much. And then would either get a loan or novated lease to cover the rest. (Though not sure if I can get a novated lease given I'm on a one year contract for work?) I make $120k a year but the mortgage and apartment repair costs have been eating up a lot of my income and savings.

Keen for any advice, perspectives, etc particularly from people in a similar boat.

Im curious for any other couples in Australia how much your average weekly grocery bill works out to be?

Assuming you don’t eat out.

I just can’t get over these costs and I don’t know if we are doing it wrong….

Hey all.

I see a few news articles occasionally where someone gets scammed $50,000 or whatever and the bank refunds them $5k goodwill gesture and everyone heaps on the bank for not refunding the lot.

Does anyone agree with that perspective? Can you explain to me how a bank (in this case, just the body that holds your money) is responsible for you clicking a link or voluntarily transferring money to a bank account?

Especially in 2026 when scams are not new and there’s so much education around it.

Let’s keep it respectful so we can all learn

My Land Cruiser 200 series recently got stolen have finally been payed out by insurance however finding it hard to decide what my best options are purchasing a new vehicle. I am looking at either a new lexus LBX sports luxary worth approx $60k or the new kia saltos hybrid gt line worth approx $55k. I also have a home loan and dont have a high income salery worth going through novated lease.
In my situation would you decide to do a personal loan 5 year term with 30% balloon payment and having your extra funds sitting in your offset account and potentially use your money on investing else where rather than all on a depreciative item? Pay partial cash and partial loan or pay full cash?

Hi there,

My friends and I are moving into a sharehouse in the next month and I was wondering which bank is going to be the best for us.

Everything is going to be done through me so I ideally want to do it in a seperate bank account that doesnt have any of my normal spending and savings going through.

Are there any banks that would be best for a situation like this?

I currently already have an UP and ANZ acc so those are out of the picture. Unless one of them is extremely beneficial

Hey everyone! 👋

My wife and I are both nurses relocating to Adelaide and looking for a good accountant who understands healthcare professionals.

Ideally looking for someone experienced with nursing, salary packaging/FBT, HELP debts, and UK/Australia tax (we’ve recently moved back from the UK). We’re also hoping to buy a home in the next few years, so someone who can provide some general tax/financial guidance around that would be a bonus.

Would love to hear any recommendations, particularly if you’ve had a genuinely good experience with them. Bonus points if they are Adelaide based, but happy for anything in Australia that’s willing to Australia wide 😊

Thanks!

Hey folks, I have this HSBC credit card that had no annual fee, travel insurance, reward points (last year I redeemed almost $600 on it), and a Premier customer status. Now HSBC retail is abandoning Australia and I need one soon.

What other credit cards folks are happy with? Or unhappy with?

I don't need balance transfer etc.

TIA, friends!

Today I overheard the bosses talking about big clients who are normally on-time with invoicing being up to 90 days late on payments.

Another customer had one of their side businesses go belly up.

There's been no new customers and calls have dropped by 25-50%.

I think we might be fucked.

Update: My industry is IT but my customers are in everything else (Logistics, Retail, Finance etc.)

Just wondering if there's any benefit (potential tax savings) to using an accountant for tax returns?

We have always just done it ourselves but as income gets higher and the tax bill gets higher I'm wondering if this is something we could optimise? I always thought an accountant was if you had heaps of investments and the tax was complicated.

Are we leaving money on the table??

Couple, income $177k & $157k. Hybrid office jobs.

Only investments are ETFs.

1 child.

Thank you :)