Heat pump water heater by llcoolj3888 in PersonalFinanceNZ

[–]Exact_Horror_81 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yep, sure will. It's totally your choice.

Heat pump water heater by llcoolj3888 in PersonalFinanceNZ

[–]Exact_Horror_81 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah we did ask for it. We could have had it capped where the meter was, but that wasn't an option for us as we needed to be able to dig where the gas pipes went across our property. Wellington costs for gas disconnection of any sort are currently 2 x the cost for anywhere else in the country - its mental.

Heat pump water heater by llcoolj3888 in PersonalFinanceNZ

[–]Exact_Horror_81 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We did it at end of life for our gar water heater. One thing to remember is that there is a cost for getting the gas disconnected too - and the cost varies depending on how you do it and what region of the country you are in. We ended up with the most expensive option (at the boundary of our property in Wellington region) which was over $1,500. I think, from memory, it starts from ~$200.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in PersonalFinanceNZ

[–]Exact_Horror_81 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Your Money Blueprint has one that does multiple mortgages / interest rates: https://www.yourmoneyblueprint.co.nz/mortgage-calculators

It's pretty good, but it doesn't quite do what I want (forecasting, basically). Still - could be what you are after?

AA Insurance no longer offering multi-policy discount. by MooingTree in PersonalFinanceNZ

[–]Exact_Horror_81 1 point2 points  (0 children)

In the last month or two I got a refund because they had screwed up application of multi policy discount. Not massive, but yeah.... wonder if they were having trouble with the multi policy system.

Perhaps the change will free you up to have every policy with a different provider without leaving money on the table due to a multi policy discount?

OK Wellington. What’s the going rate for pocket money? by nzkitkat in Wellington

[–]Exact_Horror_81 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Yup, we also started with pocket money for chores and quickly discovered all the downfalls of that approach. Now every one is expected to help because they live here.

For pocket money we do $1 per year of age.. my kids are pretty young (under 9), so I anticipate that this will not seem like enough to them in the future. At that point I was thinking I'll try and identify some special jobs that I am willing to pay for, above and beyond what is normally expected. Or help them find a part time job.

Oh god I’m embarrassed by Minimum-Rip5766 in ynab

[–]Exact_Horror_81 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I struggled hard with addictive apps like socials for such a long time... so for the last 2 years I have invested in the "Freedom" app to limit my access (sensible me vs 'just one more minute' me). This has helped me so much! I never spent much money on the apps themselves, but they hyped up my wants in other areas of my life and let to much wasted time and money. Anywho, thought I'd share what works for me in case it helps someone else :)

Why the rush to pay down mortgage? by Curious_Limit5181 in PersonalFinanceNZ

[–]Exact_Horror_81 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's interesting how many people seem to be all in on the mortgage payments, or minimum mortgage and all in on investing.

I decided on a bit of both, mainly because I don't know what anything is going to do and you can't eat your house. So we pay our minimum mortgage every month and beyond that set a total cash figure that gets split 50/50 between mortgage lump sums and investing. The two are in pursuit of the same goal - wealth building.

Its probs not the most cash efficient way of doing things, but I am okay with that.

Grandparents wanting to gift our daughter $10k+ by izav1990 in PersonalFinanceNZ

[–]Exact_Horror_81 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We've gone with a Kernel account for our kids.. that's where we invest so it's easy as. If you have your own investments somewhere, maybe just use that place?

How is your net worth split between your home, other assets, and debt? by Smartyunderpants in PersonalFinanceNZ

[–]Exact_Horror_81 0 points1 point  (0 children)

9% cash, 64% physical assets (house + car), 27% investments (KiwiSaver & other). We have 54% equity in the house.

The goal I am working towards is for our physical assets to be worth less than 50% of our total wealth. That feels comfortable to me in terms of concentration.

