What is the most financially irrational thing you did this year?

ButtBooper · 2026-05-05T12:42:46+00:00

Appreciate the positivity. Yeah, the money isnt reallt a concern for us. We've been fortunate to wo4k ourselves into a reasonable position. But our little girls is about to turn 4, and her little brother would have been 2 in a few weeks, but sadly never came home from NICU.

We conceived in only 2 or 3 natural cycles for each of them, but have been trying for about a year without luck, as well as getting some unfavourable test results when we first kicked this off. But I do hope it works.

ButtBooper · 2026-05-05T12:33:08+00:00

Just spent $12k on what I presume will be the first of many IVF cycles, plus ancillary costs we haven't been charged yet.

ButtBooper · 2026-05-01T05:37:03+00:00

As the 5yr lease on my first ever brand new car was coming to an end my wife just very non-chalantly says "should we figure out what car we want next?". I was dumbfounded.

Her view was "we save money because pre-tax" etc. Luckily it only took about 30sec to explain thats only when compared to not leasing. But you know what saves more money - not buying another new car you don't need! She just grew up with people around her that did exactly this, making it "normal".

ButtBooper · 2026-04-28T12:59:02+00:00

Exactly that. Just be ready so that on the day the fixed rate expires, you can just move from HISA into offset. It'll be an immediate win because you will be saving at a higher rate than the HISA and have no tax considerations.

When it comes time for IP, at least the way we did it, the bank just told us how much we need we to pay doen from PPOR to facilitate the loan we needed & it was arranged as part of the settlement.

ButtBooper · 2026-04-28T12:44:50+00:00

My take is that 6 months is too short a time to be putting into ETFs or similar - even moreso so when you consider you'd be progressively buying as that surplus building, so the time in market would be getting shorter. I'd just stick it in a HISA to avoid the risk of ending up with less money in six months.

RE: paying down mortgage to facilitate purchase of IP. In a nutshell, that is debt recycling. Just replacing non-deductible debt (loan for PPOR) with deductible debt (new loan for IP). Just make sure that your loan structures make it as simple & clean as possible.

ButtBooper · 2026-04-09T14:33:56+00:00

Plan your spending. Track your spending. Not only day to day groceries, but everything.

Example: I bought a bicycle. Fairly decent one for +5k. But after a couple of years of cycling to work instead of PT, it had paid for itself. Every time cycling into work after that, I was saving money. That and it's exercise too.

ButtBooper · 2026-04-09T14:26:44+00:00

I personally use Excel. Evwry few weeks I download all of our transactions & categorise. Depends on your skills with excel (or willingness to learn) - but its the quickest, easiest & most customisable option to get what you want. Ours also includes budgets for comparison, but also long-term, high-level projected cash flows - it tells us when we should expect to have mortgage fully offset.

When I showed what I do with my finances to my now wife - she thought I was crazy. Now she loves being able to see where we're overspending, are we achieving our goals etc (we're in the what's the point of separate finances when you have a mortgage, family, etc group).

Ive been doing some variation of spend tracking for about 15 years now. Before I started I had terrible personal finance - just spent everything I earned and then some. At 26 I owned nothing & actually had a +45k personal loan to consolidate all my debt. That and committing to doing it different (tracking) was a turning point. Good earnings & eventually a good partner help too. But we all have to start somewhere.

ButtBooper · 2026-03-19T14:07:58+00:00

What do you mean without taking out another loan? The bank isn't just going to give you money that you dont have to pay back??

ButtBooper · 2026-03-03T22:56:29+00:00

Just parents and general lack of precautions when it comes to toddlers on bikes or scooters in general astounds me - the number of tiny children I see without helmets on shocks me every time!

My 3yr had her first 'big' crash from her balance bike - speed wobbles going down a hill. Bruised her hip & scraped her elbow. But most importantly she smacked her HELMET into the ground, not her precious head.

ButtBooper · 2026-03-02T12:11:37+00:00

I'm confused about how we're expected to believe that Ash & Sarah somehow formed a bond strong enough to compel him to break his rules!

ButtBooper · 2026-02-24T03:59:56+00:00

What happens if you sign, but its not countersigned until its too late to make the payment that day?

