Wiretrippa
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Jan 19, 2002
- Messages
- 896
So, having been out of the house for nearly six months now, it occured to me that now that I have Free Time (tm), I should try to give a little back to the great Aus Social community. Hence, this thread.
I'm sure that over the last couple of years a thread similar to this may have been created, so consider this and update. Or perhaps the mods would like to flex their merge feature muscles?
Any way, here we go...
ALL ABOUT THE BENJAMINS
Moving out is an expensive business. Here's the lowdown on the basic cash layout to have you happily standing in a house of your very own.
BOND: bond is your way of telling the people at the real estate agent that you wont trash the palce. It is usually equivalent to four weeks rent. For example, a $250/week unit will have a $1000 bond. However, it bears remembering that any real estate agent will also require a 'first and last week's rent' amount as well, hence the bond now rises to $1500.
ELECTRICITY: You can have your electricity bill sent to you monthly or quarterly. The 'throw the switch' fee is minimal, but unless you opt to pay by credit card they will also require a bond from you. Once they get the bond from you once, however, you are on their books and it will follow you around, so it's a once only thing. Let's assume you're going to pay them cash then, and it's about $95 for the first bill.
GAS: Is much cheaper. To get the gas going, again using cash, will cost you around $65. However, most gas companies will NOT do a monthly bill, so you're going to get hit with a larger quarterly bill. Some gas comapnies will issue you with a card that has a barcode on it. Take that card to the post office, they can scan it and if you owe them more than $10 you can pay it on the spot.
PHONE: Landlines are handier than you think. You really don't want to make every single call on your mobile, trust me. Telstra will fix you up with a working line and a number for about $100. Again, you have the monthly bill option, which is really a good idea if you want a better idea of who's calling the phone sex lines in Uzbekistan.
So, let's do the math:
BOND: $1500
SET-UP FOR GAS, ELECTRICITY AND PHONE: $260
TOTAL: $1760
That's to have you standing in an empty place of your own. Congratulations! Now, what the hell are you going to fill your house with?
I'd like to hand over the reigns to other BLer's at this point. I'll contribute more in a few days. Anyone's input is welcome!
Wire.
I'm sure that over the last couple of years a thread similar to this may have been created, so consider this and update. Or perhaps the mods would like to flex their merge feature muscles?
Any way, here we go...
ALL ABOUT THE BENJAMINS
Moving out is an expensive business. Here's the lowdown on the basic cash layout to have you happily standing in a house of your very own.
BOND: bond is your way of telling the people at the real estate agent that you wont trash the palce. It is usually equivalent to four weeks rent. For example, a $250/week unit will have a $1000 bond. However, it bears remembering that any real estate agent will also require a 'first and last week's rent' amount as well, hence the bond now rises to $1500.
ELECTRICITY: You can have your electricity bill sent to you monthly or quarterly. The 'throw the switch' fee is minimal, but unless you opt to pay by credit card they will also require a bond from you. Once they get the bond from you once, however, you are on their books and it will follow you around, so it's a once only thing. Let's assume you're going to pay them cash then, and it's about $95 for the first bill.
GAS: Is much cheaper. To get the gas going, again using cash, will cost you around $65. However, most gas companies will NOT do a monthly bill, so you're going to get hit with a larger quarterly bill. Some gas comapnies will issue you with a card that has a barcode on it. Take that card to the post office, they can scan it and if you owe them more than $10 you can pay it on the spot.
PHONE: Landlines are handier than you think. You really don't want to make every single call on your mobile, trust me. Telstra will fix you up with a working line and a number for about $100. Again, you have the monthly bill option, which is really a good idea if you want a better idea of who's calling the phone sex lines in Uzbekistan.
So, let's do the math:
BOND: $1500
SET-UP FOR GAS, ELECTRICITY AND PHONE: $260
TOTAL: $1760
That's to have you standing in an empty place of your own. Congratulations! Now, what the hell are you going to fill your house with?
I'd like to hand over the reigns to other BLer's at this point. I'll contribute more in a few days. Anyone's input is welcome!
Wire.