If you could talk to your 20 something year old self....

[JAJH]

I remember an old mate of mine at age 15, his father pushed him in to buying a block of land way out the back of nowhere.We thought he was crazy of course, spend your money on girls, booze and cars we said...but no his Dad won. He ended up marrying a girl who worked for the bank, got a ridiculously low mortgage rate, that block of land is now a high value suburb in Melbourne and he had his house paid off by age 30!

Me... At 21, I was a young copper in Melbourne, so I thought I had my head on straight, however I soon realised the girls loved a uniform. I was always told one of the three "P's" will get you. P.i.s.s, Property or Pussy. The last one snagged me. It's tough to knock back a good looking sort who wanted you for your brains! 33 years ago (I'm now 57) I married that one and when I look back, I wished I hadn't. However, I got 4 great kids who have all become decent adults, none have ever been in trouble and now my own grandkids. The ex-wife on the other hand...she made my life hell for a lot of years after divorcing her. Other than than that, I wouldn't change much at all. I haven't made a bucket load of money, but who cares? I'm not broke, my health is good and I live in the best country in the world in sunny Qld with all my kids, grandkids living close by and 2nd wife who is way better than the first. What's to change?

[2011G6E]

Slight correction...I'd need to go back to when I was 17 and start from there...I was from the generation that left school at 15 in Grade Ten and started working, so by "twenty something" we were usually well into working life and probably with a family, and decisions were long since made.

So, assuming my 17 year old self in 1982...
* That Islander family down the road with the old slightly dented six cylinder four door sedan for sale...get a loan, get that $3500 any way you can, and buy it. Then keep it. 1957 Chevs are worth slightly more than that now.
* Your first car...the 1953 Austin A30...DO NOT trade it on that old Valiant sedan in 1985. KEEP IT...it will be worth millions in laugh value over the years.
* Ten words: Your Charger. Don't be an idiot. Keep it you moron.
* Yes, your friends pretty blonde sister who's five years older than you does want you...but won't admit it until a drunken confession one night ten years later at a big BBQ celebrating her parents wedding anniversary by which time you're married with kids. Do something about it. Now.
* Do as that teacher suggested while we were all laughing when he told us they were getting Wangs at high school...learn all about computers.
* Those half acre blocks of land a couple of streets back from the beach selling for a couple of grand up at Agnes Waters/1770...don't be put off by the endless sandy dirt single lane road going up to the mozzie-infested area...keep your Charger, stop spending money on more cars after that, and buy a block. Hell, buy two.
* If you must get another car, in a couple of years two will come up within weeks of each other...your friend will be selling an XY 302 auto Fairmont sedan in perfect nick for $4000, and then his father in law will be selling his one-owner, immaculate, XB GS, 302, auto, air con, pwr str, fast glass, sunroof, red with black stripes sedan for $6500..."$5500 if you want to buy it"...get a loan, buy it, keep it.
...and most importantly...
* Spend more time with your old man...he will be gone shortly before the turn of the century and it's only later that you realise how much he meant to you...

[XD 351 Ute]

Ah yes, Agnes Water, who knew.....

Ed

[Iggle Piggle]

1. This is how to bring down Skynet.

2. This is how to stop the spread of ISIS.

3. This is how to prevent the hipster phenomenon.

In no particular order.

[xr6corey]

id be like:
hey man its me from the future...

how far into the future? 2015.....

Yea well I know its only been a year....

Yea well diddle ****** all has changed since what you are doing now so.... Yea keep on living and don't do anything I wouldn't do.

[CoupeKing]

You need to Kidnap the person that's going to be responsible for taking Hot n Spicy off Victoria's KFC menu.... they must vanish in a way that would make Jimmy Hoff'as disappearance look like slips catch.

[Adamz Ghia]

I'm 28, but assuming I could go back to 20 I wouldn't change a thing. I'd still blow my money on stupid crap and date the girls I shouldn't have and do the opposite to what the older folk told me. Doing all that has brought me to where I am now and I'm pretty happy with my life as it stands, so no real reason to change anything.

[LTDHO]

Firstly, i'd say:
"Don't send that XB GS coupe shell to the crushers"

Then:
"Life doesn't get any better, no matter how hard you try."

