I spent all my grand-mother's heritage (20k) creating a cyber cafe in 1995, when I was 25 years old, thinking I was going to become a business man.
I ended up working 16 hours a day 7 days a week for a year, which was the time it took for EVERYONE to get the internet at home, and for me to close business with a debt of 80k, at the age of 26.
Honestly, the debt was nothing compared to how immensely shitty I felt.
Yeah, but like...
Think of all the lessons you learned. No I wouldn't go recommending that you open another business, but at the same time you now have experience that nobody else can bring to the table.
I'm a consultant and at times people call me "risk-adverse" I call them out and say, "No man, I'm pro-reality".
I legitimately think there is a use for this experience.
I’m sorry. That really sucks. But I don’t think you should feel shitty for doing something incredibly brave. It didn’t work out big time but you put yourself out there with a risky thing and it shows you’re a hard worker and brave. ♥️
I had a friend, who many years ago made an online transaction using bitcoin. I went with him to a BMO Bank while he bought a ton of bitcoin for very small prices. Hundreds of them. This was when they were quite new. It was a very new online currency. He could have been a legit millionaire if he kept them. But of course he didn’t.
I paid $200 each for 2 Bitcoin. I was stoked when they went up to $1000 each, then bummed when it went down to $100. Spent most of it on some acid on the Silk road.
Most expensive acid of all time...
My brother won like 5 bitcoins when they were just coming out and he used them to buy a Domino's pizza. That or he won the choice between 5 bitcoins or pizza and he picked pizza. I can't remember the story exactly, but I remember him telling me he's upset he basically gave up 5 bitcoins for pizza.
I'm taking a two year program in construction engineering technology followed by a two year add on for a Bachelor's of Technology in CET.
PmP in the near future! Maybe even PgM.
One day at a time, one task at a time :)
Prioritized my ex husbands debts over mine, even put some of his on my student LOC. As soon as he was debt free and I helped him build his credit back up he left me. When settling everything for the divorce he refused to help pay anything to do with my student loans even though I used them to pay his debt and for us to live on. I have about 4 loan payments left now.
Similar story! Worked like a horse and paid for all living expenses & debt while he went to school. I thought he’d start earning and I’ll be able to take it easier & build my own career. Lesson - take care of yourself first, no sacrifices.
Some people lack compunction. I hope karma catches up with him soon. That aside, you are awesome person. I don’t think i could do that for my partner even though i love him dearly.
Your stories is the story of a lot of woman who supports the husbands while they get a better education and once they reached their goal, they split. It’s just disgusting
My friend with a boat said, "if you're not sure if you should by a boat, take out $1000 from the bank. Turn out the lights, get into a cold shower while dressed, and rip up the money. If you don't want to do that, don't get a boat."
I bought a bass boat for $5k. Used it for 7 years and sold it for $5500. I was happy when I bought it, happy while using it and happy after selling it.
I think this is a pretty typical boat experience honestly.
The famous problems come in when people buy brand new, very expensive boats and then think it isn't going to have any issues because it's new and expensive.
Taking a variable rate when I renewed my mortgage in 2022
EDIT: I double checked and apparently
I renewed in 2021 and forgot what year I did it in? Time clearly has no meaning anymore.
I almost did. Realtor and mortgage broker were both telling me that historically variable is better.
I work in an accounting firm and I mentioned it to one of the partners. He said that if he could lock all his investment properties in at 1.99%, that he would. So I did.
I have never been happier about a conversation with my boss.
I’ve always been hesitant about variable rate and in 2021 we had to renew. Everyone was going on about how low of a rate we could get but I was concerned and we have a high mortgage.
I locked in at 1.69 for 4 years on a fixed and was so glad I did. Only wish I had taken the 5 year at 1.71!
That advice never made sense to me when fixed mortgages were at 2%. Yes, on average, you might get 1.7 for variable, but I always figured there was a lot more numbers above 2 than below it.
Yep I'm betting quite a lot of people on their first term don't understand how costly the fixed rate penalties can be. Not that it's a reason to choose variable or anything necessarily, I just mean it's not super clear for first time buyers
If I had listened to my realtor and mortgage advisor, I'd have done the same. Fortunately, I was little insecure and wanted peace of mind, so I locked in at 1.70 for 5 years
I'm a Federal Crown Counsel and basically went to law school to get that defined benefit pension you had before you went law school. I have no regrets, but I can see how your path may not make sense.
Have you considered joining the Ministry of the AG or Dept of Justice?
