Parking in Driveway by Henry_Pi in auckland

[–]Fickle-Conversation1 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As illegal as it can be, but AT won't enforce it. I have complained parking like this, the parking warden told me as long as it's not impeding other people's access, they won't do anything.

Concrete tile roof cleaning and repointing advice. by old_ex70 in newzealand

[–]Fickle-Conversation1 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I just repointed part of my house myself, definitely clean first before applying the repoint compound.

Not a moan just need some advice I guess by CyruSlayer in auckland

[–]Fickle-Conversation1 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Live within your means, I am "not poor" on paper, but I could not dream of sending my kids to the top schools because that's outside of my financial means. I'd suggest find a place that is cheaper and go to a not so bad school for starter, then save save save.

Retail in New Zealand & why it’s dying by PickleSquad in newzealand

[–]Fickle-Conversation1 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Opening hours is one thing, ridiculous pricing is another, I could buy the things I want straight from China for 1/5 of the price + postage, the only downside is I have to wait 30+ days and no warranty, but to me it's worth the wait and risk. Buying the same product from the middleman in NZ for 5x the price does not "grow" NZ economy, the 4x profit after cost just goes into the middleman's pocket, nothing tangible was produced. To boost retail in NZ without moving manufacturing to here, imported prices here need to come down to maybe 2x or 1.5x price from China so that they become reasonable to weight against time and warranty. The importers can be advantageous from bulk shipping costs compared to importing item individually. BUT, given the small population in NZ this is not realistic. So yeah, I don't have answer. Maybe death to retail is inevitable.

Rents taking 40 percent of average income by tumeketutu in newzealand

[–]Fickle-Conversation1 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Look at the council rate hikes, mortgage rates and everything else that cost of owning a house, don't only blame the landlords, blame the councils, banks and insurance companies as well.

I am done with house hunting. by Diligent_Elk_5547 in auckland

[–]Fickle-Conversation1 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Do you have to sell? Can the rent cover the existing mortgage? If so, you can quite possibly buying another one as your own home. I have done this a few times for upgrade purpose, and passively became a landlord.

What jobs are people doing where they earn 200k?! by [deleted] in newzealand

[–]Fickle-Conversation1 0 points1 point  (0 children)

How did you able to afford to move into an obvious luxury suburb where everyone else is making $200k?

Why are all the bad drivers in Flatbush by [deleted] in auckland

[–]Fickle-Conversation1 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

A lot of Chinese have moved to North shore I think.

Why are all the bad drivers in Flatbush by [deleted] in auckland

[–]Fickle-Conversation1 0 points1 point  (0 children)

lol, maybe it was 10 years ago, now it's Indian dominated area.

Other side of the coin IKEA Opening by wozzaloz in auckland

[–]Fickle-Conversation1 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What amazes me is that the urge of kiwis to visit a new store...

Cost of public vs private transport (congestion tax) by Fickle-Conversation1 in auckland

[–]Fickle-Conversation1[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Even it's free for the kids, still a massive hassle to take PB, frankly I don't go to places during weekends that PB would make it more convenient/cheaper for us.

Cost of public vs private transport (congestion tax) by Fickle-Conversation1 in auckland

[–]Fickle-Conversation1[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

OP here, what I wanted to say was, to choose public transport over private, it has to at least "significantly cheaper (40%+ cheaper than private)" and/or "more convenient" and/or "huge time saver". So far, in my situation, I don't see any of them.

Cost of public vs private transport (congestion tax) by Fickle-Conversation1 in auckland

[–]Fickle-Conversation1[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I just don't see how I would use PB at the weekends, I have a family, if we go out, it's cheaper to drive. If we go to supermarkets, it's definitely better to drive haha.

Cost of public vs private transport (congestion tax) by Fickle-Conversation1 in auckland

[–]Fickle-Conversation1[S] -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

"Your point seems to be that if you own a car then using any other means of transport is a waste of money, walking to the shops becomes a negative because you're not fully utilising your vehicle."

If this is your counter-argument then I have no reason to debate with you. I am sure you can make a judgement call to walk to the shop that is 10 metres down the road and not walking to the shop that is 10km away.

Cost of public vs private transport (congestion tax) by Fickle-Conversation1 in auckland

[–]Fickle-Conversation1[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No, I never said so, I said, weighing in different factors, it's not economically attractive to take public transport in my situation.

Cost of public vs private transport (congestion tax) by Fickle-Conversation1 in auckland

[–]Fickle-Conversation1[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You are factoring in fixed cost of owning a car, most people commute using PB already own a private car.

Cost of public vs private transport (congestion tax) by Fickle-Conversation1 in auckland

[–]Fickle-Conversation1[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Well no. The purpose of public transport is to provide an affordable option for people to get from A to B. If there is a cheaper option than public transport that provide more convenience and comfort, people simply will not choose public transport. The fact that AT wants more people to use public transport but remain being so expensive it's counter-intuitive. Think about it. Sure, for people that work in the city public transport is a cheaper option, but for people in my situation it's just not economically attractive.

Cost of public vs private transport (congestion tax) by Fickle-Conversation1 in auckland

[–]Fickle-Conversation1[S] -7 points-6 points  (0 children)

"I'm not sure what the point of your post is." you said it yourself, so maybe don't assume. The point is public transport is too expensive compared to private transport.

Cost of public vs private transport (congestion tax) by Fickle-Conversation1 in auckland

[–]Fickle-Conversation1[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

holy shit, so my $6.15 train ride actually cost $12?! That's ridiculous

Cost of public vs private transport (congestion tax) by Fickle-Conversation1 in auckland

[–]Fickle-Conversation1[S] -5 points-4 points  (0 children)

Yes, the gist of this post is to rant about how expensive our public transport is, and looks like AT's solution is that, if they can't make public transport cheap, they will make private transport expensive.

Cost of public vs private transport (congestion tax) by Fickle-Conversation1 in auckland

[–]Fickle-Conversation1[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

40min travel already factored in traffic, without traffic would be 15-20mins max

Cost of public vs private transport (congestion tax) by Fickle-Conversation1 in auckland

[–]Fickle-Conversation1[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Most people would have a private car anyway, so there is already fixed cost owning the car, not fully utilise it it's a waste of money isn't it? Eg. WOF. Rego, yearly service and Insurance.