Changes to AvalonsGuide on the way.
As its still absolutely chucking it down in Wellington, meaning we aren’t going for a nice long walk around the bay, or heading to one of the beaches for a nice coffee, we have decided to get our butts in gear and make some changes to the website.
Ive been trying to get this done for a while now, and even have a proper Amazon.co.uk aStore ready to go – but it does require the tech wizarding skills of Hubby to get a load of this done. Apparently the aStore requires changes to the CSS file – and I don’t even know what a CSS file is – let alone how to change it! Blogging is great as long as all you need to do is sput forth with your opinions – but as soon as you need to do something – Argghhh!
So anyway – feel free to comment and let me know if theres things that you particularly don’t like about any of the changes we make – cos I’m happy to bear them in mind as the website evolves.
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Trying to post “Avalon’s Guide”: a frustrating day.
I have just sent this email to NZ Post – hopefully I will get a nice result. It’s usually really easy to post our books out – but not yesterday. BTW – if you bought the book – it IS on its way to you – we posted it today 
I would like to relate a very frustrating day I had yesterday, trying to do a rather simple thing: buy 2 prepaid Worldwide A4 padded envelopes.
First off, i should tell you that this is a regular thing, as I sell a book mainly to UK or US buyers. My normal Post Shop is Carterton, where I have absolutely no problems. I live rurally, so I pay a little bit extra to get the pre-paid bag, so when an order comes in – I can post the book in my own box, rather than having to traipse 14km into town, buy postage and post it there and traipse 14km back. The extra cost far outweighs the time and petrol costs of going into town to post a standard padded bag.
I started the morning in Greytown, on my way to Wellington (theres a shortcut that bypasses Carterton – my first mistake as it turned out). I went into the post shop, and saw that they only had Large envelopes. There were no other customers, so I asked the lady behind the counter if they had any of the smaller ones in stock. I was rather brusquely told “No!” I was a bit taken aback, but she then waved in the general direction of the PostBags and said – thats all we’ve got. I think I must have looked a bit upset at the way she spoke, becuase she then told me that the “grey ones” were cheaper. I was surprised, becuase we’ve checked this at Carterton, and its only been about 50c difference. So I asked how much cheaper. She then (again, brusquely) said “I don’t know – you’ll have to weigh it”.
At which point I gave up and worked out, figuring id find some pre-pay bags in wellington later, which would save having to be spoken to like that.
I had a lot to do in Wellington, so it was quite late in the day before i found a Post Shop that didn’t have a huge queue, and went to the new one on Manners St. There were two staff and one customer. I went to the back of the shop, picked up the two Worldwide postbags i wanted, and went to the counter. I put them on the counter. The man behind the counter just stood there with his arms by his side and stared at me. He did not pick the bags up. Then as i was getting my purse out of my bag, he asked me what I was sending. I was a bit concerned at this point as he still hadn’t picked the bags up, and was still stood back from the counter starting at me. I told him at was for a book. He then demanded to know if I had the book with me. I told him no, and was now getting annoyed. By the time he then asked my where I was sending it (uh – worldwide?) I had had enough. I told him not to bother, picked up he Postbags (which he had still not made a move to scan and sell to me, and put them back on the racks. As I did, he called out to me that “the grey ones are cheaper”. I called back to him to tell him that no, they weren’t.
By this point, I an exceedingly frustrated, upset, and getting angry. All I want to do is buy some prepaid postbags.SO I can post a book to a client in the morning from home.
On our way home, we decided on one last ditch attempt to buy some postage from a postshop, and took a detour to Lower Hutt Westfield. I just couldn’t face being told by anymore staff that for whether reason I was not going to get my postbags, so I sent my Husband in. I figured at this point I was starting out grumpy, and I didn’t want to be rude to anyone. Not that such consideration entered into the heads of the staff I had dealt with so far.
But the EftPos machine wasn’t working – cash only. Now while thats not the fault of the staff in the shop – it really did make the whole thing take on a tinge of farce, and was a rather fitting end to a bad day in New Zealand Post Shops.
So what did we end up doing?
Well, as we had had to make a detour, we popped into Warehouse Stationary in Upper Hutt. We were asked if we needed any help, and had a discussion about what we needed to do (rather than being rudely told what I had to do). We bought at Padded Plastic A5 envelope of the kind i wanted, for $1.39. I got home, packed up the book, and later on today – i need to make a 28km round trip to pay for the postage to actually send it. Because I cant just walk to the end of the drive and stick it in the postbox in a PostagePaid bag.
