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

If you're going to say yes to a child, make sure it's your first answer.

Neither a lender nor a borrower be (my mum said this often )

Still true

Do what is right by yourself, not other people.

Many people regret decisions they made because they were constantly thinking about what other people wanted instead of what they wanted to do.

Oh another one told by my best friend's mum when we were going on our first real night out at 18,

Be careful not to spill your drinks when out. They cost too much and you don't want to waste any!

Never let the sun go down on an argument - so true, everything is magnified by the morning

Never put someone else down to try and look cool - it isn't cool and it isn't clever

If you want to see a rainbow, you must be prepared to put up with the rain

An honest penny is worth so much more than a dishonest pound

"If common sense were so common, why is there so little of it about?"

More positively, when I was bidding for a house (Scottish system), I was advised to offer what it was worth to me, not necessarily what was in the survey. That way, if you bid and don't get it, you're not disappointed. If you do get it, you might have paid a little bit over the odds - but you won't regret it.

If at first you don't succeed, try again. Then quit. No sense being a damn fool about it.

My mum told me after a very public humiliation aged 18, ' your true friends won't care and only true friends opinions are worth giving a toss about'. Helped me work out who to stick with.

Other peoples problems are other peoples problems so only worry about keeping your own house in order.

Pour yourself a drink, put on some lipstick and pull yourself together. - Elizabeth Taylor

'Life isn't a rehearsal' This was said to me in primary school by one of the best teachers in the world imho and I've never forgotten it. She actually said it quite alot and I don't think I really appreciated the full meaning until I hit 40 and started seeing our parents getting older and suffering with health issues.

'Blood, sweat and no regrets' when attempting to achieve something (my Mum)

She also claims you should 'never trust a man in a yellow tie'. No wonder Nick Clegg didn't do very well.

look after the small things and everything else follows.... be that pennies, or even housework

Few nuggets of wisdom: treat how you want to be treated. Be truthful even when you did something you regret as it ( more often thrn not) gain respect from those around you.

'This will pass'. A phrase that has served me well during turbulent teenage years with DS and especially DD. Told to me by my aunt after a particularly upsetting argument with DD. Sure enough we have all come out the other end on reasonably good terms. She also used to say the shakespeare quote ' how sharper than a serpents tooth it is to have a thankless child'. Which summed up my feelings. Not sure what play it is from but it resonated at the time.

Although material things are important it's people and your relationships that are the most precious things in life. Make time to work on those as well as keeping your bank balance healthy. It's that you'll remember as you grow old.

Never look back, keep going forwards!

Pain is temporary, failure is forever.

Set up a regular savings account, so the money goes out each month before you realise you have it and you never miss it, but there's a pot there for when you need it.

If you've nothing nice to say, say nothing at all.

Seems to work in most situations.

And if it doesn't, then 'Don't let the bastards grind you down'

Stop comparing yourself to others- there will always be others that do things different to you but that doesn't necessarily mean better. If it works for you and your family, that's all that matters.

Many people come into your life for a reason, but that reason is seldom permanent.

Cannot remember where I heard this but I love it and usually post it as a Facebook status around Christmas time

"The most precious gift you can give your children is your time"

'this too shall pass' when life is feeling really tough. Also, try not to worry about children reaching milestones at the same time as their siblings/peers. They will achieve potty training/bike riding/ reading etc, everyone just does it at their own pace.

Always be a first rate version of yourself rather than a second rate version of somebody else.

I spent so many years during my teens and early twenties trying to mould myself into someone that I thought other people wanted me to be and now I realise that actually it's far better to just be me instead of trying to copy someone else's style and interests. This has made me a much happier person - if people don't like me for who I am then sod them tbh!