r/AusMoneyMates

Hypothetical situation: 29, single, no debt, renting, about $50k sitting in a HISA and another $10k emergency buffer. No plans to buy a house in the next couple of years. Would you leave most of it in cash or start putting some into ETFs?

A new report from Xero shows that more than a third of Australian small business owners literally don't know whether their business turned a profit last month. In response, industry leaders are launching a new taskforce aimed at improving financial literacy for SMEs, arguing that poor financial visibility is directly impacting everything from hiring decision to cash flow management and mental health. For those running or working with small businesses: Is this primarily a lack of financial education, software adoption or just small business owners being completely consumed by day-to-day operations?

Miles, Ricky, Jack and Riley were fed up with Australia's house prices, so they quit their jobs, sold their belongings and headed to Italy to see whether the famous €1 homes were really as cheap as they sounded. They eventually bought a property in Sicily for just €1, but the real financial story is what comes next. The house needs major renovation, and the four are documenting the costs, setbacks and work involved in turning a €1 wreck into a liveable home. Will they prove that buying in Italy for next to nothing really can be a cheaper alternative to buying in Australia?

The Productivity Commission has recommended unwinding the special GST arrangement for Western Australia, with the current deal expected to cost the federal budget around $60 billion by 2029-30.
Scott Morrison and Mathias Cormann are defending the arrangement, while other states argue the system is unfair. Is WA justified in keeping the deal?

I’ve been putting off travelling with how bloody expensive everything’s gotten this year, but I’m seriously itching to get out of Aus for a bit and ended up booking a Malaysia Airlines flight on sale on a whim 😂

Ended up going down a bit of a rabbit hole looking for deals. Saw the 7% Visa cashback on bookingdotcom and even the 2% cashback with Youtrip, even though I don’t use either. I usually prefer booking direct with the hotel but at this point I’m looking at anything that’ll save a few bucks lol

Are you guys still travelling this year? Doing anything differently to keep the costs down?

The early childhood education and care sector is heading straight into a massive staffing crisis. Despite employing around 150,000 workers across the country, centres are struggling to stay open due to record burnout, low pay, and high turnover. We've got a situation where the government wants parents back in the workforce, but parents can't find childcare spots because centres literally don't have the staff ratios to legally take more kids. To tackle the crises, the industry is calling for better pay and conditions to keep qualified educators from leaving, as well as faster visas and easier qualification recognition for overseas workers. Is boosting wages and relying on skilled migration enough?

New data shows Australian wages rose 3.7% over the year, while inflation reached 3.8%, meaning real incomes are effectively going backwards. Are Australian actually getting poorer despite earning more?

I always assumed we were in a pretty similar position money-wise, then found out they were putting a much bigger chunk of their pay straight into savings. Made me realise you really don’t know what someone’s finances look like just from how they spend when you’re out together.

We all have essential living costs.... Rent/mortgage, bills, rates, insurance, car repayments etc. I don't know how to even ask this question in a coherent manner but I want to get a rough estimate on what people spend realistically each week....

Do you purchase coffee daily, ciggies, go to the pub, buy yourself items, items for your house, buy a book, go to the movies, beauty treatments etc etc. ie what is realistic to live on. I am a single guy living on my own.... I pay my bills and feel I still have very little left over.... I feel a sense of anxiety and guilt each time I spend on anything non essential... Yet I seem to piss my money away on most random items

The engaging personal finance content tends to cluster around property, ETFs, superannuation optimisation and side hustles. The unglamorous habits - the ones that don't make for interesting posts but that compound quietly over years into something significant - rarely get the same attention despite probably contributing more to most people's actual financial position than any single clever strategy. Would love to know what people here think falls into that category and whether it's something they stumbled into or something they deliberately decided to prioritise.

Australia's banking regulator is moving to phase out bank hybrid securities, a popular investment among retail investors looking for higher income. For investors holding these products, the change raises an interesting question: are bank hybrids still an attractive income investment, or has the risk become too high for the return?

I’ve asked ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude this question but I got different answers. Here is our situation:

My partner and I are in our mid thirties, we have a 3yo and a second is due soon. We earn a combined income of 250K before tax. We bought our 4 bedroom home for 2.25M in Sydney and we still have about 920K left on the mortgage. We pay about 5.6K per month. We also have about 200K in our offset account.

On the side we have an investment property bought for 550K and there is about 350K left on the loan. The current rental income is enough to cover the repayment so it’s cash neutral.

We eat out quite often and go on holiday abroad once or twice a year. Daycare for our son is not super expensive but I’m worried for the new daycare fees for the baby especially as my partner will be on mat leave earning minimum wage for 6 months.

What is your opinion?

Trump announces $560 million loan for project in tiny NSW country town.
Call me mad, but shouldn't we actually be mining it ourselves and selling it?

With the cost of living becoming a bigger challenge, many students are looking for ways to save. What's something that has become much more expensive lately that students could probably live without?

hey guys, wanted to hear from anyone who knows this space, but instead of selling my ETF investments and investing in property, i was thinking why not loan against the ETF value and buy the investment property that way?

Can anyone shed light on if this is possible? advisable? or anyone want to just jump in and give their opinion on my plan?

I currently have money in a BOQ SmartSaver account. It's got some good features, such as 5.4% return and easy to meet conditions, five purchases with card or ATM withdrawals with a linked everyday account.

The only thing I've found is that they have a max amount I can put in is $250,000. I've got approximately 2 million to invest altogether. This limit seems really ridiculous. The whole point is to use it to save money. Adding to that, the Term Deposit rates are lower than this. What a way to put off high value clients.

So I'm looking at other options where I can put in 1.7 million at the moment, 2 million eventually. Somehow to get similar interest for that amount of money without ridiculous conditions.

There is ING Savings Booster, but you have to grow your balance by $100 every month, which can be restrictive considering I am primarily doing this to stop working, as soon as possible (due to health etc) and live off the interest I get.