# Top Tips for your 30s



## Firefly (24 Mar 2011)

I'm looking here for the 40+ posters here to list their recommendations for things to do in your 30s. A sort of...if I had my time back I would have done xyx. It doesn't have to be finance related (actually it would be more interesting if it wasn't).


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## callybags (24 Mar 2011)

That's just an underhanded way of finding out how old posters are.

I have your number.

You're probably 50.


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## Purple (24 Mar 2011)

I couldn't tell you; I'm still in my 30's


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## BillK (24 Mar 2011)

I wish I could remember that far back!


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## ali (24 Mar 2011)

This touches on a related post on LOS about keeping your trousers on.

I have a friend whose mother is a typical aul one. Hefty, traditional , granny perm and v. respectable. On one drunkish night when we arrived back to the friend's house where her Mum (lady described above) was babysitting, we asked her for reflections/advice on life. She said "I wish I had of put it about a bit more!".

Needless to say we howled laughing. In the confidence that comes with fighting the fellas off all night. But in our youth and beauty we just didn't get the short lived privilege that this is. It won't last and I just think that to all the 30 something gorgeous confident young things (lads and girls) out there:
Enjoy it while it lasts!!


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## horusd (24 Mar 2011)

start saving for botox,and liposuction Consume as much cholesterol as ye like, and take a time to be a couch potatoe. You'll be trying to reverse all that some enuf. What was it Shakespeare said, " golden lads and girls all must, as chimney sweepers come to dust!"


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## PaddyW (25 Mar 2011)

I just turned 30 so I'm hoping for some good tips!


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## Betsy Og (25 Mar 2011)

start saving for your pension now because the longer you leave it the more expensive it gets... blah blah blah (even with the tax saving I'd say I'm barely ahead of if I'd just saved it - and now I cant access it).

So, have a think about it and make some steps, but dont believe all the hype & consider whether the greater need for cash could be in the next 10 years rather than 40 years time (by the time we get there I'd be fairly sure that 70 will be the "new 60" or 50, and state pension wont kick in until 70 or later).

Am only mid 30's, but keep playing aerobic sports (GAA, soccer, rugby etc etc) as long as you can because its now getting harder fitness-wise and a hiatus in late 20's/early 30's would be a waste of valuable time.


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## Sunny (25 Mar 2011)

Just remember that checking out that 18 year old hottie is not ok anymore....


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## Ceist Beag (25 Mar 2011)

Sunny said:


> Just remember that checking out that 18 year old hottie is not ok anymore....



Nonsense ....


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## Mpsox (25 Mar 2011)

I don't have any regrets about my 30s, travelled loads, settled down, made babies.

What I would say, in all seriosuness, is get you finances in order, time to start saving and investing a bit for the future, if you're in your 30s, you're halfways to the pension

Keep the brain active, one regret I have is that I never did that Masters or other degree I'd always said I would.

Travel, especially if you don't have kids, once they come along, it gets more difficult(and expensive)


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## Mpsox (25 Mar 2011)

Sunny said:


> Just remember that checking out that 18 year old hottie is not ok anymore....


 
It's ok to check them out, trying to do something other then checking them out could be a little creepy though


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## Firefly (25 Mar 2011)

Mpsox said:


> What I would say, in all seriosuness, is get you finances in order, time to start saving and investing a bit for the future, if you're in your 30s, you're halfways to the pension
> 
> Keep the brain active, one regret I have is that I never did that Masters or other degree I'd always said I would.



Snap...these are the 2 things I'm focusing on at the moment....


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## truthseeker (25 Mar 2011)

Agree with Mpsox (and others) - think about the future. Dont just blindly keep making ends meet with no idea of where your finances will be in 5 years, 10 years etc... Sit down and do up a financial plan. Try to figure out how best to make your money work for you, how not to waste it and how best to put yourself into a secure financial position for the future.

Ask older people for tips and life experience stories. I have learned a lot from the mistakes that others have made and I have tried to avoid making them myself.

Stay as active as you can - it does get harder the older you get!!


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## liaconn (25 Mar 2011)

I know some people who were still living at home or in rented flats in their thirties because they'd just kind of drifted along, meaning to move out sometime and then found it harder and harder to get a mortgage because suddenly they were forty. So, if you're in this situation, be aware that it's much more difficult to get a mortgage once you're in your forties.

TBH the kind of advice I would have given a few years ago : don't get stuck in the same job; travel abroad for a couple of years etc. doesn't seem as appropriate in a recession.


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## csirl (25 Mar 2011)

If you have any ambitions or desires such as travelling, living abroad for a while or anything else that involves a lot of physical effort and/or time, dont put it off for another day - you need to get these things done before you have kids. 

You'll often meet people who'll tell you stuff along the lines off....".....kids dont hold me back...sure I climbed Mt Everest last month with my 3 kids, all of whom are under five etc. etc...." Dont believe a single word they say.


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## Purple (25 Mar 2011)

Ceist Beag said:


> Nonsense ....



Big +1 to that!!! (where's the "dirty old man" smiley?)


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## becky (25 Mar 2011)

Purple said:


> Big +1 to that!!! (where's the "dirty old man" smiley?)


 

This one . Well it gives me the creeps anyway.


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## Sunny (25 Mar 2011)

Purple said:


> Big +1 to that!!! (where's the "dirty old man" smiley?)


 
Ok, it might be ok to still look at the hot 18 year old but it's not ok to think that you actually stand a chance!


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## Sunny (25 Mar 2011)

Purple said:


> Big +1 to that!!! (where's the "dirty old man" smiley?)


