What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received? Tell Old Mutual Wealth for a chance to win a £300 voucher! NOW CLOSED

[AngelieMumsnet]

Old Mutual Wealth has asked us to find out the best pieces of advice Mumsnetters have ever been given.

Here’s what they say, “Old Mutual Wealth is a big advocate of advice. In life and in financial matters, the guidance of someone you trust can make the difference between failure and success.”

So, what’s the best piece of advice someone's given you? Maybe someone has shared a genuinely life changing tip? Perhaps they passed on the secret on how to get your kids to clean their room/go to sleep/eat their greens. We’d also, more specifically, like to hear about the best financial piece of advice you’ve ever received. Whether it’s on how to save? Or maybe on what to do with your savings? Whatever they are, we’d love to hear them!

Everyone who posts on this thread will be entered into a prize draw to win a £300 Love2Shop voucher!

Thanks
MNHQ

Standard Insight T&Cs apply

Advice from my Father when I got married and we got a mortgage.
Dont worry about frivolities and material things, pay as much as you can on the mortgage and the rest will follow

Never eat yellow snow!

The best financial advice I received from someone was not to cash in a small pension fund I had from one of my first jobs. It was tempting to take the cash, but I left it. I have watched that small amount of money (ticked away in a preservation account) quadruple in value, and it has taught me that even small amounts of money will eventually grow!

If possible take out a mortgage based on only one salary.
We'd have lost the house otherwise

Buy a plunger before you need a plunger

If you get to the end of the day with small children and can say "everyone fed; nobody dead" you can count that day as a success.

Really helps when it feels you should be doing x y z.

Least said soonest mended.

A friend said it to me years ago when I was considering sending an email (to an ex) I would have lived to regret. Somehow it has really stuck with me and I think of it often. I can be quite reactive - I always see things more calmly and reasonably after a few hours so it has really helped me in my relationships - work, friends, family, whatever..

If a baby is crying - feed it, change it, cuddle it then try putting it down. Repeat as necessary.

Don't specialise early if you don't have to. aka keep your degree options open.

I was going to do a specialist degree, but did a much more general science one (from which I could move into the speciality later) as a result of the advice. I ended up discovering and then working in a completely different speciality to the one I'd originally intended to, and given the original one was so hard to get a job in, I'd have likely had to retrain anyway.

On baby weaning - if they are eating it, just keep going!

On life in general - you are your own hardest critic - you are better than you think you are so just relax!

Can't say I manage no 2 very well, but I can see that it's true!

My lovely fil told me ' when one door closes another will open'

He's right! I'd heard the saying many times but never given it much thought til I needed to

My mum said to me years ago, instead of worrying about possibly failing at something, think about if you'll remember the failure when you're 80 or if you'll regret the not trying more.

Parenting wise- 'you can't tell anyone else how to raise their children'
Spoken to me when my pfb was a few months old and my friend was giving hers milky bars! How I judged.
That advice lasted and has been fantastic for every conceivable situation.

Don't worry worry 'til worry worries you! It's so true and the way to lead a less anxious life for sure!

Always be gracious - in whatever dealings you have with anyone. Even if you are absolutely furious and they are rude and unreasonable - always be gracious and you'll always have the moral high-ground. It was the advice of my old law lecturer, I've never forgotten it, I always apply it and he was absolutely right.

'Never try to fathom the mind of a small person'. Very true!

sleep on it

pick your battles

don't ask a question you don't already know the answer to - all right, not great in every situation, but very useful in my line of work!

Save 10% of what you earn. Little or lots it adds to the pot and even if you have really lean years the pot grows.

'Take anything you're told with a hefty pinch of salt' on my first day in the Prison Service.

Don't worry about things you can't change, if you can change something then do that rather than worry about it.

Oh and only you can make yourself feel bad.

Marry a rich man. From my gran. Unfortunately I didn't manage it.
:)

In terms of spending: splash out on shoes & mattresses. If you're not on one, you're on t'other.

'Be kind to each other' my dad says it all the time. It reminds me that even when times are stressful and hard, to do something nice for someone else; make a cuppa for them, grab their favourite chocolate on the way home, tell them you love them and have a hug.

He's a fantastic dad :)

Walk a mile in their shoes. In 20 years of working in education this has helped me practically every day.

Be kind to yourself.

I often find that I don't give myself the leeway that I give others and struggle with high expectations of myself, so it was a great relief to hear.