As Promised

Published February 9, 2025 by helentastic67

As Promised

This is as promised my fifth post in a session of writing. I’m on a roll. I might even try to finish open a more positive note. No promises see what I can do?

So, to give some context from all the things regarding my previous posts. For the last seven years I’ve rented an apartment through an affordability scheme. It was to take people off the public housing list but help landlords more than the tenant’s long term. The scheme ran for ten years, of which I benefited only the last seven. The landlords of new developments for a period were asked to offer up several properties to be managed by the government in exchange for cheaper rent to the tenant and what they lost in rent they got back at tax time. You gotta have money to make money, right? It is to say, I got to live in a complex with normal people not in a public housing silo. It is also the time to say when I got into this housing arrangement some bright spark, (Note sarcasm) despite my telling him not to, he had me removed from the housing list.

Every year I had to sign a new lease and provide financials and income statements to prove I was the only resident and I still qualified as low enough income to qualify for the scheme. What a MOTHER FUCKER. Mind you I had to do it every year for the seven years I was there. Honestly, it’s a different mindset. Remember the days you just needed to prove you could afford the rent?

In the time I’ve been on the Disability Support Pension I’ve had rent assistance which despite my rent going up every time, mostly initiating me having to relocate. It’s like the government that decides how much rent assistance needs to be doesn’t pay rent, or live in the real world, or care to learn how much rent is. We know the answer to all these things. No, they don’t!

In the last twenty years, I’ve rented houses for 4 years, each HOUSES WITH HOUSEMATES and at the end of the fourth year I’ve not been able to negotiate out of a rent increase, the landlord situation changes and I’ve needed to pay exorbitant rent or move. So, I’ve moved.

The house I rented the first time I moved with my disability. I struggled to find something in my price range and I was literally paying someone’s mortgage. I only had housemates for four months of the year. I stayed there and even asked my dad, who helped me a few times to cover the rent even though I’d bankrupt him.

That household situation had me move further out again, to never want housemates again. The first housemate, I ended up taking to VCAT, AMD. The second that lived with me for three months and was years my senior and had a huge reduction on her portion of the rent and had her son practically live with us. No more. There was the assumption, the government was paying my rent and my lifestyle. So, she thought to take advantage of that.

The last of the scheme I was in I paid $317 a week. At the end of the scheme my rent was to be $550 per week. They wanted me to sign a lease and there was no way I was doing that. If I was going to pay that much rent it was going to be somewhere nicer and quieter. I paid two weeks of that rent and timed it perfectly to get the fuck out.

I later checked the rental listing and it was advertised as $500 per week. Just scum, I know this post is a lot of specific financially, but necessary.

I could have afforded the scheme amount of rent in a reasonably comfortable lifestyle until sixty, when my income changes and I could no longer keep a roof over my head or the lights and internet on.

Not giving up all my things that tell people who I was/am/aspire to return to or just giving in and moving to some shit-fuck suburb, I wouldn’t survive in around people who HAVE ASPIRED TO NOT DO BETTER OR CARE, or to do better in life.

This post has not ended on a positive note has it.

Old Trip Down Memory Lane

Published September 16, 2024 by helentastic67

Old Trip Down Memory Lane

Last week I had reason to visit South-Side and my old neighbourhood from my twenties. Melbourne for many is split by a river called the Yarra River. When I first moved to Melbourne at nineteen my friends quickly informed me the river was not for swimming as it was likely to hide people with concrete boots. Think we now refers to those days as the Underbelly era. Oh, good times. Melbourne from a different time.

But nowadays we refer to the river dividing the South from the North. Once upon a time I spent my twenties living around Prahran near Chapel Street. I’ve been past several of the places I once lived only to find time did not stand still, several houses were gone replaced by new developments. And some beautiful Art deco apartments my friends and I envied in the 90’s on Dandenong Road can now be look up online. Ooh-La-La! Still can’t afford to live there. I mean the internet is a sneaky thing because I went down a rabbit hole and found this old dump I once rented.

https://www.realestate.com.au/property/42-mcilwrick-st-windsor-vic-3181/

I mean, it did not look like this when I once lived here but seriously. Now I can’t afford to live either side of the Yarra. A comedian once said “Never sit down and work out how much money you’ve spent on rent. You will kill yourself!” So not doing that, might add to that list, don’t search places you once lived but no that’s too late.

