Best products from r/malelifestyle

This is absolutely correct.

• Try to keep as much cash free as possible (I guess within reason) so that you can pay your expenses without incurring interest charges (which the company won't pay.) I travel quite a bit for work and it's not unusual for me to have an expense report that's triple my bi-weekly paycheck. That float sucks, but the points I get for being a member in rewards programs don't.
  
• Be a member of every reward program that you're even remotely likely to use (if only, at the beginning, to check out the different companies and see which you like.) Whenever you book a flight, rental car, or hotel, try to book it using something that benefits you. Personally, I like Southwest and I book everything (including rental cars and hotels) through them. I also have their credit card. Whenever you book, make sure you're "logged in" or that the customer service person knows you're a member so you get credit.
  
• Being a member at a hotel usually means better rooms (bigger, nicer, and/or higher floor) or better amenities (free breakfast, VIP rooftop bar, or better gym, for example.)
  
• Being a member of an airline means you usually get priority boarding, seat upgrades, drinks, etc.
  
• The points are really nice when your company allows you to keep them (some don't and that sucks.) I'm going on vacation next week and the cost is going to be under $500 total for the two of us. If I'd paid for it all myself, it would've probably been $2500+. All of that was done with points. I also got some new Tumi luggage a few months ago. That's all from running my expenses through my Southwest credit card and booking all my travel through them (except when I'm going to backwater areas.)
  
• The most important thing about reward programs is that you get treated better when things go wrong. Whenever I have an issue with Southwest, I have a card with a customer service line only for their top-tier reward members and the customer service is excellent. Other companies do this as well. When you're stressed and things are going wrong, it's nice to know that certain issues will be taken care of.
  
• I am not great at eating on the road. I tend to fall completely off the bandwagon. What's really helped me is getting high-protein bagels from https://www.p28foods.com/. I'm not affiliated with the company at all. I honestly really like their products. I usually take a number of these with me when I travel.
  
• Luggage accessories like this: http://www.amazon.com/Sandpiper-California-Organizational-Folder-17-5x12-Inch/dp/B007ILPA68/ref=sr_1_20?ie=UTF8&qid=1421769568&sr=8-20&keywords=sandpiper+of+california are essential. They keep your dress clothes less wrinkled than throwing them in a suitcase or duffle bag.

Well, for some basics....

Pick a color scheme. Easiest way to do this is to pick a main color and an accent color. Whatever your primary color is, you'll want your curtains/upholstery/bedding/rugs to conform to it, and the accent color can come into play in wall hangings, knick-knacks, etc. Each room can (and probably should) have its own scheme, but some re-usage of colors is fine.

Frame any posters or pictures you want on the walls. That goes a loooong way toward making the place feel like an adult lives there. You can get cheap frames that look nice at Michael's, or even Walmart.

Ikea is the default "cheap but nice" furniture place, but you can still rack up a huge bill there. Keep a close eye on craigslist and be patient. If you wait for the right deals you can save lots of money, even if it takes you some months to acquire everything you want.

Curtains and throw pillows. Get them.

You can try to "theme" certain spaces. For example, my kitchen is full of coca cola stuff, and my living room has several nerdy vintage travel posters. Even if you don't dedicate a whole room to a theme, you can do small areas.

A full set of floor rugs for your bathroom is a good idea. Get a matching shower curtain too.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, keep the place clean. Vacuum, pick up after yourself, and don't let the kitchen become gross. All your work decorating is for naught if there's garbage everywhere :p

Good luck!

Here's the TL,dr of r/malefashionadvice: https://www.reddit.com/r/malefashionadvice/comments/356ia8/building_a_basic_wardrobe_v50/

Even simpler:

1 pair of decent jeans
2 pairs chinos (khaki and another color)
2-4 simple casual shirts (polos, henley)
4 button downs (white, light blue, and some with patterns.
1 decent sweater because it's going to be cold soon (prob plain solid color in dark blue, dark grey, dark purple or another earth tone)
1 shoe (Chucks, Vans etc.)

The above is real basic and you could get this taken care of at Target, Ross/Marshalls, and prob Goodwill.


Separately, everyone your age has a lot going on and is going through some shit. We've all been there but you don't want to get stuck in a hole of feeling depressed, or like you don't belong.

