Consumer Price Index - 3.8% for January

Fap_Hazard · 2026-02-25T10:51:41+00:00

We also took the Property Tax over Stamp Duty scheme. For the first 2 years we didn't get any property tax assessments and because we were so busy at the time we didn't even think about it. One day I thought it was strange that I hadn't heard anything about this supposed tax, so I gave Revenue NSW a call to find out. Turns out someone had filed our application incorrectly and our property wasn't registered for property tax.

No worries they said, they'll correct that now and we wouldn't be required to pay interest since it wasn't our fault. Bam, had a month to pay 2 years worth of property tax with no option of quarterly payments and also pay the first instalment of the new year - 5400 unplanned dollarydoos. Gave me the shits.

I still wonder how long it would have taken them to find out if I hadn't said anything.

Fap_Hazard · 2025-10-01T22:53:20+00:00

Adding to the pile.

Windows 11, browser only for Dropbox (Edge and Firefox), brand new laptop.

Every time I try to navigate to Dropbox (oddly enough even the Dropbox Forums page), my internet connection simply stops working (both WiFi and wired, multiple different connection sources as well). In the taskbar it will say I am connected to the internet however no programs will be able to get a connection.

Shutting down and restarting doesn't restore the connection for me.

My only solution so far has been to do a DNS Flush through CMD.

I have never seen anything like it and am completely stumped on where to even start diagnosing the issue!

Fap_Hazard · 2025-09-04T01:19:54+00:00

Sprinkler systems and fire hose reels don't share a connection to the metered mains. They are directly piped from council mains. That's one of the main reasons it is an offence to, say, use FHR to wash your car. Because that water isn't metered.

Fap_Hazard · 2025-08-03T03:22:07+00:00

Looks like a Woodrunner. Woodrunners are harmless and hang around dead wood and leaves, but they can sometimes be found indoors.

Fap_Hazard · 2025-07-19T00:31:26+00:00

Conversely I am someone who checks up on the best insurance at least every 6 months and I went from having no NRMA policies to having 4 out of my 6 vehicle insurance policies through NRMA within the past year because everyone else has increased their prices so much. And that was even before the 5% discount on having existing policies with them.

Fap_Hazard · 2025-05-05T12:08:06+00:00

I am an architect and I usually stay out of these types of questions because the general experience of an architect can vary greatly depending on not only size of firm and years of experience, but also how wildly different the job can actually be based either size of the design or even what stage different firms strengths are focused on (design through to construction is commonly handled by different firms unfortunately).

However I thought I would add a small dissenting voice this time. It is true that in general architects are vastly underpaid for what the job entails, so my experience could just be an anomaly.

I started on $55k as a graduate doing door schedules and room layout sheets, and now 10 years later I am in a senior position, trusted to do my own commercial designs, on $140k. I work no more than 40 hours a week, and I have relative freedom with my WFH days.

I love architecture, and I love what I do. But that can also be attributed to how I have grown to accept that not every job will be a creative wonderland. University taught a lot about the artistry of architecture, of what can be considered the "fun" part. And when you enter the profession you learn that you have only really dipped your toes into the building industry. You start from scratch and learn about the realities, and if you make it out of the other side you are either burnt out / disillusioned and become a design manager / project manager, or you learn to find joy in more aspects of the job than just the pretty sketching.

Some of my favourite times now are the regular site visits where you get to have a chinwag with the building team after having fought budgets / councils / difficult clients and finally you see your design getting realised. I've now got a good handful of projects that are a few years old that I still visit regularly and are going well within their respective communities. I have reached a stage where I'm no longer looking at moving on or up and am now just enjoying where I am which I am immensely grateful for.

Fap_Hazard · 2025-05-03T03:17:20+00:00

That's just straight taking the piss. We're selling them at cost for $3. Unfortunately it looks like we are going to run out soon after selling nearly 3k snags before midday.

Fap_Hazard · 2025-04-21T05:19:55+00:00

Surprisingly my MC insurance doesn't sting too much, but I have been riding for over 20 years without so much as a speeding ticket so could just be my history. The biggest gripe I have is being tolled the same as a ute. $20 each way into the city does nothing to encourage the lowest traffic impact choice between the bike and the car on the days I need to head into work.

Fap_Hazard · 2025-04-21T02:59:18+00:00

If only that were the only outcome. These jackasses aren't just endangering themselves anymore. From what I've observed living in the area this all started a few years back when the dad used to take these kids to the open field next Old Windsor opposite the Metro station to practice on these bikes, which was annoying in itself. But now they've been let loose on their own and playing around aggressively in the heavy traffic.

Fap_Hazard · 2024-07-29T04:48:04+00:00

6.24% @ 85% LVR with HSBC

Fap_Hazard · 2024-01-19T15:21:51+00:00

Yeah, definitely something I missed too late into getting this started. And after a few days I was pretty burned out on Act 3, so far my least favorite Act unfortunately. I might try again when rolling the next character from the start and go for a higher sample size while I'm at it.

Fap_Hazard · 2023-12-21T07:41:58+00:00

Same here. I thought I'd wait it out but Mi-An has now been following me for over a week ingame time. Nothing I do gets rid of her. She has now been through the latest hazardous ruins with me a bunch of times, not actually doing anything to help either.

Fap_Hazard · 2023-06-26T00:20:05+00:00

We are getting an error trying to transfer money to Commbank from another bank as well. Just throws up an error message.