Now, who thought this blog was only about living life one-handed? Well, that’s still true but a girl’s still gotta keep a roof over her head and want to be able to get out of bed in the morning and still be motivated to put one foot in front of another, so that is why we have real estate porn. It’s not realistic, but its aspirational. Not achievable for most but it’s nice to look.

And if I may? I know I don’t normally critique films here because I don’t want to let on how much I watch TV and films for entertainment, but I feel in short, I must. Saw the 2024 take on the 1994 classic “The Crow” Can we not please? Stop it! We just don’t need another generation of young thin men with tilted heads and bad posture looking down at girls. The end.

$8.69 – Part 2

Published March 25, 2019 by helentastic67

$8 69 1

$8.69 Part 2

I feel I should point out why I think I managed to get a reduction in my rent, because I suspect it’s partly to do with the type of property I rent.

Rent Reduction

I got lucky last year and got a property in a scheme that’s part of an affordability scheme called NRAS. No idea, but might find you a link. https://www.nrasvic.com.au/

But the basic premise goes like this, I think it comes under state funding (as opposed to federal) just a fancy term for a different bucket of money. All new builds where there is an excess of 30 apartments on the one site, the owner is offered a tax incentive that a percentage (small) be offered as part of this scheme where they get less rent than current value and the loss in rent is given to them as a tax deduction.

Tax Scheme

The potential range of tenant’s must be low income, I actually had to prove I earned less than $45,000 per year. Um? I’ve never earned that much, so if this scheme had been around, I would always have been eligible.

Low Income

FML

But still, there are seven properties in my building, or considering the number of apartments on site, there might be more. I know there are ‘owner-occupiers’ and a reasonable turn-over of properties being sold.

Low Income Tennants

The scheme runs for ten years and hopefully, depending on the market (property) they will continue for another ten years.

Over all I much appreciate living amongst “Normal” people. As I’ve lived opposite some public housing, I barely coped with that. I wouldn’t have survived living in that public housing. I’m not being a snob, I happily waved and took time to chat to some of the tenants, I gave my compost to a lovely Chinese lady for her garden and the young single dad, I gave away muffins and goodies. But I don’t need to live amongst the drug dealers and crazy people who strangle their cats because I was “listening” to their conversations. I wouldn’t hear you do your phone banking if you didn’t do it on your front balcony.

Live amongst normal people

Yeah, that guy turned out to be Schizophrenic.

Disclaimer: Not everyone in Public Housing is a drug dealer or schizophrenic.

$8.69 – Part 1

Published March 22, 2019 by helentastic67

8 69 Part 1

$8.69 Part 1

$8.69, $8.69, $8.69 ad nauseum!

So, I moved into the apartment in late 2017 and had my first inspection in March. So far so good. Then I was asked if I could be available for another walk-through, about four months into my twelve-month lease.

First Inspection

I confess, to say even knowing the rental law for twenty years of renting etc, I was concerned. I had asked for the OK to get my fur baby, had been less for over a year now and sad. Still so sad.

Permission Fur Baby

So, I also started to worry this extra visit was related. Eventually, my property manager told me they had to bring through a guy to ‘value’ the property.

Value property

Oh, my God, what’s happening? Please don’t sell. I just go here. You have no idea the drama it is to move when you have a disability. How much goes astray, how much I would sell, that gets given away, thrown away, donated, LOST, damaged, when you are one-handed.

Moving House

Anyway, the property manager bought the quiet man through and it was all very sterile and efficient. Not complaining but, my home wasn’t as clean as it had been for the inspection and of course, I was stressed so over thinking. A few months later, I received and email. It was late at night when I got to my email, that day. I thought – Cat? Or what? Oh, no! What? OMG, I got what?

