lmsmith

I run a dehumidifier 24/7 as it's much much cheaper to heat dry air. The only heating we use is a woodburner. I have 1 5' tank, and my powerbill is about $190-200 a month. I use a dishwasher everyday, but no dryer. I don't think $200 a month in winter is bad. It's only about $30 more than summer, and I attribute most of it to longer showers.

When your tanks no longer fit in your house, so you convince your parents that having 3 tanks at their place is a great idea.

I'd also consider worming them when they recover. The whitespot was probably caused by some stress, and if they've never been wormed, it's a very good idea.

Landlord has allowed me to get a kitten! I'm very excited because living here for 10 months is the longest I've ever been without having a cat, and I really miss having them around. So, a few questions: Does anyone know of anyone selling long haired kittens? Would prefer birman or ragdoll, and doesn't have to be pedigree. I'm happy to travel anywhere between Wellington and Napier. What's the best way to introduce a kitten to a new home? When it's small, should I lock it in a room while I'm not home? Is there some other, better way? Is it detrimental to a cat to have it living as an indoor cat?

That's fantastic, good price too! Make sure you're there to watch, it's really interesting.

Your fathers share will come out of the estate, so some of your share is likely to be redistributed. It is possible to reach a 'deal' outside of a court but because it will be contrary to the will, you'll still have to get it reaffirmed in court. Some costs will also come out of the estate, but if it's your father contesting, he will have to pay a significant chunk of the costs. Do you know where the executor sits on this? Also, if money or property was left to you and your cousin in trust in the will, it can't be touched as part of your fathers claim. Absolutely get some proper legal advice, I can only give you the basics, not real advice.

Surprisingly not. It includes all children, regardless of their age or economic status. A case called Williams v Aucutt was about a mother who died and left 95% of her estate to one of her daughters and only a small amount to the other daughter. She stated in her will that she was leaving less to one daughter because she was a millionaire and didn't need the money. The sister contested the will and she ended up getting more because the mother did not leave adequate provisions to her in the will. In saying that, the money wasn't split 50-50 in that case, but the rich sister ended up getting about 15-20% of the estate.

How did it happen? Did you try to dry it? How long was it wet for? Is the bottom completely enclosed? I'm starting to freak out now because I'm moving my 5' tank in a week or so and we've had a couple of floods.

Yes, family can contest a will. The Family Protection Act (made in the 50s) says that you have to adequately provide for your children (possibly including step-children, depending on the relationship), parents, siblings. If your grandmother left nothing for her son, he has a good claim to the estate. You will need to show that it was her clear intention to leave nothing for her son. Even then, it is very likely (as in probably 99% likely) that the court will give him something. He is not necessarily going to get 1/2 of the will, but some provision will be made for him. In regards to the court date, it's probably a district court hearing. Because you haven't been given adequate notice (>1month), you will probably be able to get the date postponed until you get adequate legal advice. You will need to find out what court it is and go directly though them to get the information. I also suggest you go somewhere for legal advice - even somewhere like community law will give you a really good start on where you stand. Let me know if you have any qs and I'll try to help the best I can. It's not really my area of expertise, but I know a bit about it from the papers I've done.

Sounds silly, but you've tried steam cleaning? I bet it won't get it all out, but it could help so the piece that needs to be replaced is smaller.

Have you told the landlord? It's possible their insurance covers it. We didn't tell ours, once we got it fixed, I just cleaned the whole area with carpet cleaner and kind of roughed up the edges and you can't see it any more.

We felt terrible too - maybe if I tell you my stupid story, you'll feel a bit better! I had a candle lit and blew it out before I went to bed. Before the wax set, I picked it up to move it, and the wax spilt on the carpet. It was about a 5cm x 5cm square. We couldn't get the wax out with scrubbing or anything, so I got wax paper and the iron. Turns out the iron was too hot and I melted the plastic carpet - it's way bigger than the original bit I spilt and no amount of scrubbing would help! We had about 4 or 5 mats to choose the bit from, which was good. How old is the carpet in the place? If it's relatively new or popular, it should be easier to get replacement stuff. Definitely get a couple of people out to have a look at it. Did you just move the tank, or are you moving soon? How long before you move if you're moving?

