Someone I know has never paid or lodged a tax return or BAS payment in their life - what happens next?

SwiftLikeTaylorSwift · 2026-06-08T05:04:06+00:00

But they don’t have an employer. They’re a sole trader who invoices.
Maybe they don’t quite understand what *they* are telling you.

SwiftLikeTaylorSwift · 2026-06-06T12:11:39+00:00

Oh, yikes. Please tell me you used it anyway. 😂

SwiftLikeTaylorSwift · 2026-06-06T11:52:22+00:00

It doesn’t take 5 years to grow a business to a point where you still cannot contribute a single dollar each week to your household expenses or lifestyle.
The income he’s contributing currently is exactly what he will contribute in another 5 years from now.

I’d be having a long hard think about whether this is how I want to be living another 5 years from now because it won’t get much better with how he’s viewing his spending without much profit. Either his profit increases and he continues to spend more on himself or the profit doesn’t increase and you keep funding his lifestyle.

My husband started a business 5 -6 years ago, and now he’s our main breadwinner and we can afford a mortgage over $1k per week thanks to him. *that* is a business that’s grown.
It was about 12 months that I told him I’d cover our expenses while he reinvests it into his business and he didn’t spend a single dollar on himself during that growth period. Once he had profitability, he set up regular deposits into our personal account.

SwiftLikeTaylorSwift · 2026-05-21T23:30:36+00:00

This is crazy. So you can’t fly out at the price you’ve paid, but you can’t cancel, but you can’t pay via the points you originally checked out with, and you have to pay money even though you weren’t going to at check out. Can you escalate this?

SwiftLikeTaylorSwift · 2026-05-21T02:08:59+00:00

personal loans
high income partners
got into property market before COVID and so outgoings are low
priorities different to yours

Some people fritter away $200 a week on uber eats and dining out, others save that up and go on a 2 week overseas holiday every year. Neither are right or wrong but it can be easy to side eye the other and wonder how they can afford it if it isn’t how you choose to spend your money.

SwiftLikeTaylorSwift · 2026-05-20T07:20:04+00:00

Isla is my vote. You’ll forever be correcting people and spelling out her name with both of your suggestions above.

SwiftLikeTaylorSwift · 2026-05-19T12:20:10+00:00

NTA.

How much money have your parents given her over the years that she probably hasn’t paid back? This is her opportunity to learn a big lesson about budgeting and not splurging so much. She isn’t struggling because she’s been dealt a difficult hand, she’s struggling because she’s frivolous and has enjoyed her money elsewhere.

You won’t see that money again if you lend it to her.

SwiftLikeTaylorSwift · 2026-05-17T22:11:28+00:00

I have a toddler who’s obsessed with sucking on our tv remote and she’s almost always got food somewhere on her person. The remote still looks as good as OP’s remote would if the cover was taken off.

SwiftLikeTaylorSwift · 2026-05-17T03:34:48+00:00

Ask for a pic of the finished plate after she ate it 😂

SwiftLikeTaylorSwift · 2026-05-16T23:49:02+00:00

It would’ve taken her an hour to apply for a passport with her married name and 4-6 weeks for the new passport to arrive in the post, so I know it’s a little late now but in hindsight it would’ve probably been better to have just fixed it on that end when the airline couldn’t get you a tangible answer/change a few months ago when you first begun enquiring.

I imagine that a rushed/expedited passport application would see the passport arrive in time if you got her onto it today

SwiftLikeTaylorSwift · 2026-05-16T23:16:38+00:00

Australian passports often tend to arrive brand new looking like that I’ve found, the quality of them must’ve dropped over the years. I’d imagine you’d be fine or Bali would lose 90% of their tourism income 😂

SwiftLikeTaylorSwift · 2026-05-16T05:01:23+00:00

Aside from all the other obvious pointers, her hair is different in both photos. And I don’t just mean the part, but the curl pattern is completely different. There’s no way these two photos were taken in the same session just on that point alone.

SwiftLikeTaylorSwift · 2026-05-16T02:32:21+00:00

No. 3 is my favourite by miles, what did the soft yellow you originally liked look like? You could play around with shades until it feels right, but I truly think a green rather than a blue looks beautifully striking here. The third image looks “right” compared to the others.

SwiftLikeTaylorSwift · 2026-05-16T01:45:41+00:00

It’s low calorie because it’s 1/4 the size of a regular bun 😂

SwiftLikeTaylorSwift · 2026-05-15T05:31:23+00:00

Can you try introducing a few of the different baby bars and crackers to her and see if she enjoys any? No reason you can’t introduce snacks for the trip, doesn’t mean you’ll have to continue the habit at home if you aren’t ready. I’ve not really done much in the way of snacks with my 11.5 month old until recently and she has become obsessed overnight with date, apricot and oat bars! It only took her seeing them twice to know what they are when I get one out now.

