frostbite
VIP Member
Posts: 5,719 
Likes: 7,119
|
Post by frostbite on Jan 31, 2021 9:48:35 GMT 10
$15USD is just over $19AU, which is currently our national minimum wage. Bit hard to get ahead when you need at least $1million ($765,000 USD) to buy a house in Sydney.
|
|
doglover
Full Member
Prepping to make my way through this crazy world
Posts: 74
Likes: 111
|
Post by doglover on Jan 31, 2021 10:15:39 GMT 10
$15USD is just over $19AU, which is currently our national minimum wage. Bit hard to get ahead when you need at least $1million ($765,000 USD) to buy a house in Sydney. I’ve always thought that the minimum wage jobs were for kids working part time while in school. These aren’t meant to be careers where one can make a lifelong living at. I kind of think that most earning this wage will be left a little hungry and hopefully will look for a better higher income job. as far as housing goes, it’s gone insane all over the world I guess. Home prices have gone up way more than wages in the last thirty years. I will say though that 765,000$ can still buy one hell of a house here. Anyone earning minimum wage dosent have any reason to consider affording anything like that. Sure there are areas here that you can’t find houses less than that but there are plenty of cheaper areas. I don’t think anyone should ever buy a house that they can’t afford a 25% down payment on. If you have the dedication to save that money first then you have the dedication to responsibly take on the debt for the balance. I’m a big believer in being debt free, but a house is one thing most have to borrow for. |
|
|
|
Post by Stealth on Jan 31, 2021 13:21:28 GMT 10
I’m an electrical contractor and we have done really well throughout the pandemic and recession so far. Labor is our biggest issue as no one seems to want to work here. We can find experienced electricians that are lazy and only move for the highest wages, but they just aren’t worth it. The kids that aren’t experienced make more staying at home on the couch right now. They are pushing for the 15.00$ an hour minimum wage here and that will just make it harder for small businesses like ours. It’s hard to justify a non experienced helper for that wage. One thing I really have noticed is the cost of food and regular grocery supplies have gone up a lot. One hundred dollars doesn't get much in a grocery cart now. I’m fortunate to be debt free with a good income now, but I really do feel for the young people starting out My kids are all grown now but I would really hate to have to feed 4 kids in today’s financial climate. With three sprouts to feed, I can assure you it ain't cheap. I have to agree even on a small shop it really seems like there isn't much in your trolley for what you're paying. You can definitely stock up on the bare basics like pasta, tomato sauces etc. but the reality is that you can only eat barebones meals for so long before you get really tired of it. They're not even at teenaged, eating everything, hollow-legs size yet. The oldest is definitely getting there though! In saying that I'm getting really good at stick to the ribs type meals that fill them up for hours but doesn't cost the earth. Lost of homey, 'peasant' foods that are full of flavour but don't cost the earth. Having an Instant Pot has really improved my hearty food game because I am eternally forgetting to put beans on to soak the night before. Having a pressure cooker means I can cook a meal from dried beans in short order. Mind you in a situation without electricity I'd have to revert to soaking but while that's not an issue I'll take advantage of it as much as possible to keep costs down. |
|
bug
Senior Member
Posts: 2,316
Likes: 1,934
|
Post by bug on Jan 31, 2021 13:22:07 GMT 10
Recession? Not affected.
Agree with doglover's post. If you don't have 20% + costs saved up for a deposit, you'll be paying mortgage insurance which is always over $10k and is an insurance policy for your bank, not for you. Rent something modest and save that deposit. Or alternatively rent in a trendy suburb, eat out every night and be stuck in that cycle into your late 30s, complaining about it constantly.
