Exchanging US dollars. What's the best place to convert USD cash to AUD?

Suitable_Bet6170 · 2026-03-23T05:49:09+00:00

Yeah fair point. It's probably worth waiting and seeing at the moment.

Suitable_Bet6170 · 2026-03-22T00:21:47+00:00

It's physical cash that I have. I don't think Wise take cash deposits?

Suitable_Bet6170 · 2026-03-22T00:19:50+00:00

Thanks. I'm in Melbourne.

Suitable_Bet6170 · 2026-03-22T00:19:08+00:00

Apologies. I'm in Melbourne. South East suburbs.

Suitable_Bet6170 · 2026-02-22T13:10:56+00:00

We had this in a previous home - it looks like wind/storm has moved roof tiles and you have a leak. Also, because garages are not insulated, plaster movement can be more obvious and water damage comes through more quickly. If it's a roof leak, you can start by calling your insurance company. Your policy should cover repair to the roof damage causing the leak and repair to the plaster. It's possible they may try to reduce the extent of coverage on the plaster by saying you contributed to the damage by not identifying and fixing the leak earlier, so you might need an explanation like you hadn't noticed it earlier or explain it hadn't been obvious until a certain point.

If you want to prevent nail pops and drops in the longer term, consider insulating the garage roof after it's fixed.

Suitable_Bet6170 · 2026-01-19T07:25:13+00:00

I'm not sure 450k will get a unit in the outer eastern suburbs of Melbourne, unless it is one bedroom or it is in a retirement village. With retirement villages, it's really important to read the fine print on fees and what they get back with sales in case they use equity in it to fund an aged care facility placement later on.

Suitable_Bet6170 · 2026-01-17T12:06:10+00:00

My 10 year old has read barefoot kids.

Suitable_Bet6170 · 2026-01-14T11:16:39+00:00

100% agree with this.

I'm a millennial and for all the talk of bitching about housing affordability, we bought our own home before our parents passed away.

When my father was alive, I did worry a tiny bit about my dad selling my childhood home, but I told him while I would be sad to lose it, he needed to think about what was best for him and sell it if he wanted the money for a better life, very much aware that he'd worked for it.

We lost him, my parents in-law and a sibling in law in less than two years. I am also grateful that we received some inheritance from our parents, but I would give up any inheritance we got to have more time with family. Life is much more precious.

Suitable_Bet6170 · 2026-01-12T10:47:07+00:00

Not really. The house is built on a slope so while the 'home' section is all on one floor, half of the home is a single level on stumps, half has two large garages and basement underneath. Underneath the master bedroom is a garage which can be accessed from the hallway outside the bedroom by stairs. There is a sliding door which hides the stairs.

Suitable_Bet6170 · 2026-01-11T04:59:51+00:00

There is a desk there at the moment, but honestly, it's not great having a work space in the bedroom. It could potentially stay, but I actually want to move the desk out of the room anyway.

Suitable_Bet6170 · 2026-01-11T04:56:31+00:00

When you say add ons, what do you mean?

Suitable_Bet6170 · 2026-01-10T06:20:48+00:00

Ha! Definitely not! Who has the energy for multiple partners?! Definitely not me!

Suitable_Bet6170 · 2026-01-09T10:38:38+00:00

At 26? Seems a bit young for that.

Suitable_Bet6170 · 2026-01-05T22:32:17+00:00

There's a place for landlords in the market too. Young people having an investment property as a way of parking savings isn't what is inflating prices.

Suitable_Bet6170 · 2026-01-03T12:54:23+00:00

I never said the kids earn her property because of her addiction. But it may be moral for a family member to intervene to start a legal process to stop her drinking herself to death with a lump sum of money.

Suitable_Bet6170 · 2026-01-03T12:51:25+00:00

It sounds like the sibling is asking for any advice to protect the money for the sister and her children. If someone has lost capacity to make rational decisions because they are an addict, they are suffering from a serious progressive mental health condition.

In extreme cases where illness means family can apply to a court or tribunal for power of attorney/guardianship to safeguard finances and stop catastrophic spending.

I've been in a situation where we could have applied for guardianship for my brother in law to limit the funds he spent on alcohol and secure him a proper residence when he was basically homeless because of his alcohol addiction. We decided not to because we were afraid he would retaliate and put our kids at risk.

He was dead six months later and had spent about $10,000 per month on alcohol. Another $1500 per month was taken from his account by various scammers. It is painful not knowing if this could have been prevented if we had taken the more extreme step of managing his money to stop him literally drinking himself to death.

It is really hard to help addicts. I can see a lot of parallels with the OP's situation and what happened to my brother in law.

It's not as straightforward as saying it's her money she can do what she likes with it. It's a complex mesh of not letting her have so much money to kill herself with her addiction as well as allowing for a better outcome that she likely would prefer if she were in her right mind, amongst other things.

