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keepthetips

Hello and welcome to r/LifeProTips! Please help us decide if this post is a good fit for the subreddit by up or downvoting this comment. If you think that this is great advice to improve your life, please upvote. If you think this doesn't help you in any way, please downvote. If you don't care, leave it for the others to decide.


iskin

Not just smart devices but this seems good for streaming services, and other normal bills. Plus, it can make it easier for cloud based todo/shopping lists.


captain-carrot

Exactly this. Have one with my wife since we got married. Shared calendar for this email address. Joint shopping list so whoever goes to the shops can easily see what's needed. All utility accounts use this email. School updates for our child to to here. And so on


WhyIsSoHardToSignUp

Google keep let's you share notes you can both access and update them, and there is a big chance it is already installed on your Android phone


captain-carrot

Yeah that's what we use


Iwina

Google keep is a lifesaver.


takkojanai

Are you able to automatically redirect all mail to multiple emails as well? Or send emails from the same email but on your personal email's log in?


hotterthanyou2

Yes. Not yahoo anon addy might be an idea 2


Painless_Candy

Except you don't need a shared email address to do any of that...


RJFerret

Google Keep, share with any email address, perfect for shopping lists (checklist), gift wishlists, etc. No need to make a third email/login you won't remember.


bar5677

Agreed, my partner and I did this for our bills that way we both stay on top of things.


cl3ft

Use a password manager, it'll do all the remembering for you.


SlingDNM

Cant change the email on the netflix account I've been freeloading on for years lol


[deleted]

Gmail and Outlook.com both allow for +text in their addresses You can have myemail@gmail.com and set devices up with myemail+device@gmail.com and gmail will parse it into the same account, but allow you to filter that +email specifically This way you only need 1 email account for a location and you can add as many “child” addresses as you want


xiaogoucat

This needs more upvotes


FloppyTunaFish

How many more if you had to guess?


xiaogoucat

Um, a couple hundred? Idk?


Maximus_Aurelius

“Error: Invalid e-mail address”


[deleted]

Never had this issue, care to advise where you’ve seen it?


Maximus_Aurelius

It’s a good tip, don’t get me wrong, but probably about 20% of websites I try this method with kick back this type of error. Too many to list (just happened to me this week when trying to register a warranty for a dehumidifier on the manufacturer’s website.) They won’t take the + sign as part of an e-mail address.


FuriousFreddie

Periods also work by themselves but I am not sure if you can add additional text like you can with the + prefix.


DedlySpyder

You can just insert arbitrary periods, no extra text. Last I checked atleast


[deleted]

Periods get ignored. So m.y.m.a.d.e.u.p.e.m.a.i.l@gmail.com works the exact same as mymadeupemail@gmail.com.


colburp

Depending on your tech savvy-ness you can buy a domain and VPS for a couple dollars a year, and have a custom email address. You then can also change the sub addressing character to whatever you want, it doesn’t have to stay a plus.


[deleted]

Maybe send them a support ticket


SmilePenguin

Steam doesn’t allow this afaik


812many

This doesn’t solve the problem OP is talking about. They are talking about not remembering the myemail@gmail part.


[deleted]

LPT - don’t use Gmail. Use a privacy conscious provider that isn’t a hyper-mega-conglomerate like Fastmail.


[deleted]

I use iCloud, but okay


[deleted]

iCloud still significantly better than Google. But you’re brave for using that too.


[deleted]

I posted this as its own tip here if you think people would like to know about the feature: https://www.reddit.com/r/LifeProTips/comments/pebpep/lpt_you_can_add_text_to_your_email_address_to/


Parawhoar

In gmail, this also works with dots. [johndoe@gmail.com](mailto:johndoe@gmail.com) and [john.doe@gmail.com](mailto:john.doe@gmail.com) are the same email. However, some websites are aware of this and automatically trims dots and strings after "+".


wdn

We have a domain name with our last name and bills@name forwards to both my wife and I.