Rent reduction

A RENT REDUCTION? WTF?

Small rent reduction

When do you ever hear about that?

Okay, it wasn’t much, yes, you guessed it. It was only $8.69 per month. But whose complaining.

OMG

I haven’t mentally spent it yet. However, I’m breathing a small sigh of relief.

How to spend it

So Cat?

Cat So

Limits

Published December 27, 2017 by helentastic67

Limits

With the possible exception of relationships with boyfriends in recent years, I’ve learnt my limit for dealing with bullshit or ‘whatever’ is four years.

There are some houses I’ve lived in for four years and I’ve moved when landlords wanted to renovate and sell, or just sell. I’ve now been where I am for four years and about to sign a lease for a fifth year. The last three years, the rent has been inching upwards to ridiculous.

Landlord

But to other things, such as my voluntary efforts, I generally throw myself in and do that original assessment.

What am I doing?
What needs doing?
What needs to change so I can do this?
What can or do we need to achieve by being here?
Is it achievable?
Am I being respected and supported?

When you put it into those terms, four years seems like a long time, right? So, it is with great frustration at this year’s AGM of the Self Advocacy group, I’m part of that I’m resigning from my role as Treasurer.

Self advocacy

I’m not a quitter generally, so it really leaves me unsatisfied and frustrated and grumpy.

No quitter

Next!

Gypsy

Published September 29, 2017 by helentastic67

Gypsy

My Mum once called me a gypsy, I’ve moved so many times since moving out of home. When I was a poor art student, my parents covered my rent while I paid for everything else. I also worked a casual job and at Christmas time when I went home to take a break, I transferred my supermarket job back to the country and also did a seasonal job. Not much of a break, I know, but still a change of scenery.

Working

Before I moved out of home, I saw a comedian on a show who must have lived in St Kilda back in the 80’s. He made a joke, to never sit down and work out what you have spent on rent, because you will want to kill yourself.

Good advice, so I never have.

I have often wished my parents had been able to afford a deposit on “something” way back then, but I guess all the area’s I’ve lived in over the years would not have happened. When I first moved to Melbourne, I moved to Brunswick.

Brunswick St 1

It wasn’t hipster cool back then, but it was cheap. Before long, there I was living in South Yarra, just off Chapel Street.

Chapel St

It was the cheapest rent I’ve ever paid in Melbourne. It was not the nicest place I’ve rented, but in many ways living there signifies the beginning of many great things.

I still remember what I paid for the room in a share house with 1 other. $262.15 per calendar month.

Hell, I wish I paid that per week these days.

Meanwhile, I’ve just been informed of another rent increase and a new lease to sign in December. It will have happened already by the time you read this. I will be going into my 5^th year living here by myself.

Rent increase

And it’s such a hassle to look at relocating, I’m likely to just suffer the increase.

Weekend

Finding a Housemate

Published August 15, 2016 by helentastic67

Housemates_-_lead_image.png-1

Finding a Housemate

So, finding a housemate is crap at the best of times. I wish I’d counted how many people I’d do the song and dance for to present myself as a normal person, just so I could find a responsible adult to share the rent and expenses.

I just found this description of someone I had look through that 1^st house. Because sometimes it’s now you re call people not by name of how they look.

Here goes;

“Horror/Action/Gemini/Butcher/Maids outfit while cleaning/Cross dresser/Porn!

Also think this was a guy who said he would be happy to be my Carer. (help me after a shower etc)

To be clear that was never going to happen!

I don’t require my housemate to help me EVER that requires them to see me naked! Boundaries people.

Briefly, I had a woman move in who told me one thing and did another.

Then had a tall Frenchman move in who stayed a year. He paid the rent and worked away at times giving the place to myself – Bliss!

He was not, I repeat, NOT my favourite ever housemate. He wasn’t my least favourite either. But he wasn’t my favourite and I now try hard not to judge other French tourists and such by my year or so co-habituating with him.

Some woman would ask “Oh, French, so sexy!”

To which I would reply “Um?, No!” Bon!

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