 
This might do you.   [broken link removed]


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## DerKaiser (25 Mar 2011)

In my 30s but my advice would be that decisions are made without the benefit of hindsight so don't beat yourself up when you do have that benefit. People have an amazing inability to eliminate new information in judging old decisions.


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## RMCF (25 Mar 2011)

In my early 40s, and my advice would be, if you have no children as yet:

1) Drink as much as you can, go out as much and travel as much as you can. When the little 'uns arrive your life is all about them. A night out for a few pints becomes a rarity, unless you have a very understanding partner.

2) If you are sporty, play and do as much as you can now, cos your joints and bones are gonna get sore in your 40s. Well mine have anyway. I always struggled with injuries etc in soccer, and I am really starting to feel the pain now. Injuries take longer to shift.

3) Appreciate the short hangover, cos they can turn into 24hr ones when in your 40s!

4) If you haven't already starting saving for your pension, then you're probably too late anyway.


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## Firefly (25 Mar 2011)

RMCF said:


> In my early 40s, and my advice would be, if you have no children as yet:
> 
> 1) Drink as much as you can, go out as much and travel as much as you can. When the little 'uns arrive your life is all about them. A night out for a few pints becomes a rarity, unless you have a very understanding partner.



Have 2 kids and echo your recommendations!



RMCF said:


> 3) Appreciate the short hangover, cos they can turn into 24hr ones when in your 40s!



I had a 48hr one a few months back..haven't touched a drop since!


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## Sunny (25 Mar 2011)

Just enjoy yourself.


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## Ancutza (26 Mar 2011)

> It's ok to check them out, trying to do something other then checking them out could be a little creepy though



Hogwash!  There's 11 years difference between me and the missus.  That means that when I was 30 she was 19.  I'm not creepy.  Just very, very lucky!


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## Purple (27 Mar 2011)

Ancutza said:


> Hogwash!  There's 11 years difference between me and the missus.  That means that when I was 30 she was 19.  I'm not creepy.  Just very, very lucky!



Were you married in your 20's?


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## Ancutza (27 Mar 2011)

No.  We got married 5 years ago when I was 35 and she was 24.  Before the big day I'd known her for 3 years and dated her for 12  months of those 3 years.  It took me 2 years of 'softly-softly-catchey-monkey' to get my first date.  She's a very beautiful girl, inside and out hence I'm a lucky, lucky chap!


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## Purple (27 Mar 2011)

sorry, I forgot the "" in my last post


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## Complainer (27 Mar 2011)

Serious one - don't assume that you'll be able to have kids on your schedule. One in five couples has infertility issues. When you do 'start trying', it could well be a number of years before kids actually arrive. If you end up going down the IVF or adoption routes, double those figures.


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## Purple (27 Mar 2011)

Complainer said:


> Serious one - don't assume that you'll be able to have kids on your schedule. One in five couples has infertility issues. When you do 'start trying', it could well be a number of years before kids actually arrive. If you end up going down the IVF or adoption routes, double those figures.



Very good point. It can be financially crippling and emotionally devastating.
If you do go down the medical route then do your homework; you are very vulnerable and open to exploitation.


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## Sunny (27 Mar 2011)

Ancutza said:


> Hogwash!  There's 11 years difference between me and the missus.  That means that when I was 30 she was 19.  I'm not creepy.  Just very, very lucky!



Great story and am happy for you but are you seriously telling me that as a 29 year old, your friends and family wouldn't take you aside and ask what you are doing with a 18 year old? The difference between a 18 year old and the 24 year old that you married is huge. It's not the 11 years, it's the actual age that I was making the point about.


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## PaddyW (28 Mar 2011)

Ok, so I spent this weekend on the lash, but also thinking about my financial plans. Am I doing well so far?


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## PaddyW (28 Mar 2011)

PaddyW said:


> Ok, so I spent this weekend on the lash, but also thinking about my financial plans. Am I doing well so far?



By the way, I wasn't thinking about financial stuff while I was actually on the lash


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## Pique318 (28 Mar 2011)

PaddyW said:


> Ok, so I spent this weekend on the lash, but also thinking about my financial plans. Am I doing well so far?


Were you eyeing up 18 year olds ?


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## Ancutza (28 Mar 2011)

> Great story and am happy for you but are you seriously telling me that  as a 29 year old, your friends and family wouldn't take you aside and  ask what you are doing with a 18 year old? The difference between a 18  year old and the 24 year old that you married is huge. It's not the 11  years, it's the actual age that I was making the point about.



Of course you're right.  It really is all about the age.  I'd be most displeased if a 29 year old  put his eye on my 18 year old daughter.  In fact one of my friends was up to the house a couple of weeks ago with his 14 year old son and I looked at him and my 4 year-old daughter playing on the computer together, thought about the difference and was quite freaked out by it!  Told my missus and she burst out laughing at me.


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## Purple (28 Mar 2011)

Ancutza said:


> Of course you're right.  It really is all about the age.  I'd be most displeased if a 29 year old  put his eye on my 18 year old daughter.  In fact one of my friends was up to the house a couple of weeks ago with his 14 year old son and I looked at him and my 4 year-old daughter playing on the computer together, thought about the difference and was quite freaked out by it!  Told my missus and she burst out laughing at me.



You are both adults and you are (I hope) happy together. You don't feel the need to apologise for it and good for you; you're right.


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## Betsy Og (28 Mar 2011)

Purple said:


> You don't feel the need to apologise for it and good for you; you're right.


 

Indeed, like motherhood, world peace and apple pie, where could you find an opponent to young good looking wives !!! 

Body is creaking today, definitely get your field sports played ASAP, my days on the pitch are numbered.


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