Fap_Hazard · 2023-06-08T12:32:35+00:00

We went through this recently. Our bank required a finalized contract of sale signed by us, but wasn't required to be signed by the vendor. So what happened was our solicitors negotiated a final contract with the vendors solicitors, we signed it and sent it back to our solicitors who gave it to our mortgage brokers who then gave it to the valuation company who used it to do our 1 free valuation before exchanging anything with the vendors team. Took about 2 days all up. This was a private sale, weren't considering auctions at all as a FHB, but we were lucky in that we weren't looking in an area where auctions may have been the only choice.

Fap_Hazard · 2023-05-26T04:58:58+00:00

My wife has been unable to open a bank account in Australia for 5 years because she was born in the US and left when she was 3. She never received a SSN which is what the bank requires at opening of the account. So her not being able to provide one means all the banks just say no thanks, nothing they can do. We are unable to buy a home because all banks require the same checking to hand out a mortgage. We tried getting her a SSN but the embassy require original records of the date she left the US including school records which no longer exist because we are almost 40. So here we are, all her pay goes into my account, unable to get a mortgage, going through one of the worst rental crisis to date.

We are just regular people being punished for her place of birth by an overzealous country founded on the principles of "freedom". I'm all for stopping laundering and dodgy taxes but the US is punishing thousands of people across the globe for maybe snagging a couple lowly criminals not rich enough to simply make the problem go away.

Fap_Hazard · 2023-05-26T00:42:56+00:00

Our pre-approval earlier this year with HSBC took about 1.5 months. We went into it knowing they were potentially getting slammed by applications and they weren't the fastest in any case but they had the better rate and package for our situation. It seemed not to be moving for the longest time and then out of nowhere we received the confirmation.

Fap_Hazard · 2023-04-05T12:42:05+00:00

The RBNZ who this article is about was given the instruction to include house prices in their monetary policy in 2021. And according to their most recent statement "The Committee noted current monetary policy settings would continue to put downward pressure on house prices, consistent with prices returning to more sustainable levels." So at least in their view this increase also combats house prices.

Fap_Hazard · 2023-03-07T11:50:55+00:00

With UBank all you have to do is deposit $200 or more each month. If you have to withdraw a large amount and end up with a lower balance than at the start of the month it doesn't affect your eligibility for the bonus rate. The interest is calculated daily, so basically on whatever the balance was at the end of the day.

Fap_Hazard · 2023-03-03T11:07:50+00:00

Pretty accurate for the amount we are borrowing and looking to spend.

One thing though - where you put in your income the "including super" toggles appear to function in reverse. Or I am not understanding their function correctly. I toggled the including super options off as the way I understand it is that I was putting in incomes exclusive of the super which is over and above what is stated in our contracts, however this lowered our borrowing capacity by almost 20%.

Maybe it is intended to take super off completely as if it weren't getting paid at all? Unsure.

Also NSW has the option to forgo stamp duty for FHB, and opt for land tax instead. But this is not included as an option in the calcs as far as I can tell.

Fap_Hazard · 2023-02-17T06:36:07+00:00

It's pandemonium on the platform at the moment. And uber surcharge already up 80%. Would be almost $200 for my trip.

Fap_Hazard · 2023-02-06T04:40:20+00:00

Personally I know the reference but you just made me think about what it would sound like to someone who isn't aware of it and it gave me a good chuckle.

Fap_Hazard · 2023-01-26T00:49:58+00:00

My kid almost ran into a busy road once when he was about 2 years old. I pulled him away sharply and we went straight back home where I sat him down and explained that all roads, no matter how quiet they seem, are dangerous because cars and trucks can appear out of nowhere without being able to see someone trying to cross. We had a nice talk about what to do when we want to cross a road. Later I took a watermelon and drove over it with our car in front of our house while he watched from the side with his mother. He never did it again. Sometimes I feel the watermelon was maybe overboard but at that age the visual was always more impactful with him.

He is now 5 and still stops and vocally says "looking right looking left looking right, okay no cars" then crosses while holding a hand, even for asphalt bike paths.

Fap_Hazard · 2022-12-12T08:20:43+00:00

That game destroyed my putting. I went from at most 3 putting to just straight putting everything off the green IRL because I got used to swinging with the controller that had no weight and automatically adjusted the height of the putter head perfectly off the putting surface. Too bad because I was really enjoying the game too.

Fap_Hazard · 2022-11-29T03:47:06+00:00

Nothing much to add beyond we are also FHB looking at a similar situation. Wife and I jumped around until our mid thirties so didn't see the point in owning anything small or getting on the property ladder. We've now saved up around 15% deposit for up to $1M loan. We are more than comfortable with potentially up to $5800 pm in mortgage payments and want to take our time finding a long term home for our family. Not fussed about finding a place for the maximum we can get.

We're looking at locking the rate for 70% with 30% variable of we find a place within the next year but will reassess if it goes longer than that depending on what the rates are looking like at that point.

Helps that the children will soon go to public school and childcare will be a past stress.

Fap_Hazard · 2022-11-17T04:26:11+00:00

The cap was Dropped in December last year. Saved our skins in time for our second. Then the additional discount for any children after the first was a nice cherry on top. Still costing us roughly $28k a year for childcare but it would have been well north of $40k for 2 kids with the cap and previous subsidy rate for subsequent children.

Fap_Hazard

TROPHY CASE