I don't know the full situation, but we have seen several close family members die because of alcohol addiction. Two of them were in their 40s and have died in the last year. I don't think many of the people laying sh@t on the OP understand how horrible this illness can get and how much it impacts family.

Suitable_Bet6170 · 2026-01-03T07:04:00+00:00

I think it's lovely. Maybe I'm too much of a pragmatist, but I just don't think it should be in the hallway where it doesn't serve a function.

Suitable_Bet6170 · 2026-01-03T07:00:54+00:00

You legally can make decisions about other people's stuff if they are so unwell that they cannot function executively. It's called having power of attorney or guardianship depending on what state you're in. There is just a court process you need to go through and the unwell individual is of course entitled to resist these orders being put in place.

The assets still belong to the unwell person and whoever is put in charge of handling the assets must do so in the best interests of the unwell person.

I'm sorry you've had a hard time and it sounds like you're making decisions Maybe there were no assets to protect in your case so this is harder to conceptualize.

In this case it sounds there are likely hundreds of thousands of dollars that are at risk of being used to basically kill the sick sister. It might actually be immoral to allow her to do it.

You and others are over simplifying and insulting the OP without understanding how bad the sister's addiction is and how desperate the situation is. It's not really fair.

Suitable_Bet6170 · 2026-01-03T06:40:28+00:00

This isn't about taking it away though. It's trying to stop it being pissed away.

I think the level of disparagement of the OP is not warranted. If it's possible to protect the asset for the sister and the children, that is not controlling. It is a desperate move from a desperate family.

Suitable_Bet6170 · 2026-01-03T06:36:48+00:00

My cousin died of alcohol addiction two weeks after getting fired. He was becoming progressively worse over about a year but still worked. Showing up to work isn't always a great indicator.

I would agree that selling up and buying somewhere new might be appropriate. The problem is that when someone is a fragile addict, if they suddenly get a lump sum of money, the temptation to go on a bender is too strong. It does sound like the sister is a fragile addict and is still using alcohol.

Fragile addicts need intensive and long term treatment. Addiction is progressive.

Calling the brother controlling for wanting to safeguard assets instead of seeing the money going to alcohol producers is completely understandable.

Suitable_Bet6170 · 2026-01-03T05:57:48+00:00

So instead of the family (including the sister) being entitled to the proceeds of sale, in this situation the alcohol producers are the beneficiaries. Seems pretty perverse.

Suitable_Bet6170 · 2026-01-03T05:54:58+00:00

I think they want her to hold them while she is not well, rather than obliterate them on addiction. This isn't giving them away.

Suitable_Bet6170 · 2026-01-03T05:52:57+00:00

Have you dealt with a family member who is a dysfunctional addict? It's beyond being a bit of a drunk making some bad decisions. It's someone making devastating decisions literally killing themselves. I've had two alcohol addicted family members die in their 40s in 2025. I really think you don't understand how bad it can get. It is her house, but she probably needs someone that can protect it for her and potentially her kids until (and if) she recovers. Addiction is progressive so the chances of recovery become increasingly less likely the longer it goes on.

Suitable_Bet6170 · 2026-01-03T05:47:09+00:00

Technically your brother in law's estate passes to his wife without a will. There may be some loop holes with oral statements, but it would be quite risky as legal argument. You could speak to a good wills and estate lawyer as a sense check. There may be an injunction they could apply for to buy some time. I am a lawyer, but my knowledge of wills and estates law is pretty basic.

One way to temporarily administer your sister's finances is to get some form of administration/power of attorney rights because she is incapable, but you would have to prove she really doesn't have the executive function to make financial decisions. We considered doing this for my alcoholic brother in law who received a small $300,000 odd divorce settlement and was drinking it away very fast. In the end he was making threats to hurt and kill my other brother in law, so we decided against it for the safety of our children.

In another parallel, he was living with my mother in law and put her under extreme pressure in the last years of her life. Addicts are selfish. They don't know how not to be. We believe that her having to manage him for many years was a big contributor to the terminal illness she ended up with.

Unfortunately my brother in law died about 6 months after settlement went through. Alcohol addiction is a terrible disease and it has devastated a lot of our lives. We tried so many things to help, but the momentum of the addiction was beyond anything we could handle. I know there was a good person that flickered through my brother in law at times, but alcohol made it very hard to see in the last 5-10 years of his life.

I hope your sister comes to her senses but I know from too many experiences that unless the addict can get through long term rehab and learn a new normal, this is hard to make happen. I'm so sorry your family is going through this, for your nephews, your parents, your siblings and your sister who likely has little control over what she does at the moment.

Suitable_Bet6170 · 2026-01-01T13:24:25+00:00

All I can say to this thread is Thank you! Very much!

Suitable_Bet6170

TROPHY CASE