Finally:
"If you think kids are brats now, wait and they get worse"

[2011G6E]

Originally Posted by LTDHO

Firstly, i'd say:
"Don't send that XB GS coupe shell to the crushers"

Then:
"Life doesn't get any better, no matter how hard you try."

Finally:
"If you think kids are brats now, wait and they get worse"

Hmm...the crushers is interesting.
Another addition could be to send my younger self to the wreckers...Hiway Wreckers in particular...back in 1982/3 and buy up some of the cars sitting around, not rusted away, just dented, unloved, and partly stripped.
* The 1959 Chev with no front panels but perfect glass and taillights for $500...
* The black 1957 four door sedan with no interior but all panels and 90% of the chrome for $1000...
* The Series 1 RX7, bright orange respray, with no engine or box for $1000...
* The rolling shell HQ Monaro for a few hundred bucks...
* The XY's...oh my god, the XY's that must have gone to crusher hell back then when they'd been stripped too far to be economical for the yard to keep...used to be heaps of them there.

The list went on...

[snopony]

Originally Posted by LTDHO

Firstly, i'd say:
"Don't send that XB GS coupe shell to the crushers"

Then:
"Life doesn't get any better, no matter how hard you try."

Finally:
"If you think kids are brats now, wait and they get worse"

Hurt right in the feels the read that first line...

[kaniSS]

Screw more girls before getting married.

[b0son]

1. find a job, not a career. career is a way of you investing more of yourself in the job than your boss is willing to pay you for.

2. don't stay too long at uni. 3-4 years sooner in the workforce trumps the extra $10k/yr starting salary the extra degree provides. you can always study later, but you cant get those years at uni back.

3. buy a house sooner rather than later. don't waste money on expensive hobbies until you have.

4. have kids sooner. you might think you cant afford them, or it will affect your lifestyle, but the pluses far outweigh the minuses.

5. stay fit ... because your health will eventually catch up with you, and you'll wish you hadn't let your body go to hell in a handbasket

[raised by monkeys]

Go home. You're drunk

[99AUXR]

Originally Posted by kaniSS

Screw more girls before getting married.

I've been with my current girlfriend since 16. . .. now 22

[kaniSS]

Originally Posted by 99AUXR

I've been with my current girlfriend since 16. . .. now 22

You poor bastard !!! Wait till you get married and she starts using sex as a weapon.

[Loonar]

1. Don't sell the 5 window '36 Coupe.. !
2. Don't sell the '38 Ute.. !
3. Yes, get that loan and buy my mates XY GT ( $5,000.. ! )
4. Love my brother more .. ( lost him at 17 )

[Olbucko]

Be more considerate and understanding with your first wife, she wasn't as bad as you thought.
It's much harder to start again at 40

[Bearman]

What else would I say to my young self?? Some specifics now:
11. In 1984 you meet a girl at work. She likes you and she's built the way you like them. You like her. Nail her!! Possibly good life partner material too.
12. You're ugly so you have nothing to lose. Bonk more chickie babes.
13. Put that XA GT in the garage and leave it there. Stop using it as a daily so it won't get stolen.
14. Walk away from that XC Fairmont Sedan, it's a lemon.
15. Don't be so uptight among people, let yourself go a bit. Probably would do better at points 11 and 12 if you do so.
16. Buy that house in Port Melbourne.
17. Pay off that house in Boronia. Don't refinance it with that god damn equity loan.
18. Buy that '64 Fairlane hearse which had been converted into a ute. You like it and it's such a cool car.
19. In 1991 take that job in country Victoria, that girl you were hanging around and stayed in Melbourne for is wasting your time. She's not into you.
20. Stop spending so much money on stuff you don't need.

[Uncle Niceguy]

Hmm, just a few for me since I am only 25.
1. Grow a pair and Stand up for yourself.
2. Don't do stupid crap that gets you in trouble.
3. Don't take a gap year, it turns out bad cause no one employs you and number 2 ends up happening.
4. Go to university.

Sent from my D6653 using Tapatalk

[shazaam]

Beg family for a few bucks to buy a xb gt coupe that appeared outta nowhere. mmm red with black stripes.... *sigh*

[castellan]

I should of stood my ground full on and pointed out exactly what I thought of the building trades and all their foolish scumbag or total hopeless garbage spin.
They would get so full on angry at me, and it was like they wanted to fight me for standing up to the facts.
I regret not having just grabbing them and say, ok come outside then, if you want to play it that way, I have a right to point out my point of view without some stupid cunning grub try to walk all over me and play their halfwit game.

