Before I started a family, my mum told me that the most important thing was to keep a 'homely' home. She said the things she remembered most fondly from her own childhood were those comforts from home; baking day (the smell when you came in from school), family dinners, clean sheets. It all sounds a bit twee, I know, but if your home is either a public health hazard or an immaculate showhome, nobody is going to feel their most comfortable, and if home isn't your sanctuary (especially as a child), then where is?
Also, my other favourite piece of advice came from the very unlikely source of my MIL (who usually talks complete b**cks!) She advised me to always keep money of my own - don't rely on being provided for. She had always worked 2 jobs trying to keep body and soul together when her children were growing up, but just about everything she earned went on paying for bills and food whilst her husband kept quite alot of his earnings for drinking and womanising. Her money never really went far enough, and they had some desperate hard times, and when she and her husband finally separated, she had nothing at all to her name whilst he left and set up home with another woman and deftly sidestepped any financial responsibilities. I am deeply respectful of this piece of advice as it comes from such harsh experience that it would be foolish to ignore it. I am curious to know what good advice other mumsnetters have carried through life with them - pass it on!!