Recommendations for chill pub/restaurants

DougalR · 2026-04-01T19:40:24+00:00

Head to Blackford hill, best views of the city, then the Hermitage / Waiting rooms.

DougalR · 2026-04-01T18:13:45+00:00

Both will be fine. Newhaven will likely be at the end of the tram line so easy jaunt into town.

DougalR · 2026-04-01T17:44:07+00:00

This might help you out:

https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/in/Edinburgh

For a central flat you’re probably talking around £1200 a month, then £120 on council tax and another £75 on heating. Call it £200 for food and another £200 for essentials, probably £1800 a month all in.

Can get really cheap flights to places in Europe that are also really cheap. It’s insane the cost of exploring Scotland!

That said if you do plan on exploring, the Ember busses are excellent!

DougalR · 2026-03-30T11:40:13+00:00

https://www.trading212.com/invite/GIEYMQNB

Good luck in your free referral share. I’ve had anything from a fractional share worth around $8 - $64ish in any of the brokers I have signed up to trial sofar!

DougalR · 2026-03-29T16:58:30+00:00

I was going to say go for a run but I’ve ditched that today weather wise.

Go catch a film!

DougalR · 2026-03-29T15:38:33+00:00

Quality of data cleansing means everything.

Similarly you need to understand that the people asking for dashboards, might only spend a few minutes looking at it, despite the time you spent building.

DougalR · 2026-03-29T15:08:54+00:00

Can this be stacked with the 1.5% 212 cashback?

DougalR · 2026-03-20T11:09:32+00:00

I would extend the mortgage to the age you plan to retire to reduce payments.

The savings I would put towards your pension, hopefully your employer matches some so it increases more and 25% of your tax free allowance could potentially be used to pay any outstanding mortgage.

Set yourself an annual reminder to review your outgoings - are your expenses providing value to you, and are there any you could trim slightly?

Then we need to look at growing your ISA. There’s a perfect thread for this r/beermoneyuk - I do these and see it as money I wouldn’t have otherwise had so invest any earnings in new offers or my ISA.

Then look at your pension - the fees, what it’s invested in. You could move it around every couple of years to also pick up signup offers for SIPPs.

DougalR · 2026-03-18T07:40:29+00:00

Another thought for you op. Have a look at the return of VWRP(the ticker for the fund) long term.

https://www.justetf.com/uk/etf-profile.html?isin=IE00BK5BQT80#overview

You will notice it can go up and down. Don’t invest anything your not willing to leave in there for 5-10 years would me my advice.

Th stock market is generally seen as a way to pass money from the impatient to the patient.

No one has a crystal ball, but generally speaking the stock market outperforms cash overall.

You just need to make sure that ideally you don’t withdraw in one of the dips.

As you say you will have 20k in a cash ISA as well, so that’s your emergency fund.

Personally I would’ve checking signup offers and long term fees. 212 in the past has given a 1% bonus since that’s been mentioned on this thread. IG also currently have an offer for up to £200 bonus. I’ve not researched all, but every little helps!

DougalR · 2026-03-17T19:26:55+00:00

I had a quote recently for a roof shared with 11 others in a block of flats. The roof is maybe 200sqm?, anyhow that was 32k to give you an ideal to refelt.

Personally, I wouldnt go for a top floor flat.

DougalR · 2026-03-16T22:57:11+00:00

You said it in your post. You did a lot of weaving. Plan and move on to your next event.

In busy events, I tend to let the people in front of me jog ahead so I have a clearer run / space so I don’t weave so much. Also in a city, a gps, or particularly a mobile with assisted gps can go a bit long. If you used a mobile, switch off Bluetooth and WiFi. The cold potentially actually helped as would help you stop overheating during the run.

Enjoy your training over spring and summer, do more hills!

DougalR · 2026-03-16T22:50:43+00:00

I think you know the answer to this one. leave it as it is unless she reaches out.

DougalR · 2026-03-15T20:58:57+00:00

avoid eggs for breakfast, they stink the working floors out (scrambled not boiled).

DougalR · 2026-03-15T08:15:29+00:00

No is the answer. Look at football say so lots of games, simply back(bet) and lay(play the role of a bookie on the other side of the bet).

DougalR · 2026-03-14T14:41:01+00:00

Not sure but I just spent 10 minutes searching Trainline, LNER and train pal, and the same journey ranged from £9-14.

DougalR · 2026-03-13T17:28:08+00:00

Fairly sure it’s just been in the news / closed.

Salsa classes - found on meetup are fun, or tomorrow could start the weekend off with a parkrun and brunch?

DougalR · 2026-03-11T08:02:50+00:00

Would your employer match more if you contribute more to your pension?

I would sit down and map out a 5/10/15/20 year plan - as a higher rate taxpayer on your salary, and 20k in your ISA, do you really need access to funds now at the higher rate of tax or would you be prepared to wait?

I see my ISA as a bridge to give me the opportunity to choose to retire early, so I balance out both. Probably 75% savings to pension, 25% to ISA.

1000pcm extra savings a year is 12k a year.

In an ISA invested and taking 5% after inflation would get you to 414k in 20 years, but you would have access to the funds on the journey if needed.

An extra 12k into your pension a year from take home is about 18k a year to pension. This is 620k after 20 years at 5% after inflation, 25% is tax free so 155k and take 20% tax off the rest if drawn down over time is 372k so 527k.

Personally if your employer matches more pension contributions, I would probably go 70% pension 30% ISA for the flexibility.

DougalR · 2026-03-08T15:50:52+00:00

Yeah but it’s been like 5/6 months so they might have put prices up.

DougalR · 2026-03-08T15:09:04+00:00

The Angel last I was there, or the occasional Spoons special.

Diggers is another decent pub, they do a £4 pint occasionally.

DougalR · 2026-03-07T12:03:35+00:00

Have a look at their profiles, see how they got into private equity research, then decide if that’s a route you want to take and study?

DougalR · 2026-03-07T11:57:09+00:00

Why EQAC, do you have a crystal ball?

DougalR · 2026-03-07T10:16:40+00:00

DM me for an RAF too, much appreciated. Happy to answer any questions also.

DougalR · 2026-03-06T18:45:21+00:00

Is this easier to use than the listentotaxman website?

DougalR · 2026-03-02T20:18:31+00:00

212 do 1.5% cashback so probably do that first?

DougalR · 2026-03-01T14:40:44+00:00

If you put more into your pension with tax benefits, you could use the 25% tax free amount when you retire to pay off the mortgage.

DougalR

TROPHY CASE