u/Aromatic-Switch4908

Hi, my family of adult siblings (mid 20s/early 30s) want to travel to Bali from Australia with our mother this summer over the Christmas holidays. We have about 2 weeks off.

There seems to be so much online and we have no idea where to begin with where to stay, what to do, what to see.

My mother has never really travelled before for a holiday, she's mid 50s and moderate muslim (she doesn't cover her head) however we can't go to anywhere too adulty, we want to keep it wholesome relaxing fun vibes, we want tropical beaches while exploring the local nature, culture and somewhere with lot's of vegan food as a lot of us are vegan / veggie.

Any and all suggestions would be so appreciated. Thank you.

Just bought a house and the bathroom exhausts aren’t vented to the outside and since I don’t want steam in my ceiling space, what is the neatest/ best way to do this? To a ceiling tile or out a wall?

Also Whats your recommendation for the best bathroom exhaust fans that have strong airflow (with windows open of course).

Another question, would it be an issue to relocate it more directly above the shower or just slightly off to the side or is this likely to corrode the motor? Are their fans that won’t have this issue as I would pay more for that since it’s my own house.

Thanks legends.

I’m looking around to maximise my offset account and know I have some big spending coming up as I’ve just moved in to a new house and have found this card.

You get 150k velocity points, 1.2 v points for every $1 spent, $6000 min spend in first 90 days. Total fee is $370.

Is there any better cards in terms of value out there to get instead?

In March I found out I wasn’t paid super by a previous employer from 2024. That company went under. I made an unpaid super claim. To this day I haven’t heard a thing… how long does it take?

Every time I call the ATO they also seem to be utterly clueless about anything to do with unpaid super.. help.

What other strategies are there other than just offsetting all my money?

Does fortnightly payments make a difference even when everything is being offset?

As per title. We are spending anywhere from 150-180 a week on groceries and just want to know if this is excessive or normal? Usually cook 4 meals a week which is enough for the whole week and maybe go out to eat once a week or fortnight which is an extra cost on top.

I’m talking like the eero 7 or the deco be25 but ceiling mounted versions, why don’t they seem to exist? Can anyone lead me in the right direction please? It would be so much neater and cheaper than having to buy a router a switch that has Poe and all that instead of just buying a mesh system that has inbuilt router that looks good mounted on ceiling.

I’m a first home buyer using the 5% scheme, from asking my broker, 6.3% with NAB using offset account is the best I can get.

My loan is currently 837k on a 950k house.

If I reach 80%LVR and have a loan of 760k of the 950k house, what interest rate can I get then with the lowest banking fees and with which bank?

It’s important to me to have multiple offset accounts but if I could only have one I’d like to know my options there too.

I have a spare car I can sell for 60k and have an extra 50k saved up as spare cash, so I can hit 760k quickly if I need to, but just wanted to know what my options were.

I’ve looked at a few furniture places for couches and saw one at Catalano as well as Adriatic that I really liked. It was about 5k total.

How much of a discount do you think you can get them to go down to? I have heard that they mark up the prices quite significantly. I noticed they also had bs marketing tactics of the price being 10-12k but slashed and the apparent new price was 5 or 6k which is almost half.. do they just do that all the time so they can bs us and say “see we have already reduced it by 50% so we can’t go much lower”? The whole industry seems like they charge so much more than what you could get them down to but am I wrong?

What about offset account va putting it in long term etf?

Just bought a place and the sale went through within days of property on market (it’s an exceptional place).

I’ve heard it can be a bit rough but there are nicer pockets (which I think we’re in) but can anyone who has been in the area give me their opinions? Is it as rough or deep/dangerous as what I think it might be or has it changed quite a bit lately?

Please also mention what exactly makes it good or bad?

I was interested in a house that went under offer but then came back on the market. The agent says it failed the building and pest inspection. He said it was due to water damage in the bathrooms which was considered a “major defect” which he tried to downplay. I’ve had another look for myself and theres no visible obvious signs of water damage however I imagine the inspector used a moisture measuring device.

