March 2026 update

A bit of an earlier one this time round, we're heading off to the Netherlands this evening for a week so thought I'd sneak this one in!

48 hours in Salzburg with Travel Dad

With the kids having an inset day on a random Monday mid-March, we decided to give Skyscanner a shake a few weeks back to give us a long weekend away somewhere. A couple of options came up but we eventually went with Salzburg as the favourite and weren't disappointed!

We've been to Bavaria a few times and love the mix of food, culture and amazing surroundings, but we've never been to Austria before. Salzburg is almost the perfect place for a short weekend getaway, the city is very compact, and you can even walk less than 20 minutes and your out in the countryside! Not that you need to rely too much on walking if you're staying there, as Salzburg have a tourist mobility scheme which gives anyone staying there free public transport for the duration of their time there, and this doesn't just count for the city of Salzburg but the entire area. If we were there for longer we would have got the bus/train/tram to one of the mountains/lakes to the south of the city.

We didn't stay in the old town, but just to the north close to the railway station and it was only a 10 minute walk from our hotel to the old town. We went up to the fortress, went for walks in the countryside and sampled lots of local food/beer (the Augustinabrau Beer hall was particularly good!).

Some highlights:

• Augustiner Brau Mulln - https://maps.app.goo.gl/qydFQfVe8TNLqxcM7
• Fantastic place for beer and food. They've got half a dozen huge beer halls and a massive outdoor space. We seemed to be the only tourists there, it was full of (friendly!) locals. They have 2 beers on offer (3 if you count non-alcoholic), first is their Marzen beer, a bit like a malty lager, and the second was their stronger Fastenbier which they brewed for lent. Pick up a stone stein, wash it out (ritual!), choose your beer and watch it getting poured from the kegs that have just been tapped! Food wise there are loads of small market type stalls around the hall where you just pick and choose what you want, lots of shnitzel, suasage, sauerkraut and puddings!
• Schloss Leopoldskron - https://maps.app.goo.gl/hBUiHebjJx6HoR237
• This place was made famous by the Sound of Music scene on the terrace, but is beautiful in its own right. Just south of the city, it's easy to walk to from the Old town, or even where we stayed near the station! Make sure to walk to the other side of the lake and do some yodelling - it'll echo right back at you, my son's face was a picture!
• Schloss Hellbrunn - https://maps.app.goo.gl/bypLkhdvzSqanp3P6
• Another place made famous by The Sound of Music! A bit too far to walk to, but just use your free tourist pass and jump on a bus. The building was closed when we went, but it was great just to walk around, and there's an awesome playground for the kids!

In other news

• My son entered a model competition in March. You might have read last year that he entered his first one at the back end of last year and was a bit disappointed that he didn't place at all in the rankings. This time round, he came second! He finished off his 109 vs Spitfire kit with a bit of fire/smoke flair to make a bit of a diorama
• Me and my son went to see a Pink Floyd tribute band, fanstic stuff, he (and me) were gripped for like 3 hours! I think they did about 30 songs in all!
• I've started work at the allotment, have re-planted the sprouting potatoes, and have seeded chard, gherkins, kale and red cabbage.

Work

• Work is slightly more stable but still very precarious. I'm still just making hay whilst the sun shines. Anyway, I'm off work for the next 2 and a half weeks anyway (thanks Unpaid Parental Leave!), so it's at the back of my mind
• Watch this space...

Finance update

Breakdown for December:

• ISA down £17k
• Pension down £24k
• GIA/easy access savings flat
• Crypto up £2k
• House price down £6.5k
• Total: down £44k!!!

Ouch! That's all I can really say! By far my worst month on record for the past 10 years, but strangely feel very calm about it all. You'll see from the big grey bars on the chart that I've swapped out my Premium Bonds for my pension. I've got some tax relief to come back on there (both from the platform but also the higher rate relief in a tax return when I do it in a few weeks).

I've just got to remember that if markets are down, then it means I can buy more when my ISA funds hit in a week's time as well as the extra pension monies.

In other news, I've had a bit of a flutter on a new share this month, Whitbread, who own Premier Inn. The main driver behind this is because it comes with a fairly good (imho) shareholder perk, being able to get free breakfast for up to 4 people when you stay at a Premier Inn. We probably average around 4/5 Premier Inn stays a year, it's good value, the beds are actually really comfy (so much so we've actually got Premier Inn cushions at home!), and the kids love the breakfast choice there. I realise that kids get breakfast free anyway but well still end up saving around £25 per stay with this card. So as long as the perk remains we'll get a good return out of it, in addition to the dividend and any gains. There's a few shares out there with fairly decent shareholder perks, which I might do a seperate blog on.

2025/26 tax year:

And with that huge dip in March, it marks an end to the 2025/26 tax year. I've ended up £135k which is a bit disappointing really given previous year's performance. Out of the 12 months, I've had 5 of them negative, but I've also had some massive bounces (May: +£62k, July: +£55k!) that have countered it. Hoping for a big bounce back next tax year! Interesting on the chart below is that the performance gains of both my ISA and Pension have been roughly double the contributions! 

That's it, that's the update,

See you next time!