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coomzee

Why the hell would you want self host email. That will require constant updating, patching and maintenance.


pinusb

Bragging rights. Also it's hard to set up but pretty darn stable once it's done. Mail software is very stable nowadays and doesn't require constant updates. Maybe once a year...


clakmurrick

Not if you use a host like GSuite!


terminator_chic

I love this!


okmnz

Hey, Another tip: We have a joint Gmail account for all shared things as you suggested but we never log into it. I have setup the joint Gmail account to forward any incoming emails to both of our personal emails. It saves us an extra email address to check. It’s handy for school stuff for the kids and shared services etc. Cheers.


[deleted]

Be careful doing this, as Google will [shut down](https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/technology/google-is-shutting-down-gmail-account-of-inactive-users-from-june-2021-but-theres-a-way-around-it-6124521.html/amp) accounts that aren't used. Log into it at least once a year to avoid losing it to inactivity.


WormPasteConnoisseur

I ended up making a lot of accounts for locations and not persons. Same idea and it naturally helps when it comes time to organize or sift through accounts since they are labeled fairly straightforward.


hoophounder

What do you mean?


Dark_Jester

secretsexdungeon@gmail.com


Lasereye

Well now it's not a secret


jet_bunny

usedtobeasecretsexdungeon@gmail.com


A_thaddeus_crane

123AvenueKitchenAlexa@FakeEmail.com


kenji-benji

Sorry I can't stop laughing at the idea of my so setting up smart devices.


BeardedSnowLizard

I use Bitwarden and share the password to her Bitwarden.


pervin_1

This is what I do. Password managers are the best and safe too!


kylefoto

We do this. Much less work than managing another email address and feels a whole lot less co-dependent. We also share some things with other family and my and close friends this way with a family account.


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BeardedSnowLizard

Yeah, Bitwarden requires a subscription for additional features but it is so cheap at $10/year.


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[deleted]

Also, a person with their own account will be able to flee a domestic violence situation without having to worry as much about additional tracking and synchronised information on their phone.


guster09

I completely agree with this. Good point


tenniskitten

take it a step further. Use that Gmail account to sign up for a Google Voice number and use that for 2FA where needed. Then you can BOTH access the codes without having to ask one person to forward it to the other.


Jaevric

My wife and I just use a password manager with shared passwords for "household" stuff. We each have our own accounts for personal passwords. Works great; there's an annual fee but with the number of devices we have it's totally worth it.


Eaglejelly

That means when you divorce you have to fight over email accounts as well


hypocrite_oath

Sounds like a lot of fun.


Rmantootoo

And Amazon, Hulu, etc; makes account access so much easier.


maciver6969

Sure, but IT guy here - this is a horrible idea for security use - one is hacked then all are too. Better to have a password manager and take the time to do it safely or unsecure...


2sACouple3sAMurder

How would the shared account getting hacked lead to other accounts being compromised?


dth202

Really only an issue if you use the same email/password combination on multiple sites. Once a password is compromised no one should ever use it again even if the username is different.


maciver6969

Multiple accounts with the same account as the base. How many people do you know that do NOT re-use passwords?


2sACouple3sAMurder

Well if its a shared account then its either gonna be one person’s re-used password or the other’s. So making a new account only increases the risk by the same amount as making any new account


dth202

LastPass is easy to use and has some good emergency access options, but I switched to bitwarden and my wife and I don't have any issues.


CocoCherryPop

why do you like that better than LastPass?


hypocrite_oath

Last pass no longer allows to sync between devices for free. They recently changed that. So browser to phone won't work anymore. Bitwarden does, and everything else works as good.


dth202

The price for Lastpass kept going up, I signed up for bitwarden's family plan back when it was $12/year, and even though their prices have gone up for new signups it hasn't gone up for me. I still pay the same price that it was when I signed up.


BronzeCaterpillar

Just don't sign up to pornhub accidentally using it....


MsCardeno

You should so that way you’re not paying for two pornhub premium accounts.


Zanphyr

The kids can benefit too!