So, given my day yesterday, could i please make the following requests of your company?
1/ Could you please train your staff and business owners and explain to them that some of their customers may be looking for items that they have already costed as being the most cost effective solution for themselves and their businesses.
2/ Could you also train your staff that telling people “the grey ones are cheaper” is firstly, not always true as it depends on the weight, and secondly is not a useful conversation. At no point was I ever asked if I had considered using the gray bags,or if i would like to check if they were a better option – I was just told they were. When they in fact are not.
3/ Could you specifically explain to the staff in the Manners St shop that not picking up the goods someone has passed over the counter, and staring at them while keeping your arms at your side is truly bizarre behavior, and comes across as exceedingly rude and confrontational. And demanding to know what they are postings and where just makes the situation worse.
4/ Could you also explain to all your staff that a lot of New Zealanders do not in fact live near a Post Shop, and there is a reason why you sell pre-paid bags, and also explain the concept of Rural Post services. Just because I was buying in Wellington or Greytown does not mean I am a five minute walk away and can bring items into post everyday.
5/ Finally, given that I had to waste a great deal of time and petrol running round trying to post something that should have been straightforward, would you please send me a couple of A4 PrePaid Worldwide PostBags to make up this?
Thank you very much for your time.
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In need of a humour break.
Filed under: NZIS & Immigration issues, The Book and Website
I couldn’t sleep last night, after a day of having to deal with a rather disgruntled and aggressive immigration agent telling me what I should and should not write on my blog. I know its silly, but these things really do get to me and affect me quite badly. I can handle people disagreeing with me, and having a sensible conversation, but I just don’t see why people need to try and bully me into saying what they want. It’s my blog – I’ll say what I want to say and I will not be bullied or browbeaten, nor will I allow this blog to be used for someone else’s agenda. What I say on here is my opinion, and my experience, and will remain that way.
Anyhow – as I couldn’t sleep, i spent some time browsing the Internet, and found a site of hilarious demotivational poster.
Some of these highlight my unashamed Geekiness. More can be found at Very Demotivational.
see more
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The UK State Pension – what happens to it when you emigrate.
Filed under: Avalon's Money Thread, Cost of living, Retirement, Pensions and Kiwisaver, The Book and Website
This is something that I’ve actually had a lot of emails about recently, so I thought I would write a little about it and there seems to be some really whopping great misconceptions out there.
The main thing you need to understand is that you cannot double dip on your state pensions. You do not have the right to take a UK state pension and add it to any New Zealand superannuation you may be entitled to.
You just can’t.
If you choose to take the UK pension you are entitled to – it gets taken straight off any Superannuation you would get. There is a chapter in Avalon’s Guide explaining the nuts and bolts – but this is the bit you need to understand.
- If you are currently receiving the UK State Pension, the amount of pension you will get is frozen at the level it is when you become a resident of New Zealand.
- If you emigrate, and then later become eligible for the UK State Pension, the amount is frozen at the level it was when you left the UK.
- Any UK State Pension that you do get will be taken off any New Zealand state Superannuation you may be entitled to.
- This means that you cannot claim the UK state pension and add it to the New Zealand Superannuation.
- You can continue to contribute to the UK State Pension while you are resident in New Zealand if you wish.
- Any contributions that you make will increase your UK State Pension.
- Remember though that any increase you do gain will simply decrease the amount of New Zealand Superannuation you are entitled to.
As far as I’m personally concerned, I have not been expecting a state pension for the UK government since I was about 20 years old. The pensions system in most western countries is bankrupt, and there just isn’t the money to keep paying it.
You should also be aware that the National Insurance you pay in the UK is not being used to fund your retirement. It’s paying for the pensions of the people currently receiving a state pension. Your pension needs to be paid by future taxpayers. Thus the problem – there aren’t anywhere near enough people to pay it. The number of pensioners is growing, and the number of taxpayers isn’t growing anywhere near as fast.
And it’s no better here in New Zealand. As Gareth Morgan (an investment provider and somewhat annoying “guru” and “commentator”) says in his book Pension Panic:
If you think the government is going to keep you in the style to which you have become accustomed once you’ve retired, think again – unless you’re on the breadline now.
