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  • Profile photo of castoncaston
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    @caston
    Join Date: 2005
    Post Count: 58
    July 26, 2005 - 1:37 am
    Originally posted by Terryw:

    One thing about the real estate market is everybody that I have spoken to has negative senitments. Prices have been dropping for 14 years, and there is still no sign of the market recovering. it is cheaper to buy and pay off a loan, than to rent, but most people are still wary of buying.

    Isn’t that the essence of a “deal” when it is costs less to buy and pay off the loan than what you can collect in rent?

    Albeit you’ll be worried about negative equity/capitial growth nad you’d be living in Japan or need a Japan dwelling business partner.

    Profile photo of castoncaston
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    @caston
    Join Date: 2005
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    July 25, 2005 - 4:19 pm

    Can you just pick a profession with a high financial renumeration/expenses paid (or other) benefits and coax yourself into developing a genuine interest for it?

    There are brickies that can lay 800 bricks a day at sometimes charge $2 a brick. Often they ask for cash. But would it be wise for me to drop everything and become a bricklayer? By the time I’m up to speed there may not be anything truly shattering going on in construction.

    I remember seeing something on the front-page of the West Australian that the “lolli-pop” guys with the stop/slow signs can make up to 90k a year after various overtime pentaly type benefits.

    Sometimes jobs that pay a ridiculous amount of money for what they are the ones that are heavily unionised. Unions can make it difficult for new people to enter a workplace and internal politics (not your employer) could decide how long you stay.

    Other than that its danger money or doing something that you could only do for a few years while you are still young. Or being paid well to live out in the sticks, or work strange and long hours in a rotating work “week” that will make you slightly cuckoo.

    I think you have to have a love for what you are doing not a love for “doing time while you save up a deposit cause you’d rather be in property”.

    In life there’s an infinite number of paths you can take and sometimes you really gotta listen to yourself and your instincts and do what you want to do. There may be some mundane and less enjoyable tasks along the way but don’t make the entire path mundane and unenjoyable.

    Profile photo of castoncaston
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    @caston
    Join Date: 2005
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    July 25, 2005 - 2:52 pm

    One thing that fascinates me is the possibility of getting a loan from a country with much lower interest rates and suddenly deals are everywhere! Albeit you’ll be watching the value of the Aussie dollar and praying it stays strong.

    Unfortunately Japan is one of those places that you don’t really know what goes on. Westerners that have lived there for years still haven’t broken into the various social circles and going-ons within.

    Loans have been discussed a bit on the Gaijinpot forums.

    http://www.gaijinpot.com/bb/showthread.php?t=1240&highlight=loan+house

    http://www.gaijinpot.com/bb/showthread.php?t=8097&highlight=loan+house

    Profile photo of castoncaston
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    @caston
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    July 25, 2005 - 2:21 pm

    To be really I honest I have been quite down the last 3 days or so.

    I’ve got my 1300 number back now and hopefully the amount of work i’m getting will pick up as July ends and everyone wants everything done before Xmas. I’ll try and put my rate up and be ultra incontrol of my finances.

    I want to document the whole rags to riches process in nitty gritty details :)

    Profile photo of castoncaston
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    @caston
    Join Date: 2005
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    July 25, 2005 - 5:29 am

    However, if Melinda lives somewhere where the rent is very expensive (and she needs to be there because she works in a big Australian city) or she spends a lot in parking each day for work I could very well understand it.

    Of course when you go for a job don’t tell you are willing to work for award rates! If they *do* want to get you down to this level at least make it look like they are getting a good deal for what they are paying you (that is your worth 35k/40k a year). I don’t think you usually miss out on a job because you asked for to much.

    Profile photo of castoncaston
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    @caston
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    July 25, 2005 - 5:15 am

    Melinda

    I always saw the min-wage as quite generous and personally would love to be getting it.

    $15 an hour at a 40 hour week is $600 per week before tax and super. I can easily live on $250 a week ( was getting about $200pw while I was studying and living in a flat) leaving a decent amount to put aside for into investments and or deposits.

    I remember reading about how it used to be argued that developments in technology would cut down the amount of work that we need to do and could all just work part-time. Of course it didn’t happen like that because of competitiveness and globalisation and the time we waste battleing with the technology etc

    However more and more there a new types and new options for gaining positive income assets. If we want to set up our lives so that we only need to work part-time then its up to us.

    Profile photo of castoncaston
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    @caston
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    July 24, 2005 - 12:42 pm

    Well $160 * 500 = $80,000

    So I guess you need a bit more creativity or at least patience.

    Profile photo of castoncaston
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    @caston
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    July 24, 2005 - 7:35 am

    Sonja,

    Thanks for your encouragement. Neurotypical is the term; albeit cheekily used to describe people outside the autistic spectrum.

