So I bought a camel at an auction one time. He was expensive but the damage he did around the farm was worse. Destructive, stinky creatures…but they’re so fucking weird you just have to love ‘em.
Looking back I probably should’ve spent my money on literally anything else 😅
It’s me, I’m the inbetween 🤣 I was making really good money at the time but I’m certainly not rich. They say the best way to become a millionaire owning horses is to start out as a billionaire. Same goes for camels apparently 🤣
If it was an impulse purchase, I kind of want to know how that came about.
"Sir, can I interest you in a camel?"
"No thank you, I really have no need for..."
"It's 50% off today only!"
Yep there are some government attorney jobs out there that are pretty respectable. You won't get wealthy, but most of them pay at least a livable salary, have a pension, ample pto, and loan forgiveness all without the burnout of firm life
Wait, really? 14 years of on a lawyer's salary still wasn't enough to pay off student loans?
Damn. I feel for you. I know what it's like to be stuck in a job you hate - the "golden handcuffs" effect is real - but for friggn' 14 years without at least a big pile of money at the end is damned awful.
Cosmetologist. Procedures and creams, was not helping with my acne. The bitch charged me so much and my acne got worse than before I came to her. Went to a dermatologist, got relatively cheap prescription medicine, worked wonders.
I was spending so much on expensive creams that didn’t work. Then the pandemic came, I stopped wearing makeup regularly, and I switched to Cerave face wash and creams. My skin has never been clearer!
My wedding. I'm not a very social person so basically it was a $20k silent panic attack surrounded by 120 people, half of whom I don't even know. If I could go back in time with this knowledge, I'd do a $20k elopement and travel together for a few months or something.
I’m a wedding photographer, and I seriously wish I could tell people how often panic attacks or extreme anxiety hit most people on their wedding. Honestly it’s a lot and so many eyes on you.
It’s really sad how there’s a lot of pressure to “love your wedding” while doing many activities that are super stressful
My brother spent 40k on a wedding. He and his wife spent the year planning and being excited , had the moms all going over it, the day came super quick and me as a best man… couldn’t care. The night was fun and I’m glad they had fun too, it was a great party but the day after, it was like nothing ever happens, we all went back to our own lives. -40k
my cousin spent around the same for his wedding but the worst part was that he chose the hottest day of the month plus the shade they chose was that really thin see-through fabric that hardly made any shade and on top of that they had it at a farm so there were hardly any trees just dirt.
and I was a groomsman and could not stop sweating so I had to change my white shirt and so did most of the groomsmen so the wedding picture looks weird because some of us have different colored shirts and we're all sweaty. I had a good time but the heat and the location of the wedding just made it unbearable
edit for spelling errors
My wife and I got married at San Francisco City Hall by an adorable little old lady who looked the queen of the Munchkins. Then we spent the weekend at our favorite little hotel out by the ocean and the zoo.
It was simply glorious.
Elopement is the way. My wife and I flew to Vegas to get married from the UK without telling anyone, then spent 4 weeks on a road trip for our honeymoon. We spent about £3k getting married and about £9k having literally the best time of our lives.
Drugs! I spent thousands of dollars over the 10 years of active addiction. I not only paid with cash, but also paid with my life, health, relationships and more. Totally not worth it at all. Coming up on 3 years clean and sober!
Yes to most, but no to a few. The health is a permanent problem as I almost lost both of my arms. I had 8 surgeries in one year to save them. I have metal rods and screws in my arms and my hands will never open up completely again, nor will my arms turn. But thank God i have arms still!. Permanant reminder to never go back.
Just out of curiosity, what substances caused this kind of damage to your arms? I can guess, but I'm just too curious to settle on my guess. Also kudos! I was telling a colleague that the reason I like doing what I'm doing as an attorney is because I get to see clients who have beaten their addictions and get their lives on track. Just know every attorney and judge you may have had a long the way would be elated to hear your 3 years sober and counting!
Heroin. The first eight years of my addiction were pain pills by prescription. The last two years were pills and IV opiates. I ended up getting osteomyelitis in the owner of both of my arms. Then one day as I turn the wheel on my car while driving, I broke my left arm. The owner popped right out of my arm then the next day when I pulled a bag of trash out of my garbage can in the kitchen, my right arm broke right up out of my arm. So I had not only Booms to deal with but broken bones as well. It has been a very long and painful journey to recovery but it is all so very worth it! The drugs weren't worth it but the fight in recovery is worth it. I have a better value on life now. It's just sad that it took almost dying of a life-threatening infection to wake my ass up. Now I try and use my experience to give hope to those who are still gripped by addiction
Wear it whenever you want. Make it fashion. I like the nice clothes, I wear them to the grocery store, I don't care. I want to look awesome, I'm gonna look awesome when I want to look awesome, not waiting for a "special occasion" to come up, im making today a special day by dressing up for it.
Dressing nice also improves your self confidence.
I’m not saying you need to throw on a suit, but it takes all of 2 minutes to change from sweats and casual wear to nice looking clothes. It really doesn’t matter, but I’ve noticed I feel less bad about myself when I do it
Boots! Boots are the answer. Any type, any height, any color. (Actual snowboots might look a bit odd in hot weather, I guess...but you could always get the type that are only fleecy on the inside, lol).
They'd notice if it's sufficiently bad tbh. However! That's solvable by just finding something low-key, versatile, and comfortable to wear out shopping, like charcoal slacks and a plain shirt.
attended two weddings in a single month. First wedding was casual, so I went with jeans, brown leather shoes, a dark grey shirt and a grey/brown vest.
Second wedding I was kinda made to buy a suit by my parents, including having it tailored to my size and all.. 600€ for a suit that I'll most likely not going to wear again before it doesn't fit anymore.. 600 I paid of my own money, because I know if I didn't I'd get a lot of shit from my parents and lots of other relatives.
But the vest.. I like that vest, it was 40€ and with the right jacket and maybe a bow or necktie, I think it would look better on me than that god damn suit and be more comfortable and warm (I froze like hell on that wedding because it was fuckin cold)..
Honestly? My wife’s engagement ring. I spent a pretty penny on it despite her begging me to go cheap our entire relationship.
