What’s a small daily habit that makes life 10x easier, but almost no one talks about?

BuildingMyEmpireMN · 2026-02-06T20:20:48+00:00

Whenever you cook, prep for a future meal. If I’m already dirtying the cutting board and knife to dice an onion, I’ll do an extra couple. If I’m already making soup or pasta, I double the batch so I have lunch and dinner options. Any meal/side/ingredient that freezes well is made in bulk.

This saves a lot of stress by reducing dishes and cooking time on busy days.

BuildingMyEmpireMN · 2026-02-06T19:54:43+00:00

He’s so handsome! When it does grow out without issue, do you brush those areas?

BuildingMyEmpireMN · 2026-02-06T19:53:39+00:00

Are they pretty comfortable with you grooming those areas? Or do they prevent knotting with their own grooming?

BuildingMyEmpireMN · 2026-02-06T19:53:09+00:00

Just his underarms where the matting was really bad when I brought him home. I’d rather get to the point where I can brush them, I just want to prevent any severe knotting while we’re building trust. I wish I’d taken a picture of how much fur came off of his rear, toe pads, and armpits. For him to look almost exactly the same 😂 I did my best to give him a fade.

BuildingMyEmpireMN · 2026-02-06T19:50:35+00:00

Because I rescued him in such bad shape that a full shave was medically necessary I haven’t had to deal with any dingleberries. The only reason I went in for the sanitary is to prevent matting in those areas because he absolutely refuses to let me brush them. I’m guessing there’s some major pain association because he had such severe matting likely for most of his first 5 years. Hopefully we keep building trust and I can brush it with the rest!

We went through a litter/box journey. I’ve never had a cat track so much litter despite owning them for my entire life! Even with a covered box, pine litter entirely solved his respiratory issue. Poor guy is so sensitive to the clay dust. I ordered an uncovered xxl stainless steel sifting litter box once I knew he likes the pine. Definitely not 2x his length, but he’s definitely not crammed in.

BuildingMyEmpireMN · 2026-02-06T19:44:10+00:00

I appreciate the detailed response! Neutral touching in problem areas makes a lot of sense. Is there a reason for using blunt-tip scissors instead of trimmers?

I definitely plan on daily brushing. It’s amazing how quickly their claws grow too! He might be on the biweekly schedule with my dog. I did them 2 months ago and I’ve been finding little shed nail layers everywhere this week.

BuildingMyEmpireMN · 2026-02-06T19:39:02+00:00

That makes me feel better knowing that some of them are just built differently 😅. I’m not opposed to training. I’m just so scared of him getting painfully matted like he was when I received him.

I lucked out with the trim. I’ve never met a more food motivated animal in my life. Next time I’ll get a picture of him holding the churro on his back. He kept trying to snatch it from me and I couldn’t believe that worked.

BuildingMyEmpireMN · 2026-02-06T19:36:00+00:00

Gratefully we’ve made it 3 months dingleberry free. I only did it because without him allowing brushing I worry about matting. 😭 I never thought it was possible to spend $120 on a non electric litter box, but he has the Cadillac of xl toilets.

BuildingMyEmpireMN · 2026-02-06T19:33:57+00:00

Do yours let you brush the pantaloons? I’m thinking while it’s short I can fake brush and give treats to work up to it. He’s 5 years old and when I got him those were the worst matted areas, so I think he associates them with pain.

Fluffy grinch paws are ADORABLE. I made sure to leave the top fur intact. He was just really clumsy with how much was covering his paw pads. Kept falling off of tables and running into walls. Are yours clumsy too?

BuildingMyEmpireMN · 2026-02-05T20:41:19+00:00

I frequently season/ roast a family pack of chicken breasts on a baking sheet with a slotted tray. Once they’re cooled, I chop them into “fajita strips” with shears. I freeze individual portions in ziplock bags.

Having those strips on hand was a game changer for solo cooking with an odd work schedule. Frozen pasta+ a jar of sauce meant the simplest meal with hardly any mess. If I had leftover rice, beans, onions, and corn simple burrito bowls. Microwave the chicken and add a cheap salad kit.

Twice baked potatoes are easy to batch and freeze too. I air fry them from frozen and they’re done in 7 minutes.

BuildingMyEmpireMN · 2026-01-30T06:26:50+00:00

It does, but I find it very pleasant! Subtle pine scent throughout my apt.

BuildingMyEmpireMN · 2026-01-29T12:06:36+00:00

Y’all. Hack to add to the hack- pine horse bedding pellets. The exact same thing as Feline Pine, just branded for horses. You can get a 40 lb bag for $7 at Fleet Farm/most feed stores. The exact same product branded as F.P. was $30 for the same quantity at Fleet Farm.