    For more info about AS and Autism check out:

    http://www.aspiesforfreedom.com/

    http://www.aspiesforfreedom.org/autisticprideday/

    http://www.spectrumhaven.com/

    Even an irc server: irc.chatautism.com/6667

    There are often very important niche areas that an autistic person can excel in for instance:

    “An autistic woman who has a successful career in programming told ComputerWorld magazine that when she’s programming, “my code just flies,” and she can accomplish more in four hours than other people can in two or three days. This is a widely known phenomenon in the programming field — such productive people are sometimes known as “super-programmers” and are highly valued by employers.”

    http://www.geocities.com/redmondrose/DigitalPie.htm

    Profile photo of castoncaston
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    @caston
    Join Date: 2005
    Post Count: 58
    July 23, 2005 - 2:14 pm

    Why not buy a house with projected high capital growth, build a new kitchen and turn the existing kitchen into a master bedroom with ensuite while you live in it for 12 months. Then sell and put the capital gain down as the deposit on a commerical?

    Profile photo of castoncaston
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    @caston
    Join Date: 2005
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    July 23, 2005 - 1:31 pm

    Dazzling,

    I’m very tempted to have a go at either of those positions but I fear they may send me on the next skywest flight back, shortly after starting, when they realise i’m not really cut out for physical labor.

    Not saying I think its below me, just saying they may decide not to employ me. If I can be assured they’ll give me a chance to get up to speed then i’ll give it a shot. It may just be about 2-3 weeks to get up to the same rate as everyone else but that 2-3 weeks is vital. I can only do my best and improve my best.

    Profile photo of castoncaston
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    @caston
    Join Date: 2005
    Post Count: 58
    July 23, 2005 - 7:16 am

    oshen:

    I did once with a computer shop but we didn’t discuss it properly and they said I wasn’t right for the job. Another time I wrote about it in cover letter for a job with an ISP in regards to their status as an equal opportunity employer but didn’t get a reponse.

    Although I do have a reasonable amount of expereince,most of it is self-made and,with the types of customers that would let a self-employed person support their systems: ie home users and very small businesses.
    All the people that actually seem to employ staff seem to want people with skills supporting big corporates and government or large NGOs

    I have a Diploma in IT but not a degree (perhaps I should have gone to uni but who can guess) I could re-invent myself as a server guy (rather than mostly desktop support as I am doing now) and finish off the MCSE and put my rate up substancially.

    I’m also a couple of units shy of a Cert IV in small business management. If I went back to TAFE and did the 2 accounting units and the marketing unit I would get the cert.

    My memories of those job network places are of them being a bit useless but mind you I was also younger, less experienced, less qualified and didn’t have a car.

    Another tech that I share trade secrets with and used to refer jobs to for a commision (when I had more work than I could handle) has been offered and occasionaly taken up quite a few sales and laboring jobs (through job network members) but came back to doing call-out PC support. He doesn’t live with his parents but lives in a house owned by his sister.

    So you are right that I could register with the job network but not actually apply for the dole.

    Profile photo of castoncaston
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    @caston
    Join Date: 2005
    Post Count: 58
    July 23, 2005 - 6:15 am

    I might explain why I don’t do so well at interviews. Its because I have aspergers syndrome and interviews seem to be a test of “body language” more than anything else. Even though over the last 3 and a half years of working with people and their computer problems and developing people skills I have in no way become more like a neurotypical.

    I think “the know thyself” thing is important and i’ve honestly had ALOT more luck with the opposite sex since I found out I was an Aspie but I still have a long way to go before I get myself established properly and can stand on my own two feet financially.

    If you google for aspergers all these pages come up saying that its a disorder but it can also be a gift as it allows one to develop highly focused and “professor-like” technical skills and a lot of people that made some AWESOME advances in science and technology are thought to have had been aspies.

    Profile photo of castoncaston
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    @caston
    Join Date: 2005
    Post Count: 58
    July 23, 2005 - 5:44 am

    I’m 24 and I live with my parents at the moment.
    I definately want to move out but I’m just not earning enough. I lived in flats before while I was studying and getting centrelink. I applied for a lot of part-time jobs while studying but never got offered beyond pizza delivery which I did for 3 months until my cars tranmission died.

    I’m self-employed as a call-out PC tech and its quite difficult to bring in what even a person on min-wage would get.

    I initially started out doing it to get some extra money while I finished my course but as I wasn’t offered anything the call-out PC help became fulltime. I did a lot of running around, networking, handing out fliers and putting them on notice boards and in peoples letter boxes. In the end I had no choice but to move back in with my parents as I couldn’t afford the rent etc.

    Even later when I was flat out with work I still wasn’t able to pay myself much. Partly due to people not wanting to pay much and partly due to a lot of work keeping the business going that wasn’t billable.

    In recent months the phone has barely been ringing which sucks because i’ve recently become a lot more milliant with saving money.

    I’ve been applying for a lot of fulltime IT jobs but I usually don’t get them. I have had luck with landing interviews (about 9 this year) but not the actual job.