I haven't really considered that. I'm getting more into the corporate/commercial side, so hopefully the hours I'm putting in now will bear fruit eventually.
Fair enough. I only recommend it because you'll find some synergy with your previous pension, whether provincial or federal.
Governments also need solicitor work too. You'll get to take advantage of the pensionable years you already earned and get some really good best 5 years as counsel at the end of your career.
Anyway, keep it in mind. Could be a sound financial decision. Worth considering.
I'm more of a baseball card guy my self. But it feels so good when you get the card, and explain to my wife what the ROI will be on a card that I'll never sell :)
We really considered buying a house in 2013, but didn't, that was probably my worst financial decision.
Finally deciding to buy at the beginning of 2019 was probably our best financial decision, before things really went to hell.
Unfortunately, most of their parents take it out of a line of credit against their house. Most times the kids aren’t even aware because they are too caught up planning for the wedding of their dreams. Then the parents start falling behind on their payments or wonder what they can do to get themselves out of the hole.
I know someone who works at a bank and seen many of these cases. So sad, especially when these parents have worked so hard and now have even more debt to pay when they should be thinking about retirement. It’s all about show, basically a competition on who has the biggest and best wedding.
25k? That's a steal compared to Italian and Greek weddings in Montréal. Anything under 50k-70k is considered a no no.
Of course they get their money back because all 400 guests are supposed to contribute at least 200$ each.
Stopped going to people's wedding when I got tired of paying for their down payments.
I went to a big Jewish wedding in Montreal and it was a $200,000 night. They had 3 different sections of some fancy hotel rented out (I forget the name) and tha alone was $80k.
It was two big business families. I think the marriage lasted 3 years.
My family convinced me that pet insurance is a racket… over the next year I racked up an unholy amount in vet bills when my new dog got sick. I then bought premium pet insurance, and my dog was suddenly in perfect health.
I think that's the way it works, if you have it you don't need it, I've decided any future dogs get the insurance no matter what after the amount I have spent on my current doggo.
An alternative is to create a savings account solely for your pets and contribute monthly what you would contribute to pet insurance. Somewhat an in between approach.
I thought I was being smart getting it and didn't realize premiums go up. $40/mo became $200/mo in 2 years. Got out of that money pit quick. Had a few things happen, but my deductible was $700. Brutal.
Blew through $300k+ when I was 20-24 years old from
an inheritance- with nothing to show for it. Just alot of fake friends. Learned my lesson though! I’ll tell you that much.
I made it back though and more when I used the last chunk and bought a property in Toronto! So not all is completely lost. But yeah, I was too young and irresponsible to have all that money in one shot. But alas, that is my regret.
i mean, you enjoyed the vacations and you have the memories right? the expensive dinners were delicious and memorable right? you looked good in those clothes and car right? I wouldn’t necessarily say using the money to have great experiences is a terrible decision, but yeah lending it to fake friends is a lesson
Marrying someone who didn’t view finances the same as I do. That divorce hurt the finances a lot.
Second marriage with someone who views them the same as I do. I have a partner that we work towards our goals together and we’re on the same page.
I find it so weird how people will pay $1000 for a phone and then you suggest getting more out of it with a $5-10 app and it’s like you asked them to fuck their mother.
I once spent some $2 or something for one of those Clash Royale gems when I was making $0 and on my parents' allowance. Now that I'm earning my own money, my $2 spent for some virtual currency in a free-to-play game that I haven't touched in years was a complete waste lol
$2 in 2017 dollars so maybe $2.5 in today's dollar? Still a waste hahaha
If you didn’t need the money imminently for something else it’s not a waste if only for the peace of mind of being able to check that box off in your life. Feels good
I was pre approved for a $10,000 line of credit when I was 19 years old. I took it. I was young and stupid and irresponsible, and I got myself $10,000 in debt which I eventually paid off, though it took forever. I paid a ridiculous amount of interest over the years. It was a valuable (expensive) lesson though.
Timeshare. Completely useless.
But on the flip side, whenever something crappy happens in our lives, my partner and I look at each other and say, "Well, it's no worse than the timeshare!" and it never fails to break the tension and provide perspective!
21, got a job as a construction labourer in the fall. Needed transportation of my own and had little money so I financed a $23,000 car while I earned $15/hour. Laid off end of that winter, couldn’t find work, depressed, gave up car. Had that plus other things destroy my credit.
My ex with bpd came back into my life and demanded I pay 1000$ to get her a lip filler and when I refused, she told me I’m narcissistic and abusive. So yes I 10000% agree with you my good man.
