Alister,
It's commonly said that there are more opportunities to kill yourself after an engine failure in a light twin than in a single. IMHO the minimum requirements are (if anything) somewhat low and it's rather worrying to see someone looking for ways to cut corners. The "standard" way of reducing the cost used to be to fill the aircraft up with fuel and go somewhere that allowed you to reclaim the fuel duty (and ideally also to bring back a load of duty-frees) - this isn't as easy as it was but it's still possible if you think about it - you could combine it with a weekend away with your mates.
With all due respect, you might want to consider whether it's wise to continue with what might be perceived as slightly naive questions/comments on a public FI/FE forum. Some of the recent questions and comments (how to join the RAF, how to become a test pilot, how to become an examiner, starting an RF, cutting corners on MEP instructional pre-reqs, whether an aircraft becomes "lighter"..., reaction time to correct an approach error, etc, etc) might be better asked of your flying chums.
I think you've said that you instruct at Bournemouth, which is one of the places I'm known to frequent from time-to-time. Send me a PM if we know each other.
(edited to add: Bose and I overlapped - I'm also an MEP examiner and fully endorse his comments. Bah, and to fix a typo.)
HFD