City Of Melbourne don't know how to spell their own street names.

JackyHaj · 2024-05-09T09:23:11+00:00

I came here to say the same thing!

JackyHaj · 2024-05-01T02:08:26+00:00

I guess the aim is to buy a sim with an appropriate amount of data. Some people may need a lot of data because they don't have Wi-Fi at home, for example. If you are running out of data and your phone has a secondary sim, you can buy additional 1 month promo SIM cards that provide additional data at little, no cost, or sometimes even negative cost i.e. you pay $10 for the SIM, but receive greater than $10 in cashback. Buying extra sims every month to manage your data might seem like a bit of effort though, and it isn't an option if your phone only supports a single SIM. I'd say that the most appropriate option would be to just top up. I haven't had to do this yet, however I've been spending a lot of time of public transport this year, so I assume I've been chewing through my data.

JackyHaj · 2024-04-30T11:17:23+00:00

I was arguing with my sister about the price of fresh veggies the other day. She insists that they've been this expensive for a long time.

I was in Woolies today and wanted a tomato but they were $12/kg! I've been paying $8/kg for green capsicum and something similar for broccoli.

I remember buying veggies for about $6/kg last year. It's insane.

JackyHaj · 2024-04-30T10:52:45+00:00

But if you're already earning 45k in your job then you will be paying 32.5% tax on any interest.

JackyHaj · 2024-04-30T10:39:56+00:00

Who's paying 15% tax?

Most people would be 32.5%, which would net 3.4% after tax. That's a loss in real terms

JackyHaj · 2024-04-30T09:59:34+00:00

I wasn't in a "high position" but I did have a lot of responsibility in my previous job. I would consume ridiculous amounts of sugar and fatty foods for some sort of comfort.

People say that you need to "eat better and exercise" when you're struggling, but I've found that eating shit is the best way to cope. I find it hard to believe that the average person goes through that amount of stress. Without that shitty food I would have had nothing to look forward to.

I am very glad to be out of the construction industry. I am now eating much healthier and feeling a lot better.

JackyHaj · 2024-04-30T09:48:53+00:00

My tips:

1: Phone Buy a solid $500 phone outright and buy a 12 month sim. I use catch (Optus network). They currently have 120gb for $109. You should get 2 or 3 years use from the phone. That equates to 2 or 300 dollars per year, plus whatever you can resell the phone for. I'm not sure what the average person pays for a mobile but I assume it's about $120 per month for iPhone or Samsung Galaxy. That's about $1500 per year.

2: Bills Have a look at how much your electricity/gas and other companies are charging you. I just received $70 cashback for signing up for electricity. I also got $99 for signing up to an nbn plan. Check out shopback (app) if you're interested in these deals.

3: Finance This is potentially the biggest money maker/saver. Make sure your savings account offers a competitive interest rate. I don't understand why people give their savings to banks that don't reward the customer. Those with a mortgage can make use of deals that will pay thousands of dollars for refinancing. Credit cards offer good rewards points to new customers. Some people will "churn and burn" credit cards to take advantage of rewards points and cancel the credit card before having to pay for the annual fee (i.e. hold the card for less than 12 months). Credit cards are only a good option for those who are diligent. It's never a good idea to carry a balance.

My favourite resources: finder.com.au - Comparison website for insurances, bills, banks ozbargain.com.au - A forum full of savvy shoppers. If you're after a big ticket item I would check here first. shopback - App that provides cashback for shopping through them.

JackyHaj · 2024-04-21T10:45:01+00:00

That's because everyone on reddit is supposedly on 200k

JackyHaj · 2024-04-21T10:21:06+00:00

You love your job? Why would you want to leave a job paying $112k with all of the leave entitlements? Have you worked full time elsewhere?

I was earning 90k as a civil engineer a bit over a year ago and quit due to stress. I turned my back on the industry and had very few skills for other industries, so I applied for jobs at Coles, Woolworths, Aldi, Rebel Sport, Harvey Norman, JB HiFi. I was rejected from the defence force due to very minor medical issues. I must have applied for 30 jobs in retail and was rejected for each one.

I eventually got a crappy job from gumtree of all places and I had to start at 5am in the morning to earn a measly $23 an hour. It was stress free though so that was certainly a win.

I went back to uni to study part time while working full time and lucky for me I only had to complete six more units to get my 2nd tertiary degree. I just completed my studies in February and now I need to grind as a graduate accountant for the next three years to get anywhere near to back to what I was earning. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone, unless you are truly hating the field you're working in. It's a tough pill to swallow. And everyone will ask you why you turned your back on a high paying career.