|
|
bug
Senior Member
Posts: 2,316
Likes: 1,934
|
Post by bug on Jan 31, 2021 13:24:44 GMT 10
I’m an electrical contractor and we have done really well throughout the pandemic and recession so far. Labor is our biggest issue as no one seems to want to work here. We can find experienced electricians that are lazy and only move for the highest wages, but they just aren’t worth it. The kids that aren’t experienced make more staying at home on the couch right now. They are pushing for the 15.00$ an hour minimum wage here and that will just make it harder for small businesses like ours. It’s hard to justify a non experienced helper for that wage. One thing I really have noticed is the cost of food and regular grocery supplies have gone up a lot. One hundred dollars doesn't get much in a grocery cart now. I’m fortunate to be debt free with a good income now, but I really do feel for the young people starting out My kids are all grown now but I would really hate to have to feed 4 kids in today’s financial climate. Farking hell. You wouldn't get an electrician to scrawl a quote on a piece of toilet paper here for that money. Commercial electricians bill out at around $120/hr for a full time job and are paid about half that. To come to your house for a small job, expect to pay nearly double that. |
|
Beno
Senior Member
Posts: 1,310
Likes: 1,433
Location: Northern Rivers
|
Post by Beno on Jan 31, 2021 18:49:04 GMT 10
I’m an electrical contractor and we have done really well throughout the pandemic and recession so far. Labor is our biggest issue as no one seems to want to work here. We can find experienced electricians that are lazy and only move for the highest wages, but they just aren’t worth it. The kids that aren’t experienced make more staying at home on the couch right now. They are pushing for the 15.00$ an hour minimum wage here and that will just make it harder for small businesses like ours. It’s hard to justify a non experienced helper for that wage. One thing I really have noticed is the cost of food and regular grocery supplies have gone up a lot. One hundred dollars doesn't get much in a grocery cart now. I’m fortunate to be debt free with a good income now, but I really do feel for the young people starting out My kids are all grown now but I would really hate to have to feed 4 kids in today’s financial climate. Farking hell. You wouldn't get an electrician to scrawl a quote on a piece of toilet paper here for that money. Commercial electricians bill out at around $120/hr for a full time job and are paid about half that. To come to your house for a small job, expect to pay nearly double that. And in Aust you can never utter a negative word about the salt of the earth tradies that work here. 90% of them are rip off trash. |
|
frostbite
VIP Member
Posts: 5,719
Likes: 7,119
|
Post by frostbite on Jan 31, 2021 18:59:47 GMT 10
I had a 41 square executive mansion built in 2000. Every trade were incompetent. I engaged my own building inspector, because the one the building company were paying was corrupt. What he passed, my inspector found a whole book of faults with. A couple of years ago I spent $20k renovating my bathroom. The tradies hadn't got any better. Only the plumber was any good. My son is a glazier, he has a fulltime job fixing mistakes the other glaziers make. One crayon muncher (his term for idiot glaziers), cost the boss $3 million dollars with one bonehead mistake, and was lucky not to kill a $hitload of people.
But on a positive, my electrician is exceptional. His work is first class.
|
|
doglover
Full Member
Prepping to make my way through this crazy world
Posts: 74
Likes: 111
|
Post by doglover on Jan 31, 2021 22:11:44 GMT 10
I’m an electrical contractor and we have done really well throughout the pandemic and recession so far. Labor is our biggest issue as no one seems to want to work here. We can find experienced electricians that are lazy and only move for the highest wages, but they just aren’t worth it. The kids that aren’t experienced make more staying at home on the couch right now. They are pushing for the 15.00$ an hour minimum wage here and that will just make it harder for small businesses like ours. It’s hard to justify a non experienced helper for that wage. One thing I really have noticed is the cost of food and regular grocery supplies have gone up a lot. One hundred dollars doesn't get much in a grocery cart now. I’m fortunate to be debt free with a good income now, but I really do feel for the young people starting out My kids are all grown now but I would really hate to have to feed 4 kids in today’s financial climate. With three sprouts to feed, I can assure you it ain't cheap. I have to agree even on a small shop it really seems like there isn't much in your trolley for what you're paying. You can definitely stock up on the bare basics like pasta, tomato sauces etc. but the reality is that you can only eat barebones meals for so long before you get really tired of it. They're not even at teenaged, eating everything, hollow-legs size yet. The oldest is definitely getting there though! In saying that I'm getting really good at stick to the ribs type meals that fill them up for hours but doesn't cost the earth. Lost of homey, 'peasant' foods that are full of flavour but don't cost the earth. Having an Instant Pot has really improved my hearty food game because I am eternally forgetting to put beans on to soak the night before. Having a pressure cooker means I can cook a meal from dried beans in short order. Mind you in a situation without electricity I'd have to revert to soaking but while that's not an issue I'll take advantage of it as much as possible to keep costs down. You can use a canning pressure cooker to replace the instapot on a wood or propane fired stove. Plus then you could can things from the garden too. They basically work the same way, just the instapot is really easy with just the press of the start button. I grew up poor, not a bad thing just how it was. We never went hungry though. Sure we didn’t get much meat, but there were always plenty of mashed potatoes, beans, bread, etc. my mom made due with 5 kids to feed and the minimal resources we had. Clothes came from thrift shops, had one small black and white television with no remote, and most entertainment came from playing outside. I honestly think we were happier than the current generations though. |
