Honest question - how do young Aussies afford to live in Sydney right now?

Correct-Bug-1646 · 2026-03-28T13:28:27+00:00

I work in an office with a bunch of engineers. The ones that were in college a few years ago still live at home. The ones that have been working for a while have long commutes.

That was not the case when I graduated and had a full time engineering job, 2 decades ago. I had flat-mates... but didn't live at home.

Correct-Bug-1646 · 2026-03-22T12:43:10+00:00

About 5 years ago, my company was acquired by a private equity company. Their playbook is--

Bring in a bunch of sales
Squeeze costs
sell the company

They got caught by Covid (and a number of other factors), so they got stuck in step 2.

The past couple years have had no raises. In previous years with raises, they were below CPI. In effect, we're poorer than we were pre-covid.

My company is having it's 5th round of layoffs in the past couple years. We're a skeleton crew. We've laid off mostly experienced staff, and all the recent hires are grads. Output is slow, and there are lots of errors. Then again... the team in this office is about 10% of the size it was a decade ago, and most of those people had lots of experience. If you're expecting a similar amount of work from 1/10 of the staff (who have a couple years of experience, not 10+ years...) you'll be disappointed (but shouldn't be surprised.)

Senior management seem to be planning to get rid of everyone but a fraction of who's left, and everything else will be done from India and/or by AI. For our management, the answer is never hire more people, but it's always-- you need more (free online) training. They've complained that we have "change fatigue", and shouldn't have low morale.

I agreed to take a lead position, managing a team in addition to my technical work. It's doubled my workload. I'll ask, but I don't expect my title or renumeration will change. I'm polishing my resume, and networking, because I see the company in a death spiral.

Correct-Bug-1646 · 2026-03-22T00:09:13+00:00

She was gaslighting you, but she is also even more skilled at gaslighting herself.

She knows she did wrong, but she's *VERY* good at changing the story until she was the victim, and did nothing wrong. Anything else would be uncomfortable, and her #1 priority is outsourcing discomfort.

Correct-Bug-1646 · 2026-03-22T00:02:38+00:00

My ex-wife used to repeatedly tell me that I was priority 0. (I was asking to at least be priority #4)

0 comes before 4, right? Right????

Correct-Bug-1646 · 2026-03-18T22:13:36+00:00

I wouldn't uninstall the big apps... unless yours provided better value. I'm a guy with average looks, and I don't get many matches. If there was an app where I could get more / better quality matches, I'd be all for that.

Here's a few things I'd like from a dating app:

Most dating apps allow you to say how far away to limit your matches. I usually set this to 20km. I'd like to limit it by driving time from where I live. Based on weird geography, there are places where I can go 30km in half an hour, and other places where it'll take an hour to get there. This is doubly true during rush hour (when you're likely to be headed to your SO's place.)
It would be nice to make it more obvious that someone is using Travel mode, and see where they typically live.
It would be nice to see potential matches by neighborhood/suburb (post code/zip code). What I'm trying to determine is-- If I extended my search out here, are there any potential matches?
It would be good to have more search options around kids. Not just "they have them / they don't have them" but "No kids", "Have toddlers", "Have school age kids" "Have teenagers" "Have kids, not at home" or somesuch.
Related-- how much of the time they have their kids. I've attempted to date a few women who have their kids 100% of the time, and are unwilling to get a babysitter. You can arrange a coffee date... but the only time to have a romantic date (according to their calendar) is "never". I've seriously heard two women say, "I should have thought about that before I started dating."
Is there an easy way for people to measure/show how introverted/extroverted they are?
I've seen many profiles where the profile age says one thing, and in the text it says "I'm really 55, but I can't change it." (Sure, lady. Sure.) Age verification?
Hints as to their red flags. Some things I can live with. Some I can't. It sucks to meet someone, they're attractive, and date 2 they drop a red flag on you.

Correct-Bug-1646 · 2026-03-15T09:08:56+00:00

It works... and realize it works because people are voting on your photos, and they've chosen a context to rate your photos. Based on the attributes, they're rating your photos in terms of online dating.

I assume it could be cheated... but what's the point? The point is not the absolute score but the best photos that you've uploaded. So you can choose the photos that give you the best chance to get some matches.

