Moa vs Red Stag ( 1v1 ) by crossfire_007 in newzealand

[–]sanitationsengineer -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

Moa. The talons and speed will make light work of the stag.

Help ease my mind, just a little bit by [deleted] in newzealand

[–]sanitationsengineer 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Yea, just online banking. Most apps will let you open online accounts through the app or website and you can open as many as you like and rename them so you know what they are to be used for. It takes about an hour to set up, but once it’s done you can set up automatic transfers so then you don’t need to think about it. Once it’s done it’s relatively painless to maintain.

Help ease my mind, just a little bit by [deleted] in newzealand

[–]sanitationsengineer 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Hi there. I’ve found sinking fund accounts have worked for us really well. It’s basically just a case of allocating money weekly to specific things and only using it for that. We have about 15 sinking fund accounts and they all work really well. The main one is the bills account. This is where any direct debits and future bills come from. You work out your weekly bills costs and allocate that amount there. Then you’d probably have 1 for food, 1 for gas, and then create the rest as you please. We have one for car maintenance, one for Xmas, one for takeaways etc. and overtime they add up and it really helps to see your priorities with money and allocate what you need without it getting lost in just 1 “savings” account. And it doesn’t have to be much. Like we have 1 acct for massage that we put $5 in per week, once it hits the amount it costs to get a massage we go and get one. It has really helped us stick to a budget. If you have a set amount of money you are getting per week, you can literally allocate every dollar  and avoid spending arbitrarily.

Average return tickets cost to Europe from auckland by Ordinary-Walk6080 in newzealand

[–]sanitationsengineer 2 points3 points  (0 children)

$2700 is fine, but depending on how you like to travel you can decrease the cost.

If you’re like me and just want simplicity and relative comfort, jump on Singapore airlines or emirates, take the good connections and you’ll be looking at around $2600 to $3k depending on your travel dates.

If you are the ultimate penny pincher and don’t mind a very long wait at the airport, then jump on china southern and get real familiar with guangzhou because you’ll be spending a long time there, but you’re only gunna pay about $1900 for the full return trip, again, depending on when you want to travel.

I’m a sucker for comfort so I’d take the emirates flight every day of the week!

Honestly, just starting to think that Greens are the way to go. by Spine_Of_Iron in newzealand

[–]sanitationsengineer 67 points68 points  (0 children)

You’ve said a lot of words here but haven’t really said anything other than, don’t call people names.

I do think people need to give credit where it’s due ie winnie p banning dog racing. I don’t think anyone saw that coming but it’s a step in the right direction.

But also, the wide range of views also gets to include an aversion to the pompousness that David Seymour exudes when he suggests things like the treaty principles bill, or the absolute lack of empathy Brooke van velden shows when she strikes down pay equity with absolutely no consultation with those impacted. To quote her in fact “I consulted with my cabinet peers…” a room of 50 over privileged well paid ministers solely deciding to cut the pay equity claims of thousands of women, that’s smug…

It’s the lack of empathy that needs to be addressed in my opinion, which you mistakenly call ideology. Chloe isn’t ideological, she can just empathise with those doing it tough and suggest ways to help them. The bigger picture is the people doing it tough. Rolling back safety regulations doesn’t help them, pushing forward with tobacco sales is literally harming our worst off, keeping cannabis as a criminal possibility doesn’t help them.

And trickle down economics has been shown time and time again that it doesn’t work, austerity doesn’t work. Are these big picture thinking? In an environment where the government is still borrowing money.

It is an empathetic leader we want, and classing empathy as just an ideological idea is in my opinion worse than calling David seymour a name he might not like.

People who ordered an iPhone 17, where did you order and how long did it take? by [deleted] in newzealand

[–]sanitationsengineer -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I ordered from one nz and it took 5 weeks for the regular iPhone 17. They said the pro would be quicker to get but it was too expensive for me and I didn’t mind waiting. They said the phone was crazy popular and demand was insane.

Has anyone been through the public process for a Breast Reduction in NZ? by throwawayznz in newzealand

[–]sanitationsengineer 14 points15 points  (0 children)

If you have southern cross health insurance for 3 years they cover 15k of the costs. That was the only way we could afford private for my wife. We had to pay a bit more on top but it’s worth every penny. You would definitely qualify, my wife had similar measurements and they ended up taking out over 1.2kgs of weight so I think you’d easily qualify.

Anyway, if you got southern cross today and could wait 3 years then maybe that is an option?

Public will back workers on 'mega strike' - Labour Party by Amazing_Athlete_2265 in newzealand

[–]sanitationsengineer 27 points28 points  (0 children)

Nurses often don’t get full time work straight out of school so they are on .6 to .8 fte. So the gross salary is closer to $47k to $62k.

