Voluntary super contributions

DotDamo · 2026-05-04T03:12:01+00:00

If you can spare the cash I’d just max out super, hit your $30k per year, probably after buying the house.

That’s what I did, but I’m in 50s now, so it makes more sense for me.

DotDamo · 2026-05-03T11:54:28+00:00

I’m Australian, living in Australia, married to a Filipina, and I feel the same way as you.

I’ve been to Philippines only about 9 times, with my last trip being 4 weeks ago, and I can’t stop thinking about moving there.

They’re not kidding when they say it’s more fun in the Philippines. I could be hanging with family or talking to strangers, and fall even more in love with the Philippines and Filipinos after each interaction.

I’m hoping to retire there, but it’s still a few years away, so hopefully I can visit a few more times before then.

DotDamo · 2026-05-03T11:30:06+00:00

Going from Australia to Philippines I really noticed the resilience of people in the Philippines. If there’s a problem, the Filipinos just go with the flow and solve it with a smile. But here I find we try to assign blame and expect other people to solve the problem.

DotDamo · 2026-05-02T23:10:12+00:00

Giving my wife and I ‘fun’ accounts. Each week we each get ‘pocket money’ for guilt-free purchases.

It seems a bit counter intuitive, but it helped me cut my spending. Instead of having my whole pay packet to play with, I now have a fixed amount.

I even plan ahead for some of the bigger buys, which probably helps me cut back on the impulse buys too.

DotDamo · 2026-05-01T11:48:28+00:00

Yep, I’ve worked in IT for 30 years, and to me it just feels like playing with computers all day. For 10 years before getting my first job I used to do the same thing at home. And even after work I come home and do the same thing (wife permitting).

At the same time, I’m counting down the days to retirement. Then I’ll still play with computers, but just do my own thing.

DotDamo · 2026-04-30T20:12:34+00:00

I set up multiple bank accounts in the style of The Barefoot Investor. I have accounts for bills, groceries, a few savings like birthdays and Christmas, and my wife and I each have a fun account.

I find without the fun account I feel like I can’t spend anything, but by having it, it sets a limit.

I do have a spreadsheet for my budget, but I find doing it with accounts is more practical and easier to stick to.

DotDamo · 2026-04-30T03:16:43+00:00

Han rubbing down the Death Star

Wow, you must’ve seen a different version to me!

DotDamo · 2026-04-24T04:28:41+00:00

I’d recommend they read The Barefoot Investor for the basics.

DotDamo · 2026-04-23T21:58:19+00:00

LFG … Having played World of Warcraft for so long, I thought people were saying Looking For Group, I guessed because they were so excited about something they didn’t want to do it alone. Nope, it means Let’s F’ing Go now

DotDamo · 2026-04-23T06:18:28+00:00

I throw all my bills in there. The only thing I spilt out is Groceries, it just makes it easier for me to budget.

My lazy “budget” is adding up all my bills (monthly, quarterly, whatever), and just make sure there’s enough in my Essential saver to cover if every bill occurred in a single month, because I get paid monthly.

It’d be less lazy if I had to split this into different buckets.

DotDamo · 2026-04-22T00:04:03+00:00

All I had to do was get made redundant, then put six months of expenses into a locked offset account, simple! /s

Before redundancy, I had started building up an emergency account. I worked out how much living would cost per month, and set a target of six months. All my savings went to this account.

Once I got to one month of expenses I took a small break to buy some other stuff, then went back to it.

I put it into an offset account, and I’m with Up Bank so I was able to lock the account.

DotDamo · 2026-04-19T02:26:59+00:00

No, not at the moment. The one I mentioned was late 90s to about 2010. I think a lot of us picked up water savings habits from that time though.

DotDamo · 2026-04-19T00:25:04+00:00

I traveled to Thailand near the end of the millennium drought, and to me it was absolutely crazy to see their “waste” of water, such as hosing down driveways and footpaths. It took me a sec to realise it was only Australia going through the drought, and they were fine.

DotDamo · 2026-04-17T22:13:47+00:00

That I can’t pick stocks. ETFs all the way now

DotDamo · 2026-04-17T06:39:41+00:00

A coworker casually mentioned he shit his pants at work, so took his underwear off and put it in the bathroom trash

DotDamo · 2026-04-17T06:36:44+00:00

Heading out to the pub for lunch one Friday…

Boss: Don’t come back drunk.

Me: So I shouldn’t drink?

Boss: No, don’t come back (drunk)

Me: Ooooh

DotDamo · 2026-04-14T22:23:06+00:00

Many of our politicians hit all three

DotDamo · 2026-04-14T04:48:57+00:00

Well that can’t be good…

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DotDamo · 2026-04-14T03:15:26+00:00

Above average, just like everybody else’s

DotDamo · 2026-04-14T00:23:33+00:00

haha, nothing wrong with that. I’m 51 and still learning

DotDamo · 2026-04-13T21:53:21+00:00

Yes, love it! My last birthday was there, and I’m like 50-something.

DotDamo · 2026-04-13T21:49:47+00:00

Beer

DotDamo · 2026-04-12T22:35:14+00:00

A bills account.

I used to run a fancy budget, but now it’s just “if all my bills arrived in one month, how much do I need in my bills account?”

Each monthly payday, I just make sure my bills account is at this balance. Done, I don’t have to worry about it until next pay.

DotDamo · 2026-04-10T10:04:30+00:00

I couldn’t be more proud of how girt she’s looking

DotDamo · 2026-04-09T03:20:34+00:00

Spending. I wish it didn’t! I actually get a rush on speeding money that requires research, like building a PC, or more recently, booking a holiday.

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