I just wanted people to be aware that this information is out there, and while I probably wasn’t able to think of everything that should go in a book about finances and emigrating to New Zealand, I really did think of most things. If you want to be prepared and not face these shocks, then read it. It may not always be fluffy – but it will mean you are prepared.
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You can now review Avalon’s Guide on Amazon.
We finally managed to wade our way thorough the process to get Avalon’s Guide on sale through Amazon UK.
Which means you can now write a review of my book. Good, bad or indifferent – did you like it or hate it? Hopefully you didn’t hate it.
So please feel free to rate the book and leave a review here.
You will notice that the book is vastly more expensive via Amazon, which is basically down to the fact that what they pay us doesn’t even begin to cover the cost of posting stock to them. The price is not changing via our website.
You can also review the book on Fishpond.co.nz
Fishpond is the New Zealand equivalent of Amazon, selling books and DVD’s. Avalon’s Guide is on sale for a more reasonable $35.99.
Join Avalon’s Guide on Facebook.
We now have a fan page on Facebook, through which you can get immediate updates to the blog sent directly to your Facebook feed.
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Trying to sell Avalon’s Guide on Amazon
I do not think there is enough coffee in the universe to get me through this one.
It’s something that we have been toying with all year – but not dealt with because it always seems difficult, and we have been horrendously bogged down with Immigration issues.
But I thought (stupid thing to do) – lets have another crack at it.
Well, if you thought getting a straight answer out of Immigration was bad – try getting one out of Amazon.co.uk’s optimistically entitled “Seller Support”.
The basic issue we have is that I can’t ask a question about getting my book listed because I don’t have a seller account. And I can’t get a seller account becuase I’m overseas and its bloody complicated. But I can’t ask them for help with that because – I don’t have a seller account.
The fact that I spend a small fortune with them despite living abroad seems lost in the depths of wherever peoples brains go when they have had enough of being inside the head of someone who cant read an email and use some common sense.
So maybe one day – people will actually be able to place an order for Avalon’s Guide with Amazon – and I promise I will keep trying – but if you are wondering why you have to buy direct from me – this is why.
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Happy Birthday – Avalon’s Blog is a Year Old.
I made it! One whole year of managing to write blogs, get people to read them, and as it happens – stay out of jail.
Not bad really.
I’ve written 309 posts (this will be 310). Which is not bad I think – given that I’m not Kiwiblog (which posts several a day – and is a hotbed of activity and political argument.) We have also had 544 comments – almost none of which have been nasty, and not all of them have been ours.
We have also blocked a staggering 3558 spam comments. The mind boggles.
The blog has indeed taken on a bit of a life of it’s own. When I started this – it was just going to be a part of a website where I would have my book for sale – and I refused to call it a blog. But before long I had to accept that I was in fact “Blogging” and figured I may as well try and give in with some grace. It was also not the intention to make the blog about the struggle for my parent’s residency. But as the head of INZ refused to accept any responsibility – it became a way of making them responsible, by showing people what they are up to and what they are capable of. I’m rather proud of the fact that this blog comes first in a Google search under “NZIS Complaints”. I can only say it serves them right!
And I certainly never intended to get into politics and start fighting for the right to free speech! But again – who else will do it, and what else could I have done? And I do think it is important that people wanting to move to New Zealand get to see what is really going on – rather than the fluffy advertising – which is often so misleading.
But to be honest – that’s my life all over since coming here. Our lives are not at all what we thought they would be. We never intended to become investors, we never intended to own any property other than the one we lived in, and we never thought we would do so many wacky things – like walking on fire. And writing a book? Well – it’s certainly never been a dream of mine – I can tell you.
I sometimes think that something happens when you emigrate – it’s as if you have proved you can do anything – so you get the chance to do even more.
Anyway – here’s to many more blogs!
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Avalon is away :(
I will probably not be blogging till next week due to illness. At which point I hope to be back to my normal troublemaking loudmouth self.
Until then, im off to bed with some chicken soup.
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Please be polite.
I guess I thought it went without saying that this being a blog, people were welcome to leave comments. This is one of the things that blogs are there for, and indeed depend on.
But I also thought it went without saying that people need to be polite, and hurling abuse at me and my family is utterly unacceptable. I’ve thought a lot about whether I needed to post this or not, but it seems for a few people – it does need to be said.