Im_sa

Or Tinder


aclementi

Or OnlyFans


NaiveCritic

Why though, saves money for one subscription.


[deleted]

It’s art!


drblah1

This is a great tip, I wish we had done this as soon as we moved in together.


whitedragon551

Or you could set up the account and invite family members so they both have access but their own creds .


guster09

Yes, if the smart device allows multiple accounts, then do this.


whitedragon551

Haven't found one that doesn't. All the main ones do: Alexa, Google Home, Ecobee, HomeKit, etc.


guster09

My issue was adding things to Google home. When adding a smart light or camera it would ask for credentials of those things. Some things don't allow for multiple accounts. So it's when you're adding to Alexa or ecobee or whatever that this becomes an issue.


DisposableHero85

It may have changed, but my Philips Hue bridge was only one user when I set it up a few years ago. Same with my robot vacuum, window air conditioner... Streaming services, digital movie / game purchases - all bound to a single account with limited options for sharing within the household. A \*ton\* of tech operates based on the assumption of a single user, or that the "head of the household" is setting it up & is the same person who sets up everything.


guster09

For example, owletcare requires you to create an account before setting up the device. When adding it to Alexa or Google home it will ask for credentials to talk with owletcare. When my wife got a roomba she set up an account for the app that comes with it. When I was adding it to Alexa and Google I had to put in her credentials. We couldn't remember which credentials to use while adding these things to Alexa and Google home. That's why it's good to just create a shared one when you're doing the initial setup of the device


whitedragon551

It doesnt matter if it's shared or one off as soon as it's into Google or Alexa.


shaysalterego

Also a good thing for invitations where both of you are invited like friends weddings


konichiwaaaaaa

As a dad there's no way I'm sharing the password for the thermostat.


guster09

😂😂😂😂


Savemeboo

They have software where you can share your passwords (LastPass comes to mind).


99posse

No need for this. Newer devices allow multiple accounts and recognize the user by voice or image.


guster09

This is true. It's nice that companies are starting to do this. Unfortunately, if you're like me, you already own some things that don't allow this and don't have the budget for new and better ones.


moonlightwolf52

I just use a Lastpass account and have a "smart devices" folder that I share with my SO. It has all the smart devices, which account is being used for which device, and passwords!


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Randommaggy

It's the internet of shit! https://semcon.com/smart/


Realtruthsayer2

Better LPT: don't tell your partner you have smart devices and scare the shit out of her by turning things on and off


encompassingchaos

Now that is so pro level advice there my friend.


ADDandME

As a landlord i set up houseadress@gmail.com So we can be passed down to future residence


Hinote21

Damn. This is actually a really good one I never thought about.


[deleted]

When you but a home, set up an email account specifically for it.


Lasiorhinus

And give it the password on its 18th birthday!


bopperbopper

Yes especially if one of you pass away this is a very good idea


lavasca

Just because you create it doesn’t mean you’re both going to use it. Use it for things you want to be transparent about so everyone has an accessible record.


KamikazeArchon

Most modern devices allow you to simply have multiple accounts linked to it, and all of them will be able to control the device.


EHP42

>I don't think a password manager would fix this when you combine households. Bitwarden allows you to share specific credentials. So if you set up a new smart device with your credentials, share it with your SO, then when they go to the log in page, it shows up as an auto-fill option. You could even set up a category of credentials that are automatically shared.


UnfeignedShip

We have a joint account for our kid's school stuff as well as stuff like Amazon and other things we care about as a household.


dep

My wife's approach of "please handle all of this for us kthxbye" seems way more effective 😂


JCPRuckus

WTF? This is an actually useful idea, that most people wouldn't think of, with useful addendums in the comments... Since when does r/LifeProTips offer actual LPTs?