|
doglover
Full Member
Prepping to make my way through this crazy world
Posts: 74
Likes: 111
|
Post by doglover on Jan 31, 2021 22:20:16 GMT 10
I had a 41 square executive mansion built in 2000. Every trade were incompetent. I engaged my own building inspector, because the one the building company were paying was corrupt. What he passed, my inspector found a whole book of faults with. A couple of years ago I spent $20k renovating my bathroom. The tradies hadn't got any better. Only the plumber was any good. My son is a glazier, he has a fulltime job fixing mistakes the other glaziers make. One crayon muncher (his term for idiot glaziers), cost the boss $3 million dollars with one bonehead mistake, and was lucky not to kill a $hitload of people. But on a positive, my electrician is exceptional. His work is first class. The last three houses I built I did myself. Here you can do all the trades yourself on your own home but they still need to meet code. Half of the reason was to save money and half was to ensure it was done right. We have the same problem here with the tradesmen only in it for the money. They do quick minimal work as cheaply as possible. |
|
bug
Senior Member
Posts: 2,316
Likes: 1,934
|
Post by bug on Feb 1, 2021 8:13:36 GMT 10
I had a 41 square executive mansion built in 2000. Every trade were incompetent. I engaged my own building inspector, because the one the building company were paying was corrupt. What he passed, my inspector found a whole book of faults with. A couple of years ago I spent $20k renovating my bathroom. The tradies hadn't got any better. Only the plumber was any good. My son is a glazier, he has a fulltime job fixing mistakes the other glaziers make. One crayon muncher (his term for idiot glaziers), cost the boss $3 million dollars with one bonehead mistake, and was lucky not to kill a $hitload of people. But on a positive, my electrician is exceptional. His work is first class. The last three houses I built I did myself. Here you can do all the trades yourself on your own home but they still need to meet code. Half of the reason was to save money and half was to ensure it was done right. We have the same problem here with the tradesmen only in it for the money. They do quick minimal work as cheaply as possible. Not in Australia... here tradesmen are a protected species. You can't do anything to your own home because 'safety'. Yet every week there's another story of some insanely bad practices. The flammable cladding one is rife. The government has even put a legal gag on anyone being told where it was installed. Since we did our reno, I've spent 2 years fixing tradesman fark ups. The absolute best was the internet/phone guys. One showed up un-announced and tried to dig a trench through my front lawn to install conduits (it had been landscaped a couple of months earlier). There were already conduits and a blatantly obvious comms pit right out front of my house. The next guy ran cable through my house. Literally that's all he did. "No, we don't clip the cable to anything. You need an electrician for that." he said... |
|
doglover
Full Member
Prepping to make my way through this crazy world
Posts: 74
Likes: 111
|
Post by doglover on Feb 1, 2021 8:46:57 GMT 10
The last three houses I built I did myself. Here you can do all the trades yourself on your own home but they still need to meet code. Half of the reason was to save money and half was to ensure it was done right. We have the same problem here with the tradesmen only in it for the money. They do quick minimal work as cheaply as possible. Not in Australia... here tradesmen are a protected species. You can't do anything to your own home because 'safety'. Yet every week there's another story of some insanely bad practices. The flammable cladding one is rife. The government has even put a legal gag on anyone being told where it was installed. Since we did our reno, I've spent 2 years fixing tradesman fark ups. The absolute best was the internet/phone guys. One showed up un-announced and tried to dig a trench through my front lawn to install conduits (it had been landscaped a couple of months earlier). There were already conduits and a blatantly obvious comms pit right out front of my house. The next guy ran cable through my house. Literally that's all he did. "No, we don't clip the cable to anything. You need an electrician for that." he said... It’s getting harder here to do your own work too. If you ask at the permit office they are likely to tell you you can’t do it. Many states and cities have banned do it yourself’ers, but there are still many places where you can. I live in the country in Georgia, which is a pretty slow and poorer state so there isn’t as many restrictions yet. They are coming though. Government regulations keep spreading like a cancer. I was in Florida for most of my life and they are so over regulated it was really tough to get anything done. I understand the reasoning of wanting local contractors being hired, money changing hands and keeping the economy turning, etc. but honestly, as long as the work is done safely and well I think it should be allowed. I had a construction and contracting background mostly so I at least know how things are supposed to be done. I can’t say that for all the new contractors.... |
|
norseman
VIP Member
Posts: 2,237
Likes: 1,888
|
Post by norseman on Feb 1, 2021 8:55:15 GMT 10
The last three houses I built I did myself. Here you can do all the trades yourself on your own home but they still need to meet code. Half of the reason was to save money and half was to ensure it was done right. We have the same problem here with the tradesmen only in it for the money. They do quick minimal work as cheaply as possible.
