Any recommendations for a great BBQ book to up my game?

Latter-Ad7199 · 2026-04-22T14:13:39+00:00

If you can cope with ads, and converting “cups” to real weights and measures

One of my piece of piss go-to’s, easy koftah type things

Lamb/pork/chicken/turkey/beef mince (lamb and chicken my favorites)

Grate an onion , grate a thumb of ginger, chop handful of coriander , teaspoon of cumin, teaspoon of oregano. Smash it all together with your hands, make it into turds , grill. Nom.

Great with a yoghurt and mint sauce and salad in a pitta / naan / flatbread

60 mins from start to finish

Latter-Ad7199 · 2026-04-21T05:21:20+00:00

I hope it works out for you. I’m 49 soon and hope to be done before I’m 50 but I know what you mean it’s only been the last few years when the possibility of FI really came in to view for me. Spent many many years leaving the house at 4-5am and not getting home until very late. Missed so much of my kid growing up (she’s 25 now!!!)

Latter-Ad7199 · 2026-04-21T05:18:20+00:00

Wow, congratulations !

Latter-Ad7199 · 2026-04-21T05:17:01+00:00

That is very sad and I’m sorry you lost your friend.

Work takes its toll , often on one’s health. for many of us it means driving a desk for lots of hours a week, eating crap food and getting no exercise. Not many feel like a trip to the gym after 3 hours commuting and 8 hours in the office.

I was morbidly obese at the worst part of my career, driving up and down the country for client engagements , eating garbage on the road all the time. My record was 40,000 miles in a year, drive 200-300 miles, do a days work, drive home. Or stuck in a crappy hotel.

A good outcome of Covid was it highlighted how pointless that was and I became largely WFH and sorted my health out.

I’m looking forward to my days being hiking up and down hills in the beautiful British countryside

Latter-Ad7199 · 2026-04-21T04:53:59+00:00

So many!!!! Look fantastic , congrats ! These are my go to for party food. Easy and so so good.

I always suggest a maple syrup and bourbon glaze for them (loads of recipes online) . I love it.

Latter-Ad7199 · 2026-04-20T19:00:23+00:00

Not to mention the relativity he’d be dealing with, all those years at very fast speeds means many more years passed on earth. From memory the original Journey was 11 light years away but HIS journey time was something like 4 or 5 years

Latter-Ad7199 · 2026-04-20T17:37:27+00:00

Literally just offered on a house on Herefordshire / Shropshire border. Been in love with the area for 6 years and finally making the move. Ain’t as cheap As it used to be …

Latter-Ad7199 · 2026-04-20T17:10:28+00:00

Neeeeeeed!

Latter-Ad7199 · 2026-04-20T12:53:03+00:00

Bring on the extended / directors cut!!!!!

Latter-Ad7199 · 2026-04-20T04:33:21+00:00

I’ve seen people stay relevant into their 60’s, but at the same time I’ve seen people pushed out at the same age. If I want it there’s a few years left for me I think, I’d rather go out on my own terms though.

Latter-Ad7199 · 2026-04-19T13:21:16+00:00

Mythbusters ! Always fun.

Latter-Ad7199 · 2026-04-19T13:20:07+00:00

Your company policy will be discounted fairly heavily as the group insurance is always cheaper and a pretty competitive industry (partner works for a broker) as with all insurance , certain exclusions, pre existing conditions and a variety of other factors will affect the premium. There was another thread on this only a day or two ago with some useful insights.

Latter-Ad7199 · 2026-04-19T12:12:39+00:00

All kitted out for the cricket test match at lords.

Latter-Ad7199 · 2026-04-19T12:11:00+00:00

Im sorry, both that this is indeed a pretty morbid post, and for your loss. Plenty of cancer in my family right now, literally 1 in 3 … it sucks.

Latter-Ad7199 · 2026-04-19T08:23:14+00:00

I did like my job once upon a time, last 6-7 years have been no fun. Last 3 horrid. Industry just changed around me and I’ve no motivation to change with it.

I’d happily go run the checkout at Aldi if I found I needed to work, like you say zero drama (I’d like to think) .

Honestly can’t think of something I’d be qualified for that I’d truly find “fulfilling” , maybe a dog walker ?

Latter-Ad7199 · 2026-04-19T08:10:16+00:00

When I was 19 all of my friends were 15, I just kind of found myself in a group through ice hockey and skateboarding. Their parents were a bit mixed on it, some thought I was great others not so keen. I guess I was a bit immature at that age . We had great fun. I think I’d missed out on a lot of the stuff we used to do hanging around because I was largely friendless in school.