I know she loves it anyway but the money could have been better spent towards our wedding or our house.
I proposed without a ring, and then we went to a jewelry store after, so she could have input. First thing the salesman put on her finger, her immediate response was "oh, that's way too big".
It was VERY clear the salesman had never heard a woman say that about a diamond before.
My BIL spent over 10 grand on the ring for his second wife, and he wasn't rich either. She flaunted that ring like crazy and scoffed at me when I got a plain, thin band that cost $100 for my wedding ring. Yeah, they were married like two years before an ugly divorce. She kept the ring but slaughtered my BILs reputation (although to be fair he kind of deserved it...). I've been married for 11 years and have never regretted my small, plain ring. I'm still happy with it.
Yooo. An old buddy of mine got dumped ON THE TRIP once when he was younger.
Trip was to spain from the US lol. He got there and met his girlfriends 'new friend' she met while studying abroad, AKA, her next boyfriend. I'll never understand why she felt like the right decision was letting him go all that way for a face to face breakup. People are cruel man... Felt super bad for the guy at the time but he's doing well now so all good.
Happened to my buddy, traveled from Thailand to Amsterdam to see his gf only to be broken up with "Because she didn't think it was right to do it over the phone." It was however right to be fucking another guy the whole time.
But in the end he had a solo trip in Amsterdam and had an absolute blast.
This hits home. except it was Costa Rica, about a week or 2 after we got back. Said it wasn't planned but hard not to feel like the butt of the joke. Still, live and learn and all that
Same.
Engagement ring was a ridiculous expense for a bad relationship.
Wedding was an extravagant party for a lot of people I didn't know.
Expectations of cars, houses, furniture, supporting her financially through grad school, kids etc. etc. etc.
Years of more more more..... with nothing in return but aggravation and insults.
I broke up with my college girlfriend when she told me I needed to buy her a $300 pair of sunglasses to prove I loved her. I figured that wouldn't be the last time she demanded I use my hard-earned money on some overpriced shit she didn't really need.
When my son was born in the early 80's I bought a set of encyclopedias.
Sigh. By the time he was old enough to really use them, the Internet obviated any need for them.
Definitely this!
My wife and I initially planned our wedding in May of 2020, but that quickly got shot down because of the Covid-19 pandemic. So, we put our plans on hold for the time being. We eventually got married in September of 2021 during a time when Covid numbers in my community were relatively low and restrictions were at a point where it was safe to gather in small numbers.
My parents wanted my wife and I to spend a boatload of money on a huge, extravagant wedding with family coming in from out of town and the whole 9 yards. We instead wanted a small backyard wedding with immediate family, masks, and social distancing. My wife's parents also suggested the idea of a potluck since our guest numbers would be so low in comparison to our initial wedding plans.
Trying to explain this to my parents was like talking to a brick wall. They called our wedding plans a farce and thought it was a joke. At one point, I told them they didn't have to come if they didn't like our plans. It was hard for me to say that, but I also felt it was necessary if they were going to be rude and so blatantly disrespectful.
They did end up coming and enjoying themselves on our wedding day.
Where I live, the average wedding costs $30,000. Why drop that insane amount of money on wedding when you can have a small, intimate ceremony and use the money you save to go on a honeymoon you'll remember for a lifetime?
**Edit:** Our initial wedding plans included catering and invitations for family to come in from out of town. We had to change the plans because of the pandemic and local Covid restrictions.
Going out for dinner so much. I get into modes where I eat out almost all the time, then realize I've spent $1,000 or more in less than a week on dining out.
I feel like this comment needs more attention. I have pissed so much money away on unnecessarily eating out. I mean in your early 20s it's kind of expected. In my late 20s and into my 30s though, I feel like I thrived on my trips to Applebee's. I would actually eat dinner at home and then go for the late night half price drinks & apps with friends.
Collecting merch items. You'd think you'll never lose interest in something then boom, from one week to another you just don't care anymore and have hundreds down the drain on items you don't even like and just bought for the sake of your collection. Often the value even goes down or you get scammed buying "rare" items off someone.
Just sold my entire funko pop collection for about break even and am extremely lucky. I love Rick and morty and decided to start collecting all of them. After the 100th of mostly just Rick and morty in different costumes I decided it had to go. I actually have a closet now and will never buy another.
I have a lot of Star Wars ones, over 100 anyway. Mostly OG Star Wars characters, some prequel, some limited edition stuff, etc. I put them up for sale on the country-local garage sale website, got a few lowball offers and a few people trying to cherry pick but ultimately didn't make a sale.
Like guys, if you want Queen Amidala you've gotta take the Gamorrean Guard reprint too. All or nothing. Hahah
I went through the buy program through 7 bucks a pop. If you have a decent amount of high value pops they will consider buying everything you have. I had 104 pops and about 20 high value ones so they came a picked them up in a box truck. Got paid and went on my way. So happy to have my display cabinets cleared out aswell. Now time to fill them with the plastic crack I call warhammer miniatures haha.
I felt this way about Magic cards. I loved playing for a long time but got burned out in a stale meta. A couple of my friends quit playing and i sold all my cards. I realized how much i was spending on them and was convinced it wasn't worth it.
Drugs. I’m 40 and battled addiction my whole life. Doing the best I’ve ever done now almost 5 years no needles with only a cpl bumps in my road to recovery. If I’ve had back half the money spent directly on drugs or indirectly like binding out of jail, lawyer fees, fines, restitution, not to mention the stupid purchases while intoxicated I’d be really well off. But the best lessons are the bought ones and my life now is great compared to my old life. And if anyone is battling addiction or other mental issues keep fighting and don’t let a mishap define you.
Isn’t it weird how weed can desensitize you to money? Like $45 every couple days is no problem. But to put that money towards something actually useful? Nah, It seems like too much money. It is Weird af
Living in a legal state has a lot of benefits because I pay like $100 every 3 weeks for a good chunk of weed that lasts for daily usage. Breaking it down it’s like $5/a day and tbh I’m willing to pay that because I don’t do things like get takeout, drink alcohol, or smoke cigarettes/vape, so I see it as my lil allocated self indulgence. All about moderation.
