One thing I've noticed with higher income is that expenses can increase incredibly quickly without any single purchase feeling particularly extravagant.
Nicer restaurants, better holidays, a newer car, more expensive suburb.. suddenly you're earning heaps more but saving roughly the same percentage.
Doing 1:1 mental health psychosocial support, and the emotional weight of hearing trauma histories or sitting with people in deep distress is hitting hard this month.
I catch myself lying in bed at 11 PM worrying if a participant is going to manage their weekend independently. I know burnout creeps up fast in this field. What are your non-negotiable rituals for "off-loading" work energy after a shift so it doesn't bleed into your home life and relationships?
For those aiming for true financial independence and early retirement in Australia, what liquid net worth target (excluding the PPOR) are you aiming for before pulling the pin? With super lock-up rules and capital gains tax considerations, what age do you realistically plan to walk away?
Love my job and my main participant, but their family members have started texting my personal mobile late at night about non-urgent roster changes and daily complaints. What's the best way to gently set boundaries without making things awkward or getting management involved?
Public liability is the obvious one and most tradies have it. But the full picture of what adequate insurance looks like for someone working independently - tools, income protection, professional indemnity depending on the trade, what the policy actually covers versus what it excludes - seems to be something people discover more than they research. Would love to know what people here think is the most important cover that tradies working alone consistently undervalue and what made them realise it mattered.
The shift from predominantly owner-operated practices to corporate groups has been significant enough that it's changed the employment landscape for a generation of new graduates who are entering a profession that looks quite different to what their supervisors trained into. Would love to know how people here who've worked in both environments think about the difference - the clinical autonomy, the patient relationships, the culture inside the practice - and whether the corporate model is producing something genuinely different to what independent practice offered or just a more structured version of the same thing.
In high school I used to lose sleep if I got an 85 instead of a 90 on a practice paper. Fast forward to my second year of uni and I opened Canvas, saw a 52% on a mid-sem exam, shrugged, thought "a pass is a pass", and went back to watching TV.
I think I've lost all hope and motivation at this point.
Looking at job boards for first-year associate positions around Australia, I am seeing a massive variation in pay structures. Some clinics offer 35% commission with no minimum daily retainer, while others offer 40% with a guaranteed $1,000 or $1,200 daily rate for the first three months to help you build a patient base. What split and retainer conditions did you negotiate for your first job?
Every city has a few obvious gaps. For me, it's decent late-night transit between suburbs without waiting an hour for a bus. If you could add one practical thing to the Gong, what would it be?
I’m spending two hours a day on public transport and it’s genuinely draining my soul. Does it get better, or am I doomed to spend my entire degree on a bus?
Been in a PS role for about 2 years now and my pay rises have basically flatlined. Wondering if you're expected to move to different roles to get decent pay increases or if staying in one job means you're just accepting stagnation. How does people actually climb the pay scale?
Thinking about moving to a different agency to try something new but wondering if the grass is actually greener or if it's just different flavours of the same thing. Anyone had good experiences transferring?
Looking back, what's the one skill that's helped you progress more than any formal training course, and how did you develop it?
Want to boost my savings rate but don't want to be exhausted. What side income have people actually done that felt manageable?
I am currently looking at enrolling in a community services course to get into entry level case management or support work. I have the option to do a pathway that awards a statement of attainment for the five core competencies instead of committing to the full twelve month certificate three. For those who went the shorter route did local employers actually take you seriously during interviews or did they chuck your resume out because you did not hold the full formal qualification code
@simpsonsnrl
A cap of $1.3 million sounds pretty generous on paper, but once you actually start looking at what's available, the reality feels very different. In many parts of Sydney, that budget barely gets you into a decent townhouse or a family-sized apartment, and that's before you start considering commute times, school catchments, or building quality.
It feels like these caps were set based on a market that no longer exists. Property prices at the lower end have moved so quickly that a lot of ordinary buyers are being squeezed out despite technically falling within the eligibility criteria. Is anyone else finding that the caps look reasonable in theory but don't reflect what's actually available on the market today?
Mid level frontend dev here. The house prices in NSW are depressing me. Is there much of a tech scene in Adelaide for hybrid roles or would I be entirely relying on securing a fully remote contract from an east coast company?