Why I Switched From Regular Peanut Butter to Organic Peanut Butter

Peanut Butter: Regular Vs. Organic

Let me start with some of the health benefits of peanut butter very briefly.

- Most of the fats (about 47 percent) in peanut butter are monounsaturated fat. This is the fat that lowers bad LDL  cholesterol.
- Peanut butter also contains polyunsaturated fat (about 27 percent). This is the fat that raises
good HDL  cholesterol.
- Peanut butter contains about 8 percent dietary fiber.
- Contains micronutrients such as Vitamin E, Niacin, etc.
- Contains minerals such as calcium, magnesium, potassium, copper, etc.
- Contains Resveratrol, which has natural anti-microbial, anti-inflammation, and anti-aging properties. It helps body to effectively fight off bacteria and various types of fungi.
- Contains folic acid, phytic acid, and phytosterols.

But Beware of Peanut Butter That Is Not Organic

Some of the benefits I mentioned above look really good. However, these benefits will be shadowed by the adverse effects – if your peanut butter is not organic. Consider the following facts –

- Peanuts are grown on the ground and have have soft and porous skin. Non-organic peanuts have very high counts of pesticide residues, as it is a crop that is heavily treated with pesticide. These carcinogenic pesticide residues can cause cancer and other harm to health.
- Non-organic peanut butter has added hydrogenated oil, added sugar, and added salt.
-  Organic peanut butter may have higher nutritional value than traditional peanut butter.
- You will feel the difference in taste in organic peanut butter. It does not taste as good as regular peanut butter (because of no added sugar, salt, fat, etc). It will take some time to get adjusted to its taste.
- You can easily check what foods have what types of pesticides here easily: What’s On My Food?

And I Made Up My Mind

After researching on the pluses and minuses of organic and regular peanut butter, it was not hard for me to do the switch as all the positives outweigh all the negatives. What will be your decision? I suggest you to do some reading and research before you enjoy your next serving of peanut butter.

What is Refinancing a Mortgage?

Refinancing Your Mortgage

Often, we will all find ourselves daydreaming of something we would like to do or like to own, and immediately the part of our brain that dictates realism will snap shut on the daydream and remind us that we simply do not have the money to spend on indulging our idle fantasies. While there is every need to maintain a realistic outlook on life, it should not be at the expense of our dreams, and if the opportunity arises to enjoy ourselves in a way that will not bankrupt us, then sometimes we owe it to ourselves to at least consider it. However this does not change the fact that money is not always so easy to come by. One solution that a lot of people use is a refinancing option on their mortgage.

By refinancing your mortgage what you are effectively doing is extending the term of the arrangement in return for extra cash. This is something that a lot of people do for practical reasons like renovating their existing house. Others will extend the term of their loan in order to lower the repayments and enable them to remain in a house where they are finding the mortgage payments hard to maintain. Either way, when you refinance a mortgage you are allowing yourself financial breathing space in the short-to-medium term and accepting a longer time will be spent paying off debts. If you are happy with the fact that you will have less time mortgage-free once the loan is fully paid off, then refinancing can open a lot of doors for you.

One reason why refinancing is so popular is that it is given at the same interest rate as most mortgages. If a mortgage holder also has credit cards or loans with a higher rate of interest, they can use the refinancing to pay off the higher interest credit, allowing themselves as a result to save a great deal of money on repayment. In consultation with your lender – or another lender altogether – you can negotiate a solution to most situations, one which will allow you to feel as though your future can be free of major financial worry. It is, nonetheless, worth paying attention to the fact that none of us can infallibly predict the future, and if you are to refinance it is a good idea to look at making the term as short as possible while still retaining some element of manageability in the repayments.

Whatever your reason for refinancing, it is certainly one of the more reliable and sensible methods of raising quick capital, and as long as you have a good payment history on your mortgage you should have very little difficulty securing a satisfactory refinancing deal. Ask yourself whether the refinancing deal gives you enough freedom to be worth it, and whether – once the money has been put to use – whether you will be able to live comfortably with the repayments. If the answer to both questions is yes, then refinancing can work for you.

Why Multitasking Does Not Work

What Is Multitasking? 

Multitasking is the process of doing multiple things or tasks at the same time. Multitasking can be made of tasks that require only mental work, physical work, or a combination of the both. An example of multitasking is driving and talking on the cell phone at the same time.

Why Multitasking Does Not Work 

Numerous research shows that we humans are not capable of multitasking. What seems like multitasking is actually our brain switching from one task to another. Those who think they are good at multitasking are actually good at switching from one task to another, as our brain cannot process tasks simultaneously. It is good at switching between tasks quickly, however. So the whole concept of multitasking is a human delusion, as our brain is very good at deluding itself.

