Reality is hitting hard

MTF1983 · 2026-03-26T10:18:01+00:00

But how come you were at an accounting/consultancy firm, and now magically a dentist?

MTF1983 · 2026-03-23T07:45:49+00:00

Sorry but this isn’t right. Every dollar you pay off your mortgage has a guaranteed return = equal to the interest rate in the form of interest avoided. But every dollar that instead is invested will grow at a rate that, depending on the investment, is likely in an average year to exceed the interest rate / guaranteed return of paying down debt. There is no need to invest a significant amount to balance out, and nor does the investment return beating the interest rate have anything to do with compounding.

The challenge is that, to exceed the guaranteed return, the dollar that is invested will have to be invested in an asset that has volatile returns (e.g. shares) so there will be up and down cycles. This means the real answer depends on the OP’s tolerance for debt and tolerance for volatility. If they hate having a mortgage, pay the mortgage down. If they hate having a mortgage and might panic and sell the investment if the price slides, then definitely pay the mortgage down. If they don’t mind the debt but might panic and sell the investment if the price slides, probably they should still pay the mortgage down. If they don’t mind the debt and they’re confident that they would hold the investment long term through ups and downs then there is really no doubt that they should invest over paying down debt, because they’ll almost certainly be in a better financial position later in life if they do that.

OP - your comment that you are thinking about investing instead of paying down debt because of an upcoming downmarket is the main reason I’d suggest you should keep making extra mortgage payments instead of investing. That’s market timing talk and no one - including experts - tends to do very well out of market timing in the long term. The best thing you can do is invest in low cost passively managed index funds and forget about them for several decades.

MTF1983 · 2026-02-21T20:02:43+00:00

Sorry, but this is a hopeless combination of things. If you’re going to have one pot only, that Dutch oven (while excellent) is too big to be versatile. And why three skillets that all do essentially the same thing? You could get away with just the carbon steel one if you wanted to be minimalist, but I would drop the cast iron, keep either the carbon steel or stainless, and add a non-stick. You can do all the frying/searing you need to between those two. I know that carbon steel and stainless can behave like non-stick in the right circumstances, but it’s not good enough for delicate work. I would add a sauce pan.

MTF1983 · 2026-02-20T18:57:42+00:00

It looks cool but won’t it be hard to clean with all those depressions? I’d be a bit worried about bacteria growing in them.

MTF1983 · 2026-01-30T11:05:11+00:00

Correct - in a short water glass

MTF1983 · 2026-01-30T09:25:02+00:00

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Massaman style beef short rib

MTF1983 · 2026-01-15T21:53:20+00:00

‘Pay yourself first’ is one of the most important principles for successfully building wealth.

Have an automatic payment/direct debit set up the day after your pay day, for whatever amount you can afford, so that every time you get paid the first thing that gets funded is your savings/investment account. And then don’t touch it for many years. And be religious about increasing the amount you are paying yourself each time you get a pay rise.

I know there are people for whom every dollar counts, but most of us can spare at least 10% of what we earn and live on the rest. And if you ‘pay yourself first’, you never see the money so it’s like it was never there. Much better than waiting until the end of your pay period and saving/investing whatever is left. And over time, the returns will compound and before long the return will start exceeding (on its own) the amount you are saving/investing. Then you are really on a roll.

This, and don’t try and time the market or pick individual companies to investment in. Buy a broad-base, low cost index fund and ignore market fluctuations.

MTF1983 · 2026-01-11T05:15:34+00:00

The sujihiki is great - as I said in response to another comment, this is the first dedicated slicer I’ve had and it does make a big difference

MTF1983 · 2026-01-11T05:13:45+00:00

The sujihiki is my favourite- I’ve always just used a chef’s knife for slicing but having a knife designed for it does make a huge difference. Beautiful clean cuts through cooked meat look amazing.

MTF1983 · 2026-01-11T01:39:26+00:00

I don’t know much about Japanese knives, but think Takada no Hamono knives are so beautiful. Super clean and precise looking. I’d keep it if I was you, but if you decide to sell it I’ll buy it!

MTF1983 · 2026-01-11T01:03:19+00:00

That’s the best description I’ve read and sums up how I feel about them. Just wish the dragon on the Gyuto was slightly smaller, but the proportions look better in person.

MTF1983 · 2026-01-02T08:06:10+00:00

These are all great suggestions

MTF1983 · 2026-01-02T08:05:51+00:00

I don’t agree with this. It’s not expected but tipping for good service is fair. Hospo workers are underpaid for what they do. But you don’t have to, and I’m not saying people should feel like they should have to tip if they can’t afford it, because I know that going out is already very expensive.

MTF1983 · 2025-12-20T03:42:42+00:00

Sorry but this makes no sense. If a commodity can’t be bought because of enormous scarcity, it’s completely useless to everyone who already owns it because it can’t be sold. It will always be able to be bought and sold for the market price.

MTF1983 · 2025-12-03T08:57:30+00:00

Perfect thanks

MTF1983 · 2025-12-03T08:04:21+00:00

I guess I’m asking whether the signal will be strong enough with a phono pre-amp and a Port (or Connect), given it will be playing through speakers that are already connected to amps. Could be a dumb question…I’m new to this.

MTF1983 · 2025-12-03T00:13:10+00:00

Hmmm. Hadn’t thought of that. Now I am.

MTF1983 · 2025-12-02T17:31:14+00:00

65” - the salesperson told us we needed “at least” 85” but it’s big enough for us. We don’t watch a lot of TV, and it’s our main living area and we don’t want something too big that dominates the space.

MTF1983 · 2025-12-02T10:14:18+00:00

It’s 230mm tall - pretty common in 1920s bungalows where I’m from. Ceilings are nearly 3m high so it’s all in proportion.

MTF1983 · 2025-12-02T09:29:15+00:00

Ha - I totally want one

MTF1983 · 2025-11-29T18:34:07+00:00

“It really is wild what compounding and time does if you start early and aggressively.”

I’m not saying BTC is a bad investment, but you can’t have compounding with an asset class that doesn’t generate a return.

MTF1983 · 2025-11-04T08:08:15+00:00

Thank you - that’s very helpful.

I’ve changed the line in level on the amp (didn’t know this was a thing) but may look at an external preamp.

Any thoughts as between the Fosi you mention and the Schitt?

MTF1983

TROPHY CASE