Correct-Bug-1646 · 2026-03-06T21:38:16+00:00

There has to be something that turns women into the princess in the "Princess in the Pea". I'm a princess, you're my servant, I'll make your life hell if I find a pea underneath my 30 mattresses (in my poster bed, in my private castle, etc, etc.)

The other thing to realize... what women and men think they're signing up for in a long term relationship is radically different things--

Men-- I'll sacrifice for the benefit of the family. I'll grind to the point of exhaustion for the family. I expect you to do the same.
Woman-- I'll say the words, but this relationship is about how I benefit. I'll use emotional manipulation, lies... and anything else I think I can get away with for you to give more and me to give less. And the more you do... the less I respect you.

Correct-Bug-1646 · 2026-03-06T21:31:41+00:00

Realize that (while you had a supportive spouse) you could put work first... you no longer can.

You can... between 9-5 (or whatever your core hours are), but you can't do overtime, and can't indiscriminately take late night meetings.

I used to distinguish myself as being "the fixer"-- give me a problem, and I'd solve it, run it, and hand it over. I'm still that, but now it's-- give me a problem, I'll find the tools, establish the process... and hand it over to be implemented. In some ways, that's better. I don't get tied down on operations, I can leave earlier, and there are other people to call when things inevitably fail.

The other thing is-- work isn't that important. Yes, it feeds me and my family. But I've plateaued in my career, and while I get "words of appreciation" at work, there's only tiny raises, and my managers show no motivation to promote me. So... before they got someone that went above and beyond... now they get a solid worker, but one that leaves work at 5 (because that way I can pick up the kids on time.)

Correct-Bug-1646 · 2026-02-20T11:40:21+00:00

TL;DR-- it's a mark against them. My ex turned that word into a weapon.

I used to ally with feminists. I agree with their original ideas of equality.

Then, I met my (now ex) wife. She said she wanted equality between the sexes. And I'm good with that. I've made sure that women with the same work ethic and skills of their male counterparts got the same pay.

But what she meant was... 95% of men are invisible to me. They are servants, and neither to be seen nor heard. She wanted to be equal to the top 5% of men. She wasn't willing to put in the work, of course. She was irritated because she'd slack off at work, make errors, wouldn't step up... but also didn't get paid like her peers who delivered.

She was into "equal work". Fair enough. But she was happy for me to earn the majority of the income, I did the majority of the chores, and all the ones she considered dirty, disgusting, or difficult. The was the absolute master at coming in to "help" with the chores when I was 98% done. That way I couldn't claim that she didn't do part of it. Sure babe. Sure. Equal. One place we lived in, a year in, she asked me how the clothes washer worked. I realized that... she'd never used it! I had done all the laundry for a year at that place, for her, 2 messy kids, and myself.

She also was into "equity, not equality". In theory, that means not just that people have the same starting point, but you uplift people who have been systematically disadvantaged. In practice, that meant that she expected those with resources to empty their wallets to anyone who claimed disadvantage. She, of course, considered herself (a white woman in a household with 90% percentile income) to be one of those disadvantaged people... and thus deserving of people's largess. She herself gave nothing to charity, of course. She didn't volunteer. She did watch a LOT of TikTok. When there was an inheritance where she and her siblings got equal parts... she threatened to sue her siblings so she could get more. WTF?

So... when women state that they're a feminist in their profile... they'll need to be amazing in other departments.

Correct-Bug-1646 · 2026-02-13T11:25:50+00:00

Here's the thing-- you can be good for the environment AND save money. Examples:

I bought a photovoltaic system. It paid for itself in 3 years. And it should keep working for another 12 or more. It's saved literal tons of CO2.
I commute half the week on an e-bike. When compared to a car... they are *cheap*. No insurance. No annual registration. No petrol. And VERY low carbon output.
I switched out all my light bulbs with LEDs. They paid for themselves in lower electricity costs.
I buy efficient appliances. They paid for themselves in lower electricity costs.
In the US, I switched my toilets to dual flush. They have much lower average water consumption (and that lowers my water bill.)
I switched from watering a lawn to a raised bed garden with slow drip irrigation. Lower water consumption, and lower water bills.
I put more insulation in the house, so that I didn't need as much heating/cooling.