Yes I should of just bashed them all directly, is what I should of truly done and now today I know that I was right about them type of cunning evil people all along.

A bloke pointed out to me, that some people are not worth two pebbles of goat droppings and he was totally correct.

Why did I put up with it all, it was madness ! working ya guts out for such grubs.

Punch the first dude that comes the raw prawn directly, it's the only way !

[chevypower]

Do what you're passionate about, stick with it, become the best expert on it, and the money will come while you love what you do. I'd probably go back and be a pilot! Get married and have kids sooner.

[superyob]

Originally Posted by chevypower

Do what you're passionate about, stick with it, become the best expert on it, and the money will come while you love what you do. I'd probably go back and be a pilot! Get married and have kids sooner.

Right there!!! Traditional pathways are the road to fulfilment. Not all this other alternative crap we're fed by a society that's lost its way. I wish I had started earlier. If I could go back, I would say 'tie the knot sooner'...

[falcon_bandit]

i would tell my high school self that all the tough guys were just a bunch of scared ******, and that he should knockout every single one of them and be king of the mountain.

[Bearman]

Originally Posted by falcon_bandit

i would tell my high school self that all the tough guys were just a bunch of scared ******, and that he should knockout every single one of them and be king of the mountain.

I tried that, got the absolute shyte kicked out of me. Epic fail.

[Kingsley]

Originally Posted by Bearman

I tried that, got the absolute shyte kicked out of me. Epic fail.

Shouldve backed down from the fight. You might not have known how many it wouldve taken to kick your ***, but you knew how many they were going to use!!

[b0son]

Originally Posted by falcon_bandit

i would tell my high school self that all the tough guys were just a bunch of scared ******, and that he should knockout every single one of them and be king of the mountain.

I would have told myself to stop trying to get the approval of others. I don't even remember the names of most of them now....

[ebxr8240]

Believe it.. Should have run air cleaners instead of trumpets at rally event .. Wrecked a good 2litre engine .. Live and learn.. Shortly after I migrated to Aust... 1980 .. From diary farmer to linesman in 6 months ... 18 months latter bought a house .. Still live in it ..

[FormulaFG]

I've been giving this thread a lot of thought so here goes.....

Get a trade straight out of high school. Once you have it you should be alright for finding stable employment and you'll always have it to fall back on.

House - get one ASAP. It's the biggest asset you'll ever buy so start early so you can finish early. There is going to be a housing boom in the early 2000s so you can ride it right to the top.

Cars - Don't get involved with them. Buy a nice, decent one and maintain it. Do not fiddle with it or modify it. No hobby cars - PERIOD!

Make more of an effort to be social. Its hard to make lasting friendships when your older. (well for me it is anyway.) Find better people to hang around. One day you'll discover your "friends" were just a bunch of losers that ultimately dragged you down and by the time you realised it was too late and you will be left on your own.

Look after your body. Stay fit and healthy. Its harder to get it back when your older. Plus chicks love a fit hot guy.

Don't spend years wasting your time in a dead end job working for people that are just using you. Back your skills and intelligence and go somewhere your appreciated.

Of course there are many more specific things I could say to my 20 year old self, but the above points pretty much cover most of them. In my 33 years of living if I had taken the above advice I wonder where I would be.

[Bearman]

Originally Posted by FormulaFG

I've been giving this thread a lot of thought so here goes.....

Get a trade straight out of high school. Once you have it you should be alright for finding stable employment and you'll always have it to fall back on.

House - get one ASAP. It's the biggest asset you'll ever buy so start early so you can finish early. There is going to be a housing boom in the early 2000s so you can ride it right to the top.

Spot on, the two biggies. I'm sure most have mentioned real estate but the first point about a trade resonates with me.

My current job just sucks. Have been with this organisation for 28 years. Was good but has now gone to hell in a hand basket. If I had a trade to fall back on I would have already given my boss the middle finger and bailed. I'm 52 with no trade or any other qualifications which means I am unemployable. It's now a gritted teeth and white knuckle ride until I retire. GET OUT OF SCHOOL AND INTO A TRADE is what I'd tell my 14 year old self!!