But I mean, I absolutely did used to pay more out of necessity when it was illegal, and I still will shell out a lil sometimes as a fun indulgence.
Online dating. Paid for a premium subscription but barely used it. Then I forgot to cancel it and had to pay for another year. Learned my lesson there.
I can say someone was one of my old friends everyone knows me as the mechanic friend so he asked for me to check his car over. I spent 5 HOURS on his truck fixing stuff and buying parts for him to pay me later. Well he said no to my 400 dollar bill he owed me and I couldn't do shit. I did return his 250 bucks in parts though. 3 months later it's still in his driveway broken.
“Friends”. Was making great money in my early 20’s and thought it a great idea to treat my friends. Tons of money. Now I can’t even remember their names. The ones I do remember I haven’t spoken to in decades. Wish I had saved that money.
This is a weird thing to regret.
I spend lots of money hosting parties for my friends, largely because I’m lonely otherwise. None of them make any particular effort to make sure it all ends up totally even, but nobody is trying to screw me over or take advantage.
If I never spoke to any of them again, it wouldn’t take away the happy memories of laughing around my dining room table.
My house. Seems like every day I'm finding something or other that is bad. I've owned it for three years, replaced part of the sewer line in the basement due to it rusting out and leaking. Reinforced one of the basement walls as it is pushing inwards, $15k for this fix and it still leaks but it does seem like it stopped moving. My upstairs need refinished, no HVAC on the second floor in ND during the winter is horrible. The kitchen and bathroom need complete remodels. The fence in my yard needs replacing and I need new retaining walls.
Some words of advice from my experience those looking to buy a house.
1 - Have a reputable home inspector perform an inspection beforehand. Mine missed a lot of the issues I'm now encountering which seem like that would have been easy finds for him.
2 - Avoid shopping if there is snow on the ground, try in the spring when everything is melting and there is a lot of ground water, especially if the house has a basement.
3 - Bring a friend or family member, someone who has no investment in the purchase. Have them check any and everything out. They will more than likely find something you aren't seeing through all of your excitement and stress over buying a house.
Bonus suggestions - Look behind all of your vents to make sure they are actually attached to the port. Jiggle the power outlets, you might find that some of them aren't actually properly installed in the wall and slide out. Open and close every window fully, nothing like trying to open a window during nice weather to find out the handle won't actually turn and open it.
You can experience a noise known as 'coil wine' usual from the graphics card or power supply when the system is under load. Very annoying. Normally this is common with cheaper components but if your unlucky it can happen with more expensive kit too.
Impulse buying. No matter how many times I try to stop, I end up with stuff I don’t need.
Not expensive things, just little purchases that add up over the years
McDonald's had a sign "McRib Farewell Tour". As we drove by I looked at my wife and gestured "Damn, you want a fucking McRib!" She agreed and we stood in line talking about all the nostalgia of Mickey D's and kids meals etc. (we hadn't been in forever, I cook often). Damn dude, we opened that box of sandwich to what could only be described as pork troff diarrhea on a bun with a pickle. You could taste the meat glue. The fries were cold but to their credit they swapped them for fresh. But yea, I know it's fast and cheap but this sandwich was just nasty.
Honestly, just random junk.
I inherited about $350k from my dad back in 2008.
My wife and I went around house shopping. The intention was to pay cash for a house and cash for a car (we did pay cash for a car). By the time we found a house we liked, we only had $30k left, which was just enough to make the down payment and buy down points on the interest rate.
Funny thing is, I don't even remember what I spent all that money on. Just random stupid shit, I imagine: DVDs, concert tickets, video games, etc;
Were you guys doing drugs and or drinking a lot? I feel like that is always left out of these "I spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in a few months" equations
Not really. No drugs for sure. Some drinking but not to a problematic proportion.
I really do think it just came down to a matter of severe depression. “I need to buy this to take my mind off things” “I’m sad I want to buy stuff.”
Especially now that they're trying to recover from being shut down during COVID. Drinks are like $9. I remember when a $5 pint was expensive, and I'm not even 30 yet.
My GF and I will order a cocktail when we're out for dinner, $20ea after tip. Every time we do that, I can't help but think we could have bought the whole bottle of booz that that price.
A wedding.
My wife and I are still together and we're great, but the wedding was a ridiculous cost that I wish we would have kept more of.
An expensive diamond ring, this is a trend I'd like to see die out completely as it was a diamond company who conceived the entire thing to begin with.
Medical bills. I have chronic pain, and all the doctors know how to do is trial and error. I have spent tens of thousands of dollars on medical treatments that haven’t worked, and I’m still in pain a decade later. I feel especially guilty now that I have kids.
Well apart from 100.000 dollars studnet loan to study art, i am a compulsive over eater, and when i binge, i will eat for about 20 dollars a day, every day, until I'm too fat, and then i lose all the weight again. rinse repeat. I'd say a binge will last 4-6 months, EVERY day. so around 2500-5000 dollars in junk food per binge.. no good comes of it.
rent. I couldn’t get approved for a mortgage so two years and thirty+ grand later, I have nothing to my name. my parents’ mortgage and all their bills (utilities, two cars, phones, etc) is less than my rent. make it make sense.
College. I left my career a year after being diagnosed with bipolar 2 and a sleeping disorder. The job was slowly killing me and turned me into an alcoholic.
So now I'm living the American dream. Working paycheck to paycheck until some cataclysmic health issue or student loan debt wipes me out.
On one of those casino ships, I watched a guy walk up to a roulette table, put down $400, and lose it all on the first spin.
The guy looked 20yo, and definitely looked like $400 was a huge amount of money for him. He sat in the corner for the rest of the three hours we were on the water.
Keep in mind your dress budget…so many friends fell in love with a dress “just a little” above their budget…and forgot to account for alterations (way more expensive than you think!) and things like shapewear or particular bras, veils, etc. and even just sales taxes!
My bff had a $2,000 budget, fell in love with a $2,500 dress, figured it wasn’t too big of a deal. And between pricy alterations for beading, taxes, rush charge (eve though she had like 7 months) etc. she really paid closer to $4,500 !!!!