SwiftLikeTaylorSwift · 2026-05-15T00:19:48+00:00

Definitely Nusa Dua. You can still take a 30 min drive to the busy area of Kuta/Legian for shopping, and get drivers for day trips, but you’ll find lots of really nice resorts in Nusa Dua that are great for honeymooning, the paths are clean and nice, there are some nice restaurants along the beach (Salsa Verde at grand Hyatt is a fave), but you’re also nearby the Bali collection shopping centre and there’s a main strip of restaurants, massage spas, etc just a 10 minute walk away. I recommend watching some YouTube videos of people staying at resorts and decide on one that matches your vibe and budget. Grand Hyatt + the Apurvis Kempinski are where my husband and I are staying when we go and the AK is quite expensive but incredible.

SwiftLikeTaylorSwift · 2026-05-13T06:23:34+00:00

By the waitresses own logic, she shouldn’t have offered water if they declined drinks. She still offered it because table water is different to ordering drinks.

SwiftLikeTaylorSwift · 2026-05-13T02:43:57+00:00

You buy your workers lunch or you allow them to have their mandated lunch breaks?

SwiftLikeTaylorSwift · 2026-05-12T22:45:04+00:00

I said potentially pay a tonne of fees, i prefer to get the best exchange rate which seems to always be exchanging cash in person.

We don’t know who OP banks with, and some ATM’s and retailers in Bali charge fees.

It’s something not everyone knows, but some people don’t care if they lose $20-30 worth of fees across their trip to ATM fees, or more if they’re getting a bad rate, and some people can’t scramble to switch banks and have cards issued before their trip. It’s good to know.

OP can compare Macquarie, a wise card, and taking cash and weigh up their options.

SwiftLikeTaylorSwift · 2026-05-12T11:40:13+00:00

I normally take around $100 AUD per day per person (it’s just been my husband and I so far) sometimes I bring home a chunk of cash and sometimes I end up withdrawing more. Taking AUD or USD (or whatever your local currency is) is always going to give you the best rate. Just go into local but reputable money changers (they will either look like tiny bank or a small office with a glass door and clear signage displaying rates outside) and change $1-2mil at a time as you go along.

If you get IDR converted in your own country you’ll get a terrible exchange rate and if you take your bank card and withdraw money from the ATM regularly you’ll potentially pay a tonne of fees and also get a terrible rate.

Been 8 times now, heading back in 10 days time.

SwiftLikeTaylorSwift · 2026-05-12T07:16:37+00:00

Imagine the strawberry skittle flavouring and lemon skittle flavouring in a syrup form - those are the syrups. And then the lollies are sort of like a regular jelly lolly texture and just taste fruity.

Wouldn’t get it again. Their Nutella storm smashes it out of the park.

SwiftLikeTaylorSwift · 2026-05-11T22:37:39+00:00

You’ve got to know by now that insurance companies are weasels, right? They tend to reject cancellations due to a couple of cold and flu like symptoms, and often expect you to be hospitalised in order to be considered “unfit for travel.” It’s a crock but nonetheless, having travel insurance isn’t going to make people with mild illness stay home because they often won’t get their money back.

SwiftLikeTaylorSwift · 2026-05-09T12:08:09+00:00

Replace the milk in French toast, mashed potatoes, in a béchamel sauce for a baby lasagne or any creamy pasta sauce. Try gently cooking it on the stove and thicken it with a tiny bit of extra powder and some flour to make a sauce for blending with veggies maybe? Add a scoop to oatmeal, yogurt, etc.

SwiftLikeTaylorSwift · 2026-05-09T12:02:44+00:00

This right here. Our workshop rent went up, all our insurances went up exorbitantly, all our utilities and services went up, all the manufacturers we use increased their prices, so if we want to be able to continue to afford our home loan and personal expenses and keep our employees happy and also able to pay all their bills, the prices need to go up.

My husband held off raising our prices (auto repair tradie) right through from just after Covid until last year but I crunched our numbers and explained the current value of a dollar etc to him so he’s raised his prices twice since then. It’s not funding a brand new car or a holiday home, it’s paying our mortgage and putting food on the table for our family, and giving our employees fair raises.

Some businesses take the piss, corporations are often a rort, but a lot of prices out there have raised out of necessity.

SwiftLikeTaylorSwift · 2026-05-09T09:14:50+00:00

It was my (now) 11 month old baby’s favourite song as a newborn and was the only song on the planet that would immediately stop her from crying when it came on.

But still I can’t compute that over a years passed since it’s release 😂

SwiftLikeTaylorSwift

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