12-Minute Diet and Meal Planner (Revisited)

The 12-Minute Series was originally posted in 2012.

We’ve decided to republish it integrally because we believe it can still help as everyone aspires to make things better.

Let’s hope it stirs up the discussion and stimulates you to change the world 12-Minute at a time!

This article was originally posted on August 12, 2012

When it comes down to food, the 12-Minute Way can be quite useful to help you manage your diet and plan your meals. 

There’s more to it than the common dozen eggs.

Because approximately 40% of food goes to waste in America, an incredible opportunity for improvement exists in the vast food domain, an opportunity to save precious resources and money.

But also an opportunity to reduce stress and free up some of your schedule because, day after day, food preparation can sometimes be pretty hectic and time consuming.

Hard Work No Guarantee of Success

Some people feel they can accomplish anything by working hard or that hard work is necessary to accomplish anything. They think hard work guarantees them good results and success.

We believe this is simply not true. In fact, we consider you can accomplish a lot and probably much more by working intelligently and doing things better.

We’re not saying to be lazy but, in the end, we are pretty sure there’s more to success than only hard work. In reality, working hard may simply not be enough.

Maybe your boss can be impressed by committed employees that work long hours. But maybe he could be impressed even more by happier efficient employees that accomplish more working less.

Doing the Right Things Right

Some people just don’t work on the right things. There’s no point on working hard if you work on irrelevant stuff.

Take some time to identify priorities and focus more on these tasks. You probably can’t accomplish everything so try to concentrate on realizing what’s truly important.

12-Minute Diet and Meal Planner (Revisited)

The 12-Minute Series was originally posted in 2012.

We’ve decided to republish it integrally because we believe it can still help as everyone aspires to make things better.

Let’s hope it stirs up the discussion and stimulates you to change the world 12-Minute at a time!

This article was originally posted on August 12, 2012

When it comes down to food, the 12-Minute Way can be quite useful to help you manage your diet and plan your meals. 

There’s more to it than the common dozen eggs.

Because approximately 40% of food goes to waste in America, an incredible opportunity for improvement exists in the vast food domain, an opportunity to save precious resources and money.

But also an opportunity to reduce stress and free up some of your schedule because, day after day, food preparation can sometimes be pretty hectic and time consuming.

Becoming Serenely Efficient

In my early years, without knowing why, I was naturally drawn towards things done correctly or with what I now know, efficiently. At that time, I didn’t realize how amazing that frame of mind could eventually make me feel. I now relish the calmness and peace of mind that come with being efficient or more efficient I should rather say. My hope is that one day, others might at least catch a glimpse of the enviable serenity of the efficient.  

To bluntly summarize our actual way of thinking in that regard, our motto has been to accomplish as much as possible with as little as possible. For instance, despite the fact we are willing to work hard, we are always looking for ways to minimize our efforts to still obtain good results. These efficient longings have tainted our actions for a long time now.

To be frank, at a young age, I probably aimed more for perfection. My attention to details got a lot of work done but annoyed quite a few. After some time, I realized trying to become perfect was a fool’s errand because being perfect is simply impossible for us mere humans. Over time, I learn to set free form perfectionism.

Yet I never stopped craving for things done correctly and I slowly found out efficiency was the answer to my prayers. Still young, I naively thought nobody would be against things being done right.

But the more I got exposed to the real world, the more I understood it was not that simple. Many are afraid of people who mostly do things right. They are not willing to change. They wrongly think effective methods will only mean higher standards and hence, more work for them. They don’t see that in reality, it’s quite the opposite.

12-Minute Diet and Meal Planner (Revisited)

The 12-Minute Series was originally posted in 2012.

We’ve decided to republish it integrally because we believe it can still help as everyone aspires to make things better.

Let’s hope it stirs up the discussion and stimulates you to change the world 12-Minute at a time!

This article was originally posted on August 12, 2012

When it comes down to food, the 12-Minute Way can be quite useful to help you manage your diet and plan your meals. 

There’s more to it than the common dozen eggs.

Because approximately 40% of food goes to waste in America, an incredible opportunity for improvement exists in the vast food domain, an opportunity to save precious resources and money.

But also an opportunity to reduce stress and free up some of your schedule because, day after day, food preparation can sometimes be pretty hectic and time consuming.

The Impact of Climate Change on Stocks

Despite what many people think like some in power south of the border and others closer to home, global warming has started to greatly affect our planet and already too-many lives consequently have suffered from it. Unfortunately, global warnings are not enough to fight global warming.

Social media and live news probably amplify our exposure to it but you cannot deny that catastrophic events sure are more frequent and violent. Luckily for us, significant disasters have spare our family so far. Nevertheless, we have felt Mother Nature unleashing its power in the form of extreme heat, stronger winds and rain.

