Loves me, loves me not: four ways to organise your family finances
I was on the bus when my phone vibrated. It was telling me I have a text. ‘Are you in the country?’ – the message said. It was from a close friend of mine. ‘Yes’ – I texted – ‘sorry that I haven’t sent you the title of my talk…
Eat for less: How to Cook Perfect Bean Stew in Under Thirty Minutes
Did you really think that we eat only fried breakfasts, carb loaded dinners and thousand calories a look desserts, uh? Well, tonight we had for dinner my new best friend: kidney beans stew. Not that I make a habit of eating my friends, you understand. While I still believe that…
Six rules about money for my son
Sometimes we get this parenting thing entirely wrong. I’m not talking about neglect or mistreatment. I’m talking about something all parents do from time to time; some parents do this most of the time. When was the last time you got really cross with your offspring because they didn’t…
Eat for Less: Savoury Brioche Couronne
It is Friday evening again and time for something fancy, inexpensive and delicious. It is ‘eat for less’ day. Today I’ll share the way I make Savoury Brioche Couronne; this is also known as ‘crown’ and soon you’ll see why. I go this recipe from Paul Hollywood, e.g. the God…
Nine points about money you won’t hear from your financial adviser…
…and you really need to know if you want to win the Game of Wealth. Financial advisers can be very useful: we had one and he was very helpful when we were trying to decide what to do with a small private pension fund pot. We thought that the…
Eat for less: Crème Caramel
I’m at my desk. Why am I telling you this? Because we’ve been having a bit of a summer here in Manchester and most people are outside. We are not only having a snippet of summer; we have also heard a lot about the dangerous heatwave which will begin…
Five Cheap and Fun Ways to Enjoy Your Free Time
We all like to travel and go out to restaurants and the cinema. Yet according to my estimates these can be costly events that will apply extra weight onto your monthly budget. I believe we should consider the easy-going and cheaper ways to enjoy your spare time by yourself or…
Fifteen ways to make money for our financial independence
You are not going to believe how long this post has taken me to figure out, write and have the courage to publish. Why you may ask? Because this one is very different from the two posts about making money I published previously. In the first one I shared fifteen…
Eat for less: Spaghetti Carbonara and a bonus of ‘kisses’
I am sitting here, in a coffee bar in Sofia (yep, it is the one on the picture). Just had lunch: possibly the best pizza after the one I had in San Gimignano fifteen years ago. Now having coffee that came with a lucky note that said ‘Prosperity’. I’m feeling…
Staying annoyed screwed me out of a fortune or how to spot and create (business) opportunities
I am sitting here in a building of what is probably the largest bureaucracy in the world; yep, I am in Brussels for the week helping the European Commission make decisions about allocating serious research money. Naturally, this is a meeting ground for colleagues from different countries and with different…
Eat for less: tasty breakfast for the weekend
Do you like eating the same breakfast over and over again? Day in and day out; week days and weekends. If you do, this post is not for you: it is for people who thrive on variety. I need variety to survive; in anything from clothes and fashion to food…
Eat for less: eight portions of green beans stew for under £2 ($3)
My sister is staying with us for a week and we’ve set out on a cooking – and eating – marathon. We are cooking delicious meals that bring back memories of summers in Bulgaria, my mum’s kitchen and the smell of freshly chopped herbs. Our regular readers know that we…