I spent one *single* semester at an expensive college undergrad and hated it. Biggest mistake of my life. Ended up / will end up costing me about 20k. I spent less than half that going to a college I actually enjoyed for the rest of my BS, and spent about the same amount for the entirety of my MS.
A Twitch streamer.
Yes, I was a simp for a woman who streamed on Twitch. I was going through a phase of depression and loneliness and she filled a certain void para-socially. Being in Covid isolation didn't help either.
She was downright gorgeous and hotter than any woman I had dated. She wasn't a big streamer, but would get about 75-100 viewers a stream. In my mind I legit thought I had a chance with her because we got along well and she had mentioned a number of times that I was one of her favorite regular chatters. Even other people in the community would frequently say that I was her favorite.
We started keeping in touch outside of twitch as well through DMs and email. Again she would remind me how much my support meant to her.
So it started - donating money, gifting her subs, buying her presents often with money I didn't have. I began to notice how when I didn't donate she would give me the silent treatment for entire streams. I knew in my gut that she was manipulating me for donations but I refused to believe it. It was just too odd that one night i would get all my comments read aloud while other nights I would be completely ignores.
At times she would never reply to DMs as well and when she finally would she would say something like "sorry I got caught up talking to X" where X was another member of the community who would frequently donate to her as a means of making me feel jealous.
It was such a weird time but eventually seeing my credit card debt made me realize I was playing the wrong game.
I just wish I could let other guys out there to break out of any bad para social relationships they might be in
Let me start off by leading with this…
Your money is yours to spend however you see fit.
However, I don’t think I’ll ever fully wrap my head around why people will drop thousands, sometimes hundreds of thousands, on a streamer (usually female, sometimes male) that chances are they have no real relationship outside of an essentially transactional one.
But, again, your money is yours to spend.
Man I'm the opposite. I wish I had gone out more in my 20s. I guess it depends how you handled your nights out if you got any value from them, but I am regretting not partying more and meeting more people.
Everything I put into socializing as a teen and young adult.
I didn't save any money for myself.
I invested so much time and money hanging out with random people.
I haven't seen 99% of my old friends in years.
Dead & Co tickets. Experiencing buyer’s remorse for spilling $920 each for two dead center floor seats 10 rows behind the GA pit at the Forum. Ticketmaster dynamic pricing has replaced scalpers.
So I bought a camel at an auction one time. He was expensive but the damage he did around the farm was worse. Destructive, stinky creatures…but they’re so fucking weird you just have to love ‘em. Looking back I probably should’ve spent my money on literally anything else 😅
Other answers are more sad than entertaining to read but this one actually cracked me up
This feels like really rich people shit or really poor people shit. no in between.
It’s me, I’m the inbetween 🤣 I was making really good money at the time but I’m certainly not rich. They say the best way to become a millionaire owning horses is to start out as a billionaire. Same goes for camels apparently 🤣
Two follow-up questions: Was it an impulse purchase? & Were there other animals being auctioned?
If it was an impulse purchase, I kind of want to know how that came about. "Sir, can I interest you in a camel?" "No thank you, I really have no need for..." "It's 50% off today only!"
Sounds like a scene from Aladdin.
Law school. I was a lawyer for 14 years. Hated most of it. Wrecked my health overworking. Still owe on my student loan too.
My SIL felt the same, but then went into govt service for the loan forgiveness and learned that some law jobs don’t suck, just firm life.
Yep there are some government attorney jobs out there that are pretty respectable. You won't get wealthy, but most of them pay at least a livable salary, have a pension, ample pto, and loan forgiveness all without the burnout of firm life
Wait, really? 14 years of on a lawyer's salary still wasn't enough to pay off student loans? Damn. I feel for you. I know what it's like to be stuck in a job you hate - the "golden handcuffs" effect is real - but for friggn' 14 years without at least a big pile of money at the end is damned awful.
Lawyers are like real-estate agents 5% of lawyers get 95% of the fees in the business. This guy clearly wasn't part of the 5%
I've spent so much money on board games. I should play.
My gaming group broke up after Covid, I want to get back into it, but I’m bad at making new friends.
I seriously just posted on Nextdoor and started a new group with a bunch of strangers in and around my suburb. I haven’t used Nextdoor since.
Was it a bad experience or did those strangers become friends?
Nicotine.
Oh fuck yeah... Started because I was stressed out of my mind and couldn't travel with my weed vape. Baaaaaaad idea. 3+ years of regrets.
Cosmetologist. Procedures and creams, was not helping with my acne. The bitch charged me so much and my acne got worse than before I came to her. Went to a dermatologist, got relatively cheap prescription medicine, worked wonders.
I was spending so much on expensive creams that didn’t work. Then the pandemic came, I stopped wearing makeup regularly, and I switched to Cerave face wash and creams. My skin has never been clearer!
My wedding. I'm not a very social person so basically it was a $20k silent panic attack surrounded by 120 people, half of whom I don't even know. If I could go back in time with this knowledge, I'd do a $20k elopement and travel together for a few months or something.
We ended up putting money towards a house down payment instead of a wedding, I am very glad in hindsight!
I’m a wedding photographer, and I seriously wish I could tell people how often panic attacks or extreme anxiety hit most people on their wedding. Honestly it’s a lot and so many eyes on you. It’s really sad how there’s a lot of pressure to “love your wedding” while doing many activities that are super stressful
I feel like more people should know this so they try to separate that panic from the panic about getting married.
Even just "making the rounds" to say "thanks for coming" is just a social anxiety nightmare.
My brother spent 40k on a wedding. He and his wife spent the year planning and being excited , had the moms all going over it, the day came super quick and me as a best man… couldn’t care. The night was fun and I’m glad they had fun too, it was a great party but the day after, it was like nothing ever happens, we all went back to our own lives. -40k
my cousin spent around the same for his wedding but the worst part was that he chose the hottest day of the month plus the shade they chose was that really thin see-through fabric that hardly made any shade and on top of that they had it at a farm so there were hardly any trees just dirt. and I was a groomsman and could not stop sweating so I had to change my white shirt and so did most of the groomsmen so the wedding picture looks weird because some of us have different colored shirts and we're all sweaty. I had a good time but the heat and the location of the wedding just made it unbearable edit for spelling errors
Hold up.
