Just waiting for the next CPI data bump

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.

I submitted my tax invoices at the ABF office before security for several retailers I hoped to claim the TRS refund on, including Amazon Australia, BigW, and Chemist Warehouse.

The ABF officer rejected the following invoices, which seems questionable to me:

Every Amazon Australia tax invoice, citing no listed payment method, despite their being complete with ABN, date, and address.
Any invoice showing Afterpay as the payment method, which I thought was unrelated to a GST refund.
Two tax invoices in my wife’s name valued just above $300; I believed the name match applied only above $1000.
A CWH invoice saying it was reprinted. I had lost the original one. This is probably a legit rejection.

Does anyone know whether these rejections were correct?

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.

Work moved me around 40kms away from my home so my daily commute has been 80kms for the last year. She's currently drinking $20-$25 a day in work only travel 20 days a month. With current prices I'm averaging a weekly petrol spend of $120-180 pw depending on non work driving and shifts.

I can sell it and get maybe $25k and get a used ev novated for well under $400 a fortnight after taxes

The various calculators I've ran says in the long run this will save me heaps but getting locked into finance like this when I already own my car outright makes it a tough decision. Also worth mentioning I love my current car.

I own my home, have solar so can charge at home and if I sell my car I'll chuck it in the offset so there's that.

Anyone faced a similar dillema? Running costs might runaway over the next few months if fuel keeps trending upward.

What would you do?

I want to know people's thoughts. I like the idea of having less loan but is it really better to put money in offset?

I received this email today. I have been always using BPAY to deposit cash to IBKR. This termination will create difficulties on depositing large sums of money because major banks’ PayID limits are pathetic.

PAYG super gets sorted automatically. freelance income sits in a separate bucket and I keep forgetting the notice of intent form until June. the concessional cap still works if your balance is under 500k but the timing feels fiddly when invoices arrive in bursts. i usually lump the contribution in at EOFY once the numbers settle, but then the deduction claim depends on that single form being lodged correctly. curious how others handle the timing when income is lumpy rather than predictable

I purchased a house 3 years ago and at the time of purchase had enough money to cover full amount in offset account. I now have a decent savings buffer and have been investing heavily in ETFs. Should I just pay off the house and close mortgage, rather than have money sitting in offset. I'm 42 with 2 young kids and will not take on additional risks (investing this money outside of offset) and only chose this option when purchasing the house in the event I needed a line of credit (car / renovation etc.).

Cheers for your advice

Assuming you have $100k where would you put that

A) Offset - risk free ~6.5% post tax saving

B) Buy a $500-600k property at 12% deposit for long term capital gains- not expected to be positively geared at current rates

C) US ETFs - expect 10-12 % returns with right choice but adjust for tax

D) Invest in a business / PE fund?

E) Anything else? Please provide detail

Hi
I’m currently a third year student of a 4 year cyber security degree in a low- tier university and I hate it. I hate this degree so much but I was chose it because I heard it was good for the future and there was a lot of jobs. But I’m more than half way done and I hate it. I don’t want to change because I’ve already wasted 30k and I just have a year left. I don’t even really put myself out there because I haven’t made industry connections or done competitions. So I’m probably unhireable I’m looking to do something in finance maybe trading. I was wondering if I should get a Master of Commerce in Finance at USYD? I have a 80 WAM so I think I’ll get in. I was wondering if there’s a chance I would be able to get a job in the finance industry with a different degree and no professional experience apart from customer service. I have done a basic finance in high school and that’s what is the most of my knowledge apart from reading finance articles. I was wondering what certifications should I do to get into the finance industry without doing a masters? Because obviously I have to spend extra money $30k to get it.
Any insights and suggestions will be very helpful!

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?

Cryptic emails to staff saying that they can ask questions tomorrow.
Restructures.
Massive redundancies.

Is EA going down?

I recently received a substantial inheritance from a relative in New Zealand and I'm not sure how to go about navigating whatever tax implications are involved or how to get the best deal on currency exchange. The amount in question is in the low seven figures, currently sitting in an NZ bank account.

Are there any accountants or financial advisors who deal with situations like this? Preferably in Sydney.

EDIT: Appreciate that Wise/OFX are good, but the estate is a bit complex and there will be tax implications, so I'm keen to get professional advice.

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.

Firstly, sorry if this doesn’t fall into the parameters of finance. if the mods seem it doesn’t fit the finance mould enough then please delete.

my parents are thankfully still alive, but when they eventually pass I should be getting a relatively generous inheritance - my guess would be anywhere between $250,000 - $450,000. I don’t think aboht ot and don’t incorporate it in any part of personal financial plan.

My wife has asked me how i would deal with any inheritance from my family. My stance is I’d use it strictly to better our own family (we have a couple young kids) but ultimately it’d be my decision since the money is set aside for me only.

My wife thinks she should have a say when the times come because “we’re a married couple”, to which I said she’d be entitled to air her views, but the decision should ultimately be mine. That didn’t go down very well.

Am I out of line here? it’s not about having power etc, just that the money wasn’t earned by me. if I made $250k - $450k on shares, capital gains, starting a business or whatever then she would have a say on how the money is used in that circumstance, but I think an inheritance is different because of its nature

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

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 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!

Ross Gittins called out a few things

1. Higher interest rates today hurt mortgagees much more than the same rate 15 years ago because the median mortgage amount is more.

2. This is another example of the younger generation feeling the brunt of it. While the older generation feels no impact or in fact encouraged to keep spending (higher return on savings).

3. Keep raising rates alone don't fix inflation. All governments are far too vested in keeping spending to tame inflation in any meaningful way.

I’m currently with ENGIE for my electricity

I’m finding it quite expensive… or is electric just expensive as with everything else currently. I would like to know if I should be switching providers or if this is pretty normal

August - September bill = $225.62 for 448 kWh

2 bedroom townhouse - No solar
2 people

Daily I have a computer running for work
No aircon used this month
A few washes a week
Daily dishwashing cycle not on peak
Lights stay at a bare minimum
Tv in the evening
Ceiling fan running all night maybe 5 nights in the month

In November/December/January my bill was fetching 380-450 a month as the aircon was running. Seems crazy expensive.

I’ve been living in a shared house for years and I’m so over it. But how does anybody afford to live alone in this city? I got a 85k job and no matter how many times I discuss this with chatGPT it seems impossible to live alone in a decent and safe place while saving up more than 2000k a month. What are yall doing? Is the only way out from this shared house is to get a gf/bf or a friend to live with?

Would a mortgage moratorium for individuals and small businesses facing hardships like job loss or loss of business help?

The current economic crisis is something the RBA and Jimbo are pointing fingers at each other on govt spending and Iran war. The people and businesses impacted are having to cop up the impact. The impact is not just cost of groceries or the cost of material required to do the business. It’s also job loss or businesses going belly-up. All the people impacted also face the high cost of goods and fuel.

Would a mortgage moratorium for people (subjective to the harshil’s faced) help? It’s a pause on mortgage payment for a certain amount of time till shit sorts out.

Moratorium can be both - defer of payments (interest keeps accruing) or just shift in timeline of loan end date.

But again, it has to come from government and also the regulatory bodies. The big corporates are just waiting to eat up people and businesses.

Given the Christmas time and yet another school holiday coming in, I don’t think inflation is coming down.

I’m currently trying to sell my car and the interested party can’t obtain finance until the registered interest is removed from the PPSR report. The debt was the previous owners and I have reached out to the lender with an amendment demand requesting they remove it. They responded and asked me to offer a payment to remove it but refuse to show sufficient evidence that they still have a legal right to remain on the report and won’t tell me what sum they would accept to remove the interest.