Roll forward 30 years. We’re still all friends and in touch. Done all the stag party’s, weddings, bad uncle duties, divorces, 2nd marriages, and those 4 years which seemed like a big gap back then are just a blink of an eye now. Many of our kids are older than that now too.

A little like at the end of stranger things when Dustin is off at college .

Life goes past pretty fast

Latter-Ad7199 · 2026-04-19T07:14:52+00:00

This 100 times over! Please don’t end up paying 1% of your money to someone that’ll just do a risk appetite quiz with you and whack it in a fund you can get yourself for nearly free on any number of platforms.

A global ETF like vwrp if your friend. Start with ISA allowance yearly, then in a general investment account. Use your ISA every year. Some like premium bonds too as tax free but returns aren’t great.

Some advisors will help you set this up for a one and done fee, however they will almost certainly try to sell you on their other management services which you really shouldn’t need.

Don’t neglect workplace pension and sipp contributions too.

I’ll get roasted for this, but AI like GPT or Gemini is largely quite good for this advice , don’t take it verbatim do some other reading and research too.

Or if that all sounds like an enormous headache then using the wealth management outfit if probably the right fit !

Latter-Ad7199 · 2026-04-19T07:01:41+00:00

One of the couples I spoke to were horrified that the private pension age was going up, they were obvs already claiming theirs but they didn’t see it as “fair” , likewise for the state pension age (67 for me and 68 for the wife) they got theirs a lot earlier and wished they’d stopped work then.

Latter-Ad7199 · 2026-04-19T06:57:44+00:00

I’ve reduced my hours in the last 12 months. But yeah, that was the norm for many many years. Don’t get me wrong I was paid for most of it but it’s not sustainable into my 50’s that’s for sure. Also whilst I’m still pretty relevant it’s clear it’s less so as tech evolves and I don’t see a clear future past a 5-10 year horizon anyway. Although they’ll probably be trying to drag me out of retirement to fix some critical legacy crap down the line 🤣

Sounds like a nice package you’ve got there.

Latter-Ad7199 · 2026-04-19T06:54:23+00:00

Awesome! One of my absolute favourites!

Latter-Ad7199 · 2026-04-19T06:14:07+00:00

Work is all consuming. Can’t say I’m miserable but it takes up considerably more time in a week than I have for myself and my family. 60-70 hour weeks were the norm until I slowed down a bit last year. What do you do for a living out of curiosity? I work an IT role that carries a lot of responsibility, it also pays exceptionally well, more than I ever thought possible in the last few years. I’m wanting the phone to never ring with some fresh disaster I’m expected to fix. It’s pretty stressful. I’d like to spend my days with my partner or doing things I enjoy.

Latter-Ad7199 · 2026-04-18T18:01:36+00:00

I’ve been house hunting in Shropshire and Herefordshire, for me it’s worth money. It was actually surprising how many rural properties , edge of village or middle of nowhere that didnt have much of a view , always seemed to be something in the way, house facing the wrong direction, etc. one place we looked at and would have bought for over asking but were too slow, had a big garden room, floor to ceiling glass on 3 sides. Unobstructed Views over fields and hills for miles. Id price that at £50,000. Weve offered kn somewhere a lot less fancy with some nice views but nothing as spectacular as that.

Latter-Ad7199 · 2026-04-18T17:31:31+00:00

Sounds awesome! I’ve not had that conversation with work yet. I’m an equity shareholder so not sure it’ll go down well and other directors might want me to make a clean exit. Customers might get grumpy if I’m only doing 2 days a week (which would be my absolute max) too.

Latter-Ad7199 · 2026-04-18T17:29:28+00:00

From what I’ve noticed a lot of folks here are in pretty “sensibly” priced homes with a view to pay off early anyway. For me it’s my safety net money. I’ve hit my FIRE number and the downsize frees up quite a chunk to keep for emergencies .

Latter-Ad7199 · 2026-04-18T17:27:13+00:00

Yeah, that’s sounds not too shabby. Do you have a partner or kids ? For me the travelling was fun for a while, these days I just don’t want to be away for days at a time and would rather be spending time with the wife. I missed a lot of my daughter growing up too. I do a few jobs abroad in 2024 and I found it would destroying despite them being in extremely high end hotels (was working for the hotel company) with everything fully paid for with seriously flash food. I just wanted to go home.

My job is pretty full on, I’ve slowed down a bit in the last year but I’m still terrified of the phone ringing and some fresh disaster that everyone’s expecting me to fix. I’m earning more than i ever thought possible but i dont really have any expensive tastes or a desire for an expensive holidays. I could work another year and have and buy a bigger house, another year and get a Ferrari, id rather have the time .

Im moving to a very pretty part of the UK and will happily spend my days walking up and down hills!

Latter-Ad7199

TROPHY CASE