(no subject)
I got my visa on Tuesday, a lot earlier than I had expected. I immediately searched for a job, first interview was at Hungry Jacks (Burger King, renamed Hungry Jacks in Australia because when they came here the name Burger King was already copyrighted and being used), and I was hired on the spot for full time. Ok so yes working full time at a burger king sounds like the worst job but I wanted to get a job fast, I'll look for better ones while I work there. Plus if I do stay there I can make manager really quick because I'm cool, indeed.
Turns out that I will be considered an international student for the visa I'm on for the next two years. There's no way I can pay internation student course fees, starting from $10 000 per year. So I have to wait 2 years to start university, it sucks but its not that bad after I talked to Corgie for a while. The 2 years gives us time to set ourselves up financially (since we'll both be working full time). We'll be able to refinance our home loan and pay it off really fast. We figured out that we can own this place in 7 years (even with me only working part time while at uni), then move into another home and rent out this one.
Instead of having one general minimum wage for under 18 and a slightly higher minimum wage for 18+ (like I assume they still have in Canada) there are wonderful things called award rates here. Ok they're really not wonderful at all but still. They have ridiculous charts like this http://www.safework.sa.gov.au/uploaded_files/cafes_r_07_05.pdf where basically there's an adult rate of $14.30 per hour if you're a cashier person, you get that if you are 21 or over. But if you're under 21 you get paid only a percentage of the adult rate, 20 year olds get 90% of that pay, and lucky me at 18 years old gets paid 70% of the award rate, coming out to $10 per hour. I don't know why they have this system but there's probably some good reasons for it. It just kind of sucks that I'm 18 and only making 70% of the award rate when I'm not living at home and trying to pay bills and such.
Even with me having a crap ass (yes, crap ass) job, we can still get stuff before we start paying off our mortgage. Our current list is:
Fridge - frost free, used (our current one is really old and generally breaking down)
Front loading washing mashing (again ours is really old, breaking down, and if we get a front loading washing machine we can stack them in the laundry)
Eliptical/treadmill (ok, we eat too much pizza and mcdonalds)
Wood chips for landscaping (we'll probably never actually do the gardening work necessary for this)
Curtains (so we can stop putting on shows for the neighbours)
Yes, that is all very exciting. You are indeed excited about me buying a frost free fridge.
Turns out that I will be considered an international student for the visa I'm on for the next two years. There's no way I can pay internation student course fees, starting from $10 000 per year. So I have to wait 2 years to start university, it sucks but its not that bad after I talked to Corgie for a while. The 2 years gives us time to set ourselves up financially (since we'll both be working full time). We'll be able to refinance our home loan and pay it off really fast. We figured out that we can own this place in 7 years (even with me only working part time while at uni), then move into another home and rent out this one.
Instead of having one general minimum wage for under 18 and a slightly higher minimum wage for 18+ (like I assume they still have in Canada) there are wonderful things called award rates here. Ok they're really not wonderful at all but still. They have ridiculous charts like this http://www.safework.sa.gov.au/uploaded_files/cafes_r_07_05.pdf where basically there's an adult rate of $14.30 per hour if you're a cashier person, you get that if you are 21 or over. But if you're under 21 you get paid only a percentage of the adult rate, 20 year olds get 90% of that pay, and lucky me at 18 years old gets paid 70% of the award rate, coming out to $10 per hour. I don't know why they have this system but there's probably some good reasons for it. It just kind of sucks that I'm 18 and only making 70% of the award rate when I'm not living at home and trying to pay bills and such.
Even with me having a crap ass (yes, crap ass) job, we can still get stuff before we start paying off our mortgage. Our current list is:
Fridge - frost free, used (our current one is really old and generally breaking down)
Front loading washing mashing (again ours is really old, breaking down, and if we get a front loading washing machine we can stack them in the laundry)
Eliptical/treadmill (ok, we eat too much pizza and mcdonalds)
Wood chips for landscaping (we'll probably never actually do the gardening work necessary for this)
Curtains (so we can stop putting on shows for the neighbours)
Yes, that is all very exciting. You are indeed excited about me buying a frost free fridge.