We know that human lives have no cost and should be treated with respect and dignity. In the current circumstances, everything within our power should be put in place to save and help as many human beings as possible.

That being said, we are even more worried about the profound impact climate change could have on our economy. If our economic system collapses because of it, we won’t be in a position to help anyone anymore.

We have been reflecting on it for a while and so far, are not reassured. A lot of troubling questions arise and for now, we have failed to find adequate answers. Here are some on those questions.

12-Minute Diet and Meal Planner (Revisited)

The 12-Minute Series was originally posted in 2012.

We’ve decided to republish it integrally because we believe it can still help as everyone aspires to make things better.

Let’s hope it stirs up the discussion and stimulates you to change the world 12-Minute at a time!

This article was originally posted on August 12, 2012

When it comes down to food, the 12-Minute Way can be quite useful to help you manage your diet and plan your meals. 

There’s more to it than the common dozen eggs.

Because approximately 40% of food goes to waste in America, an incredible opportunity for improvement exists in the vast food domain, an opportunity to save precious resources and money.

But also an opportunity to reduce stress and free up some of your schedule because, day after day, food preparation can sometimes be pretty hectic and time consuming.

Squirrel Your Way Out of the Rat Race

Tired of being trapped in the never ending rat race? Of living or surviving we should rather say, till your next paycheck, burning through money almost as you touch it, always wanting more and seemingly getting less?

A solution exists: simply act more like a squirrel!

Squirrels are expert savers. They work very hard to find their favourite delicacy: precious nuts. So after struggling to discover some, they stash most of it away. They know provisions will be quite useful when harder times come by.

The squirrel in you knows the value of money and can avoid wasting it. He knows how hard you worked and how much precious time you spent to earn it. He’s inclined to save in anticipation of rainier days and convinced stashing some away will someday get you free. Financially free but also liberated to spend as you wish the rarest resource of our so-called advanced era: your invaluable time.

Saving more, spending less and by the same token, struggling less can be a wonderful liberating idea.

So get some inspiration from our squirrel friend and escape the excruciating rat race. Besides, it may never be possible to get ahead of it and even less to win it anyway.

Photo Credit

Additional Interesting Budgeting Ideas

A couple months ago, we started this series on budgeting by presenting our distinctive way to Enjoy the Pleasures of Budgeting.

Last time, we talked about How Budgeting Can Be So Simple and Easy as even children can have fun with it.

Today, a more profound look at budgeting will propose interesting advanced budget ideas.

So, let’s cut to the chase and get right to it!

Additional Budget Tips

Before spending any of your hard-earned cash, you should always ask yourself this vital question: 

Do I really need it?

As we already talked before, in our consumption-driven society, a lot of people seem to crave high-ticket items and end up buying plenty of useless stuff.

To address this bad habit and improve deficient buying decision making, we like to convert possible purchases into working hours.

How Budgeting Can Be So Simple and Easy

Last month, we wrote about our unique way to Enjoy the Pleasures of Budgeting.

Today, we’ll continue on the same exciting subject and see how budgeting can be simple, accessible and even fun for everyone. We’ll also share some easy starting pointers. These fundamental basic budget principles should get you going in the right direction.

In our next and last article of this three-part series on budgeting (coming your way in June), we’ll continue to expose our distinctive point of view on the matter. Additional Interesting Budget Ideas will be presented to you along with more elaborate tips.

Simple Math

Many people get stopped by the supposedly complex nature of budgets.

But in fact, budgeting is only basic math. The arithmetic behind a balanced budget is far from rocket science. You only must obtain a positive result (greater than zero) when you add up your different sources of income and subtract all your expenses. No magic can get you around this basic budget equation.

Enjoy the Pleasures of Budgeting

Many view the budget as an ugly nagging beast they will never be able to master. Because it only reminds them about the frustration of being in the red, they prefer to ignore it instead of trying to tame it.

In the same fashion, many other persons not completely averse to budgets still find it utterly dull. In that sense, a lot of people resign themselves to accept the sad truth that money matters are a reality of our modern life and nobody can really get around it.

For us, keeping a budget is quite the opposite. It’s much more fun and to some extent, it rhymes with excitement! We get those pleasant vibes perhaps because we mostly associate budgeting to having dreams, realizing projects and the freedom of making choices.   

From our standpoint, a budget is an easy-to-use tool to understand where your hard earned money goes. It helps you regain or keep control over it. It can also point out interesting opportunities to improve.

An effective budget can be set-up on a single piece of paper, using the most sophisticated software or with many possibilities in-between.

Next time, we’ll talk about How Budgeting Can Be So Simple and Easy.

So today, let us expose our unique point of view on this simple yet extraordinary tool. Let’s hope you’ll see how powerful it can also become for you!

12-Minute Diet and Meal Planner (Revisited)

The 12-Minute Series was originally posted in 2012.