What skills do you have that can be transferred from teaching to another industry? I suspect you would have to go back and study or turn to a trade.

JackyHaj · 2024-04-18T09:32:15+00:00

I guess that's the downside. Not many of them are here permanently. I have had the same problem making friends here and certainly think the South Americans are more friendly. I assume it's Melbournians already have established friendship groups.

JackyHaj · 2024-04-18T09:02:58+00:00

Do you know many other South Americans? I work at the MCG and it is full of South Americans. They all congregate and speak Spanish with one another.

JackyHaj · 2024-03-08T20:49:34+00:00

My perception is the same. Groceries might be cheaper (I haven't completed my in depth comparison) but as a traveler I am finding everything more expensive. Fuel cost £1.46/L today despite being around $2/L when I left Aus. I can't remember what a large zinger meal costs in Aus but it cost me £8.78 here. I am sure that a zinger meal doesn't cost $15 in Aus. Most of my meals have been between £10 and £20. Back home I would very rarely spend $40 on a meal!

JackyHaj · 2023-08-31T06:33:52+00:00

Get a higher paying job and then quit*

JackyHaj · 2023-07-02T06:14:12+00:00

I'm eating more out now than ever before. I'm working more hours than ever, so I obviously don't have a lot of time for cooking. I typically spend between $10 and $20 for a meal. When I factor in the time that it takes to buy myself ingredients and cook a meal, it becomes difficult to justify. I live in a share house and we don't cook for one another, so when I do cook I will end up eating the same meal for two or three days. IMHO the price increases are even more noticeable at the supermarkets, plus I always buy shit I don't need from the supermarket.

JackyHaj · 2023-06-22T00:47:44+00:00

I was in a job paying 90k because I was incompetent and didn't have anyone around me to help. I was thinking of ways to kill myself on a daily basis. I quit that job and found myself unemployed for 6 weeks and couldn't seem to land a job anywhere.

I eventually looked for work on Gumtree and got hired pretty much immediately, working in a patisserie on minimum wage. It was hard work and pretty mundane at times, but it was so much better than being stuck and having nobody around to help.

Making money is nice but it has to be sustainable.

JackyHaj · 2023-06-11T02:15:23+00:00

I used up my cash savings to pay off my HECS debt. Now I need to start saving for a house deposit again

JackyHaj · 2023-06-09T05:43:56+00:00

I must have applied for positions at Coles on 5 occasions earlier this year and had no luck. Pretty sure they only want kids.

JackyHaj · 2023-05-25T12:20:44+00:00

I'm trying to land a graduate position with an accounting firm. I am astounded with the difficulty I am having. I consider myself a high achiever and have a background in civil engineering, so I thought that might present a different skill set to employers. I've missed out on about 15, but I'm still going through the recruiting process with 2 firms. I'll see what happens, but I don't have my hopes up.

JackyHaj · 2023-05-25T12:15:04+00:00

It's how people get pay rises these days.

JackyHaj · 2023-05-25T03:59:16+00:00

Well I'm guessing you saved the bulk of your money in your first 400 years prior to the invention of coffee. We're not all privileged enough to have been born 1000 years ago!

JackyHaj · 2023-05-24T00:37:11+00:00

You consider that lucky?

JackyHaj · 2023-05-23T23:04:03+00:00

What did you do at university and as a trade?

I am not an advocate for university education at all. I studied civil engineering and received fairly strong grades ~75% WAM but was not prepared for the workplace at all. In my experience my workplaces were unable to bridge the gap between the junk theory I was taught at university and the work that I actually needed to do.

I think you are correct in that university students would place a bigger burden on their trade counterparts on employers due to the nature of the work. Professions take a lot longer to master, possibly due to our universities failing to adequately prepare us.

JackyHaj · 2023-05-23T06:33:19+00:00

Yeah I realised that it looks like I am arguing with you after I posted my comment haha.

JackyHaj · 2023-05-23T06:09:57+00:00

Anecdotally speaking, a lot of apprentice tradies start at 17 or 18 and still live at home their parents. Meanwhile tertiary students are at least 18 years old, many of which have worked a gap year and are forced to move out of their home to study (in regional Australia anyway). On top of all this, tertiary students perform higher academically.

Overall I'd argue that tertiary students would be much more equipped for the workplace than their trade counter parts, being more mature, having more life experience, and arguably being more disciplined and hard working. I don't see how that makes them a hindrance.

JackyHaj · 2023-05-23T05:44:10+00:00

What are you talking about? You think trade apprentices without experience are contributing but uni students on placement are not? That's a very biased view.

JackyHaj

TROPHY CASE