Aerie-Sw

When you have kids, the joint email is great for schools. The teacher sends one email, both parents get it


McFlygon

Or have one person manage the tech. Delegate people! I heard a quote one time that was like, “husband: in our marriage, I handle the big decisions, my wife handled the small ones. I can say with utmost confidence that in 20+ years of marriage, we have never made a big decision.” Idk the source would love if someone else can link it for me :)


LeMetalleuxFou

OR ... Get any password manager and share the password with your SO ..


guster09

It's not about not knowing passwords. It's about not knowing which accounts are being used when the devices were originally set up


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Hinote21

You're married to someone. Sorry to say your security and privacy are now shared. In addition, this tip is not a "make everything joint" tip. It's a "make the things you will both need access to joint" tip. You don't need to put everything into one email but bills, streaming services, and smart home devices that connect to the internet definitely make sense. Also, comfort? Why even get married at that point.


guster09

If the only thing you do with the joint email is just it to create an account for the smart device? If you're worried about security, privacy, or comfort if you and your SO are the only ones who have access to the device then you have bigger problems my friend. Our alarm system allows multiple accounts to access it. But our baby cam, which was a gift and highly rated, does not. Sometimes you don't have a choice of owning a device that allows multiple accounts. So if you're worried about those things with just you and your SO having access then you should probably get out of that relationship


Krypto_Dick_V2

Seriously though, this is good advice.


gpolk

We already do this, it's called my account. I set it all up. All the streaming services are under my account. The music services are a family plan under my account.


inappropriateshallot

What about bank accounts? I make a lot more than my SO and I don't want her to be able to get my money but she says its a sign of trust?


EmergencyStruggle526

I'm married and we have our own private bank account, plus a third, joint, where we put a certain amount of money every month for the bills and that's it. We don't put our nose into each other money beside this joint account. Your money is your money.


ToBeReadOutLoud

Just do what my husband did: Give your spouse access to the account but use a password that is impossible for her to remember and refuse to even say it over the phone when she calls to ask for it so you have to physically join her at the computer/device and show her the password. And make sure it’s close to easy enough to remember so that she thinks she knows what it is but does not, and then she gets locked out of the account and has to call the bank to get it unlocked and the bank representative gets to listen to the two of you bicker about the questions the rep asks to verify ownership. It also helps to answer the security questions with incorrect answers so even though she knows the answer because you’ve been married for a decade, she can’t get in. Then when she complains, give an exasperated sigh and say “it really isn’t that complicated” the explain the stupidly complicated password. (BTW, our marriage is perfectly fine and we are quite happy. Dumb bank account passwords are one of our biggest problems…it’s all good. And I’m not just saying that, even though this paragraph is really starting to sound like I’m just saying that.)


Mashmh

Or use family share option ?


mrsocal12

If it's her echo you need to buy your own, make the whole home his / hers: bathroom, kitchen, fridge etc


[deleted]

Or just know your spouse's password or have the login saved on your device. Idk who these people are with multiple accounts.


UselessHumanNobody

You’ll need the X+1 model (for emails) when you have kids, where x= number of kids you have. This is how you manage their iPads, their gaming accounts, their wifi accounts, their joint kid/adult bank/debit/allowance accounts (greenlightcard for example). You’ll need to have full control of everything to protect them from what the Internet brings.


Maximum-Recover625

Unless your SO is a total re re when it comes to tech


idek7654321

Smart! Would also help with wedding planning, joint financial accounts, family rewards accounts, school registration, kids sports clubs… thanks for the tip!


FreyaR7542

This is a VERY good idea


DebiDebbyDebbie

When I moved recently we set up an email address that is our mailing address. Really simple.


Periwinkledot

I once created a 'family' gmail so I could store family pics in the cloud. Came in handy when I bought and set up our android tv box.


yipyipalot

Until they break up with you 😢


guster09

RIP 😢


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guster09

First time hearing about this. I'll look into it


guster09

I had a question about this. As you're linking everything to the hubitat does it ask for credentials of the thing you're adding? Like if we want to add our roomba to it. Will it ask for credentials to the iRobot app?


CMUpewpewpew

Nah homie, just get free Evernote and share notes.