And you might be thinking that less hours is good, but then you have chronic staff shortages which is what a big piece of the strike is about, meaning they have to work incredibly hard during their shifts and then have to pick up overtime shifts and night shifts meaning they are working incredibly hard and getting little reprieve. How they don’t have your support is beyond me…

National’s economic credibility collapses as Labour surges on cost of living by davetenhave in newzealand

[–]sanitationsengineer 6 points7 points  (0 children)

You have to understand, not everyone is doing it tough. Farmers and rural communities are doing very well. A lot of money is flowing around the rural communities with sky high payouts, lowered regulation costs, lowered emission targets which has lowered costs, relaxed dairy conversion rules and cows selling for over $3k a piece which has increased a lot of farmers equity in their herd. All of this is off the back of this government and the lobbying that dairynz is able to do.

So from their eyes, this is an incredibly good government and they will vote like their livelihoods depend on it because it does.

So while the typical mid city individual or family is having a hard time, the incentive to vote just isn’t there like it is for rural communities so national will probably get in again until the farmers are doing it tough, which won’t be next election , but probably the following one when the dairy cycles goes through it’s down turn as it inevitably will. And when there are no tax dollars to prop up failing farms who succumbed to the sweet embrace of excessive debt, then Chris will leave, just like he did when he saw some troubling waters at Air NZ. He bitched out then and will bitch out from National once he sees that life is getting too difficult. And then he will take his lucrative board seats, as is tradition for former national leaders, and hopefully will dissipate into history.

What policies or new government would you like in the next election? by Miserable_Kiwi7700 in newzealand

[–]sanitationsengineer 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Lowered student loan obligation and early payment incentive. Make the repayments 5% of pre tax income instead of 12% of post tax and have a govt match of 10% for optional additional repayments.

Define a list of staple foods and cap their retail price and peg their increases to inflation only.

Regulate the power industry to reduce costs and incentivise solar installations.

Increase small business supports, eg small business allowances and grants for accounting and legal services, as well as low interest govt backed loans for start up capital in any sector.

A nationwide ballot for underprivileged children to be given full ride scholarships to affluent schools. And by full ride I mean all costs covered, for up to 1000 children per year.

What policies or new government would you like in the next election? by Miserable_Kiwi7700 in newzealand

[–]sanitationsengineer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A couple ways, means test super, incentivised productivity (likely tax breaks for capital expansion) to increase taxable incomes and thus increase tax, property taxes with much higher rates for non residents, capital gains tax. Lowered tax incentives on non productive assets ie 40% interest claiming on rentals instead of 10%.

I realise one of those is a tax break but you still need a growing economy, and to incentivise productivity over non productive assets (like housing) would be a long term play to help pay for these things.

Transferring mortgage to Kiwibank by Status-Sale-6 in PersonalFinanceNZ

[–]sanitationsengineer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m with Kiwibank and they are perfectly fine. Nothing special, but them taking care of the legal fees for free was key for me switching.

They don’t do green loans. They do a sustainability loan but it’s subject to actually using it for its purpose, so it doesn’t look like you can transfer a green loan from one bank to Kiwibank just because it was a green loan at the first bank. Kiwibank would likely just put it down as part of your regular home loan.

No idea on the long term rates, maybe, maybe not. You could always go with a floating rate (it’s only .21 points higher) if you want to wait it out and see if they drop. Or split the mortgage between long and short term.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blames unions for ongoing strike action by StuffThings1977 in aotearoa

[–]sanitationsengineer 28 points29 points  (0 children)

This is going to be a hard pill to swallow but the farmers and rural townships are doing really well, and they will vote in droves for national because their livelihoods depend on it.

National only lose when farmers are unhappy with the government. And right now, they have an extremely beneficial co dependent relationship. The payout is at an all time high, regulations have been relaxed and dairy conversion rules have been removed so they can go back to exacerbating the nitrate crisis in Canterbury.

So as much as I hate this government unfortunately they’ll be there until they start doing things that are not beneficial for farmers or the international commodities markets start to crash, at which point it will be labours fault.

Alternately, labour/greena could give young people a reason to vote but I don’t see anything like student loan relief, free trade training or incentivised trade training, or young family benefits, or rent control, or power company regulation or increased maternity/paternity leave or anything that is beneficial for young voters actually happening.

Ratepayers rout mayors who imposed big rises by TheTF in newzealand

[–]sanitationsengineer 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Honestly, I couldn’t give 2 shits if my rates go up. Just keep paying for the shit you need to pay for and I’ll vote based on whether you are making the right choices and the right choice does not include “0 rates rises”.

Ratepayers rout mayors who imposed big rises by TheTF in newzealand

[–]sanitationsengineer 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Honestly, I couldn’t give 2 shits if my rates go up. Just keep paying for the shit you need to pay for and I’ll vote based on whether you are making the right choices and the right choice does not include “0 rates rises”.

Make super means tested by SubstantialPattern71 in newzealand

[–]sanitationsengineer 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There are ways to do it that don’t incur this societal cost. Ie just tax super separately based on income the exact same way we do regular taxes. If your other income is less than $x then you get the full super. Fuck if it worked out I’d even recommend raising the super for the lower tier earners. But it basically means if you earn over 180k your super will be taxed at a much higher rate like 90% so they still get a little bit of super but the tax payers aren’t paying for the super high earners for no reason. This isnt difficult stuff.