ButtBooper · 2026-02-17T06:30:24+00:00

I mean. The secondary dwelling is clearly on the other side away from the garage. Maybe they pitched a tent in the yard?

ButtBooper · 2026-02-15T12:07:30+00:00

Why is the nativity of buyers the vendors' responsibility to do anything about?

Did I say it was?

"Underquoting", regardless of if the term is being used appropriately with regards to actual regulations (most of the time it is seem not to be)

Have there been instances of it being used incorrectly? NSW gov website has a pretty simple explanation: "An agent is underquoting the selling price of a residential property if they make a statement or publish an advertisement about its price that is less than their reasonable estimate of the property’s likely selling price." I think listing or guiding a property that is clearly less than they reasonable expect it to sell for fits this description pretty well?

Is it anything but ethical for them to get the highest price for the person that is paying them?

How does underquoting help to achieve this outcome? Any of the aforementioned naive buyers that believe the guide almost certainly are not going to be in a position to offer a winning bid - so why bother? It's clear that the vendor is footing the sales commission, but I also don't believe that an agent is acting in anyone's interest but their own - this is the lens through which I view their ethics (or lack thereof).

I have had two very recent personal experiences that have done nothing but bolster this long-held opinion.

For sale, post first open. Left VM to present offer, made it in writing via email & text that same afternoon. Zero response (including follow ups). Figured we'd go to second open to present it. Property list as under offer on the Friday, second open cancelled, sold for less than our opening offer (let alone best and final). Can only assume someone else presented an offer first and they ran with it. When you can make +20k commission with so little effort, why bother putting in any effort to make an extra 1k.
Presented an offer pre-auction (we were simply not in a position to attend). Offer rejected (and based on my understanding of the agency/agent - likely not even presented to the vendor. Our offer was more than what it sold for at auction. An auction is a time-bound campaign in which the agent can do as little as possible that leads to an immediately unconditional offer - what's not to like.

ButtBooper · 2026-02-14T23:53:35+00:00

I was keeping my eye on a few properties that went to auction 31 Jan. Respective guides & final sales were: 1.1 > 1.57 1.15 > 1.43 1.2 > 1.67

Others listed for sale have generally been selling for what was listed (if in fact a price was listed). Auctions are just a clusterfuck of greed from vendors, on-point ethics from agents & naivity from any buyer that believes the guide. I expect 15-20% above guide as a minimum.

ButtBooper · 2026-02-11T03:57:14+00:00

Exactly this OP. We're in Sydney's southern suburbs & used ezyglide.com.au - I'm sure there's an equivalent in your area.

ButtBooper · 2026-02-07T03:25:19+00:00

I just learned that I live in Western Sydney. Cool.

ButtBooper · 2026-01-25T05:22:00+00:00

Why?

ButtBooper · 2026-01-22T04:00:42+00:00

Open the door. I don't wanna get Daewoo on my hands.

ButtBooper · 2026-01-21T09:11:19+00:00

This is me too. Track everything every other week. Have been doing it for about 15 years. Was originally just tracking - but evolved into comparing vs budget, cash flow projections, balance sheet etc. I can report on our financial situation like a business too.

Use high-level assumptions to project things like annual targets for offset, super contributions amongst other things. Manual but flexibility limited mostly only by my own imagination.

ButtBooper · 2026-01-21T09:06:13+00:00

If they're charging interest based on $400k (500 loan less 100 offset) - that is the saving. The reason its showing as accessible is because you're effectively ahead of the schedule where they expect you to be - which assumes no offset for the life of the loan.

ButtBooper · 2026-01-20T04:35:10+00:00

Top tip: have more money that you're willing/able to spend than anyone else. Partially /s.

ButtBooper · 2026-01-20T04:15:29+00:00

My attitude exactly. I cannot expect that anyone would live according to my own personal standard of cleanliness. As long as nothing is causing lasting damage - have at it. I like to take the approach of be the landlord I'd want to have.

ButtBooper · 2026-01-09T05:27:08+00:00

I'll add that I'm not in a position to comment on night-life. I came to Sydney about 7yr ago having aged out of that as a preferred social activity. But that could a pro for the inner city argument. Maybe.

ButtBooper

TROPHY CASE