    I took up a laboring job as a chicken boner with one of the major chicken companies but got sacked after 2 days as they claimed I wasn’t fast enough at boneing chickens. Yet when we started I was told we would be learning how to do it all week.

    I got an e-mail from the boss of a company in the next couple of suburbs asking me for an updated CV and saying they may require someone soon so fingers crossed.

    So I don’t want to stay here and drain off my folks but it just seems there’s a lot of doors out there that just get shut in my face.

    I don’t want to go back to centrelink and I don’t really want to continue being a techncian/manager/entreprenure but at the same time the amount of times I get knocked back when applying for work makes me fee like I just have to die.

    Profile photo of castoncaston
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    @caston
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    July 22, 2005 - 4:08 am

    I lost that laboring job I took up. And after only 2 days…

    So much for the “just do time” while saving up $400 a week strategy.

    Profile photo of castoncaston
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    @caston
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    July 17, 2005 - 8:40 am

    I’ve done a little diagram in kolourpaint (simple KDE integrated paint program for Linux) to help explain my strategy for as as lifeX described it “baby-stepping financial freedom into acheivable bites”

    This pic illustrates the problem.

    http://www.arach.net.au/~pcaston/financialdependence.png

    The pic in the middle came from: http://www.sputnikdesignworks.com/clipart.html
    So full credit to sputnik for the clipart.

    The personal financial independence plan nuts out the solution.

    The recurring income goals for things like food are probably going to be broken into different amounts for each “baby step”.
    i) The minimum you could survive on
    ii) A good portion of your regular diet but no splashing out
    iii) Everything you would eat including going out to restaurants

    I’m not advocating sticking to i) or ii) simply creating a recurring income that would cover them without needing work for them.

    Profile photo of castoncaston
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    @caston
    Join Date: 2005
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    July 16, 2005 - 5:04 pm

    The way i’m designing this “personal financial independence” plan I aim for it to be a downhill battle most of the way. There IS a need to scrimp and save at the begining to get various deposits together (as you fight your way up the hill) after that all of the investments are cashflow positive or aim to quickly become so.

    There are a few things unique to my situation that won’t make my plans applicable to everyone but I hope that if and when I decide to release the plan (perhaps while it is still being written) it will help other people develop their own financial independence plans.

    Some of the things unique to my situation are:

    * I’m currently self-employed as the technician and the helm of a technician-run company

    * I will be very soon taking up a full-time laboring job so I don’t need to get a low-doc to get started in property and so that I have a regular income

    * I will still be working some hours in the business but will be handing most of the reigns over to another tech who will rent my 1300 number (and thus my customer base from me)

    I’d like to buy an office for the business and get it set up properly (work on it not in it) but this is going to be extra costs for me unless I can design the business to generate enough income to cover these costs which I would have time to do if I was financially independent. Chicken or the egg :)

    Profile photo of castoncaston
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    @caston
    Join Date: 2005
    Post Count: 58
    July 15, 2005 - 5:53 am

    Well i’m 24 and people still ask me if I’m 18. I plan to keep fit and still look and feel like i’m in my 20’s when I’m in my 30’s

    Profile photo of castoncaston
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    @caston
    Join Date: 2005
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    July 13, 2005 - 12:25 pm

    Anyone looked into what other countries/continents might have cashflow positive?

    What about developing nations?

    Profile photo of castoncaston
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    @caston
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    July 12, 2005 - 9:56 am

    To make the first milestone a bit easier I’m thinking I may make it water instead of food.

    It’s more just to make a start and get at least one milestone out of the way. At the moment I don’t need to pay the water bill but this will show what happens when there is money left over. It is reinvested.

    So my first milestone is to secure a recurring income of $700 a year. After that I will move into food.

    Profile photo of castoncaston
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    @caston
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    July 12, 2005 - 5:51 am

    Eric,

    I know what you mean. I’m driving around in an ’82 Datsun Stanza. Its very reliable but its not the best for style. Still it gets me around Perth and doesn’t cost me much in petrol.

    I would like to be methodical about become financially independent and develop it as a science. Write out a “personal independence” plan much like the business plans I have written in the past.

    Much like “Work ON your business not in your business”
    I’d like to say: “Work ON your income not for your income”

    In table 5.1 of Steve’s “$1,000,000 in property in a year”
    he outlines how many properties you would need to become financially independent based on the net weekly caseflow of each. At the moment $30,000 a year is to high a goal for me at least to start with. At the moment I work many long hours to pay myself about $12,000 a year.

    Therefor I want to take the thing exposes me the most when I operate my business. I have decided this is food. Everyone needs to eat and I particually get a bit funny if I don’t have a decent meal at regular intevals.

    That is if I haven’t money for food and someone calls me up asking me to do the job for peanuts I may well accept that offer. If, however, my food income is self-sufficent I can tell them politely where to go.

    So my first milestone is to gain a recurring income of $6000 a year and I need to caclulate all the actionable steps to get there based on my current situation.

    regards,

    Chris

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