To ask if you know any "Secret option 3" secrets? how many "rules" in life are you only finding out too late?

[coffeeginandkindness]

Inspired by this scene in friends where Ross and Rachel are talking about the unwritten rules of life I was thinking what other examples there are

Some of mine are money based but i was also thinking about the thread a few weeks ago where the OP felt like she was being left behind her peers in many other ways. Even though they had all been on a level playing field at uni,

People who manage to buy two properties and let one out instead of buying a bigger house to provide passive income.

People who have limited companies as well as their paid jobs and run expenses through this to reduce their outgoings?

Are there other secrets?
Aibu to ask you share yours?

Crickets 😳

If I had any, I might not want to share! But I don’t.

People who have limited companies as well as their paid jobs and run expenses through this to reduce their outgoings?

What you're describing here is tax evasion. Unless the expenses are genuinely incurred in the course of the company's business this isn't a legitimate 'life hack'.

I feel I too might be in the 'left behind' crowd. I was going to proffer up that I've always known where to stand on the platform to maximise my chances of getting a seat on the train.

I think my life hack / secret / realisation is not to compare myself to anyone else. Over the years I've seen that one aspect of someone else's life may make me envious or feel deficient in some way, but that there will always be another aspect where I am happier with my lot. Also, it's easy to compare one's self to people who are apparently better off, however there is always the other end of that spectrum too.

Ying / yang and all that.

Oh, and Henry Ford said something that always sticks in my mind. Aeroplanes take off into the wind and not with it.

But I guess you work that out with time. I am quite good at that.

@LookingOldTheseDays
I am guessing they have an accountant to help to make sure that it's not evasion but e..g someone I know has has just bought a massive porsche via her business because it saved her corporation tax bill - all legal - poss not moral.

Other people have special trusts where they lock away school fees - or pay up front to reduce fees etc.

I'm not explaining very well. People appear to know all of these secrets - to me it's not necessarily about money -
I know someone who deliberately tried to conceive so that their kids were born early in the academic year to give them an advantage over the summer borns -
Granted there's no guarantee how long it takes to conceive but tbh I had no idea about school dates until I had my own...

Anyway I am just musing.

I have never known who to go to for knock off stuff. Years ago loads of people used to have chipped Sky boxes, copied dvds/games, etc - I never knew how to find the people who sell this stuff!

Last year I met several people who bought fake covid vaccine certificates and it made me realise that if I were back in WW2 England, I probably wouldn't even be able to find spiv for a pair of nylons!

That’s not some secret life hack about having a September baby! It’s just being well informed. So I guess “secret hack” is, knowledge is power - be interested in the world around you and actively seek to learn. Read Nature as well as TaB 🤷🏻‍♀️

That sounded a bit dismissive.

Good musings …….
Are they secrets …or just things you come across when you need to know about them??

eg buying a car through a business …. I know some people will do it; I know some will have a company car through an employer; I’ve had a limited company but never big enough and / or of the type where I felt I could justify even investigating the rules on it. Had I run the business longer & bigger, I probably would have checked out the rules. Because there will be rules … you can’t just set up a company for the purposes of buying a Porsche you can’t otherwise afford … it’ll come unstuck somewhere.
same with money / trusts …. I don’t have enough to worry about doing much more than standard bank accounts and company pension right now …. If all the “planned” inheritances happened in the future and I start the company I’d like (Porsches notwithstanding), I’d start taking financial planning advice.

I don’t know any train platform rules because well we don’t have any trains nearby 😂
i think we just work out stuff we need to, when we need to …. Then replace it with more useful / useless knowledge in time.

I conceived so that my bonus month coincided with the mat pay 8 week calculation! Lots of women in banking knew that hack.

I think some people are tuned into money management and read about it rather than the home decor pages. I would read those after I understood the tax efficiency pages.

I've got a female friend that says she doesn't understand money and I have to help her. I think it's a shame some women put finance low down their list of priorities.

Generalizing here obviously so don't jump on me.