Here's a few other things I want you do to that will help. Below may appear a bit random but they're solid tips that'll have you on the right track for life, allowing you to be more comfortable with yourself, and more appealing to others.

Keep yourself well groomed: showered, teeth brushed, hair combed, nails trimmed etc.

Make fitness a part of your life and that's as simple as push-ups/dips and chin-ups. Get this bar from Amazon and check out Scooby's website for some further info (or hit me up again).

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B001EJMS6K/ref=mp_s_a_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1474751774&sr=8-1-spell&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=irom+gym

http://scoobysworkshop.com/pullups-for-total-beginners/

Sleep in if you want, but not too long.

Make a habit of eating "3 squares," don't need snacks everyday.

Start saying "yes" more often. Friends want you to meet them at the mall, a girl wants to talk, parents ask you to do something etc etc.

Be curious and take a genuine interest in the people around you.

Practice being a good listener.

Don't openly criticize others, at least for what they can't change anyway.

Wislawa Szymborska, who won the 1996 Nobel Prize for Literature, is pretty great. Check out a collection of her work titled "View with a Grain of Sand" (https://www.amazon.com/View-Grain-Sand-Selected-Poems/dp/0156002167)

Pablo Neruda, who won the 1971 Nobel Prize for Literature, is maybe my favorite writer of any kind. He's the king of imagery, IMO. One of his most famous books is "100 Love Sonnets." You can find it here: https://www.amazon.com/100-Love-Sonnets-sonetos-American/dp/0292760280

Ovid, who never won a Nobel Prize because he is like 2000 years old, is really funny and writes a lot about how to pick up girls - in ancient Rome. He lived around the time of Christ and it's cool to read something from that period that's so vividly human. "The Erotic Poems" are winners. (https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/35010/the-erotic-poems/)

Other commenters have suggested Whitman, Emerson, and Bukowski. Those writers are all killers too.

1. How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
   
   
2. The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Covey.
   
   
3. The Truth about Self-Protection by Ayoob (Note: This is an outstanding text. It's not a karate book or anything like that. It speaks to the mindset of keeping yourself and your loved ones safe, teaching awareness, and provides advice about everything from escaping your home during a fire to surviving a disaster scenario, all in a very readable and engaging tone.)
   
   
4. A small, powerful, high-quality flashlight for daily carry. (Only if you think he'll carry it.) This can really get you out of a jam from time to time. I can personally endorse the Surefire E2D; it rides in my pocket every single day, it stays out of the way until I need it, and when I do, it does the job every time. This is considerably out of your stated price range, so consider it, perhaps, for the future.
   
   
5. A top quality mustache comb.

>misc books from my amazon wish list

This is exactly what i'm doing since I'm flying back home for the holiday and seeing a lot of family that I haven't seen in nearly a decade. I figure most of the books are around $5-28, so it's not breaking anyone's bank and I get some old texts I haven't felt like truly spending money on. ...and then The Flavor Bible for both work and fun is the one book I'm really hoping someone picks up before I do.

There was a thought of getting a kindle which drops a lot of the prices for said books but I prefer hard copies too much =\

Oh, and from myself I'm picking up these chukka since my boots have started to fall apart and I don't know enough about having them resoled.

Do you guys feel weird making holiday lists as adults? On one hand I feel it helps family and friends who do enjoy the holiday and spirit of giving rather than them possibly wasting money on something you have no use or really don't like, such as cologne or that wicked flame watch I got years ago.

On the other hand ... The things I want, the few, I feel I should be capable of purchasing myself anyhow.

Reinforcing what /u/josh1189 said, it's really about finding what works best for you.

It's going to be a combination of finding a smell you like, plus getting the reaction you want. I get comments about my cologne a lot. I think it smells pretty fantastic, plus I think it somewhat embodies the kind of person I am.

As far as recommendations go, can you be a little more specific as to what you mean by "generic store brands"? Because I wear Polo Black, and I'm wondering if you consider that a generic store brand as well.

Also, couldn't hurt to go somewhere like Macy's and just test what they've got. It'll give you the opportunity to sample a pretty wide variety.

With things like lotion, I go 100% unscented. I don't really enjoy having four different smells on my body at once.

