So what are ways you have wasted money?

[LiberatedUSA]

That $230 jean thread gave me the idea for this one. Mine has been computers. From a $5,000 Alienware back when World of Warcraft came out so very long ago, to an even more expensive Falcon Northwest one not all that long ago.

So I guess that is how I like to spend the extra cash I come up with. And as I told the person in the Jean thread, at a certain point you are just paying for the name. Advice I don’t care to follow when it comes to a Falcon computer. They have top notch customer service and I don’t have to worry about building it and messing it up.

So what’s your avoidable, your own damned fault, money sink?

[captain queeg]

1. Drinkin and druggin back in the day

[Haggard Celine]

6. Yep, and cigarettes!

I practically lit money on fire and inhaled the fumes. Still do, sometimes. It's a complete waste of money.

[captain queeg]

12. The only good that came of it was that I learned to be more conservative with my money

Seemed like every time I got some extra money I’d blow it. Would have been nice to have put it into some investments. I’d be a lot better off today. But I kept me from developing other expensive habits. Not much consolation, but I get by ok in retirement.

[Haggard Celine]

17. Yeah, I've learned to be frugal.

And I know the difference between a want and a need.

[EYESORE 9001]

2. The brand-new vehicles I have bought over the years

probably are the biggest waste of money - even the ones where I thought I was getting a helluva good deal. The value still dropped precipitously once they were driven off the showroom floor.

[Freddie]

14. When I got my first "real" job after college

I HAD to have a brand new car - a 1981 Chevette - I thought they were cute. In the first year the alternator and starter went. It “pinged” if you drove over 50mph. Utter piece of junk. 3 years later I traded it and its payment book (remember those?) in for a ‘78 Datsun. Haven’t and will never buy a brand new car again.

[captain queeg]

15. New cars are never a good investment.

I drove 3rd hand junkers into my 30s then started buying new cars once in awhile. I got tired of crawling around on the ground or getting stuck in the middle of nowhere. New cars are not good money wise but it’s been worth it to me to have a reliable car. Kind of necessary if you live in semi rural areas.

[no_hypocrisy]

3. Maybe lending money to people who will never pay it back. Or trusting ex-employer to pay

back wages of $40,000.

$8,500 for a divorce
$7,500 to pay sales tax

Two of the three examples given: They can't pay me back. They died penniless.

[Cartoonist]

4. Books

I love them, but now they hang about my neck like a mill stone. (is that the right expression?)

I wouldn't mind selling them, but books are dead to the younger generations. I don't want to just give them away.

[Haggard Celine]

5. Sell them online. That's what I would do.

When I worked for Goodwill, they had people who did nothing but determine the worth of the books that were donated so they could sell the more expensive ones online. They made a bundle doing that. If you have a collection you want to sell, I think that would be your best choice.

[Cartoonist]

8. Tried that

Too much hassle for too little return.

[Haggard Celine]

10. Well I'm stumped, then, unless you want to sell them to a dealer.

Maybe you could work out a deal with a consignment shop. I can see how they might be kind of difficult to get rid of these days, however. I like to read, but I mostly buy digital copies these days. I have some old books that I keep, and I would buy hard copies of certain reference books and others that are rare and/or out of print. But I'm not a collector. I don't have enough money to be a collector. When I get more money, I'll buy some more, though.

[Croney]

16. What kinds of books do you have?

If you look at eBay "solds" you'll see that books you think are worth $10 sell for a buck plus shipping, and then you have the hassle of packing and dealing with the post office.

After years of selling books online, we quit when Covid hit, and decided not to go back. We put a dozen boxes of books out on our front sidewalk for pedestrians to browse through, and they were soon gone.

We still have a lot of books, but that albatross feeling is gone.

[Cartoonist]

28. SF mostly

Collector's editions. Worth more than a dollar, but try and get it.

[efhmc]

26. Donate them to the library. I give mine to the small town libraries near me.

My friend got good tax deductions for hers.

[Cartoonist]

29. I never see these books in a library.

I like libraries, but they have no respect for special editions. They would be put on their book sale table and sold for 50 cents.

[Sherman A1]

7. Hobbies

Mostly tabletop miniatures. Get started on a project and then the next shiny object comes along. But I have a good time.

[peacefreak2.0]

9. Is it a waste of money if it gives you joy?

Books, embroidery materials, music, baubles. I know it’s just stuff. But it’s my stuff. 😄

[Scrivener7]

11. Restaurant meals and takeout.

All my working life, people told me how much money I would save if I would just bring lunch. They were absolutely right.

During Covid, I did a lot more cooking but I just don't like having to come up with two decent meals every day.

Now I'm retired. I cook a bit more and I do save money, but I still contribute generously to the local economy.

[bucolic_frolic]

13. Don't waste time

because as they say time is money. And time is the most finite resource.

[lastlib]

18. Spent $900 on a chess set that I'll never play with......

It's beautiful to look at--English Boxwood/Blood Rosewood pieces, classic Stauton design,nicely weighted pieces. Came in a mahogany box with two fitted-coffer fabric-lined trays, and has a maple/elm-burl board. A truly beautiful set, but I doubt I'll ever have any practical use for it.

[Duncanpup]

19. Beer

[panader0]

20. Vices

Wasted money, wasted days and wasted nights.

[Elessar Zappa]

21. Shitty food.

For years I would waste all my money on fast food (burger joints, pizza, burrito stands, etc.). I eat much better now and have saved thousands in the years since I gave up my food addiction.

[Midnight Writer]

22. I have thousands of compact discs and LP vinyl records.

I spend hours a day listening to music, but now usually turn to digital sources rather than my records and CD's.

[efhmc]

27. Made sure my newest laptop still had a cd player. Have downloaded lots of them to itune and copied

onto my phone. Can listen now in my car.

