Pay off mortgage and start having fun!

edinburgher

Homebrew (high priority)

Super max platinum priority, I have almost finished my current batch of lager and am practically in mourning re. the fact that the new stuff won't be ready until September! :doh:

If you'll excuse me for being Frank (seemed as good a name as any), think you may need to re-prioritise yourself a little bit higher up the family pecking order. You're only giving yourself £30/mth to spend, but pay £14/mth for kids' mobile contracts? I won't even spend that on a phone and am a big boy with his own job and wallet :rotfl:

newgirly

Hi ed , I see what you are saying but they are teenagers and very attached to their phones, plus are pretty low maintenance in every other way so I don't mind really. Not sure if I will be able to stick to the £30 budget anyway to be honest , but I want to have a good try

Can I ask why your beer takes so long, my little brother brews all sorts and they usually only take a couple of weeks, its it a special sort?

edinburgher

Can I ask why your beer takes so long, my little brother brews all sorts and they usually only take a couple of weeks, its it a special sort?

Like most areas of life, homebrew tastes better with patience. It's perfectly possible to brew up some rotgut and have it bottled and carbonated within 3 weeks of starting. It will, however, taste like beer that was made 3 weeks ago!

The last batch I made (a Wilko lager) was one of these and it has taken 2-3 months to become even vaguely drinkable.

I also like higher ABV (stronger beers) and any less than 3 months in the bottle is suicide with these.

False economies also spring up quite a lot. While you can buy a Wilko kit for £7-8 on offer, £15 will buy you something infinitely nicer (like a Brewferm kit).

It's a balancing act between glugging nasty pints at 25p a pop, or bottling something that tastes like a craft beer, but probably came in at £1 a pint. That sounds like a lot more expensive, but it's a hell of a lot cheaper than drinking the aforementioned craft beer at £3-4/bottle

newgirly

Sorry ed, I may be thinking of time between bottling and drinking not brewing then, I remember being told by my brother to not bother with cheap kits as well , apologies

Defiantly going to give the wine a go though

newgirly

Inspired by cath T, I am going for a fast walk/slow jog tonight. I've had a look at the couch to 5k and thought I'd have a go, have asked my best friend and ordered us both pedometers (£2.46 amazon:money:) also may need to buy a better sports bra :rotfl:

This months challenge is to lose a stone, a tricky one but even if I get half way it's not too bad , aim high though and all that

Big day at work tomorrow , we have a group from the library of the British museum coming for a tour , hopefully they will like what they see and give us some work. Today I shall be doing even more cleaning and buying posh biscuit.

Dd home at 11.15pm last night , so I've started getting up later and doing less in the mornings , I think its the only way I'll manage as I usually go to bed early on work nights.

£54 mortgage op made yesterday.

edinburgher

Sorry ed, I may be thinking of time between bottling and drinking not brewing then, I remember being told by my brother to not bother with cheap kits as well , apologies

No need to apologise, we're on the same page

IMO a decent kit needs 2-3 months in the bottle. Unfortunately I'd need something like 100 bottles to keep up that sort of storage! :eek:

Al has had good luck with the wine, sure she has some pointers.

Firegirl

New girly- I'm on holiday soon and my diet plan keeps getting delayed 1 day at a time!!!! I need to get started!!!

AlexLK

Regarding 'phones, my wife and I have £7.50 Tesco mobile contracts. Personally, I think fancy mobile 'phones are an utter waste of money, though my wife used to be very attached to her iPhone.

There is not a chance my son will be having an expensive 'phone paid for by me when he is a teenager and as I will have to take the contract on, he will not be using his allowance to pay for it, either. I suppose this sounds a bit harsh to some but I find it very sad how many kids seem glued to their 'phones spending their parents' money on mind-numbing "games" like "Candy Crush".

newgirly

Fair enough Alex , each to their own ! To he honest at 17 I don't think I could stop my daughter spnding her money on whatever she wanted. Luckily she is very independent and earns her own money, and saves most of her wages.

She won't let me pay for her work experience travel costs even though it will cost most of what she has. I think it depends on the child and mine get little pocket money and are all keen to earn whenever they can and pay for themselves , so I feel justified I spending £14 pm on phone contracts as they don't get much else.

£14 pm does not buy a very fancy phone anyway , I phones are closer to £40 now, oh and they don't play candy crush


Good luck fire girl and get started I did my first run \walk last night wow it was hard work :rotfl:

gallygirl

Can I second both Alex and NG .

No way would I ever have paid for fancy phones for my two (when they were younger we only had those funny phones with the long wires attached ). However, a basic phone contract isn't OTT and when they can afford to make their own choices then you can guide and advise but ultimately it's up to them. NG's DD could probably 'afford' a £40 contract but has obviously decided it's not worth spending her hard earned money on - well done that girl :T. I'd be more than happy to fork out £14 under those circumstances .