u/Upsidedown0310

We handed the keys of our rental back one month ago. No money is being taken out of the bond. We still haven’t had the bond refunded! Property manager is saying it’s because they’ve changed the system recently. We were in our rental for 5 years so haven’t had to go through the refund process for a while.

I’ve also received various, seemingly random, bits of communication from Tenancy. This included a reminder to fill something in that I was never asked to do in the first place, and a request for my partner to fill in a form that also hasn’t been sent.

Has anyone else been through the refund process recently? Is it the same for everyone or has the PM mucked up? We’ve never had to apply for a bond refund previously, it’s always been done by the PM/company we rented through.

Kia Ora all, I’m hoping to get some opinions and advice from this sub as we are tying ourselves in anxious knots about our mortgage.

Buying our first home in our late 30s after covid related redundancies rocked our finances and then we watched house prices skyrocket in 2011. It’s taken us a lot of hard work to get to this point and we are super proud that we will be homeowners in a couple of weeks!

When we initially looked to buy we thought we’d likely lock in our loan for some longer terms given the volatility of the world at the moment. But we are buying with low equity - we are $15k short of 15%. Our mortgage will be with ASB and they chuck a 0.75% LEM on the loan which is obviously quite a lot!

With this in mind, we are wondering whether we put a chunk of the mortgage on shorter terms to allow us to pay off as much of the principal as possible. Our thinking is that even if the rates rise when we refix, we will hopefully have paid enough down to remove that penalty.

Other advantage would be that once the 6 month portion ends we can pay a lump sum.

We do have additional savings that we could use to increase our deposit, however we don’t want to totally deplete ourselves before we move in.

Of course this feels like a massive gamble, and we are slightly terrified that rates will skyrocket! However anything over a year will mean 6.2% interest (with the LEM).

Appreciate any insight, and also any things we may not have considered!

Edit: thanks so much for all your comments! You’ve all definitely given me some home truths that I needed to hear. I emailed the couple saying my priority is making sure they are happy and get the coverage they need. I’m also going to amend my contract and actually just remove my smallest package.

One I've never had before...

A client booked months ago for one of the busiest periods of summer (literally busiest month of the year by far). They booked my middle package (8 hours) and talked about potentially upgrading their hours at a later date.

They are now asking to reduce their hours and say they didn't realise they were locked in, their understanding was that they booked the day and could decide the package later on.

We had a call where I explained everything clearly, they chose the package, and signed a contract with the hours and package price written in three different places. I also add that information into the body of the email with the link to their contract, as well as in the confirmation email after they signed.

I sent an email being very nice and polite about it all but firmly stating I don't allow hours reduction and they are now really pushing back and sounding a bit pissed off. I'm unsure whether this is truly a case of crossed wires or if they're simply trying to reduce their budget (it's a 1k difference in price). Tbh if they'd led with wanting to book my smaller package I probably would have turned away the booking in the knowledge I could earn more that day, but if I say that directly I sound like a bit of a dick.

I'm really unsure what to do here. It's a peak Saturday that I could have booked my biggest package on, but if I really push back on this am I going to end up with a couple who feel pissed at me?! I suggested we hop on a call to go through the timeline so they can see that 8 hours isn't too much but would love to hear ideas from this sub!

I was chatting to a friend yesterday who was talking about her emergency kit. When I asked what she meant she looked at me like I was INSANE and told me I should have one prepared in case we get a big shake.

Maybe it’s because I didn’t grow up here (semi-recent immigrant) but it’s never even occurred to me! However I’ve got two young kids - so I should probably sort one out?!

Any advice for what to put in one aside from torches/batteries? I’m assuming there will be several suggestions for emergency wine 🤣

Hi all,

After years of digging ourselves out of a financial hole that almost drowned us during Covid (we were already in debt then we had redundancies and a decimated industry) my husband and I on track with our finances.

We’re planning to buy a house this year which is super exciting, and had initially planned to put every extra cent towards paying down the principal.

However, we’ve been told by lots of friends that we should actually be investing extra cash. I’m sure there are arguments for and against mortgage repayment vs investment, but we plan to do a bit of both.

Neither of us have parents who talked to us about finances, and we’ve got zero knowledge around investing.

If you can recommend some reputable resources for educating ourselves - podcasts, books, articles - I’d be very grateful. I did a wee google and immediately felt completely overwhelmed. I’ve been lurking in this sub for a while and sometimes feel like I understand almost nothing that’s said on the comments regarding investments!

I don't do a lot of church weddings, and those that I have done haven't allowed for flash. However, I've got one coming up with possibly the most chill priest I've ever encountered who is not only okay with me standing wherever I want, but also said he's absolutely fine with flash. Couple have said they're cool with me doing whatever I need to do to get the best photos.

Will I need to use flash for the ceremony? Probably not. Will the photos look better if I do? Given how gloomy it is in there (aside from overhead strip lights) I'd guess at yes!

Is there a way to unobtrusively use OCF during a ceremony? And if there is, is there a particular setup you'd use? Couple will be sat over to one side for a lot of the ceremony so it's not as simple as having a light stand on either side bouncing off the walls which I've seen a few people recommend.

I had someone last weekend tap me on the shoulder during the first dance and ask me if I could take their photo.

I was laughing about it with my husband earlier and then I said it bet that's tame compared to what other guests will have asked other photographers...

Prove me right - what's your worst/best unhinged guest request or behaviour?

(currently procrastinating culling galleries, keep me entertained...)

Edit: I should have specified that I’m in New Zealand, which means all the ‘convenience’ food you can get in the US (Lara bars etc) aren’t available here. I need whole food suggestions if possible 😅

Hi all!

I'm looking at my diary to see when I can do my next round and I'm finding it hard because I have a few overnight or multi day hiking trips coming up. Usually on those trips I'll fuel with dehydrated meals for dinner, mi goreng noodles, wraps, crackers with cheese and salami, oats for breakfast. Basically lots of very non compliant food!

I wondered if anyone has hiked while on Whole30?

Should probably add that I'll be remote and will have to carry everything with me. I can't really pop some eggs and chicken sausage in my backpack...

I had my long awaited ADHD assessment today and my psychologist threw me a curveball when she suggested that I might want to seek an assessment for Autism too.

It’s really surprised me but apparently a lot of what I said suggested I might have AuDHD. I’m a pretty sociable person and just don’t ‘see’ myself as autistic but apparently my idea of what it looks and feels like isn’t accurate at all!

So…my lovely AuDHDers - what is your lived experience of this? What does it feel like? How does it impact your life?

Looking to gain insight past the checklists I’ve found online especially as the experience of women is often drastically different to what’s described!