[Anon-C]

23. All of it. I'm a Living Sieve!

[GemDigger]

24. Always wanted an Alienware, maybe they would have let me raid instead of being the clan farmer.

Being a hermit kind of gal, games are still my downfall. 14.99 a month (not including extras) for years and years (decades now) is a money sinkhole.

Once upon a time, a friend told me I needed a life. I told her when I needed a life I would get a better, badder, bigger comp.

[LiberatedUSA]

25. Alienware used to be the bomb.

Then Dell took it over and it wasn’t as good for a good while, then it got good again. Last I heard. I just like Falcon Northwest. Insanely expensive, but top-of-the-line.

Their customer service is grade A. They talked me through repairing an older machine long past Falcon’s warranty. When I tried that with Gateway so many years ago with one of theirs, they basically told me to piss off.

[MissB]

30. Where do you want me to start, exactly?

I bought a new electric vehicle this year. It was expensive. I do get the $7500 fed credit. I do not get the state rebate.

I am buying a new fridge and dishwasher, despite buying brand new ones in 2020. I am tearing out my entire kitchen. I’ve lived with actual plywood cabinets for 18 years and a Formica countertop. I’ve scrubbed that countertop so much that the top finish has worn through in some places. I’m reconfiguring the kitchen and as a result, I can get a wider fridge, finally. And I purposely bought a cheaper dishwasher in 2020 because I knew I’d be doing a total demo. I will offer the fridge and dishwasher to friends for free first before selling them for very little $ if no one wants them. I think my new appliance bill is at about $15k right now. I’m ok with that. Really. Others may find that to be way too much money to spend. My oven alone will be $6500, not including the vent setup. It requires a 900 CFM fan unit, and I’m choosing to have an externally mounted one. I’m choosing soapstone for the counter material and my cabinets will be inset. Sure, I could live with plywood cabinets for the rest of my life but I don’t have to.

The set of chairs I bought last year for the dining room were $700. They were “vintage”. The ones I wanted to buy to match my table were $900 each, so buying a set of four actual cherry shaker chairs for $700 was a great deal…to me. To others, it’s an extravagance.

Nothing I’m buying is delaying retirement plans or hurting my pocketbook. We were super frugal early in our lives and haven’t had any bumps along the way so we are fortunate to be able to spend a bit here and there.

[Sympthsical]

31. Still playing WoW on a seven year old PC

I think I only spent $1100 on it at the time from cyber-powered. With RAM upgraded to 24GB, pretty much everything runs still. I raid with no issues.

I used to spend a ton on games. Not so much these days. As an adult, I just don't have the kinds of time I used to. It took me nearly six months to work through Breath of the Wild on the Switch. In my 20s? Oh yeah, that would've been a week at most. I bought AoE4 on release a few weeks ago. I have spent all of one hour on it. Maybe once finals are over.

I also can't just sit for hours the way I used to, lol. If I'm working/school/gaming, every hour I just wander off for no reason.

That said. Personal things. My phone. High quality ear buds. A smart watch. A tablet to read on. I'll spend on them. Do I need the expensive kinds? Probably not. Do I work a lot and want them? Yes, I do. All my clothes are from Ross and TJ Maxx. I get shoes during Skechers' sales. I shop at Costco for everything. We never use the furnace or AC.

Just give me techy things.

[True Dough]

32. I bookmarked this thread this morning

Figured by the time I looked at it during the evening, someone else would have said penny stocks. That was my preoccupation in my mid-30s when I started self-directed investing.

It wasn't that long ago, just after the 2008-09 recession and market crash. It was one of the most opportune times to be an investor in history. But I squandered it. I was like the kid in the candy store. Kept buying and selling way too quickly figuring there was a better dollar to be made elsewhere. Not quite day-trading, but close. You'd think it would be hard to pick losers during that period, but I found some!

I chose a few winners as well, early on, actually, I was up 5x my initial investment in one stock and 6x in another. But I held on to those ones and wound up making only a small gain in one and actually rode the other into a loss.

All this while making transactions through one of the major bank's online platforms instead of a discount brokerage because I was so inexperienced. So I was paying through the nose for every buy and sell, but I figured I'd make it back with my stock picks.

Such immaturity. No guidance. Just young and foolish. |

To this day, I'm still holding one of those stocks, a resource play (in copper). I believe it still has potential and there's very significant insider ownership. But if I'm wrong, I'm wrong. It would just be another kick in the keister.

[Trueblue1968]

33. i bought a bunch of LOSER stocks. I wish i had KEPT the QVC stock i bought in 1986, but i sold it.

.....................


I AM ~~ REALLY ~~ STOCK STUPID. i will never do it again.

[Scrivener7]

34. I said that when I bought Chipotle right before the norovirus

mishigas.

It ended up paying for my car.

You never know.

[Coventina]

35. Music: CDs, Albums, Vinyl, Concerts, Tshirts - yes, I'm a fangirl.

[3catwoman3]

36. Impulse buying of clothes I...

…never wore.

[yellowdogintexas]

37. Christmas Tree Ornaments!! (and assorted other Holiday decorations)

We have not gone all out with decorations for years. We own a large 8 foot tree and a 4 foot pre lit table top tree. We have not gotten out the big three for maybe 5 years.
Working our way through the many boxes of ornaments I realized we have put a lot of $ into these. We can only get about 1/4 of our ornaments on the smaller tree. Thirty nine years of adding some every year really increases the count.

I did identify a large assortment which I can either sell or donate to a thrift store. We bought a display tree one year and we had to take all the decorations too. They are color co-ordinated so someone could put a really nice tree together with them.

Also books, DVDs and CDs, and shawls. I love shawls!!! I have nearly 100 cookbooks and am picking out the ones I really need to keep.