http://arandomperson.linuxbandwagon.com Dabbling in investments in Australia Sun, 03 Aug 2008 06:27:11 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Well as we had to repair the iffy bathroom floor, which would involve ripping up the tiles, we got talked into a full bathroom renovation as most of the bathroom would have to get ripped out to properly waterproof the walls and floor. This is fine, as we had factored ... http://arandomperson.linuxbandwagon.com/2008/08/03/minor-gripe-multiform-spa-baths-what-you-pay-for-might-not-be-what-you-get/ Settlement has occured... which is real estate jargon for the transaction and legal stuff is over and we can call the place ours (and the banks). This time, with a competent, professional and straight down the line Real Estate Agent to deal with, while keeping the same Mortgage Provider ... http://arandomperson.linuxbandwagon.com/2008/06/27/settlement/ Australian Power and Gas - listed on the ASX - have 10% green product. Victoria Electricity - owned by Infratil - which is listed on NZ stock exchange - have 10% green product. ActewAGL - owned 50% by Singapore Power and ACT govt? .. hard to tell because of the vague wording ... http://arandomperson.linuxbandwagon.com/2008/06/24/more-electricity-notes/ Overview here: http://www.greenelectricitywatch.org.au/ Additional comments in an article from Neerav Bhatt's blog: http://www.bhatt.id.au/blog/dont-get-tricked-into-choosing-fake-greenpower-electricity/ Right now tending towards Origin - even though I left them for TXU a while back because one of their door to door sales people was harassing me at home when I was home from work very sick. Jack Green looked OK ... http://arandomperson.linuxbandwagon.com/2008/06/16/green-electricity-notes/ Just pasting some stuff on flooring found on the web: my guestimates for the loungeroom is 26 m2 two bedrooms all up 31 m2 will measure more precisely on pre-settlement inspection. found on ebay, ... http://arandomperson.linuxbandwagon.com/2008/06/09/flooring-notes-brain-dump/ A long time ago I wasn't impressed with Westpac, so I moved my banking somewhere much better. I also switched my credit card to a product that seemed better at the time, Virgin Mastercard. Now I read (yes I know this is month old news but I just found it ... http://arandomperson.linuxbandwagon.com/2008/05/31/westpac-encroaching-on-all-fronts-st-george-bank-and-virgin-mastercard/ I just purchased a copy of A Random Walk Down Wall Street which is one of those books I have heard the general gist summarised by others, and agree with what I have heard of this gist.. but never actually read. Ordered from Etrades Moneybags site, though it hasnt showed ... http://arandomperson.linuxbandwagon.com/2008/05/22/a-random-walk-down-wall-street/ From the Vanguard email newsletter, which sometimes has some quite interesting info although I am not currently a Vanguard customer It’s time in the market that counts Australian share market volatility 1978 -2008 Guess demonstrates even with volatility shares do OK as long as you take a long term view. http://arandomperson.linuxbandwagon.com/2008/05/18/vanguard-australian-shares-volatility-chart/ We just signed an offer on another place after months of searching. Using the same lender and conveyancer.. but this is with a different agent, one who seems a lot more on the ball and straight down the line. The contract note has been signed by us and the vendor, part of ... http://arandomperson.linuxbandwagon.com/2008/05/04/another-possible-home-found/ Maybe some good may come of the financial mayhem affecting consumer confidence and interest rates.. house prices in Melbourne have dipped their highest amount this quarter since 1993. Meanwhile in another article from The Age it appears Central Equity have been using all sorts of tactics to prop up the ... http://arandomperson.linuxbandwagon.com/2008/04/27/melbourne-house-prices-have-recorded-their-biggest-quarterly-fall-in-value-since-1993-while-central-quity-accused-of-manipulating-melbourne-appartment-prices/