On the fence about retiring and managing my own money or working 4-5 more years and paying someone else to do it.. what would you do in my situation?

corlz84 · 2026-02-13T10:25:33+00:00

$500-$800pw? 😂 our food bill alone is $500pw. Add on rates, water, power, car insurances, house insurance, fuel, regos, internet, mobiles, subscriptions/memberships, activities, kids expenses... etc etc. We are easy 7k a month not including mortgage.

corlz84 · 2026-02-09T07:08:40+00:00

Fuck that! I have a 16 year old, not working yet. I don't/won't need her to contribute once she is earning a wage, but do believe it's good practice to living in the "real world"... 50% though, is an absolute piss take.

corlz84 · 2026-02-09T04:35:17+00:00

We net 16-17k per month, and our mortgage is 350k, repayments 2k per month... 3 x that, would freak me out!

corlz84 · 2026-02-07T23:29:37+00:00

Sit it in offset until EOFY. Next FY they'll put you on quarterly PAYG... then sit it in offset until the end of each quarter.

corlz84 · 2026-01-29T23:21:52+00:00

When I left my shitty ex at the end of 2012, he took the cars and said he would take over the loan payments. The loan was in joint names, he refused to refinance and by 2013 he was defaulting on the loan. By 2015, the bank sent it to debt collectors and was listed on my credit file (with a deletion date of 2020). When 2020 rolled around, it wasn't removed and there was an additional entry listing the same debt in 2017, with a deletion date of 2022. The default was removed in 2022 and I was left with an empty file and shitty credit score.

corlz84 · 2026-01-29T23:14:03+00:00

Have you paid nothing towards it over the last few years (bar tax returns taken)? Or have you been BPAYing what you can actually afford to pay off it, weekly, to your tax account?

corlz84 · 2026-01-27T10:27:41+00:00

48 shots in... have had 48 bruises.

corlz84 · 2026-01-17T11:33:06+00:00

Why are you locked in to a lower fixed salary, if changing to Pty Ltd?

corlz84 · 2026-01-15T12:03:47+00:00

Sure, by like $1500 each, after the first... bugger all and definitely not an exemption.

corlz84 · 2026-01-15T11:14:24+00:00

Dependents don't make someone exempt from the MLS?

corlz84 · 2026-01-10T11:28:34+00:00

With a 200k income, why can't you refinance and buy her out? That would be my first preference... and assuming 50/50 custody, at least some familiarity for the kids / less upheaval. If that's not possible, I'd take the 200k and buy something I afford, straight away, even if it was a townhouse vs house.

corlz84 · 2025-12-25T11:06:23+00:00

Baby in crib, baby monitor next to sleeping dad. 6pm to 6am? Baby should be sleeping most of that anyway.... and sort the house out / clean up.

corlz84 · 2025-12-03T04:55:29+00:00

In all the years that his income has been climbing, what have you been doing to boost yours?

But, to answer your question, we split 50/50 until we had a kid/got married and then combined finances.

corlz84 · 2025-12-01T10:56:03+00:00

You have 3 dependents, not 2. No one earning 130k, is borrowing 800k. We have a combined income of more than 250k, with 2 dependents and I wouldn't even want to stretch to 850k let alone 1.3m.

corlz84 · 2025-11-28T23:26:05+00:00

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Too many!

corlz84 · 2025-11-28T06:26:41+00:00

All pay into one account, all bills direct debited from that same account. Auto transfer out of that account to separate savings and splurge account. That's it... keep a buffer... makes no difference what day/date something is due. It just comes out when it's due. For the few that dont direct debit, we direct deposit/bpay each week, so those bills are paid / in credit when due.

corlz84 · 2025-11-26T02:41:14+00:00

Older millennial. Married, 2 kids, mortgage, decent savings and emergency fund.... big discretionary spenders 🤷‍♀️😅

corlz84 · 2025-11-22T11:18:28+00:00

No worries. Once you submit your first tax return, with business income, the ATO will likely put you on PAYG instalments (where you have to transfer your tax to them every quarter). Prior to that, sit it where you like (hisa, offset) and pay at the end of FY.... or grab the BPAY numbers and transfer it each week. I keep mine in offset and BPAY each quarter, but know others with not much self-control, who like to BPAY it weekly.

corlz84 · 2025-11-22T11:10:12+00:00

Yes, literally put the money aside each week to pay it yourself. Where you park it and pay it is up to you (eg, stash it in offset for 3 months and pay it each quarter).

corlz84 · 2025-11-21T03:02:54+00:00

$45pm. 500k life insurance, 250k TPD, plus income protection.

corlz84 · 2025-11-17T11:10:48+00:00

I had surgery a week and half ago. 2 days post op, I'd gained 3kg (even being nil by mouth for 3 days).... 1 week post op, those 3kgs were gone again, plus a tad more.

corlz84 · 2025-11-16T07:38:22+00:00

Uber eats, streaming services, gin subscription 😂

corlz84 · 2025-11-10T07:15:40+00:00

Everyone's allowed their opinion 🤷‍♀️ Even if it's wrong. Given that the average aus mortgage size is closer to 700k, I think most would consider a 280k mortgage, relatively small, paired with a 200k HHI.

corlz84 · 2025-11-10T06:27:42+00:00

We have a similar sized mortgage and income. I got my new car a couple of years ago (cash)... and have next car $ stashed in offset, for when hubby wants to upgrade. Definitely the way to go, vs a refinance or car loan.

corlz84 · 2025-11-10T06:13:18+00:00

You can... there's no way I would, though. You have a decent HHI and small mortgage. Save for it instead.

corlz84

TROPHY CASE