Why Multitasking is Bad 

Multitasking can cause stress, as much as 40 percent drop in productivity, and 10 percent drop in IQ, as a Harvard Business Review post points out. Also, multitasking while driving causes 20 to 30 percent crashes annually in America. Tasks involving multitasking can cause 50 percent more errors and take 50 percent longer to finish, research shows.

But How It Is Possible to Perform Some Tasks Simultaneously? 

If multitasking is bad and our brain can’t multitask, how come we do some of these tasks together? For example, talking on the phone and watching TV, cooking several items together, reading and listening music, writing and watching TV, and so on? The answer – these are not actually multitasking; we don’t need our brain to fully concentrate and pay attention to perform these tasks. If you really want to test if you can multitask or not, try writing an article and taking notes from a lecture at the same time, or pay your bill online and instruct your kid how to play a game at the same time.

Last Word 

We do not multitask, but we switch from task to task. Be more productive and efficient by concentrating on one task at a time. Do fewer things, but do it better. Make life simple and less stressful – don’t multitask.

Tax Credit and Tax Deduction

What Is The Difference Between A Tax Credit and A Tax Deduction?

First Published: ADawnJournal.com November 5, 2009

Tax Deduction

A tax deduction is an amount of money which lowers your taxable income.

Tax deductions reduce taxable income.

Tax deductions may make your taxable income zero by exceeding your employment income.

Tax deductions reduce more taxes for those who are in higher tax brackets than for lower tax brackets.

If you live in Ontario and in the highest federal tax bracket (29%), your federal and provincial combined marginal tax rate is 46.41% – as of 2009. If you have $100 tax deduction = you will save $46.41 in tax. If you are in a lower bracket, you will receive less savings.

Tax deduction examples: RRSPs, Childcare expenses, Capital losses, Moving expenses.

Tax Credit (Non-Refundable)

A tax credit is a dollar for dollar deduction which is subtracted from the amount of tax you pay.

Tax credits lower taxes payable at the lowest tax rate

Tax credits may not make your taxable income zero because it only reduces taxes payable at the lowest tax rate.

Tax credits are fixed amounts, so they reduce same monetary value to all taxpayers – if you have enough taxable income to make the deduction.

Tax credits are calculated based on the lowest federal and provincial tax rates. For 2009, lowest federal and provincial rates are 15% and 6.05% (Ontario). Therefore, if you have $100 tax credit, you will save $15 + $6.05 = Total $21.05 – regardless of tax bracket.

Tax credit examples: Medical expenses, Eligible dependent, public transit credit, Caregiver amount, Tuition and education amount, Charitable donations.

Tax Deduction or Tax Credit – which one is better? The answer can be a tricky one and it may not as simple as it looks. In general, tax deduction seems to favour the higher income group, but I would suggest you to consult a tax professional. For more Info,
please visit – Canada Revenue Website.

The Continuous Depletion of Time Account

Do Not Waste Your Most Valuable Resource – Time. The One-Shot Supply of This Mostly Precious Asset Should Not Be Taken As Granted 

When we were born, we all started with one-time supply of our time on earth. If you consider your first day on earth as Day 1 and assume you will live up to 100 years of age, here is what you have:

100 years X 365 days = 36500 days X 24 Hours = 876,000 hours.

These numbers are the same for everyone. Whether we are old or young, black or white, religious or atheist, the world’s richest person or the world’s poorest person, all of us have the same amount of time to waste and to utilize. Time is neutral, does not discriminate, and does not treat anyone unfairly.  

The moment you were born, you started depleting your time account. Although some of us may live longer than others, but we can’t stretch time beyond our mortality. Think of time as your bank account where you have 876,000 units (or more or less depending on how long you live) deposited for you only once. There is no way you will be able to deposit more units or manipulate your account to inflate your units.

Yet, most of us take this most valuable and precious resource for granted and keep wasting it till the day when we have nothing left in our time bank account. The difference between a successful person and failed person in every aspect of time is the results of how successfully or poorly each utilized their time.

Let me give you some examples of how poorly we waste our time which can never be deposited back into our time account. These examples are hilarious and sad at the same time, as we failed to value our most precious resource, “Time”, which can never be recovered.

- Driving hours to save $10 
- Standing in long lines and wasting hours to get free stuff 
- Sleeping away the whole afternoon 
- Buying and then returning something many times and spending endless hours doing so 
- Spending hours watching useless TV channels like talk shows and reality shows 
- Spending unproductive hours online on sites like Facebook, YouTube, etc.

These examples can go on and on. But you should have an idea already how people are endlessly wasting time without realising what they are doing.

Stop the leakage of your most valuable asset – your time. Consider every moment of your time is precious and understand that it will never be regained. Utilize each unit of time properly and in productive ways. Lifetime success and happiness will be upon you if you can successfully manage and use each and every unit. Time is what makes the difference between a winner and a loser. Don’t wait for that moment to regret when you will have only the last remaining units in your time account.