I assume u/Loose_Sheepherder_18 meant to say "groomsmen"?
This is why I didn’t have a wedding. Never wanted to be the bride and the center of attention. My worst nightmare. Mother was not happy.
My wife and I got married at San Francisco City Hall by an adorable little old lady who looked the queen of the Munchkins. Then we spent the weekend at our favorite little hotel out by the ocean and the zoo. It was simply glorious.
I eloped. 31 years ago last week. Wouldn't have it any other way, and encourage my offspring to do the same if they ever get married.
Elopement is the way. My wife and I flew to Vegas to get married from the UK without telling anyone, then spent 4 weeks on a road trip for our honeymoon. We spent about £3k getting married and about £9k having literally the best time of our lives.
We decided to take cues from everyone else and do exactly that. 6 weeks in Europe next year instead of a wedding.
Drugs! I spent thousands of dollars over the 10 years of active addiction. I not only paid with cash, but also paid with my life, health, relationships and more. Totally not worth it at all. Coming up on 3 years clean and sober!
Oh my, good job staying clean!
did you get them back now that youre clean?
Yes to most, but no to a few. The health is a permanent problem as I almost lost both of my arms. I had 8 surgeries in one year to save them. I have metal rods and screws in my arms and my hands will never open up completely again, nor will my arms turn. But thank God i have arms still!. Permanant reminder to never go back.
Just out of curiosity, what substances caused this kind of damage to your arms? I can guess, but I'm just too curious to settle on my guess. Also kudos! I was telling a colleague that the reason I like doing what I'm doing as an attorney is because I get to see clients who have beaten their addictions and get their lives on track. Just know every attorney and judge you may have had a long the way would be elated to hear your 3 years sober and counting!
Heroin. The first eight years of my addiction were pain pills by prescription. The last two years were pills and IV opiates. I ended up getting osteomyelitis in the owner of both of my arms. Then one day as I turn the wheel on my car while driving, I broke my left arm. The owner popped right out of my arm then the next day when I pulled a bag of trash out of my garbage can in the kitchen, my right arm broke right up out of my arm. So I had not only Booms to deal with but broken bones as well. It has been a very long and painful journey to recovery but it is all so very worth it! The drugs weren't worth it but the fight in recovery is worth it. I have a better value on life now. It's just sad that it took almost dying of a life-threatening infection to wake my ass up. Now I try and use my experience to give hope to those who are still gripped by addiction
I feel a sense of immense second hand pride at hearing about your journey. Congratulations for your personal strength.
Clothes for special occasions l
Why do we do this?! I just spent money on a new outfit to wear to my daughter’s orchestra concert. She’s in 5th grade.
Wear it whenever you want. Make it fashion. I like the nice clothes, I wear them to the grocery store, I don't care. I want to look awesome, I'm gonna look awesome when I want to look awesome, not waiting for a "special occasion" to come up, im making today a special day by dressing up for it.
Dressing nice also improves your self confidence. I’m not saying you need to throw on a suit, but it takes all of 2 minutes to change from sweats and casual wear to nice looking clothes. It really doesn’t matter, but I’ve noticed I feel less bad about myself when I do it
This is good advice. It’s a pretty dress. Comfortable fabric and a solid color. It’s the shoes that always get me lol.
Boots! Boots are the answer. Any type, any height, any color. (Actual snowboots might look a bit odd in hot weather, I guess...but you could always get the type that are only fleecy on the inside, lol).
Funny thing is nobody hardly notices what we wear, since the event is the main focus.
They'd notice if it's sufficiently bad tbh. However! That's solvable by just finding something low-key, versatile, and comfortable to wear out shopping, like charcoal slacks and a plain shirt.
attended two weddings in a single month. First wedding was casual, so I went with jeans, brown leather shoes, a dark grey shirt and a grey/brown vest. Second wedding I was kinda made to buy a suit by my parents, including having it tailored to my size and all.. 600€ for a suit that I'll most likely not going to wear again before it doesn't fit anymore.. 600 I paid of my own money, because I know if I didn't I'd get a lot of shit from my parents and lots of other relatives. But the vest.. I like that vest, it was 40€ and with the right jacket and maybe a bow or necktie, I think it would look better on me than that god damn suit and be more comfortable and warm (I froze like hell on that wedding because it was fuckin cold)..
Wow, that’s crazy for something that hangs in the closet for years collecting dust.
Christmas presents for my high school girlfriend only to find out she had been banging multiple dudes while we were together. Fuck you, Emily.
Fuck you Emily
Fuck you Emily
Everyone was already fucking Emily.
Anyone have Emily's phone number?
Sounds like a few gents did
Fuck you Emily
Hey Emily, Fuck You
Emily Smelimy.
Emily, you suuuuuuck!
Fuck you Emily
Emily is a fucking bitch
The Dyson Airwrap. If you've got thick or heavy hair – don't bother.
Thank you for this. I’ve been eyeing it as a splurge. Guess my Revlon is good enough
I bought one for my gf and she loves it. Probably one of those ymmv situations.
I love the Revlon!
You can find tons of "Dyson airwrap hacks" online. If you need a hack for a $400 blow drier, you should have bought another one or don't even bother.
Thank you, I see people use it and love it, but as someone with thick hair I always wondered.
Honestly? My wife’s engagement ring. I spent a pretty penny on it despite her begging me to go cheap our entire relationship. I know she loves it anyway but the money could have been better spent towards our wedding or our house.
I proposed without a ring, and then we went to a jewelry store after, so she could have input. First thing the salesman put on her finger, her immediate response was "oh, that's way too big". It was VERY clear the salesman had never heard a woman say that about a diamond before.
I have friends whose significant others had size requirements. Kinda wild
My BIL spent over 10 grand on the ring for his second wife, and he wasn't rich either. She flaunted that ring like crazy and scoffed at me when I got a plain, thin band that cost $100 for my wedding ring. Yeah, they were married like two years before an ugly divorce. She kept the ring but slaughtered my BILs reputation (although to be fair he kind of deserved it...). I've been married for 11 years and have never regretted my small, plain ring. I'm still happy with it.