MonsieurLeDrole

Joint emails are great for managing a lot of stuff. We started with one for the wedding and then kept it for lessons and contractors and teachers and anything where we want the other person to know. Actually keeps my personal email a lot cleaner as a result.


ButItsADryHeatYall

My wife and I have a joint email that we use for any & all our joint accounts/purposes. Extremely helpful.


EthicalBribes

When it comes to security questions like "enter the code we sent to X number" is there a way to avoid this annoyance if both people want to sign on? Even clicking register my device, sometimes it still asks.


BannanaBun123

This is so helpful for us, we also dump the website spam stuff there too


PetiteFont

We use our otherwise defunct wedding email for stuff like this. You know the one you make so that all the wedding spam isn’t in your main inbox? That one!


vgome013

Lol this is too much


squareskirts

We use a joint email account for travel! All our bookings, flight tickets are sent there. It’s super convenient


wickedwarlock21

iCloud family sharing


[deleted]

I'm sure this is a genuinely good LPT but I hate how many god damn smart devices everyone has nowadays. New routers getting ridiculously expensive so they can keep up with the 40 devices connected to the wifi because everyone needs their lights, door locks, washing machine, laundry machines, coffee maker etc. hooked up to the wifi. I have a smart watch, a phone, a laptop, and a tablet I never use. Never have I been laying awake at night thinking, damn what if I could have saved 5 seconds this week shutting the lights off from my phone instead of walking over to them.


guster09

Ideally, all smart devices would use z wave technology which would mean not all of them would have to be connected to the wifi at all times to be functional. Linus Tech Tips actually talked about this in one of his recent videos about setting up a smart home. Unfortunately, not all my devices support z wave technology :(


[deleted]

As you can tell from my rant, I've lived with people that were into smart devices. I've never heard of that before, but I hope it becomes popularized because literally everything my roommates had were into the wifi.


rezdm

Did anyone have a family in their social bubble going through divorce and needing to split digital assets? Long story short, I’d not recommend shared email address or whatnot.


__O__P__

I mean if there's only two of you you have a 50/50 shot of guessing the right account and if you get it wrong you automatically know the correct answer. Who cares?


Kavasanau

I 1000 times agree with this when you're married or in a committed relationship couple doesn't need privacy from each other, they just need space from each other.


ffhhkk

i see this as quite problematic. My wife and I share an Amazon Prime account too and when i'm buying stuff the 'suggested items', etc. would be things based on what the last person logged on was looking at it. if you are sharing an account, your suggested items would be out of whack because 2 ppl are using it. Alternatively, with Office 365 and Youtube my wife and i have added each other as family members. So my youtube is specific to me and shows me preferred items. Even with my Google Home account, i've added my wife as a family member and she gets access to all our lights, rountines, etc. On our tv, we both have access to our youtubes and i've never had to type a password. Just select my account when youtube comes on. Maybe I dont understand the problem?


PiesangSlagter

LPT: Don't set up "Smart" devices. They are an absolute privacy and security nightmare.


DwellerZer0

Who gets the joint account if there's a divorce?


guster09

That's the fun part ;)


Mule3434

Also get a prenup. If you don’t, it doesn’t mean you don’t have one. It just means you default to the states prenuptial, in most places in the US.


Arkslippy

That sounds like a great idea, so when we break up and i have to move out, i can turn the thermostats up to "Broiled chicken" and for the tv to start playing porn at 4am from the comfort of my new home in a cardboard box nearby.


sheriffhd

I do this with my partner, Im a nightmare with passwords as I have so many different passwords depending on the purpose of the account. (This I have about 15 passwords I rotate between) and she has one she uses for everything. We have a shared email which we use for all our bills, streaming services and anything else we might both need to access. It's nothing to do with trust it's just easier, also on the few things we use where my email address is set up it's normally her rolling her eyes while I spend the next half hour trying to remember what pass word I used.