We needed carpet repaired and looked in the phone book and just called a few. We choose the one who had been doing it the longest. We got a piece of carpet replaced about 30cm x 15cm. It cost $120, but we provided a mat to cut up. The guy who did it did a great job, it took about 1/2hr. He said the biggest issue with the replacements is colour matching in terms of the same amount of wear. Don't know if that's helpful or not.

Is anyone here a KATG listener? I just listened to 1190: A whole new world, and my mind is blown. www.keithandthegirl.com For those not in the know, it's a daily podcast by a guy, Keith and his now ex gf, Chemda, who live in New York.

Hey! Accidents happen. Don't you judge me!

:lol: I think I peed myself a little bit.

I'm on nomal Vodafone, and haven't had an outage. It used to get pretty slow because some people overseas were trying to get into the system and it was sending pings back???? ( I have no idea, that's what my dad said when he fixed it) but now it's invisible so it doesn't ping back so they can't see it and stop trying.

I agree, I think people will look in the short term because they don't know how to look longer term, and something a like a budget is something that everyone has an opinion on. It's very normal to have an opinion on, too. Also, I think it's important to talk to other people about to help shape your opinion. Scottie, while the people at your work might not totally understand it any more than you or I do, every person you talk to about it helps to develop your opinion, at least you care enough about what's going on to talk about it. I like the increase in gst because it's harder to avoid; all people have to pay gst and while you could potentially avoid income tax, you have to pay gst. That helps level the playing field of who contributes to our tax bill; generally wealthier people consume more. It's not perfect, but it's a step in the right direction.

ouch. My root canal is today. I called around and estimates were between 800 and 1400. I decided it's worth paying 1200 for because I'm such a scaredy cat when in comes to the dentist and I feel comfortable with him.

It could potentially apply to any sector, I suppose. I haven't had the time to look too far into that part, what do you think is likely to happen? To be honest, I don't even think I know the govts intention in lowering the business tax, there must be more to it than just getting us in line with australia.

For individuals looking at how it's going to affect their day to day cash in hand, they will be looking in the short term - from the 1 Oct, how much worse/better off am I going to be if I choose to spend more or save more or invest more? I think most people like to think that they care how much goes into healthcare and education and infrastructure, but I can almost guarantee that if you asked 100 people this time last week how much money was put aside in the 2009 budget for those things, they couldn't tell you. Yes, money that goes into those things are important, and yes, the government should be looking in the long term about those investments and liabilities, but at the end of the day, the media has hyped income tax and GST because that's what the majority of people want to know about. p44 - while I do think that treaty settlements are important, I tend to agree that we should be limiting the pot and setting aside more for important things (or more important, at least) - I'd like to see more on education in the future. I'm tied on infrastructure - I'd like to see the plan of exactly where it's going to be spent before we put our money there (ie no more quick fix road patches, lets fix it properly, and I'd like to see more invested in sustainable, realistic public transport systems, including something for people who commute between the big cities by plane each week/month) The decrease in company tax was a welcome surprise - I wonder if it will open job opportunities (businesses are more profitable and therefore may have extra funds to reinvest, creating jobs in the long term) or if the extra money will just be pocketed?

I don't think you necessarily need a doctorate in finance to comment on the budget - Bill English doesn't, and it's his budget. Sure, a working knowledge of how finance works is helpful, but there's nothing to stop any person who earns an income, pays taxes (including GST) or owns a business from having an opinion. I think it's a pretty healthy thing to have an opinion on, especially income tax and GST. It's fine to look at the budget in the short term - that's the easiest way to see how you personally will be affected.

Considering it's now fact, it's not really political discussion; it's discussion of individual's financial reality. I think that the budget is great; not perfect, but it does speak to our future financial sustainability.

Surprised there hasn't been a thread about it on here yet. What do you think? http://treasury.govt.nz/budget/2010/execsumm

I'm on meridian, we have a fixed KW charge for 2 years (but we can leave if we choose, they're contracted to that KW price). Bills arrive on time (emailed to us, why waste paper?) and we get an estimate then an actual read every 2nd month. I've got no complaints.