• https://www.amazon.com/Old-Spice-Endurance-Original-Deodorant/dp/B00UB7B920/
  
• https://www.amazon.com/Neutrogena-Cream-Norwegian-Formula-Fragrance/dp/B004AIAVYS/
  
• https://www.amazon.com/Polo-Black-Ralph-Lauren-Men/dp/B000C1W3JS/

Same thing was happening to me. I'm still trying various brands but so far Exofficio and Saxx have worked out well.

The Exofficio (92% Nylon/8% Lycra) I like best and they breathe really well. I like Saxx (95% Cotton/5% Spandex) because they feel soft and comfortable but they have a thick waist band that I don't care for.

I recently tried Champion (58% Cotton/37% Polyester/5% Spandex) since it popped up on Amazon. They seem to work well but run small in the ass area. I may try a large to see. I went with a medium based on their size chart. Potential is there so I'm hopeful.

Underwear: Under Armour O Series Boxerjock 6" Bottoms. I wear these for any athletic or active event. Too expensive for me to wear for every day use.

Socks:
Wool always trumps cotton. Always. My favorite sock of all time is the Thorlo Light Hiking Crew Sock. Wool is amazing, in that even in warm weather, they breath well and wick sweat well. Thorlo makes amazing socks for all occasions from running (short, special padding), to skiing (long, extra padding around shins).

Ok so I have never seen a knife like this and a quick google search shows that knives like that are for dressing deer (specifically draining the blood before skinning etc). I have no experience in that area really so I can't really recommend anything. However using your example of chicken cutlets I would recommend one of these knives. They are called gyutos (which translates to cow-sword) and I use one for 95% of the cutting I need to do. I think it would be a better choice for chicken cutlets and some other butchering than that sticking knife imho. Tojiro or Fibrox The tojiro will stay sharper longer, but is more delicate and cannot be steeled or used to cut bone and the fibrox is tougher but will need to be steeled often and sharpened frequently. For either knife I recommend getting a sharpening stone like the King 1000/6000 combo stone and learning to sharpen. I know this isn't exactly what you were looking for but it is the best I've got. I have done much whole animal butchery where a knife like you mentioned would be used. Let me know if you have more questions.

Not bad but the glass you should taste whisky in is a Glencairn glass.


Also it's really important to give the whisky time to open up, a good 10 minutes at least. A drop of water or two (literally) can help with this too, especially with stronger whiskies e.g. those that are cask strength.


Link to Glencairn Glasses on Amazon https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B005IP5C0K/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_g52Uub07SGC0T

These are boxer's we're talking about. Boxers in general aren't attractive.

Get the boxer briefs if you're concerned with how your underwear looks. The boxer briefs are fantastic, form fitting, comfortable and look great.

http://www.amazon.com/ExOfficio-Give-N-Go-Boxer-Brief-Medium/dp/B001M0MN02/ref=sr_1_1?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1420234232&sr=1-1

Exofficio boxer briefs are fantastic. I walk on a treadmill when I work and I was getting a lot of chafing. These don't chafe. They breath, are comfortable and don't ride up like normal boxers. At the same time, they are not uncomfortably tight like other boxer briefs.

Amazon sometimes has sales. If you click on different colors, you will see the price is variable.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001M0MN02/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I carry two knives a lot of the time. Almost anytime I've not carried one of them I've been in a situation where I needed one.

• big pocket knife, good for boxes, packages, and big tough stuff (clicks on pocket)
  
  
• small swiss army knife, has beer bottle opener, toothpick and small / very sharp blades (goes in the mini pocket on the right side)
  
  I carry the swiss army specifically for the opener and toothpick. Swear to god 90% of the time I leave it at home, thinking it's stupid over kill to carry it I end up with something in my teeth or a bottle needs opening.
  
  The other is just a really nice easy to deploy big knife that's great for a lot of things.
  
  http://www.amazon.com/Spyderco-Tenacious-Handle-Folding-Plain/dp/B001EI7578
  
  I go with this for the following reasons :
  
  
• it looks sick
  
  
• the clip can be put anywhere you want so you can carry in any orientation you want
  
  
• big circle thumb hole for super easy/fast one handed opening
  
  http://www.swissarmy.com/us/product/Swiss-Army-Knives/Category/Everyday/Recruit/53241
  
  
• smaller form factor (length and width) than the ones with the cork screw
  
  might switch to this now that i see exactly what i use it for
  
  http://www.swissarmy.com/us/product/Swiss-Army-Knives/Category/Everyday/Bantam/53941