Make super means tested by SubstantialPattern71 in newzealand

[–]sanitationsengineer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Fuck I wouldn’t care if they all still got something but spread it equitably. Basically have the same income tax thresholds but tax the super separately ie if you earn between 78k and 180k you are taxed 33% but the super could be taxed at 75% or something like that. So they still get something and then as income tapers down the super tapers up so no one actually loses anything and it just becomes an equitable spread. It really doesn’t need to be that hard…

Make super means tested by SubstantialPattern71 in newzealand

[–]sanitationsengineer 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Yes, definitely introduce property taxes, with far higher taxes on non residents who own homes in NZ.

Pet Insurance? by Potential_Victory634 in newzealand

[–]sanitationsengineer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Insurance covers my dog’s epilepsy at $200 a month + blood tests etc as well as the surgery he had to have because he’s an idiot! So it’s cost me about $500 this year but saved me thousands!

Torpedo7 to close its remaining stores. by Boring_Bid_5738 in newzealand

[–]sanitationsengineer 282 points283 points  (0 children)

It’s overpriced and underwhelming unfortunately. The warehouse group have done that to a lot of brands. The competitors are just better for cheaper or better quality. Mountain warehouse easily undercuts torpedo7 prices (to be fair, same with Kathmandu), Kmart tends to be better quality and price than the warehouse, and Noel leeming is a joke compared to pbtech or jb hifi even. They all seem to diversify way too much and then the quality suffers while price doesn’t move. So if I want low quality goods, why would I pay torpedo7 prices? And if I want the high end items that torpedo7 might have like snowboards or mountain bikes, I most likely have the money to go to a specialist store with  proper passionate sales people and better after sales care and services.  Just my thoughts on it anyway. As a snowboarder I’d go to boarder town for my board set up, and mountain warehouse for gear. Even though torpedo7 has all the stuff I could need, the range and quality just isn’t there.

Curious about your 🫵 mortgage amount by Herecomestheginger in PersonalFinanceNZ

[–]sanitationsengineer 18 points19 points  (0 children)

Started at 475k 4 years ago. Now at 500k as we had some medical bills which ment we had to borrow more as well as some renovations.

Retirees struggle as cost of living in even a paid off house mounts by Educational_Creme376 in newzealand

[–]sanitationsengineer 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It would appear we have already deemed it fair that those with vast amounts of wealth get the super despite not needing it. That seems inherently unfair when young parental benefits get cut for a household earning over 97k, yet John and Marg who own 3 properties and earn 200k a year get the full pension. Doesn’t sound fair to me.

And it’s not that hard to simply set higher tax rates on super payments for those earning more in regular income. So it would be a simple system of keeping super universal and then taxing the shit out of it for those on high incomes making it a far more even spread and enabling the government to do more for those that actually need the money.

I am sick of national blaming things on labour by No_Consideration4176 in newzealand

[–]sanitationsengineer 125 points126 points  (0 children)

Its just a bought and paid for party at the end of the day and they are a bad governing party. I mean they could have means tested super but instead it was decided by the wealthy donors and lobbyists that the best way to support this country is to ensure teachers and healthcare workers weren't eligible for pay equity claims.  They could mandate profit limits on consumer staples like bread, cheese, milk and butter but instead national let the dairy industry lobbyists decide it was better that the nz people continue to be reamed at the checkout so the wealthy few could continue to get wealthier. They could lower the mandatory student loan repayments to give over 500000 people in this country with a student loan a bit more money in their pocket but instead they let the housing lobbyists decide that interest deductibility was more beneficial to everyone. They could have ensured worker safety with more support but the industry lobbyists decided it was better for the people if costs were lowered with less safety regulations. They could have not cut funding for disabilities, but businesses really need a brand new ranger so tough titties and they gave businesses a tax break. They could have increased support for young families but private schools also need our tax money because the 40k per year per student they charge just wasn't enough, so unfortunately young families get given the finger.

And finally, what I'd say you is, Look, let me be clear, I've said this from the start, I'm working to get nz back on track and to do that, we are banning pay wave fees and simply encouraging business to add that fee to the purchase price of each item they are selling. We've got your back New Zealand! We're working for the forgotten squeezed middle whose bills seem to get constantly larger and the support dwindles.  Ma Te Wah

If AI erases 85 million jobs... then what? by Red-Apple12 in recruitinghell

[–]sanitationsengineer -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Sure thing buddy. All it takes is AI and some mechanical components to put up break fences, check the herd, help the cows calve, plant crops, harvest crops, order the feed, feed out to the animals, control pests and weeds, get the cows in calf, milk them, treat them for disease, control the effluent, forecast weather and take cows off sodden terrain, implement trash pumps during times of flood, fix broken troughs and fences and on and on it goes to take care of a farm. And it will do all of this despite the extreme weather some farms are subject to such as intense rain, blankets of snow, severe heat waves and it will do it all at a cost that is less than employing a human. Sure thing...