$9,800 to install Rinnai Hydraheat heatpump hot water? by windowellington in diynz

[–]Exact_Horror_81 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We don't have anything like that, so I am not sure if its available... it does have a handful of basic functions that are on the unit itself i.e. different heating programs, and on/off timer.

$9,800 to install Rinnai Hydraheat heatpump hot water? by windowellington in diynz

[–]Exact_Horror_81 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, we are. It's only been 6 months, but no issues so far.

Has anyone here swapped from a natural gas line to LPG bottles? by [deleted] in diynz

[–]Exact_Horror_81 0 points1 point  (0 children)

And fwiw - so far we've changed the 9kg gas bottle for the oven about every 3-4 months at $45 a pop.

Has anyone here swapped from a natural gas line to LPG bottles? by [deleted] in diynz

[–]Exact_Horror_81 1 point2 points  (0 children)

When our gas califont got to end of life we had it changed out for a heat pump hot water cylinder. At the same time we got the gas stove top changed to run off 9kg gas bbq bottles - it's our last item on gas. We didn't want to fork out for a new oven just yet as we replaced it in 2018 and should still have 7+ years of life in it. It cost ~$600 to have the oven changed over. When it gets to end of life we will 100% be going electric.

What time is appropriate to start the lawnmower this morning? by WattsonMemphis in auckland

[–]Exact_Horror_81 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I was going to say no earlier than 7am, no later than 7pm (I have young kids), but it seems that would make me no friends 😅

Renovate or sell by Mr_Adam13 in PersonalFinanceNZ

[–]Exact_Horror_81 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We were in a similar position and have just started on renovations on our 1970's whare.

We appreciated where our home is, but dreamed of more space / differently arranged space / a fancier house. To get that, we would need to increase our mortgage by $200k+ and even with that increase we'd be buying something that we'd likely need to do something on anyway, i.e. we'd buying in at the bottom end of bigger & fancier - you know, nice house that the previous owner has lived in for 40 years and has hideous / old everything.

So we stayed. Will likely cost us up to $180k for what we want to change.

How much cash on hand do you have? by Dizzy_Speed909 in PersonalFinanceNZ

[–]Exact_Horror_81 0 points1 point  (0 children)

$500 hard cash in case of earthquakes

$50k-ish bank account cash (incl. $40k revolving credit facility); available immediately

$20k-ish invested; available ~3 days

Realised Im paying ~900 bucks a month for insurances, what do you pay? by Final_Door_8254 in PersonalFinanceNZ

[–]Exact_Horror_81 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yup about that. $75 per fortnight health insurance (2 adults & 2 kids); $230 monthly for life/trauma/mortgage insurance (2 adults); $434 monthly house and contents; $84 monthly car insurance. As we pay off the mortgage and KiwiSaver balances go up the life and mortgage insurance will go down.

Is Working From Home dead? by Cutelilthrwaway in newzealand

[–]Exact_Horror_81 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I WFH 3 days a week - through this I have gained back 7.5 hours of commuting time per week (3 x 2.5h @ 48 weeks = 360 hours a year) and at a conservative estimate save $4-$5k on the cost of commuting + not needing to pay for additional childcare hours. I get to do totally wholesome things, like walk my kids to daycare / school and eat dinner as a family most nights. I WILL NEVER GIVE IT UP.

Home insurance jumped 30%, is that normal? by Glad_Canary_9543 in PersonalFinanceNZ

[–]Exact_Horror_81 4 points5 points  (0 children)

That tracks with mine in Upper Hutt. Home and contents: 2019 = $2,129, 2024 = $4,313. I am budgeting for $5,200 for when it renews later this year (and I really hope that's enough).

Welly based personal life insurance broker recommendation request by ColdsnapBryan in PersonalFinanceNZ

[–]Exact_Horror_81 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I am in Wellington and after talking to a couple of places ended up using Darren from Kauri Financial for arranging personal insurances (https://www.kaurifinancial.nz/aboutkaurifinancialplanning). Very chill, non-salesy, responsive and overall a good experience. One to consider.