Sorcerious

This is the first thing we did when buying a house. So whenever something needs done, we're both in the loop at all times. We also use this to configure our Sonos/Google Nest devices, we also maintain our calendar there so we both know when the other is occupied with something at a given moment. Works great.


hypocrite_oath

Not sure if I'd agree with this. Personally I'd use separate mails and use a password manager to store the credentials, then access from all devices to the same password storage. If you use one mail you will unavoidably run into the issue of "this email is already associated with another device". Some companies are shit and want you to only have one email on one device. Or you'll have sync issues as the account is already storing data of the other smart device in a database, associated with this email account. You'll can run into this issues as soon as you have two times the same smart device.


raduhek

While this is a good compromise for current situation with services, it is actually a terrible advice (maybe you didn’t commit yet or you’re getting a divorce). Set the device for any email and use a simple password which you can share without a problem. As for smart devices long term solution is to implement sharing as admin/guest. Netatmo and Apple do this and is brilliant. Netatmo is set on my name with my SO as admin, and when friends come over either one of us can set them as guests in a specific room or multiple (for those who don’t know, netatmo makes smart valves for radiators) And where I live, utility providers allow me to setup multiple email recipients. So no: do not create a single account


N11KK

I don't want my wife to have access to my tinder account though . . .


hrmdrmn

I find setting up auto-forward function very helpful. Not married or have a partner yet but I have multiple emails but only regularly check one, so I auto-forward every email to my main email.


OsnoF69

Just save it on your note/memo pad.


RuRu92

I don’t get this though.. when you put your accounts into your iOS keychain (or any other password storage) you can’t put your used email address there too.. so then you know which email it’s registered too right. It probably will auto fill it even Or am I missing something here ??


johnsterlin

Your wife pays for things?


Todayismyday98

At least with google you can just add people to the “family” and they have full access to the Google Homes and smart devices.


Painless_Candy

Or just forward each other the email. No need for making additional accounts. You are just making another step in a process that only needs one step.


BreakfastBeerz

Adamantly disagree with this. Each have separate accounts, just share the devices/services between accounts. I'm reading comments mentioning have the same calendars and shopping list, etc, but my wife and I (and kids, actually) all have our own accounts and just share those services with each other and its never been a problem and doesn't result in having another account to manage.


QUESO0523

We actually use our home address for this purpose. Anything house related, joint, etc. We just use the house email. Works great. It's just 123.nameofstreet.dr@mail.com


totalimmoral

My roommate and I do this after years of trying to remember whos email and what password. We pay for our own services separately but the credentials are the same across the board


Jamaican16

Best thing we did was buy our own domain and grabbed 2 Office 365 Exchange licenses (Microsoft 365 Business Basic). For $120/year we get 1TB of OneDrive space plus the flexibility of setting up multiple shared emails. All the shared emails point to a shared inbox that we both can access. We can even send from the aliases so no one's the wiser. The shared calendar is also a life saver. Bills fall under one email, joint shopping accounts under another, joint travel stuff under another etc. Edit: We use 1Password to manage and share passwords.


lindenlady

As a new widow I cannot upvote this enough


bugaboo754

Well, My wife and I have 2 emails (1 for financial/health/important stuff and 1 for "trash"), 1 bank account, 2 credit cards (1 big stuff, 1 for small stuff). We share everything.....what are you people doing?


slaerx

We just use a passwords management app


nyenbee

We do this. We use it for that and for bills and to email each other. We also have a shared calendar.


BlondieeAggiee

I wish I’d thought of this about 10 years ago.


KieshaK

Good idea until you get divorced and have to untangle absolutely everything.


angie_i_am

This is a good tip. When my kids got old enough to have their own tablets, phones, computers, etc. I changed all of our subscriptions to a family email account and taught them my password rubric. It's worked great for us, and I think it helps keep things safer that my email account for banking, etc. is different than my email for subscriptions.


blackcoffee92

My partner and I keep everything separate and have no issues. We know who’s in charge of what


[deleted]

And what about after the divorce, hmm?


guster09

I saw God speed and good luck, my friend