If you disagree with something I say, or believe, then feel free to say so, but please be polite about it. You do not have to verbally beat the crap out of me, my husband or my family in order to get your point across. And if you think you do, then honestly, you don’t really have the intelligence you need to make a point.
Make your argument – preferably backed up with some facts, rather than drivel you have just made up, and let me know what they are. If you yell at me and abuse me, I won’t change my mind, and I will just think you are a twat. I will take the piss out of you, and then I will block you from commenting further. Plenty of people are able to comment on here in perfect disagreement with my views and not be nasty about it. But there are always one or two pillocks out there that can’t handle people with different opinions.
If you just want a fight, and to act like an obnoxious little moron – please find somewhere else to get your jollies off. This is not a place where that kind of behaviour is tolerated. You would not likely come into our house and abuse my family so don’t do it on here just because you are hiding behind a computer and it makes you feel big and brave.
I write this blog rather than living on the forums, because I want to be able to give out information without being beaten up every five minutes for not always having the same point if view as the people in “control”. Sometimes what I say may not agree with your personal point of view, but hey – I’m not living your life. I live MY life, and it should not offend you if it is not the same as yours. The damage done by abusing me lasts a long time.
If you find my views offensive, or cannot grasp why I would choose to live life the way I do, then that is fair enough. Stop reading my blog. But if you do choose to keep reading it – please don’t rip me to pieces because it’s not what YOU believe or would say.
Basically, the abuse and absolutely horrid things that Stuart Eaves says about me and my family are so far out of order it’s not remotely funny. I do not understand why any intelligent person would say those things and for one minute think it was OK. It’s not, and you would need to be a very shallow and vindictive person indeed to throw that kind of prejudice and venom at anyone.
I cannot adequately express my disgust for people who believe for one minute that my parents are here for any other reason than that we all love each other and do not want to live 12,000 miles apart, and I feel somewhat sorry for Stuart that his life is such that he cannot grasp this concept.
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Why are MP’s such hypocrites?
Filed under: General Budgeting, Property & General Investing, The Book and Website
I know not everyone agrees with the fact that Property Investors can use the tax laws here to their advantage, but a few weeks ago, our MP’s discovered that some investors were using a loophole in the system to get access to government benefits they would not normally have been able to get – the Working For Families Tax Credit.
In a nutshell – the situation is this: you can use specific company set ups such as the LAQC, to offset your losses in your rentals (because believe me the rent is no where near high enough to make a profit right now) against your income.
So basically if you earn $60k in your job, and “lose” $40k on your business – you technically earn and pay tax on just the $20k left.
Which drops your salary down to the level at which you can claim benefits.
Now – obviously I’m a bit thick – because we use an LAQC for our property business, and take full advantage of the tax benefits. It was after all one of our many reasons for leaving the UK – to escape the governments ever increasing greed and need to tax the living crap out of us. So to come to a country that says you can actually reduce your tax was a bonus. We were happy with just a lower level of tax, but once we got here and realised that we could get it even lower – well – I was a happy bunny.
But I would actually never have dreamed of using that to then claim benefits – we do still after all earn quite a high salary by New Zealand standards.
And that is what has got the MP’s in a bit of a stew. It seems that there are a number of people claiming benefits, particularly working for families, who not only earn high salaries, but have rather a large asset base and are worth a lot of money. As I object to people getting welfare benefits when they don’t really need it, I also happen to object to this scenario as well. This is actually the reason I don’t like paying tax – because it gets wasted on things and people who don’t need it, which means there isn’t enough for the people who really do need it.
But I have to say I’m rather revolted at MP’s in any party that have the bloodly gall to complain about people doing this (Rorting the system) when they do exactly the same thing, and have their snouts in exactly the same trough and justify it because “its within the rules”. Well, so is what these wealthy people are doing – some of them on considerably smaller salaries than MPs, and with much less generous retirement benefits to look forwards to.
It seems that the MPs are looking to close this loophole. Hopefully if they have an ounce of decency – it will be shortly after they stop filching from the public purse themselves.
Note: If you decide you want to use LAQC’s yourself – make sure you get advice on how to set it up and how to do it. Tax evasion is illegal in New Zealand, and you need to make sure you get it right. You cannot set up an LAQC for the purpose of paying less tax. The basics are explained in Avalon’s Guide. You should also be aware that, despite what many people want to believe, the LAQC system is not just for property investors: many people turn a “hobby” into a business and claim tax benefits.
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