Since we did our reno, I've spent 2 years fixing tradesman fark ups.
The absolute best was the internet/phone guys. One showed up un-announced and tried to dig a trench through my front lawn to install conduits (it had been landscaped a couple of months earlier). There were already conduits and a blatantly obvious comms pit right out front of my house. The next guy ran cable through my house. Literally that's all he did. "No, we don't clip the cable to anything. You need an electrician for that." he said...Holey Faa....! Someone shoulda told me about this before I started building my place !! A lot of what tradies tell you quite simply is bullshite and it's not out of concern for safety and your welfare but more for their liability and how much they can put in their pocket! Council Building Inspecturds deserve a whole new thread so probably lets not go there, what is it in their DNA that drives the need for them to win every argument even if they know they are wrong? My Son in Law is a partner in the go to building company in our region and the stories he can tell about his competitors are bloody mind blowing! They do well because they don't treat their clients like idiots, they tell it how it is even if you don't like the message and they always deliver what they promise and then some! |
|
bug
Senior Member
Posts: 2,316
Likes: 1,934
|
Post by bug on Feb 1, 2021 10:01:09 GMT 10
The most important thing is staged payments. As soon as they've got your money, getting defects fixed becomes extremely difficult. If you stage payments and write it into the contract, it's generally a better result.
|
|
|
|
Post by Stealth on Feb 1, 2021 18:11:40 GMT 10
Great tip bug, I haven't had a real lot of interaction with contractors so that's something I would necessarily think of. Definitely will use that in the future! |
|
|
|
Post by SA Hunter on Feb 2, 2021 13:16:10 GMT 10
$15USD is just over $19AU, which is currently our national minimum wage. Bit hard to get ahead when you need at least $1million ($765,000 USD) to buy a house in Sydney.  |
|
norseman
VIP Member
Posts: 2,237
Likes: 1,888
|
Post by norseman on Feb 2, 2021 13:58:34 GMT 10
The most important thing is staged payments. As soon as they've got your money, getting defects fixed becomes extremely difficult. If you stage payments and write it into the contract, it's generally a better result. Absolutely 100% !! When you deal with a tradie give it at least the first enquiring phone call before paying the stage! Keep him a little hungry you are only giving him back what the average tradie usually dishes out in spades! If he is your typical Aussie rocket scientist this is the language they understand anyway! If he is an exceptional tradesman pay him early and pay him a little extra! Let him know he wasn't the cheapest quote but you went with him because you could sense he was a straight shooter and a good bloke! |
|
doglover
Full Member
Prepping to make my way through this crazy world
Posts: 74
Likes: 111
|
Post by doglover on Feb 3, 2021 9:35:44 GMT 10
The best advice I can give for dealing with any contractor is to clearly state in writing everything that you want done and how. Have both parties sign it before any work is started. Never trust any verbal agreements. If it isn’t in writing, don’t expect it to be done. I think the staged payments is really wise too.
|
|
doglover
Full Member
Prepping to make my way through this crazy world
Posts: 74
Likes: 111
|
Post by doglover on Feb 13, 2021 11:07:35 GMT 10
I was thinking of this thread today. One thing I kept thinking of was the importance of finding a good trade so the up and downs in the economy won’t hurt you as much. I can’t recommend enough for young people to pick a trade to work in that pays well. Sure we need grocery store and restaurant workers. There’s nothing wrong with these jobs. At least they are an honest living. The problem is they don’t pay enough to live very comfortably. Going to a trade school to learn a skill, or even starting as a helper in a trade and really applying yourself to learn it is the best way to recession proof yourself. Learn the trade, get your license and open your own business eventually. I just can’t see going to a university and getting a general degree in something like business or history type things. There’s just too many unemployed people that have 4 year degrees now.
|
|
