Only freedom will do

LadyGnome

As a Welsh person I am not sure how next week's game will go. If Wales play like they did in the first half against Italy they may as well not turn up against England. If they play like the did in the second half, it could be a great match.


Great play by Scotland.

Suffolk_lass

edinburgher wrote: »

I think France made a very shrewd move, tactically speaking. England were getting absolutely pummelled (physically) and looked flat footed for at least an hour. Luckily the quality of their reserves shone through, but they didn't look like a world class side. I'd be surprised if they manage a grand slam this year!

LadyGnome wrote: »

As a Welsh person I am not sure how next week's game will go. If Wales play like they did in the first half against Italy they may as well not turn up against England. If they play like the did in the second half, it could be a great match.


Great play by Scotland.

Hopefully Saturday was a wake-up call for England. I completely agree. Not World Class, more year 9 (that's 14 rising 15 in England) with all the handling errors. Get the basics right. You are right LadyGnome, it could be a great game if both sides get their act together. We shall watch of course, to see if they do (another excuse not to dig the veg patch!)
SL

edinburgher

We celebrated Valentine's Day yesterday, in classy, tipsy style

Lunch at the best restaurant I've had the pleasure of dining at in Glasgow, followed by trips to 3 different bars I managed to justify spending £100+ quite the thing (£50 voucher + only the 3rd time we've been out out in nearly 2 years).

It got me thinking (for the 2nd time in a few days) about what I want to do 'when I grow up' - does anyone else think about that? I don't mean work wise, I think I have a plan for that, but more what to do on the odd day off (I'm told you get those again once your kids grow up)!

I think until now I've been following the fashions in the FI/RE blogosphere, but you know what? A 'retirement' of cycling, growing vegetables and knitting my own muesli isn't for me. I don't think there's anything wrong with enjoying the odd bout of consumer society once in a while, I think any plans for us would need to feature a good night out once a month or so. I also think we'd probably rather live closer to the action, not further away (so more swank city pad than country cottage).

Interesting thoughts - we're going to need a bigger money boat

Suffolk_lass

Among others my list of things when I grow up (stop working) has a few things I can't do now (sorry, we already do your no-list things!):

Live in Italy for a few months
Follow an Ashes tour in Australia
Follow a Lions tour
Become a competent motor cyclist
Visit my far flung friends more often
Regular performance arts visits (we do go to live music things but I want to go to more - including opera and theatre)
Up my volunteering a bit

No living in a city ambitions for me, until I am too old and unable to live independently in the country.

SL

misscousinitt

We did a lot of travelling when we were first together - that has now fizzled out a bit - but I think we would like to do more again. We are starting with THE UK now but when we grow up would like to go further a field again.

MCI

edinburgher

Oh wow - good lists

Re. travel, I'd definitely like to see more of the world, but am definitely of the 'occasional and luxurious' as opposed to 'little and often' opinion.

£21.86 paid into savings (sad FIT cheque for November to February), signature updated.

gallygirl

Ed do you know what age you would like to retire? I read somewhere about a fun way to monitor progress. Work out what income you would have now at your realistic retirement age. Then look to see where in the world you could retire on that. Make a note where it is - maybe an electronic map you can pin, say in red? Then each year you see where else is open to you. If more than one place you have to pick the best for you, but pin all of them, say in blue. Next year in pink and so on. Each year you can then see how your relative wealth is increasing and the choices open to you. Wish I'd seen this idea years ago!

edinburgher

Fun idea, love it.

50 bare bones, 55 lifestyle we've become accustomed to?

gallygirl wrote: »

Ed do you know what age you would like to retire? I read somewhere about a fun way to monitor progress. Work out what income you would have now at your realistic retirement age. Then look to see where in the world you could retire on that. Make a note where it is - maybe an electronic map you can pin, say in red? Then each year you see where else is open to you. If more than one place you have to pick the best for you, but pin all of them, say in blue. Next year in pink and so on. Each year you can then see how your relative wealth is increasing and the choices open to you. Wish I'd seen this idea years ago!

SuperSecretSquirrel

gallygirl wrote: »

Work out what income you would have now at your realistic retirement age. Then look to see where in the world you could retire on that... Then each year you see where else is open to you.

I love this idea. Would you rely on "national average spend" data for this? There are certainly a huge range of budgets in the UK, so without an SoA I'd have trouble working out our progress for this country, never mind various exotic global locales. Am I missing a simple shortcut?

Ed, love that you're forming a better idea of what the future should look like. Personally, I would be happy with a good night on the town once every three months, would definitely opt for rural living and simply travel to nearby cities for a little switch up in gears once in a while. Holidays would be little and often most years, but some years it would be nice to splash the cash and go for luxury.

I do wonder about the slow travel "live like a local" option, maybe go for three months, rent a place, sample life as per the gallygirl progress monitoring idea (but actually living it). I doubt it would feel like a holiday, more sampling an alternative life, but I'd quite like to try, and always have our home to return to at the end. If you make good use of your home while away (short term holiday let) you could even go sooner rather than later. So long as you choose a country with a low cost of living you may even turn a profit! Just need an employer that sees three months consecutive leave each year as acceptable, or, be master of your own destiny and take on short term contracts with nice long gaps between them, or get rich enough to manage financially on casual work as and when you feel like working. Seems there are ways and means

edinburgher

Doubt you'd find that particular data - maybe median wage minus savings rate? That might be more realistic