First off travelling has not been a thing in australia for a long time....now that people can travel overseas thought it would be good...my daughter had such a hard time getting out of australia...she booked her tickets online and everything was good but then on her way home (in a month) they delayed her flight in hawaii by 24 hours today...which means the 2 connecting flights in australia would have to be changed...because they just let her know like 3 hours before she left they made her buy a new expensive ticket as she had to have a return ticket before she left the country...and their offices weren't open...she was so stressed...the ticket was twice as much...they wouldn't let her just change the last 2 flights which were in australia and then they said that it would take 3 months to refund her money...we are not happy...so she bought the new ticket...and is on her way to hawaii..then to la..etc...she said she would contact them once she got to where she staying in nebraska as she just wanted to relax and enjoy the trip there...but glad she is on her way...and hope she has a great holiday...even if it is winter there.
Now just wondering if people could suggest what they do in the next few questions
1. do you focus just on getting rid of debt and then save or do you do both at the same time?
2. what do you do or use to track you budget (if you have one) and do you attach it to your bank account etc (seen a couple of these)?
3. What are the best sites/books etc to learn how to invest?
4. do you think buying or renting is better?
Thankyou I am looking at doing things a bit differently and just wondered what others have done that has worked for them
February 3rd, 2022 at 08:48 pm 1643921336
1. I think you need to at least save an EF before anything else to help prevent having to take on new debt when something unexpected comes along.
After that, if there is any sort of employer sponsored retirement plan with a company match (if that's a thing in Australia), do your best to at least put in enough to get the full match.
You can never replace the value of time and compounding so it's important to save and pay down debt simultaneously.
4. There is no right answer. It all depends on your situation. I wouldn't buy unless I had the means to do so and planned to live in the home for a minimum of 5-10 years. If you don't expect to be there long, renting may be a better choice. If you can't afford the downpayment and ongoing expenses of ownership, renting may be a better choice.
February 4th, 2022 at 07:02 am 1643958134
We normally have a $2000 ice account although we need to get that back up...and that shouldn't take long..hopefully
I can't work and hubby is retired but they do have super over here that your employer pays into...and you can as well...but you can't touch it till your like 65-70 years old.
We don't have debt
We want to buy but in the city it's just to expensive...and can't go to far as we have lots of doc appts, price of gas is sky rocketing ($1.89 per litre) and renting is pretty much more expensive then a morg payment...its just the deposit because we have so many fees to pay upfront usually between $20-30,000 plus deposit...makes it hard...
Thanks for the info
February 4th, 2022 at 06:16 pm 1643998569
2. Budget by excel I find it hard to use personal capital and stuff. I probably should but really it's a pain.
3. Bogelheads forum
4. I think buying better but it really depends. What is stropping you from saving up the deposit? What creative ways can you think of to live cheap for a year or two to save the deposit? What options do you have for borrowing the deposit? I read of people doing things like live in a car, with a bunch of others, sharing home, getting another job to get out of debt or save.
I know a blogger who lived off her company to pay off her $100k student loan debt. She did not have an apartment but lived in hotels on weekends especially if the company paid since she was a consultant. If not then she would bum off her parents or friends. But she said that was cheaper than "rent and utilities" for a place she wasn't staying.
What can you sell? Could you pick up paper delivery, task rabbit, watch a child for extra money to save faster if you want to own? Creative ideas are hard but that's how people do if they want to get out of debt or buy a home. Maybe house sitting. Maybe selling everything and living in a trailer for a year.
I don't know but something outside the box might work. Or maybe really focusing on getting a better paying job. That's what people on the app blind suggest.
February 5th, 2022 at 02:27 am 1644028030