My Current Favorites – [February 2025]: Japanese Knife, Lenovo Yoga Book 9i & ClubTidy, Ring Twice

This month’s favorites are all about shopping again. Yes, since we settled in Lille (we finally found an apartment!), I’ve been able to treat myself to things nomads couldn’t afford.

Heads up: there are some affiliate and referral links below, but this isn’t sponsored, I bought everything with my own money before recommending them. Whether you use my links or not doesn’t matter at all.

Japanese Knife

Let’s start with a Japanese knife. Why? Because we’ve been to Japan twice and were dying to bring one back. But we were nomads, didn’t have a home, and didn’t even cook.

But now, the need is urgent because I love saucisson and most knives cheap can’t cut it properly. I went to see a knife specialist in Lille (Coutellerie à La Cloche D’Or, 10 Rue des Manneliers, 59800 Lille Google Maps https://coutellerielille.com/) and treated myself to a small SANTOKU. The shop owner is fascinating and passionate. He’s talented, gives great advice, and has a dream catalog. If you ever visit Lille, go there without delay! The price is lower than online, that’s rare, right? I’ll give him all my leatherworking tools to sharpen.

According to Japanese chef Niki Nakayama (whose cooking lessons I followed on Masterclass), we (amateurs and chefs) only need three knives:

1. Usuba for vegetables and herbs
2. Deba for fish but also meat
3. Yanagiba for sushi/sashimi

She says we must respect the ingredients. And we respect them by using the right knife. We also need to respect the knife, and we do that by sharpening it properly.

For those who want an “all-in-one” knife (like me), you can go for the SANTOKU. “The santoku is a versatile knife (13-20 cm) with a distinctive blade whose back curves down to the tip, forming an angle of about 60 degrees. It’s a multifunctional tool perfect for meat, cheese, vegetables, and fruits. Its unique shape also makes it an excellent choice for fine and precise cuts.”

Now that you’ve chosen the knife shape, you need to decide between stainless steel and carbon steel. Stainless steel is more resistant to rust and corrosion, but it’s harder to sharpen. Carbon steel, on the other hand, is easier to sharpen, cheaper, but more prone to rust and corrosion. Most tourists in Japan, I’ve observed, leave with a carbon steel knife because they’re too afraid of messing up sharpening. Personally, I opted for stainless steel because the man at the knife shop can sharpen mine anytime, and he showed me how to maintain it daily with a piece of leather.

The moment I touched that SANTOKU, it was love at first sight, this knife is super light. The blade is high-quality stainless steel containing molybdenum, making it rust-resistant. The handle is made of magnolia wood and reinforced with a stainless steel ring. When I got home, I took out my dried saucisson and it was child’s play for this new knife: it slices thin pieces effortlessly, too easy!

The knife cleans easily with soapy water. Then, you must dry it with a cloth before storing it carefully. I’m convinced that if I didn’t like cooking, it’s because I had neither quality ingredients nor effective tools. This knife is so amazing it makes you want to cook ASAP.

I also got a bread knife (Opinel France, made in Portugal). “The No.116 from the Parallèle collection features a curved serrated blade that cuts any type of bread efficiently. The olive wood handle from Italy is comfortable and gives the knife a unique character. It has a unique and warm grain.” It’s stainless steel with high carbon content; water is its enemy, but that’s fine, it’s not the kind of knife that touches much water.

Prices: small Santoku €59, Opinel bread knife €30.

Lenovo Yoga Book 9i Gen 9

I’ve been dreaming of treating myself to this laptop for years, but it has a dual touchscreen, which makes it quite fragile for intensive travel. I told myself that the day I stop moving around, I’ll get it. At CES 2025, Lenovo announced the release of the new version (Gen 10), with twice the RAM, but in the end I can’t wait until June because my current computer is too slow.

I took advantage of the sales to treat myself to this little gem. 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage. Dual touchscreen, with mouse, stylus, and keyboard included. I paid 1900€ instead of 2300€. The provided screen stand folds in origami style, with a slot for the stylus, and a magnet to attach the keyboard; it’s super practical. You can also use the laptop without any accessories because the second screen can turn into a keyboard with touchpad when you’re on the go.

You’re going to ask me: “why not just use a separate second screen?” I don’t want to because I move around a lot within my apartment. I have a large desk for crafting, and I want to be able to watch tutorials while doing leatherwork/sewing without having a laptop that takes up too much space. Having a dual screen with my laptop is a game-changer.

Moreover, it can bend and twist in all directions, hence its name Yoga. I can rotate it 90 degrees and it opens like a book. I use it to read PDFs in color, while I take notes by hand on my screen.. I know you can also take notes with Lenovo, but the feel isn’t “paper-like” enough; you write on glass, so I’ll continue writing on my reMarkable. But I still use the stylus to highlight my PDFs in color. People ask me if reading on a screen like this hurts the eyes. I activated the “soft light” option via Lenovo Vantage to make reading more pleasant, and so far, I can’t complain. Regarding its “yoga” side, I can open it 300 degrees and give a PowerPoint presentation to the person opposite me; it’s a shame I don’t do meetings anymore, haha.

I sincerely think that it’s my best purchase of the year. The touch aspect might seem gimmicky to many, but when I no longer had it on my old Lenovo, I really missed that feature. The stylus is super useful because it allows you to sign contracts, for example, or highlight PDFs like I do. To my surprise, the speaker is decent, sufficient for listening to podcasts and watching YouTube. For movies or music, you still need headphones or a real speaker. There are a few downsides, especially the continuous scrolling on the vertical dual screen; Chrome doesn’t handle it well, but apart from that, everything else is super smooth.

