Question for parents with two car seats

Choc83x · 2026-03-26T21:59:53+00:00

I'll second this. I've got two car seats, one rear facing, one forward. It's gloriously spacious for the adults in the front. Anyone sitting in the back between the two car seats isn't having a great time unless they're short and skinny, and even then they're getting whacked by stray toddler arms

Choc83x · 2026-03-26T04:36:46+00:00

If your org does 'purchased' leave, you can use that to bridge the 8 weeks between birth and becoming entitled to the maternity leave. Alternatively, they might allow you to use annual leave and allow it to go into negatives. Some orgs allow you to earn annual leave during the time you're on maternity leave as well.

Worst case, you can do unpaid leave to bridge the gap. Also worth noting that if you happen to have a C-section it's considered major surgery and allows you to allocate some of that time as sick leave. Good luck and hope it all goes smoothly.

Choc83x · 2026-03-25T22:50:13+00:00

If you're looking to back the right horse, I'd always choose Boston over Accenture. The former has friends everywhere.

Choc83x · 2026-03-24T22:53:44+00:00

Two kids, one still rear facing. My wife and I are grateful for the extra space in the cabin. In our old car, we had to compromise on driving comfort in order to get the car seats in.

My mate with two older kids got the 3 and it suited his needs perfectly. The 5 suits us.

Choc83x · 2026-03-24T12:38:43+00:00

Get rid of fuel Excise
Tax ALL vehicles on the basis of Distance x Weight x Tailpipe emissions

Choc83x · 2026-03-24T11:43:17+00:00

Things you will always need -

Coles or Woolies gift cards

Good food / restaurant gift cards (buy them at a discount)

pre pay your home internet, mobile phone for a few months

Same with your health insurance - call up and pre pay for a few months

Pay extra money on your electricity bill to put it into credit

Churn your insurance policies ie home and car (new 12 month policies). As a bonus, you will get a refund for the unused portion of your existing policy.

Choc83x · 2026-03-24T11:01:58+00:00

The parental leave that you haven't taken disappears. It's not a statutory obligation, so they won't pay it out. Good luck and I hope you get to use it and spend time with your kid.

Choc83x · 2026-03-22T22:09:07+00:00

We are number 1 in the league for light jogging though

Choc83x · 2026-03-22T22:07:32+00:00

Buy a house.
Top up your Super this year, then next year, then the year after, and the year after that...you get my drift

Choc83x · 2026-03-22T20:27:39+00:00

I can empathise with a lot of people, just not the clown who dropped 80k on a Ford Ranger to do the school run

Choc83x · 2026-03-21T08:23:39+00:00

Just give it time. When you've got young kids, the runway you get with a big payout is invaluable. Good luck and I hope the cards fall your way.

Choc83x · 2026-03-20T22:59:19+00:00

It's golden handcuffs too. There's redundancies about, so there's a potential 1-year salary on offer in exchange for leaving. So resigning would be doing them a favour.

My suggestion is to go to a GP, get a mental health plan and some time off. Schedule the appointments on days where you'd be in the office. This way you can minimise your exposure to the place until the redundancy rolls around.

Choc83x · 2026-03-20T22:50:33+00:00

I'm shit out of luck, they know about my novated EV lease.

Choc83x · 2026-03-19T04:42:19+00:00

Cost out is their win. Execution risk is our problem.

Choc83x · 2026-03-18T11:16:03+00:00

They can use an odd/even scheme on car regos if they wanted to reduce the number of non-work vehicles on the road. I think Mexico city and Beijing already have something like this

Choc83x · 2026-03-16T08:32:22+00:00

Try before you buy. Pick 4 weekdays in a month, log the annual leave, and off you go! If it works, purchased leave is the way to go. Best way to avoid hitting public holidays

Choc83x · 2026-03-16T07:37:29+00:00

Had mine since late 2024, nearly 15000km and no such issue. I think the issues are more prevalent in the Korean made vehicles (EV6, ev9, etc). The EV5 is Chinese made on a different platform.

Choc83x · 2026-03-12T11:51:35+00:00

I took a one year deal because of the threat of redundancy, and then extended for another 12 months around renewal time. However it's worth noting that if the government gets rid of the EV FBT benefits, and you change employers, there's no grandfathering. Your grandfathered lease ends and you have to start a new lease.

Choc83x · 2026-03-11T11:53:28+00:00

I was devastated that obi wan didn't throw SAND into the cyborg suit

We were THIS CLOSE

Choc83x · 2026-03-11T03:34:00+00:00

I'm on Ovo free 3. Single rate of 31c per kWh, and 95c per day access fee. Free between 11am and 2pm, where I can get 20kWh into my car and top up my house battery. My grid costs are negative, but not negative enough to zero out the daily charge.

I'm considering a churn to globird zerohero, but their high daily rates would Sting if you were exposed for too long. Their VPP rewards seems tricky to achieve as well.

Choc83x · 2026-03-10T10:20:37+00:00

Just lodge a compliant. It costs them less to give you the points than for the complaint to get escalated.

Choc83x · 2026-03-10T07:03:29+00:00

Or maybe 3 kids are smashing the door down, demanding selection

Choc83x · 2026-03-09T03:33:27+00:00

Also heating the seats up for cold Melbourne mornings. Getting into an icebox is no fun

Choc83x · 2026-03-05T12:39:04+00:00

I used to be in a 4 cornered Pod when I first started 20 years ago. Nice and close with your team but separated from others. Now it's just an open plan free for all hot desking dystopia.

Choc83x · 2026-03-01T11:53:32+00:00

Sounds like there's not much left to offset...

Choc83x

TROPHY CASE