We’ve decided to republish it integrally because we believe it can still help as everyone aspires to make things better.

Let’s hope it stirs up the discussion and stimulates you to change the world 12-Minute at a time!

This article was originally posted on August 12, 2012

When it comes down to food, the 12-Minute Way can be quite useful to help you manage your diet and plan your meals. 

There’s more to it than the common dozen eggs.

Because approximately 40% of food goes to waste in America, an incredible opportunity for improvement exists in the vast food domain, an opportunity to save precious resources and money.

But also an opportunity to reduce stress and free up some of your schedule because, day after day, food preparation can sometimes be pretty hectic and time consuming.

Get To Financial Independence Quicker With a Smaller House

Living in a smaller house might be one of your most important decisions on your way to financial independence (FI: I like to define financial independence as being wealthy enough so you can choose to work or not). Rest assured, I’m not talking about those tiny houses that seemed to be popping all over. Rather, I think you should own a regular house, only a tad smaller. As we will see further down, downsizing only 20% could get you a long way towards FI.  

Not only will it reduce your mortgage payments but also many other related expenses. Hence, a more modest home will automatically result in less property taxes, less insurance, less maintenance/repairs and also a much more affordable utility bill... Ultimately, it may also save you a lot of time.

A little more than 15 years ago, our frugal nature enticed us to buy a smaller house and we now realize all the benefits of that decision. One of the most interesting consequences will be that we will get to financial independence much faster.

I decided to do some digging on this subject after I played golf with Alvin, a distant acquaintance. Alvin inherited some money and a fancy house in a rich neighborhood from his uncle 2 years ago.

Build Wealth by Reducing Recurring Expenses

In our so-called modern but consumption oriented society, people get a kick out of shopping and buying stuff. Many spend too much and that may be the main reason they will never really get wealthy.

When it comes to saving, most people tend to get pessimistic very fast because they focus on the millions they would need to truly become financially independent. Some have completely given up and don’t even bother anymore.

Additional income sure wouldn’t hurt building up your fortune. But today, we will concentrate our efforts on the other side of the equation: expenses, and especially the quiet but nasty recurring ones!

The Illusion of Seamless Payments

To add to the misfortunes of compulsive shoppers and buyers, salespeople and marketers have found a new trick in this consumption driven era: they hide the real price of products and services behind easy-to-make payments.

That way, consumers don’t exactly know how much they are paying; they only know how little their payments seem to be.

12-Minute Diet and Meal Planner (Revisited)

The 12-Minute Series was originally posted in 2012.

We’ve decided to republish it integrally because we believe it can still help as everyone aspires to make things better.

Let’s hope it stirs up the discussion and stimulates you to change the world 12-Minute at a time!

This article was originally posted on August 12, 2012

When it comes down to food, the 12-Minute Way can be quite useful to help you manage your diet and plan your meals. 

There’s more to it than the common dozen eggs.

Because approximately 40% of food goes to waste in America, an incredible opportunity for improvement exists in the vast food domain, an opportunity to save precious resources and money.

But also an opportunity to reduce stress and free up some of your schedule because, day after day, food preparation can sometimes be pretty hectic and time consuming.

12-Minute Diet and Meal Planner

When it comes down to food, the 12-Minute Way can be quite useful to help you manage your diet and plan your meals. 

There’s more to it than the common dozen eggs.

Because approximately 40% of food goes to waste in America, an incredible opportunity for improvement exists in the vast food domain, an opportunity to save precious resources and money.

But also an opportunity to reduce stress and free up some of your schedule because, day after day, food preparation can sometimes be pretty hectic and time consuming.

Try to Relieve Pressure from Your Tight Schedule

Invest a little time on planning your meals, you will greatly benefit from it.

One general measure that can be taken is to try to relieve pressure on moments your schedule is tight.

Simply Avoid Wasting

Our society encourages Consumption and Waste

Nowadays, consumer society exposes us to multiple abuses. It’s still possible to afford good time and a little bit of luxury without necessarily wasting.

In fact, by avoiding waste, you'll probably have even more means to get what you really need and want.

More Quality

Why do we always want more? Focus more on quality rather than quantity. Particularly invest in the quality of your relationships; their value is priceless.

Use Online Tools to Evaluate Your Power Consumption

Many power suppliers offer online tools to evaluate your power consumption and to help you save money and resources.

Online Questionnaire to Evaluate your Electricity Consumption

For example, Hydro-Quebec’s interactive and personalized web questionnaire “Mieux consommer” can help you evaluate your electricity consumption.

It will only take you a few minutes to answer the questionnaire. They will actually fill in the blanks using your real electricity consumption from what they have on file.

The interactive tool generates a report on your power consumption and will suggest different solutions to quickly reduce your electricity consumption and bill.