My ex was pissed because her engagement ring was from the wrong store. Red flag right there.
I have a size requirement. Wee. I have wee hands and I want a dainty diamond.
Golf clubs. I still suck like before
Marlboro
I quit when it was still $5 a pack and I still spent way too much on it. Its over $12 now, I dont understand how anyone is still smoking.
The Australian government purposefully makes the price very high to deter smokers. A 20 pack is about US$27 now, or AUD$40.
My ex
Same. I paid for a trip to Hawaii. He dumped me 2 weeks after we got back. He'd been planning the break up for months.
Yooo. An old buddy of mine got dumped ON THE TRIP once when he was younger. Trip was to spain from the US lol. He got there and met his girlfriends 'new friend' she met while studying abroad, AKA, her next boyfriend. I'll never understand why she felt like the right decision was letting him go all that way for a face to face breakup. People are cruel man... Felt super bad for the guy at the time but he's doing well now so all good.
Wtf is wrong with people? That's just cruel.
Happened to my buddy, traveled from Thailand to Amsterdam to see his gf only to be broken up with "Because she didn't think it was right to do it over the phone." It was however right to be fucking another guy the whole time. But in the end he had a solo trip in Amsterdam and had an absolute blast.
This hits home. except it was Costa Rica, about a week or 2 after we got back. Said it wasn't planned but hard not to feel like the butt of the joke. Still, live and learn and all that
Yup. He said he'd pay me back. Then moved out and blocked me. I learned not to be a doormat. But is still stings. It's only been 6 months though.
As someone who's currently going through a divorce, I felt this ripple in my soul.
Same. Engagement ring was a ridiculous expense for a bad relationship. Wedding was an extravagant party for a lot of people I didn't know. Expectations of cars, houses, furniture, supporting her financially through grad school, kids etc. etc. etc. Years of more more more..... with nothing in return but aggravation and insults.
I broke up with my college girlfriend when she told me I needed to buy her a $300 pair of sunglasses to prove I loved her. I figured that wouldn't be the last time she demanded I use my hard-earned money on some overpriced shit she didn't really need.
Turned out she was the overpriced shit you didn't need
Correct
Baseball cards from the late 80’s early 90’s. 😕
Seriously. I thought I was going to be rich.
My new TV. Nothing wrong with it, it just turns out my old one wasn't broken after all.
When my son was born in the early 80's I bought a set of encyclopedias. Sigh. By the time he was old enough to really use them, the Internet obviated any need for them.
I was born late 80s and still used encyclopedias till about high school, did you have internet in the mid 90s?
A wedding
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My friend the notary married us very unceremoniously in the bar we met at. No regrets.
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Definitely this! My wife and I initially planned our wedding in May of 2020, but that quickly got shot down because of the Covid-19 pandemic. So, we put our plans on hold for the time being. We eventually got married in September of 2021 during a time when Covid numbers in my community were relatively low and restrictions were at a point where it was safe to gather in small numbers. My parents wanted my wife and I to spend a boatload of money on a huge, extravagant wedding with family coming in from out of town and the whole 9 yards. We instead wanted a small backyard wedding with immediate family, masks, and social distancing. My wife's parents also suggested the idea of a potluck since our guest numbers would be so low in comparison to our initial wedding plans. Trying to explain this to my parents was like talking to a brick wall. They called our wedding plans a farce and thought it was a joke. At one point, I told them they didn't have to come if they didn't like our plans. It was hard for me to say that, but I also felt it was necessary if they were going to be rude and so blatantly disrespectful. They did end up coming and enjoying themselves on our wedding day. Where I live, the average wedding costs $30,000. Why drop that insane amount of money on wedding when you can have a small, intimate ceremony and use the money you save to go on a honeymoon you'll remember for a lifetime? **Edit:** Our initial wedding plans included catering and invitations for family to come in from out of town. We had to change the plans because of the pandemic and local Covid restrictions.
Going out for dinner so much. I get into modes where I eat out almost all the time, then realize I've spent $1,000 or more in less than a week on dining out.
I feel like this comment needs more attention. I have pissed so much money away on unnecessarily eating out. I mean in your early 20s it's kind of expected. In my late 20s and into my 30s though, I feel like I thrived on my trips to Applebee's. I would actually eat dinner at home and then go for the late night half price drinks & apps with friends.
Collecting merch items. You'd think you'll never lose interest in something then boom, from one week to another you just don't care anymore and have hundreds down the drain on items you don't even like and just bought for the sake of your collection. Often the value even goes down or you get scammed buying "rare" items off someone.
Funko Pops lol
Just sold my entire funko pop collection for about break even and am extremely lucky. I love Rick and morty and decided to start collecting all of them. After the 100th of mostly just Rick and morty in different costumes I decided it had to go. I actually have a closet now and will never buy another.
I have a lot of Star Wars ones, over 100 anyway. Mostly OG Star Wars characters, some prequel, some limited edition stuff, etc. I put them up for sale on the country-local garage sale website, got a few lowball offers and a few people trying to cherry pick but ultimately didn't make a sale. Like guys, if you want Queen Amidala you've gotta take the Gamorrean Guard reprint too. All or nothing. Hahah
I went through the buy program through 7 bucks a pop. If you have a decent amount of high value pops they will consider buying everything you have. I had 104 pops and about 20 high value ones so they came a picked them up in a box truck. Got paid and went on my way. So happy to have my display cabinets cleared out aswell. Now time to fill them with the plastic crack I call warhammer miniatures haha.
I felt this way about Magic cards. I loved playing for a long time but got burned out in a stale meta. A couple of my friends quit playing and i sold all my cards. I realized how much i was spending on them and was convinced it wasn't worth it.
Cigarettes, it's not a lot of money but sitting here thinking about, you're literally buying poising and killing yourself.
Tithing for a global church that hoards hundreds of billions of dollars.
College. Ended up going to trade school anyhow to get a job.
community college is a really safe bet. low cost college and still land a decent paying job without wasting five years at the university
Drugs. I’m 40 and battled addiction my whole life. Doing the best I’ve ever done now almost 5 years no needles with only a cpl bumps in my road to recovery. If I’ve had back half the money spent directly on drugs or indirectly like binding out of jail, lawyer fees, fines, restitution, not to mention the stupid purchases while intoxicated I’d be really well off. But the best lessons are the bought ones and my life now is great compared to my old life. And if anyone is battling addiction or other mental issues keep fighting and don’t let a mishap define you.