People ask me if I can fold it in half and use it like an iPad. Yes, that’s one of the recommended uses. However, it’s much heavier than an iPad, so for weak little hands like mine, it’s not comfortable at all. Anyway, this laptop can seem a bit gimmicky, but those who need it for a specific use will be immediately drawn to this product.

Price: 1899€ during the sales

Personal services: Clubtidy & Ring Twice

When we received the keys to our apartment, we wanted to clean every nook and cranny, and I needed a cleaning lady’s help. I heard a lot of good things about Club Tidy. I signed up, and 30 minutes later, I found a cleaning lady who would come the next day.

Clubtidy referral code: Get 50€ for any regular cleaning contract subscription by entering my code when requesting: DEUEVU367

How does it work? You create a request (I suggest a one-off request) and specify your needs. You add a date and a time slot. Several cleaning lady profiles will appear with their hourly rates & their presentation (occasionally, reviews from satisfied customers). You can select up to 3 profiles. They will send you a quote. You accept the quote that suits you, and the appointment is set.

Why is it better than a personal services agency? The commissions are lower, so the cleaning lady earns more money. Also, traditional agencies often charge high fixed fees for each request, so if a cleaning lady doesn’t suit you, you have to pay new administrative fees to create a new request. Whereas here, you can try several cleaning ladies with temporary assignments until you find the perfect one. Plus, you pay the rate right away with the tax credit. For example, the hourly rate is 22€/hour. At the end of the year, you get a tax credit of 11€. Here, Club Tidy immediately sends you a request to create a URSSAF account. You pay 11€/hour on the URSSAF website, not 22€. This frees up cash flow for other things. I’m not sure if I explained it well; otherwise, go to their website, you’ll understand quickly.

Rates: between 22€ and 29€/hour. You can use my referral code DEUEVU367 to get 50€ for any regular cleaning contract subscription

Ring Twice lets you ask a neighbor for help. I used it for furniture assembly/disassembly, but they have plenty of other services (babysitting, cat sitting, gardening, etc.). Same deal: you create a request on the app. A neighbor sends you a quote. You accept or decline and pay directly on the app. For 1.5 hours of furniture assembly, a neighbor from the next town quoted me €45. The platform then takes a 20% commission, i.e., €9. I accepted their quote, and 30 minutes later, they showed up with their tools to help. It’s fast and super convenient. However, since you’re mainly dealing with individuals, there’s no tax credit. For small DIY jobs, I find it more interesting and quicker than going through an agency (which, by the way, always charges admin fees).

Use my promo code DIEUANH and get €20 off

Books

There are two books I really enjoyed this month:

1. The Era of Laziness
2. Invest your savings

The Era of Laziness (Amazon link, Fnac link) just came out and offers a comprehensive analysis of the decline in effort across all areas. Without being preachy, the author explains the why and how we increasingly let ourselves go, put in less effort, and presents the new challenges humanity faces. We’re not talking about “working more in terrible conditions”—nobody wants that—but rather putting in effort to grow as human beings. There are some very interesting analyses, especially on wokeness, the history of humanity from an effort perspective, and some reflection on AI… The beginning is a bit disappointing, as it starts with the basics of Maslow’s pyramid, but after the first chapters, the analysis gets more and more interesting, with well-structured ideas that helped me put words to what I think quietly but can’t express in an organized way.

I feel like I put in a lot of effort daily, but clearly, I also let myself drift toward ease and laziness. This book is also a wake-up call for me. I’ve listened to a few podcasts featuring the author discussing his new book, but I think reading the book is essential because there are too many ideas for him to sum up in a podcast.

Invest your savings, (Amazon link) written by the creators of the site “Avenue des investisseurs.” The book is 500 pages, which is probably why I recommend it to everyone but nobody reads it. It’s super interesting, better structured than the site, and ramps up in difficulty. The first chapters might seem like “dream-selling” because they talk about a passive investment method where you spend 5 minutes a month managing your savings, and it works for you on its own. JB and I have been applying this method for several years for our retirement and I think in France, all investors use the same method (we have fewer options than our American friends).

Why this book and not another? There are indeed many books on the market offering the same tips. For ETFs, I’m thinking especially of “Epargnant 3.0” (Amazon link), a book I also love, but this one is well-structured and caters to both beginners and seasoned investors. The difficulty ramps up, and the book was written for that purpose: explaining why you should save (because some people still haven’t gotten it—either because their family never saved or because they think they don’t have enough money to save); what products are available on the market; how to find the right ones—then you dive into the details.

The book is quite repetitive because there’s a ton of information to absorb. Being repetitive ensures you won’t miss important info (e.g., you need to open a good PEA and a good life insurance policy to start the clock ASAP!!!). It’s recommended to read one chapter a day, and after 3 weeks, you’ll know everything about passive investing. If you’re looking for even easier books, like for teens, that discuss the theory without diving into details to get you motivated, I’ve listed a few here. If after reading the book you’re convinced, feel free to use our referral links to set up PEA and life insurance accounts—you’ll get bonuses.

• PEA : Fortuneo (code 13021400), Boursobank
• Life insurance : BNP Cardif (you can get it via assurancevie.com with code JEMO86045), Linxea (send me a comment)
• Get the Trade Republic payment card to receive cashback on every purchase (note: we don’t recommend the PEA on Trade Republic, just the card): https://refnocode.trade.re/03fjpcs8