The agent said the previous purchaser wanted a 100k discount but from his conversation with the B&P company they reckon it’s about 60k worth of repairs although he also says he hasn’t read the report himself.. but of course agents would downplay it.

The property is 4 bed 2 bath, 2 living room and about 260sqm internal

I contacted the B&P company and they are asking for $600 for the report.

Is this a reasonable price for a report that has already been done? I mean they have no overheads anymore, all they have to do is send the report and have a conversation about it.

What does everyone else think? Should I get an independent report done or buy this one for $600?

I notice in Frankston Vic that some real estate agencies are always over pricing properties and then they are on the market for so long, literally like 1-2 months sometimes before they reduce the price again while other agencies seem to be a lot more “reasonably” priced? Whats with these aggressive pricing tactics? No one is willing to pay far more for a property that isn’t worth it.

Have been continuously rejected even after offering max price, in 12 months the area we’ve been looking at has gone up by about 140k according to cotality… this is also an area that is well outside our comfort zone for how far away we wanted to move (1hr away from city/work) at this point what is the point? Continue to exhaust ourselves and face rejection after rejection and be priced out of housing even an hour out or should we just say fuck it and move to somewhere like Thailand or Bali and find an online job and actually have a more free life… seriously what is the point? (Our price range is up to a million as well) if we have our offer accepted, we’d be paying an overstretched mortgage for 30 years when only a year ago the same house would have gone for 860k… this level of price rise should be illegal and seems inherently and obviously beyond unfair. How is it even allowed?

What is the point? I’m losing my mind… why do we all subscribe to the scam of the housing market here? Is this really what it means to be in the lucky country? Coz it sure as shit doesnt feel like we are very lucky. Seems like we’ll be working til our last breath just to have a modest roof over our head.

My partner and I have a pre approval for a home with NAB through a broker and have made an offer on a house, however the real estate agent wants us to put down an unconditional offer when it comes to finance. It’s also to use the 5% FHB deposit scheme.

My issue is that I am one month in to a probationary period at a new full time role with a probation of 6 months, my current boss says I have nothing to worry about and go for it (make the offer on the property)

Work history is all in the same industry, from

Nov 2022 until August 2024 I was casual (full time hours) with company A

August to end of November 2024 I was full time with company B

Career break from December 2024-mid April 2025

April 2025 to April 2026 casual (full time hours) with company C

Now 1 month in to a new job which is on a 6 month probation.

Is NAB likely to have any issues with my employment history here when it comes to final unconditional approval on a house? Mainly my career break and the fact I’ve mostly been casual even though it was always full time hours? Should I be risk averse just in case and leave the subject to finance clause in? How far back to they check your employment history when you are on a probation and what kind of evidence do they ask for? Payslips or just income statement? (I’ve already submitted income statements as part of pre approval).

Please let me know your advice and thoughts, thank you.

We are in our early 30s and wanting to buy our first home and limited to $950k with the 5% deposit scheme (we have about 17%). Our income is about 195k a year combined. Looking at something that is minimum 3 bedrooms but 4 is ideal.

I’m a Tradie, my partner is a childcare teacher, and my Parents in their early 60s live in Ferntree Gully area hence why the pull to potentially be closer to them in Boronia.

Having said that, we have also been eyeing off Frankston.

What are people’s thoughts on either Frankston/ Boronia, which one would you choose for overall benefits like lifestyle/faster equity gains / distance from the city.

Is Frankston likely to explode compared to boronia? Is the lifestyle that much better than Boronia as it’s near the beach? Does Boronia/surrounds have any factors that will increase its value more over time that I’m not considering?

Please let us know your thoughts if you have anything to add. Thanks.

P.s. we also have people saying don’t buy at 950k and buy 800k older house and renovate it to build value, but this seems like I may as well spend the higher amount in the first place and not have to go through renovations no?