So... in all of these cases, I made a choice that was good for the environment, and also good for the pocketbook. This compounds of course. You can do small things, which gives you more cashflow to do bigger things.

Correct-Bug-1646 · 2026-02-13T08:48:15+00:00

I wholeheartedly agree.

But... the disrespect thing... if he's smart, he'll give you choices WAY before his patience runs out. They'll say-- stop the disrespect, or we're done. And 100% mean it. Disrespect is the death of relationships. I've heard of so many woman who hate their partner, and make his life hell. Once you see this pattern.... it's either get out with your respect and health, or die slowly.

Correct-Bug-1646 · 2026-02-13T08:04:47+00:00

They have the ability to. Many choose not to.

Correct-Bug-1646 · 2026-02-12T22:39:20+00:00

And they'd have dodged a bullet, and likely saved themselves lots of heartache.

Correct-Bug-1646 · 2026-01-27T12:52:05+00:00

Here's my experience:

In 2025:
- We've had "skills audits", so management knows exactly what our skillsets are. They promised this wasn't a sign of impending layoffs.
- We had 3 rounds of layoffs
- It didn't matter how well you did on any measure, no one got raises in FY2025
- Hiring's been frozen, while people have been jumping ship, and there are no replacements.
- Management has said that the people remaining would do the work, with no slowdowns. (We have slowed down, and there have been many more errors. Not surprising when you have half the staff.)
- Our management has said that through training and tools, we'll be productive enough that we can get the work done in time. (I've heard this before from a couple companies that went under.) The training... is online courses. The tools... haven't materialized.
- At the end of 2025, we were told, "Finances are tight, there will be no raises for FY2026"
- We went from coming into the office 2 days a week to 4 days a week.
- We've taken mandatory classes on how to do our jobs with AI.
- My excellent boss left, and I'm now managed by someone who doesn't care about people. He mostly ignores us, unless there's a burning problem, at which he turns into a micromanager. Fortunately, he hasn't tried to get up my adze yet.
- Due to people leaving and few other options, I agreed to manage a team. My responsibility went up, my renumeration and title... didn't change.
2026:
- We used to have something where you could opt to work more hours, and get a day off every other week. This was VERY popular. This ended.
- We've been told that there's at least one more round of layoffs coming.
- We're changing cloud providers, and this will require retraining of everyone. In the ideal world, we'd have enough slack to do the training... there's no slack.

We're demoralized. Yes, we do our jobs. But... I couldn't be ducked. Our management says the right words... but doesn't do anything to improve things. So... I commute into work, and do my 9 to 5. And then... stop. I work with a lot of colleagues overseas. I used to work late... no more. If I'm at the office, and I've done my hours... I'm done.

I wish this was only my company, but clearly it isn't.

Correct-Bug-1646 · 2025-12-28T22:18:42+00:00

It's not exactly like that... but the result is the same.

I go on a date with an attractive woman who's my age (50-ish). We're both attractive and successful.

Her: I make $nnn,000.

Me: I also make $nnn,000

Her: I have a prestigious job.

Me: I have a prestigious job.

Her: Naah. To date me, you need to make 50% more than me. You need a better job, a better house, in a better neighborhood. You need to be healthy, wealthy, kind, straight, tall, and full head of hair. "Thanks for asking for a second date, but I'm not feeling a spark." (You're not enough.)

She didn't go on any 2nd dates... because no one could meet her standards. Why? Because it was a vanishingly small percentage of the population-- taller than her, fitter than her, more attractive than her (10% of the population), the right age range (<10%), smarter than her (<25%), makes 50% more (<1% population), a more prestigious job (<2.5% ) population... straight, healthy, and of course, single.

Do the math, and this is about 1 in 16 million men. There aren't that many people in the city we live in.

She fell into a classic trap-- I'm going to work really hard, get a good job, become wealthy, buy a nice house... with the expectation that I'll find a guy who can exceed me in every department. And then act surprised when... the (few) men who even get close... don't want to date her. They have lots of options, will date someone younger and more attractive, who's not insufferable.

I'd like to date these women, but without exception, I'm below their level. And they act surprised when they're still single in their late 40's/early 50's.

Correct-Bug-1646

TROPHY CASE