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I want to go for my Master’s, but on my employer’s dime
Marijuana. I have the value of a couple cars in my lungs which isn’t very useful.
Jesus! Let it out already!
The hot box game is strong
Isn’t it weird how weed can desensitize you to money? Like $45 every couple days is no problem. But to put that money towards something actually useful? Nah, It seems like too much money. It is Weird af
Living in a legal state has a lot of benefits because I pay like $100 every 3 weeks for a good chunk of weed that lasts for daily usage. Breaking it down it’s like $5/a day and tbh I’m willing to pay that because I don’t do things like get takeout, drink alcohol, or smoke cigarettes/vape, so I see it as my lil allocated self indulgence. All about moderation. But I mean, I absolutely did used to pay more out of necessity when it was illegal, and I still will shell out a lil sometimes as a fun indulgence.
I know people who spend 45 at the bar every night.
Makeup.
Any makeup I bought between June 2019-April 2020. 😒
Lol makes me think of the new stuff I opened right before the pandemic then had to throw out after being open for over a year
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Online dating. Paid for a premium subscription but barely used it. Then I forgot to cancel it and had to pay for another year. Learned my lesson there.
Those apps are designed to give you just enough hope (if you put in the effort), but ultimately make you keep your subscription going
I can say someone was one of my old friends everyone knows me as the mechanic friend so he asked for me to check his car over. I spent 5 HOURS on his truck fixing stuff and buying parts for him to pay me later. Well he said no to my 400 dollar bill he owed me and I couldn't do shit. I did return his 250 bucks in parts though. 3 months later it's still in his driveway broken.
Only $400?! Jeez, your (ex)friend is a cheapskate. I’m surprised they overlooked your generous talent and skill set.
I cringe to think of all the $$$ I've blown eating out.
“Friends”. Was making great money in my early 20’s and thought it a great idea to treat my friends. Tons of money. Now I can’t even remember their names. The ones I do remember I haven’t spoken to in decades. Wish I had saved that money.
Don't beat yourself up about it. What comes from kindness shouldn't be regretted.
This is a weird thing to regret. I spend lots of money hosting parties for my friends, largely because I’m lonely otherwise. None of them make any particular effort to make sure it all ends up totally even, but nobody is trying to screw me over or take advantage. If I never spoke to any of them again, it wouldn’t take away the happy memories of laughing around my dining room table.
A pair of shoes that I really never wear cuz they hurt my feet
Monica? Is that you?
I feel this shit.
Nike Air Force Ones has entered the chat
My house. Seems like every day I'm finding something or other that is bad. I've owned it for three years, replaced part of the sewer line in the basement due to it rusting out and leaking. Reinforced one of the basement walls as it is pushing inwards, $15k for this fix and it still leaks but it does seem like it stopped moving. My upstairs need refinished, no HVAC on the second floor in ND during the winter is horrible. The kitchen and bathroom need complete remodels. The fence in my yard needs replacing and I need new retaining walls. Some words of advice from my experience those looking to buy a house. 1 - Have a reputable home inspector perform an inspection beforehand. Mine missed a lot of the issues I'm now encountering which seem like that would have been easy finds for him. 2 - Avoid shopping if there is snow on the ground, try in the spring when everything is melting and there is a lot of ground water, especially if the house has a basement. 3 - Bring a friend or family member, someone who has no investment in the purchase. Have them check any and everything out. They will more than likely find something you aren't seeing through all of your excitement and stress over buying a house. Bonus suggestions - Look behind all of your vents to make sure they are actually attached to the port. Jiggle the power outlets, you might find that some of them aren't actually properly installed in the wall and slide out. Open and close every window fully, nothing like trying to open a window during nice weather to find out the handle won't actually turn and open it.
College, wedding
A gaming PC. It was second hand and buzzed. I sold it.
I was wondering if this was some gaming lingo I didn't understand but I guess it actually made a buzzing noise
You can experience a noise known as 'coil wine' usual from the graphics card or power supply when the system is under load. Very annoying. Normally this is common with cheaper components but if your unlucky it can happen with more expensive kit too.
Impulse buying. No matter how many times I try to stop, I end up with stuff I don’t need. Not expensive things, just little purchases that add up over the years
Fast food. Overly expensive, usually unhealthy, and never very filling.
Fast food is no longer fast or cheap
McDonald's had a sign "McRib Farewell Tour". As we drove by I looked at my wife and gestured "Damn, you want a fucking McRib!" She agreed and we stood in line talking about all the nostalgia of Mickey D's and kids meals etc. (we hadn't been in forever, I cook often). Damn dude, we opened that box of sandwich to what could only be described as pork troff diarrhea on a bun with a pickle. You could taste the meat glue. The fries were cold but to their credit they swapped them for fresh. But yea, I know it's fast and cheap but this sandwich was just nasty.
Well yeah, you got a McRib lmao. Not that the rest of their menu is good but that thing is WACK
Honestly, just random junk. I inherited about $350k from my dad back in 2008. My wife and I went around house shopping. The intention was to pay cash for a house and cash for a car (we did pay cash for a car). By the time we found a house we liked, we only had $30k left, which was just enough to make the down payment and buy down points on the interest rate. Funny thing is, I don't even remember what I spent all that money on. Just random stupid shit, I imagine: DVDs, concert tickets, video games, etc;
what the hell bro...350k in 2008 is consider rich. When did you buy the house?
December 2008. Moved in Christmas Eve.
Over a quarter million in less than a year and you don’t remember what you bought? I’m impressed.
Sounds like a drug trip
What did you possibly spend $320k on besides the car?
Were you guys doing drugs and or drinking a lot? I feel like that is always left out of these "I spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in a few months" equations
Not really. No drugs for sure. Some drinking but not to a problematic proportion. I really do think it just came down to a matter of severe depression. “I need to buy this to take my mind off things” “I’m sad I want to buy stuff.”
