# What are some of the greatest things you know now that you wished you knew back then? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 21, 2022, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-of-the-greatest-things-you-know-now-that-you-wished-you-knew-back-then/970041 "2022-08-21T17:46:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-of-the-greatest-things-you-know-now-that-you-wished-you-knew-back-then/970041/21 "2022-08-22T17:30:27Z")
I have so many regrets it would hurt to type them all, but, honestly, most of them have already been said. ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2022, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-of-the-greatest-things-you-know-now-that-you-wished-you-knew-back-then/970041/22 "2022-08-23T03:13:26Z")
Push back harder, out right rebel if need be but don’t let mom and dad tell you you can’t take those classes in jr high and high school. Take dad’s offer of a full ride college education and run with it. You’re never gonna figure out what you want to be when you grow up so go to college _and quit wasting the opportunities life is handing you you only get a few of them_ ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2022, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-of-the-greatest-things-you-know-now-that-you-wished-you-knew-back-then/970041/23 "2022-08-23T03:17:10Z")
realize that in the several custody battles over me that there always was an ulterior motive behind them and realize I was being taken advantage of in more ways than one or two ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2022, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-of-the-greatest-things-you-know-now-that-you-wished-you-knew-back-then/970041/24 "2022-08-23T14:25:11Z")
That all those good hunches on tech stocks that I never took were actually good ideas and not really at all risky. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2022, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-of-the-greatest-things-you-know-now-that-you-wished-you-knew-back-then/970041/25 "2022-08-23T14:49:55Z")
You are allowed to be happy. You do not have to wait until your income or your assets or your career or your appearance or your relationship status or your family life or your hobbies look like what societal expectations have always told you they’re “supposed” to look like. You can embrace the things that you really want and be unashamedly happy with them, without having to apologize for them or justify them to anyone. (Now of course it should go without saying that I’m referring to legal non-harmful sources of happiness, right? Don’t go embarking on a life of crime and addiction and abuse and saying that Kimstu told you it was okay.) ---
**Author:** ![Crane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crane/32/3495_2.png) [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2022, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-of-the-greatest-things-you-know-now-that-you-wished-you-knew-back-then/970041/26 "2022-08-23T15:03:54Z")
I was a real boy scout, a true believer. I wish I had understood that the world runs on bullshit. It is the mother’s milk of all religion, politics and sales. Even the ‘facts’ of science are conditional truths. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2022, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-of-the-greatest-things-you-know-now-that-you-wished-you-knew-back-then/970041/27 "2022-08-23T15:11:51Z")
Live on what you make. Invest early. If you buy a house (and don’t pay cash for it) and plan to live in it for a significant amount of time, consider on top of your house payment, there will be (100?, 200?) dollars per month in unseen expenses that will hit you all at once (new roof, water heater, appliances, etc.). Prepare for them. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2022, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-of-the-greatest-things-you-know-now-that-you-wished-you-knew-back-then/970041/28 "2022-08-23T15:27:53Z")
That nine-tenths of my romantic difficulties as a younger man were due to a lack of self confidence and a skewed body image due to being overweight. Turns out I was plenty attractive, but just didn’t think I was, and was shy/unsure in a romantic sense as a result. Which is kind of funny, because in pretty much every other way I’m not shy or unsure. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2022, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-of-the-greatest-things-you-know-now-that-you-wished-you-knew-back-then/970041/29 "2022-09-02T19:03:49Z")
A post was merged into an existing topic: [Thescrr odd posts](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thescrr-odd-posts/970831/4) ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2022, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-of-the-greatest-things-you-know-now-that-you-wished-you-knew-back-then/970041/30 "2022-08-25T11:29:45Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > If you buy a house (and don’t pay cash for it) and plan to live in it for a significant amount of time, consider on top of your house payment, there will be (100?, 200?) dollars per month in unseen expenses that will hit you all at once (new roof, water heater, appliances, etc.). Prepare for them. The rule of thumb that someone suggested in a previous discussion is that you should budget for an extra mortgage payment every year to cover maintenance/repairs. And that figure will of course vary depending on the age of your house. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2022, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-of-the-greatest-things-you-know-now-that-you-wished-you-knew-back-then/970041/31 "2022-08-25T13:10:37Z")
You can love people from afar. It’s how to keep loving the toxic people in your family. Because it’s much easier on your psyche to find a way to love them, than it is to loath them. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2022, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-of-the-greatest-things-you-know-now-that-you-wished-you-knew-back-then/970041/32 "2022-11-15T19:53:56Z")
It’s impossible to heal from past trauma when the perpetrator is still inflicting damage. Man, I would have saved so much more money in my 20s than I did. I could have put the extra toward retirement. I would have tried to reduce the amount of student loans we were taking out. Any use of those funds would have been better than buying things I wanted when I wanted them. > [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > The rule of thumb that someone suggested in a previous discussion is that you should budget for an extra mortgage payment every year to cover maintenance/repairs. And that figure will of course vary depending on the age of your house. I thought it was 1-3% of your home’s total value per month. It would be wonderful news if I’m saving too much. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2022, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-of-the-greatest-things-you-know-now-that-you-wished-you-knew-back-then/970041/33 "2022-11-15T20:01:50Z")
Never lend money. Never lend your car. If it seems easy, it probably isn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2022, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-of-the-greatest-things-you-know-now-that-you-wished-you-knew-back-then/970041/34 "2022-11-16T07:37:39Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > I thought it was 1-3% of your home’s total value per month. Did you mean 1-3% per year (not month)? That would be not terribly different from one extra mortgage payment per year. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2022, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-of-the-greatest-things-you-know-now-that-you-wished-you-knew-back-then/970041/35 "2022-11-16T13:03:15Z")
I guess it depends on the mortgage payment. For a $300,000 home, 2% is $6,000 a year. For an older home, assuming a more conservative 4%, it would come out to $12,000 per year, or $1,000 per month. Far more than a single mortgage payment. I do agree it’s important to consider this stuff before home buying. I think many people assume that if you can swing the mortgage payment, that’s sufficient. Same for cars. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-of-the-greatest-things-you-know-now-that-you-wished-you-knew-back-then/970041.md?page=1)