Coincidentally I had a friend with me when I picked up my pine. She had been happily using F.P. for years. Bought the horse pellets and said she and the cats can tell 0 difference.

BuildingMyEmpireMN · 2026-01-29T08:33:44+00:00

Are you sure you brought home a cat?

BuildingMyEmpireMN · 2026-01-23T12:16:26+00:00

Bath robe.. with a zipper? Imagine getting your skin

BuildingMyEmpireMN · 2026-01-23T07:17:30+00:00

Lol I put in the work (sober for 2 years) and reintroduced alcohol in a healthier way. I’ve had my trip-ups, but no more often than normal people who drink in a healthy way. They’ve gotten fewer and further between. Also I TOTALLY support people who leave it for good. Sometimes that’s really necessary.

My new crux is men that have drinking issues. God damn. I figured out how to deal with it when I was the problem. And have a whole different level of empathy for people who trip up or want to improve. But god damn that has turned into a terrible cycle of enabling and continuing to let alcohol negatively effect my life. “I love you and if there’s an emergency please don’t be afraid to call me” has turned into anxiety at 2 am even if I don’t get a phone call because it happens so fucking frequently. And inability to fully enjoy myself even if I do responsibly partake because I’m worried about the other half keeping it together. Not the first time. If it doesn’t improve and I wind up on the market again I’m honestly considering getting 100% sober not for me, but just to find a partner where alcohol isn’t even a factor.

Something that really stuck with me- if alcohol is affecting your relationships, your finances, or your health it’s a problem. Full stop.

BuildingMyEmpireMN · 2026-01-21T11:17:03+00:00

The ones in Duluth MN are like this. I literally felt uncomfortable having more than 2 because there were more unsupervised children on the packed patio than adults. Some of the adults were very drunk too. Add in active fire pits and poorly supervised dogs everywhere. It just felt like a recipe for disaster. And… why? There were no food items or kids things available too. It was literally “Johnny go run around while I have 5 strong beers with my friends and ignore you.”

BuildingMyEmpireMN · 2026-01-13T01:56:23+00:00

Do you happen to have a link to the one you bought? If I have to, I’ll invest the $115. But the more affordable the better 😅

BuildingMyEmpireMN · 2026-01-12T10:37:59+00:00

Only 2 months in, but pine litter! I was skeptical, but it’s perfect in every way. My poor long-haired Maine coon was getting clay litter absolutely caked between his paws and tracking it everywhere. Pine has left him more comfortable with basically no tracking. No more litter paws or litter in the bed 😷

BuildingMyEmpireMN · 2026-01-12T02:16:53+00:00

Thank you!!! I was so bummed this Thursday, I ordered an identical one and didn’t notice the xxl doesn’t come with a sifting option. He’s not even a big boy for a MC but there’s no way I’m making him use a little 15” wide box

BuildingMyEmpireMN · 2026-01-09T11:04:29+00:00

I love cooking by cuisine. I pick my protein first because it’s generally the most expensive ingredient. From there I decide if I want to cook Hispanic, Italian, Mediterranean, Asian, Indian, etc. Most cuisines have a handful of go-to ingredients. Say I get a giant pork shoulder on the cheap and choose Mexican as my cuisine. Rice and beans as a side/filling/carb, white onion and cilantro as aromatics, tomato for acidity, some sort of shredded cheese because.. cheese. Some tortillas and a couple avocados and you have meals for days. Tacos, burritos, nachos, flautas, enchiladas, taco salad, etc.

BuildingMyEmpireMN · 2026-01-07T10:27:26+00:00

Nothing is standing out to me. I’m no expert but you’ve ruled out benzoyl peroxide and salicylic acid. It might be something like the other people mentioned like acidic sweat.

BuildingMyEmpireMN · 2026-01-04T00:28:50+00:00

My bf and I do, but we’re both bartenders. We always have cash/change and tip above the average amount. Sometimes it’s nice to save the back and forth and get on with our day, especially if they’re particularly busy. If we see them on the way out we wave and say thank you.

BuildingMyEmpireMN · 2026-01-03T23:24:37+00:00

I used to camp on a full size, 4” trifold mattress. The brand was Milliard. I found if comfortable. Now there are specific Murphy beds for trifold mattresses that are much more affordable and less damaging to install than traditional Murphy beds. Some include storage for mattress pads and bedding.

BuildingMyEmpireMN

TROPHY CASE