What Are Your Biggest "Buying Regrets" -- Things You Bought That You Wish You Wouldn't Have?

[seoulsearch]

Hey Everyone,

Lately I've been listening to a lot of videos about people who are "house poor" (bought a house they really can't afford,) or are under stress because of various things they bought and are having trouble paying off (cars, luxuries, trips, etc.) I feel especially sorry for the people who bought things they COULD afford at the time, but the expenses surrounding them went up so much, that now they are considering selling.

I find it to be a good learning experience and reminder to myself to try to be very careful about what I purchase.

And it's not just with big ticket items.

I've found that I can pretty easily say no to the big things and make do with something smaller or less fancy. But the places where I really have to watch myself are the little things -- like, my favorite brand of candles go on sale, and suddenly I think I can stock up for a whole year. Or I get enthused about a certain hobby, buy ALL THE THINGS one gets entranced with when discovering something new -- only to find out it isn't really for me, or I lose interest and move on, leaving a pile of things I have to sell, give, or throw away.

And it leaves me kicking myself for wasting money on things I could have avoided if I'd just been a little more mindful! Haven't we all cleaned out our kitchens, closets, and garages, lamenting about all the money we wish we could get back? (Possibly to spend on even more frivolous things we'd have to get rid of, but I digress.)

I saw one video of a young Christian mom who bought a breadmaker during The Time We Were All Trapped at Home, thinking she'd learn to make much healthier bread for her husband and kids -- only to use it twice before looking to give it away.

Can you relate?

* What things do YOU regret buying? Any big ticket items like a home, car, or vacation? What about everyday things like electronics/tech, games or consoles, kitchen/household appliances, clothes, hobbies, toys, tools, etc?

* What suckered you into buying them in the first place?

* What did you wind up doing/ are you going to do with them once you realized it was a purchasing mistake?

* What do you wish you could have rather spent the money on, and what will you do to avoid making such purchases in the future?

We've all made some bad buying decisions.

Let's talk about a few of them together!

 

[Gideon300]

Hey Everyone,

Lately I've been listening to a lot of videos about people who are "house poor" (bought a house they really can't afford,) or are under stress because of various things they bought and are having trouble paying off (cars, luxuries, trips, etc.) I feel especially sorry for the people who bought things they COULD afford at the time, but the expenses surrounding them went up so much, that now they are considering selling.

I find it to be a good learning experience and reminder to myself to try to be very careful about what I purchase.

And it's not just with big ticket items.

I've found that I can pretty easily say no to the big things and make do with something smaller or less fancy. But the places where I really have to watch myself are the little things -- like, my favorite brand of candles go on sale, and suddenly I think I can stock up for a whole year. Or I get enthused about a certain hobby, buy ALL THE THINGS one gets entranced with when discovering something new -- only to find out it isn't really for me, or I lose interest and move on, leaving a pile of things I have to sell, give, or throw away.

And it leaves me kicking myself for wasting money on things I could have avoided if I'd just been a little more mindful! Haven't we all cleaned out our kitchens, closets, and garages, lamenting about all the money we wish we could get back? (Possibly to spend on even more frivolous things we'd have to get rid of, but I digress.)

I saw one video of a young Christian mom who bought a breadmaker during The Time We Were All Trapped at Home, thinking she'd learn to make much healthier bread for her husband and kids -- only to use it twice before looking to give it away.

Can you relate?

* What things do YOU regret buying? Any big ticket items like a home, car, or vacation? What about everyday things like electronics/tech, games or consoles, kitchen/household appliances, clothes, hobbies, toys, tools, etc?

* What suckered you into buying them in the first place?

* What did you wind up doing/ are you going to do with them once you realized it was a purchasing mistake?

* What do you wish you could have rather spent the money on, and what will you do to avoid making such purchases in the future?

We've all made some bad buying decisions.

Let's talk about a few of them together!

Cars. I learned my lesson eventually. The last one I bought in 2016, paid cash and it's still in good shape. If ever I buy a new one, (not a given) it will be an EV.

 

[DeanM]

Console and handheld game devices. I have a PS2, PS4 Gamecube, DS2 and a Switch Lite. Guess what I play? PC games 😂

 

[Tall_Timbers]

I sold a pair of 20 year old F250s just because they were 20 years old. Both had been excellent trucks. I bought a new truck, a gasser to replace those diesels. The design of the body on the new truck was such that I couldn't see what I was doing when plowing, and it was horrible at towing. I drove it down to Oregon to pick up a new Cargo Trailer and on the way back I started talking about getting rid of this worthless F250... by the time I got back home to Fairbanks I was ready to give that truck back to the dealer and order something else.

I bought a used travel trailer, first one and last one for me. Turned out it needed a lot of work and some work wasn't working out. The refrigerator kept quitting on us and I had it supposedly repaired several times, but it kept quitting on us. The hot water heater quit working and nobody would sell me the part because there was some kind of recall on the water heater and for some reason they weren't repairing them because they were a fire hazard or some such thing... so I couldn't repair that. Both axles and all the springs needed replacing but I didn't figure that out until I'd been stranded a couple of times in Canada and ripped off by 2 or 3 businesses. I finally replaced all that stuff on my own, and then donated the travel trailer to a homeless shelter that sold it at an auction. I did give the homeless shelter full disclosure on the fridge and hot water heater... everything else was in good shape when I gave it to them. It's too bad that the travel trailer was such a bad experience because I enjoyed staying in trailer parks v.s. hotels.

 

[Lynx]

Regrets, I've had a few
But then again
Too few to mention...

Wait, that's the song I used last time this topic came up.

Oh well. I can't think of any other song to cover this.

I have bought a few things I realized I did not either need or want. But I considered it a learning experience, so that was tuition.

Most of my regrettable things have been from the salvage grocery. That doesn't mean I regret going there... It's just that I buy so much there that a few things have to come up bad, just from the law of averages. I go there to find neat things, not to save money. They have so much stuff that you will never see at the regular grocery store. I often buy stuff based on "at that price, why not?"

Sometimes I find out why not. But then the dog has a good day. He is usually downright happy to help me with anything I don't want to eat myself.

 

[Lynx]

My latest regret is the great value brand of club crackers. Um... Why do they taste like they have asbestos in them? Oh well. My dog eats them.

My most memorable regret was anchovies. Soooooo many things wrong with that taste.