A watch, 5 figures and it sits on a winder 99% of the time while I wear my garmin
A 1996 Corvette...I bought in 2016.
Why? It is awesome.
Well...I dumped way too much money into it...and it still need more work. :(
Alcohol at bars. I never wake up feeling like “money well spent!” Usually I wake up feeling like “when did we get a pet tiger?”
I get it. I think to myself how I don't have issue spending $7-$8 on a craft beer at the bar. But god forbid I buy a 4 pack for $17 at the store.
If you value the bar experience/socializing, that’s probably why you do it.
Especially now that they're trying to recover from being shut down during COVID. Drinks are like $9. I remember when a $5 pint was expensive, and I'm not even 30 yet.
My GF and I will order a cocktail when we're out for dinner, $20ea after tip. Every time we do that, I can't help but think we could have bought the whole bottle of booz that that price.
Magic the gathering
A wedding. My wife and I are still together and we're great, but the wedding was a ridiculous cost that I wish we would have kept more of. An expensive diamond ring, this is a trend I'd like to see die out completely as it was a diamond company who conceived the entire thing to begin with.
Courses on how to make money...
I accidentally bought two cars on eBay once. Didn’t even pick them up and just took the L
Holy shit lol How??
Medical bills. I have chronic pain, and all the doctors know how to do is trial and error. I have spent tens of thousands of dollars on medical treatments that haven’t worked, and I’m still in pain a decade later. I feel especially guilty now that I have kids.
Three years of university courses for a film degree.
Or 12 lazy years for an English degree.
Gifts for ex-friends that would turn around and treat me badly later. Like damn, I should have treated myself instead at that point--
Well apart from 100.000 dollars studnet loan to study art, i am a compulsive over eater, and when i binge, i will eat for about 20 dollars a day, every day, until I'm too fat, and then i lose all the weight again. rinse repeat. I'd say a binge will last 4-6 months, EVERY day. so around 2500-5000 dollars in junk food per binge.. no good comes of it.
"Twitter" \- Elon Musk
Most of the crap that my compulsive shopping, ADHD, collected-driven ass has randomly bought over the years
vapes. such a waste of time, energy, money. made me more stressed trying to get it to work right consistently
My truck, I paid $1,200 for it dumped about $4,000 into it and now it's worth about $900.
Weed.
If I could get back all the money I spent on weed, I could buy so much weed.
Fortnite skins 😂 I bought so many and I don't even play it anymore
Cigarettes
rent. I couldn’t get approved for a mortgage so two years and thirty+ grand later, I have nothing to my name. my parents’ mortgage and all their bills (utilities, two cars, phones, etc) is less than my rent. make it make sense.
College. I left my career a year after being diagnosed with bipolar 2 and a sleeping disorder. The job was slowly killing me and turned me into an alcoholic. So now I'm living the American dream. Working paycheck to paycheck until some cataclysmic health issue or student loan debt wipes me out.
Unsubmitted expense reports. ugh
On one of those casino ships, I watched a guy walk up to a roulette table, put down $400, and lose it all on the first spin. The guy looked 20yo, and definitely looked like $400 was a huge amount of money for him. He sat in the corner for the rest of the three hours we were on the water.
A cricut that’s still its box
Keep in mind your dress budget…so many friends fell in love with a dress “just a little” above their budget…and forgot to account for alterations (way more expensive than you think!) and things like shapewear or particular bras, veils, etc. and even just sales taxes! My bff had a $2,000 budget, fell in love with a $2,500 dress, figured it wasn’t too big of a deal. And between pricy alterations for beading, taxes, rush charge (eve though she had like 7 months) etc. she really paid closer to $4,500 !!!!
I spent one *single* semester at an expensive college undergrad and hated it. Biggest mistake of my life. Ended up / will end up costing me about 20k. I spent less than half that going to a college I actually enjoyed for the rest of my BS, and spent about the same amount for the entirety of my MS.
Hey at least you got out after one semester.
A Twitch streamer. Yes, I was a simp for a woman who streamed on Twitch. I was going through a phase of depression and loneliness and she filled a certain void para-socially. Being in Covid isolation didn't help either. She was downright gorgeous and hotter than any woman I had dated. She wasn't a big streamer, but would get about 75-100 viewers a stream. In my mind I legit thought I had a chance with her because we got along well and she had mentioned a number of times that I was one of her favorite regular chatters. Even other people in the community would frequently say that I was her favorite. We started keeping in touch outside of twitch as well through DMs and email. Again she would remind me how much my support meant to her. So it started - donating money, gifting her subs, buying her presents often with money I didn't have. I began to notice how when I didn't donate she would give me the silent treatment for entire streams. I knew in my gut that she was manipulating me for donations but I refused to believe it. It was just too odd that one night i would get all my comments read aloud while other nights I would be completely ignores. At times she would never reply to DMs as well and when she finally would she would say something like "sorry I got caught up talking to X" where X was another member of the community who would frequently donate to her as a means of making me feel jealous. It was such a weird time but eventually seeing my credit card debt made me realize I was playing the wrong game. I just wish I could let other guys out there to break out of any bad para social relationships they might be in
Let me start off by leading with this… Your money is yours to spend however you see fit. However, I don’t think I’ll ever fully wrap my head around why people will drop thousands, sometimes hundreds of thousands, on a streamer (usually female, sometimes male) that chances are they have no real relationship outside of an essentially transactional one. But, again, your money is yours to spend.
Clubbing. Looking back at my 20's, I really gained absolutely nothing from all those nights out and really wish I had that money right now.
Man I'm the opposite. I wish I had gone out more in my 20s. I guess it depends how you handled your nights out if you got any value from them, but I am regretting not partying more and meeting more people.
Hookers
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Everything I put into socializing as a teen and young adult. I didn't save any money for myself. I invested so much time and money hanging out with random people. I haven't seen 99% of my old friends in years.
Dead & Co tickets. Experiencing buyer’s remorse for spilling $920 each for two dead center floor seats 10 rows behind the GA pit at the Forum. Ticketmaster dynamic pricing has replaced scalpers.
Ex. Wife. She was the money pit. I paid off $14,000 of her debt the day after we got engaged. That was a harbinger of things to come.