The same information is out there available to all of us. There is whole websites dedicated to how to maximize your cash.

@Anklespraying “I think it's a shame some women put finance low down their list of priorities.”

Totally agree with this. I’ve women go all “tinkly laugh” don’t understand money, like a badge of pride. Sure, sometimes it’s a cover for a lack of confidence… but the internet makes it so easy to get some basics, and people need to take responsibility.

I don’t believe there are ‘secret option 3’ type things. We’re all born into the same world, with the same 24 hours and the same ability to access the entirety of human history and knowledge within seconds through devices we keep in our pockets. Yes, there’s things like not being born into poverty, or keeping good health - but largely that’s down to luck. The rest is up to us.

My sister asked me the other day how I knew about consolidating pensions and using 0% credit card deals to afford things we want and she was mystified. I pointed out I wasn’t born knowing this stuff!!

Very successful woman who I know told me she always asks for three things when negotiating a job: more money, more vacation or a company car.

They'll not say no to all 3

Plays hard Ball and wins

My hack is us putting all of our day to day spending on the Virgin credit card and paying it off in full each month. We got free family flights to the USA last year, just taxes to pay. Took about 5 years to save up but it was just normal spending we would have done anyway.

I conceived so that my bonus month coincided with the mat pay 8 week calculation! Lots of women in banking knew that hack

^

Similar thing, teachers I used to know would aim for an early June return from mat leave i.e before the long summer holidays

And again the non monetary but still being ahead of the game, thinking outside of the box
But for example the secret option 3 in the friends clip

Option number one: she’ll take a cab home from the airport, or option number two: you can meet her at baggage claim. What do you do?
Chandler : That’s easy. Baggage claim.

secret option number three: you meet her at the gate. That way, she knows you love her.

What nonsense are you talking?! 🤣
You can’t meet anyone at baggage claim and you can’t meet anyone at the gate.

Was this a Friends episode pre 9/11?

Secret option #4 : be in a relationship where you don’t need some guy hanging around the gate as a showy gesture of something, but where you judge each other on far more important day to day respectful and loving actions.

But working things put with time literally applies to everything. Some people take the time to work certain things out because it matters to them. Eg your friend with trying to time conception. It mattered to her.

I could probably be richer if I spent lots of time understanding investments for example. But it is currently more important to me to understand various diy tasks, so I spend my "free" time doing that. A friend thinks I am naturally good at DIY, but she doesn't see the time I take to research it all

I think some people are more intuitive than others.

I was at the dr once getting my kids flu shots. He asked if the kids had asthma. I thought it was an odd thing to ask being he is their dr and he knows they don’t. I said no ds just has the dust allergy which can make him abit sniffly ect but no asthma. He asked again after if I was sure I said no they don’t. Realised later that he was giving me the option to say yes cause flu shots are free if you say you have asthma 😬 ah well. Could have saved myself some money but wasn’t quick enough to pick up on it.

I mean, I think you're just observing that the world is often split into 'planners' and 'jumpers' - jumpers decide they are going to have a baby so do it, then are surprised that maternity pay is shit and their work isn't legally obligated to give them the hours that they want and childcare is expensive and their pension takes a hit. The planners know all this so put off conceiving for a couple of years to save, change jobs into something more flexible, set up a private pension.
It's not a cheat code, these are the people who get accused of 'overthinking' or being 'overly cautious'!

Agree with planners vs jumpers.

There’s also a bit dim vs not a bit dim.

”People who manage to buy two properties and let one out instead of buying a bigger house to provide passive income.”

I mean where’s the secret hack there?

It takes a bit of research to understand BTL mortgages, sure, but as a concept - where’s the secret?

Like my mortgage: I could afford £1000 a month. I bought a house that was perfectly suitable where my mortgage requirement was £600. Secret life hack!!!! You’ll never believe this but… I’m £400 a month better off 🤣

Am I the only person who is shocked by the willingness of Mumsnet posters to commit fraud?