[quote author=AusbetterWorld link=1744599208/7#7 date=1744605028]

I absolutely love stories like Gordon’s daughter.
It proves how possible it is to do.
Whilst many can’t for personal reasons, like unsupportive family, illness, etc it also proves many can do that, but don’t.
I’ve noticed a trend for the younger gens to live for the day, and not think of tomorrow, it’s a helplessness of mind attitude.
My hubby and I were much like Gordon’s daughter when we started out in life.
Every penny mattered, and looked at the end of year what savings we could accumulate from having lived frugally. It was like a financial challenge. I was always up for it.
I used to wish I could buy more nice stuff when I was younger, and would just do a lot of window shopping.  All those around us had nicer clothes, cars and houses. I sewed a lot as it was cheaper back then until Chinese stuff was imported, then clothing was cheaper to buy than make.
Are we better off now than others? Maybe now, but back then we missed out on a lot.
Is it better to live for the day or think of a future we can’t be certain of?
Back then it seemed less stressful with forward thinking RE: future, but these days, it’s all about financial crisis. Hubby and I were talking and saying it’s time to pull the purse strings tight again as we may go through some recession.

It’s a life long habit we’ve now got, we just look at price comparisons for everything, and none would tolerate my food shopping at supermarkets, where I look at all price tags and what prices are per 100g.
And who checks their receipts after?
Recently I was double charged for goods… one was Chemist Warehouse.
I said check the cctv vid … they did and said I was right,  I only took one pack from shelf not two.
Yes sometimes cctv work in our favour.

Getting back to buying our first home… it was very humble, nothing flash, a small 10 square fibro cement house. No flooring or curtains or heating. We did all that ourselves.
Which is why the house was cheaper than other houses.
We eventually had a carport and shed and gravel driveway later.
And always cheap used cars. I was fortunate hubby was a mechanic so kept the cars in good running order, we mainly kept our cars for 10-15 years ….
Trouble with many now is they want McMansions to start off with.
But I see a trend towards units now…
Housing further out from CBD is cheaper… we lived an hour away for our affordable first home, I would travel by car, and train, 3 hours total per day back and forth to work.

thegreatdivide wrote on Apr 14^th, 2025 at 2:04pm:



It's mass, uncontrolled immigration.

Millions more are on their way.

Gordon wrote on Apr 17^th, 2025 at 10:10am:


Of course you do, you know nothing about the difference between macro economics - the government's responsibilty, and micro economcs - the  actions of individuals within the macroeconomy.   

Quote:


So.... exceptional, as well as average  "who are willing to sacrifice can also do well."

What about the implied 'below average group?

eg, are those forced into welfare dependency by macro economic forces,  in a position to 'sacrifice' (eg save to buy a home) when they are already subject to below poverty subsistence as a result of entrenched socio-economic disadvantage?

Oz can't even build enough affordable homes for working people on the median wage.  

Quote:


How did you get a loan (and from which lender)  to allow yourself "to become overextended" ?

thegreatdivide wrote on Apr 17^th, 2025 at 10:47am:


I had a really good mortgage broker who knew where I wanted to go and
helped me to find a lender, remember this was pre gfc and many lenders would play fast and loose when it came to checking applications.

Back in the day you could buy a house with only the government first home buyers subsidy as your deposit.

Leroy wrote on Apr 17^th, 2025 at 11:18am:


That has never been true, unless you're being deliberately misleading.

There’s a sliver of truth to your claim if you're referring specifically to Queensland in 2011, where a combination of state and federal grants could amount to around $31,000.

But even then, lending criteria required a deposit of between 5% and 20% at the time, with the full 20% necessary to avoid Lenders Mortgage Insurance. On those terms, your borrowing capacity with grants alone would cap out at roughly $150,000.

The average house price in Brisbane in 2011 hovered around $450,000, so even under the most favourable conditions, access to every grant available, you still couldn’t get close to qualifying for a mortgage based on those funds alone.

Now, if you’d managed to collect the 2011 grants and then time-travelled back twenty years, you might actually stand a chance of financing a home without tipping in a cent of your own savings.

So yes, the best-case scenario for your assertion is science fiction, time-travel to 2011 to collect the maximum grants, then warp back to 1991 to buy property at early-90s prices. That's the only universe in which your claim holds water.

Leroy wrote on Apr 17^th, 2025 at 1:05pm:


Going back to the mid 70s… there was a first buyers home grant, but there was a catch… we had to show our bank pass books to prove we had made savings for 3 years… which I had, I can’t recall what the maximum grant was…

The one Leroy mentions the $7000 grant I recall my daughter got the same grant.
A few years earlier my son had a grant… it was the stamp duty discount.

That has never been true, unless you're being deliberately misleading.