bravo

I can afford to pay for income protection insurance now, and can't afford to lose my income in case of illness etc. Also want to look at mortgage protection so my family are not stuck with the payments if I die. Anyone recommend a good company that I can get a quote and copy of the policy from? My home, contents, and car are with FMG, I bank with ASB. Chur

I do it. I don't know why you wouldn't. You obviously havn't done the maths. If you purchase a property to rent out it is classed as an investment. Therefore interest on borrowings on that investment are a business expense and are deducted from your tax liability. Same with maintenance, insurance, rates... This makes a huuuuge difference as to the cost of ownership, esp. if you are in a higher tax bracket. (Everything costs a third less as it is all tax deductible). Conversely you have to pay tax on the rent. Lets take a hypothetical $200k house for easy arithmetic. 10% deposit means $180k borrowings. Interest rates are up at the moment. (About 9% fixed for 3 years). So on a 25 year mortgage using a table loan structure, you are looking at $695 a fortnight in repayments. Over the lifetime of the mortgage you will pay $273,000 of interest. Now if this is your own home you are living in that is all your cost. But if it is a rental, you get to offset that amount against your tax. At 33%, that's a saving of around $90,000. Then there are rates at say $1500 a year for a $200,000 home. With no adjustment for inflation, over the 25 years, that's $37,500 - another $12,750 saving if offset against your tax. So as you can see the savings add up very quickly - and I havn't started on insurance or maintenance. So what about rent??? Well, in the current market a $200k home probably brings in $230+ in the right area a week. 50 weeks a year (allowing for empty tenancy between tenants or for renovating), that's $11,500 a year to pay tax on. Seeing as you are paying a high proportion of interest on your mortgage in the first few years until the principle reduces, this will easily offset the rent income so no tax to pay. Basically in the first 5 years of ownership on a $200k home you can expect a yearly tax refund (after offsetting the rent etc) of around $2-3k. So that's $2-3k to put into the principle that you wouldn't be able to do if you were living in it. On a $400k home the numbers more than double as the multiplication effect of the interest. So it makes even more sense. As time goes on, the rent will outstrip the expenses and you will end up paying tax on it, but by then you should be in a better financial situation, your equity in the home will have increased, and then you can borrow to buy your own "dream home". Keep the rental as an extra income. You also have the added benefit of buying a house you can afford NOW rather than wait and continually find the goal posts have shifted. Buy in a less desirable area so you can get a foot on the bottom rung of the property ladder, and rent somewhere else. I did it. My brother did it, my sister is saving. I'm 25, own 50% equity in my rental property, own 33% of a commercial property, and am looking at what to do next. I don't earn stupid money (I'm only in the 33% tax bracket), but I live cheaply. I started with $12,000 as a deposit in 2003 when I was 21 and never looked back. My 2 cents. P.S> What I didn't tell you is that tenants actually do suck. Even the good ones cause damage, or miss rent occaisionally which you have to chase up. I used to be over friendly - now I'm a hard-ass as it gets the rent paid on time. Had the tenants in the commercial skip town and then go belly up. Have a $12,500 claim at the insolvency office. It comes with the territory I guess. All that said though, I still wouldn't do things any differently. The $12,500 comes off my tax anyway, and its only lost income in the end. Makes the bank all twitchy though lol.

Good story. I think Token did what most of us would. I found that when I lived in Akld I used to get wound up at other drivers. Now I only go down there a couple of times a month for a day or two, I find that I'm in a much more relaxed mood and they don't bother me. So when an Akld driver starts cursing, or driving like a nutter on the motorway for whatever reason I do the smile and wave. It's great because it usually just winds them up ha. I find a thumbs up is the ultimate gesture to put them over the edge.

fanboy

Euro-Italian. 5C Saturn place, Albany. 09 444 9817.

I think she got off lightly. In both respects.

Good stuff. Pulling out the auto brake pedal and installing the manual one is as easy as adding the clutch one if you feel like getting uner there and redoing it.

Clicking increases with car speed or engine speed?

The list above will do. Ray knows is sh*t, so just explain the above to him and he'll see you right. Just buy a new clutch kit as they are not too expensive and it will save you pulling the whole thing apart in a fw months when the secondhand one fails.

Nice car. Crap video.

I'm still not sure where you are measuring your voltage from, but if you are measuring from the pos terminal on the starter to the chassis, and getting voltage, try measring pos terminal on starter to a bare meatal part of the engine (like the lifting point). If you lose voltage then you've forgotten to atach the earth strap from the motor to the chassis and this is your problem.

No

You also need master cyl and clutch lines, fluid reservoir, clutch (buy a kit that includes the release bearing), Gearbox mount/ x-member, new flywheel and pressure plate bolts, spigot bearing. Most of the above you need anyway as they would need replacing from wear. If the box is in good nick it seems like an OK price when compared to the much more common m20 boxes.

When you test for voltage are you putting your multimeter on the neg terminal of the starter or to the chassis?

Since posting this I must revise. Twice - only a problem if you're dating school-age girls or have mates who act like girls (Hi Tower - Beau and Brad, savvy?).

btw Just fyi, full retail, tees are $50 and hoodies are $130.

AFAIK s38 is m88. different designation for the same motor. (Maybe slight differences - but much the same). At least that is the info I have.

One of my g/f's mates owns Halfpast Streetwear. They have some cool stuf and are having a sale. They emailed the brochure to me - these deals are not on their website. I'm getting a couple of the tees and thought some of you may be keen. I can order for you if you like - cash in advance of course. Once it arrives (couple of days from order I'm told) You can pick the clothing up from either Orcon on the shore, or my g/f's place in Henderson, or can courier at your cost. I'm not making any money on this, just sharing the love as I know how hard it can be to get unique threads at a good price. I'm sure you'll agree the prices are pretty good.

Its called paint.

Something a bit different

How about this one. I have seen them on cars and they look good.

Only e36 318ti rear springs will fit.

Now that's a set of headers!

Also to keep in mind: Full mtech I is 6 pieces - Front splitter, 2x side skirts, rear skirt and boot spoiler. Plus original boot spoiler is half rubber, so not as easy to replicate. Full mtech II is 13 pieces for 2 door and 15 for 4-door - front splitter, front bumper cover, rear skirt, rear bumper cover, rear spoiler, 2x side skirts, 2x front guard trim pieces, 2x rear guard pieces, plus a piece for each door. Plus skirts for 2 and four doors are different for both kits as are all the smaller pieces for tech II.

OK, so not 140 at 12 o'clock like in my pic. Damn.