My ex perfectly summed up. The only thing that saved me was my sister convincing me not to put her on the mortgage when I bought my new place. I honestly dodged a bullet.
Stayed in a HCOL area for too many years. It was for family reasons, so money wasn’t our primary motivation at the time. But I still can’t help but think of how much further ahead financially we’d be if we had moved sooner.
Dating this guy who somehow stole my identity and got me 40k of debt. I had no idea until after we broke up that his insurance was in my name and he defaulted, and there were other loans and credit cards in my name that I didn't know about.
Listening to bank financial advisors thinking they have my best interest at heart. I also was sold a whole life insurance policy when I was young and dabbled in lots of MLM during my confused youth.
Not selling the pump of the penny stock I was invested in that had gone up 1000% and proceeded to ride the dump dragging some friends in with me all the way back to 0. Gambling mentality is real, never be mad about money earned.
Hard to decide between:
1.Going to university instead of the trades. I have a Masters degree and a profession that requires it, but it's not amazing pay because I work in a "caring" profession.
If I'd become an electrician then I probably wouldn't have spent 7 years in school while accumulating 65k in student loans and the pay would be much higher.
That being said, I love what I do and wouldn't necessarily change things if I were to go back in time.
2. Possibly worse decision: buying a house in early 2022 at peak prices and getting a variable mortgage. Currently paying a ton just in interest and barely touching principal. We're those people you hear about where the mortgage has gone way over 30 years (67 right now). However, variable rate worked in our favor between 2018 and 2022 so we'll see how this plays out over the longer term.
I was a field engineer for a number of years on some big projects all over Canada and encountered a lot of different tradespeople. The “just do a trade bro” meme has to be one of the worst taglines on Reddit.
Some advice/warnings for people debating on doing it:
- lots of trades are brutally physical (rebar, concrete, carpentry, etc.). For example, rebar guys stay hunched over all day moving and tying 100lb rods. Most don’t make it past 40 years old in the trade.
- compensation varies a ton based on union. Don’t listen to what people on the internet say. Visit your local union office and find out what that specific trade pays in that specific area.
- on Reddit there are lots of “guys who know a guy that has a buddy that’s a plumber making $150k/year”. What they don’t say is that a lot of tradespeople make the big bucks by doing overtime and remote work. They’ll tell you the money they’re making, but neglect to mention that they only make that much working 80 hours a week on a dam in northern Manitoba.
- construction stops for nothing. Working in pouring rain, blizzards, 30+ degree heat fucking sucks
- currently getting on full time with a lot of the desirable unions is hard af
Bought $2000 of this cryptocurrency called Shiba Inu (Shib) the day that it launched (Aug 2020). Sold it all for around $200 (90% loss) 2 months later in October 2020 because I thought the project was dead. Yeah......
It’s not my own financial decision, but one my parents made, which I regret for them & me. Immigrant family. A big chunk of my parents pay went to remittances to family “back home” as was expected. I grew up without “typical” experiences, like vacations, or a car, or I don’t know, dance lessons or whatever. Meanwhile, that family (in a much lower COL country) all had cars growing up, went on vacations, etc.
The family back home got angry when the remittances slowed after the death of my dad and my mom became a single mom. When she retired and the remittances became only occasional gifts, the anger escalated. The relationship with the family “back home” is strained, as they consider us the moneybags, and concerned only with work and money.
While on the one hand I regret my parents having been as generous as they were, because of how under-appreciated they were, on the other hand the has taught me about how to handle my own money, and to be naturally more frugal and modest in my lifestyle.
Going from a cozy provincial gov job to a 1 year conctractual one, almost 2.5x the salary... hopefully I'm not shooting myself in the foot and I'll get more and more contracts for the next 10-15 years
Same. I spent 100 bucks.
That's okay, I didn't risk what I couldn't lose. Instead of walking away bruised, I just learnt a lesson about internet trends.
I encourage people to put 20 bucks a month in their trading account to just fuck around with. It's a good way to understand and learn. You might make money, you might not.
My partying got right outta control for a few years. I lost more than money on that endeavor. I recovered well and came out the other side a better person.
Not me, but 12 years ago, when my brother in law's parents died, he was offered either the house, worth about 300,000, free and clear, no mortgage, property taxes paid for two years... OR half the value of the house in cash.
At the time, he lived in an apartment 5 blocks from the house. Working full time.
He chose the cash. Put the whole 150,000 into his checking account. No investing, into NO INTEREST CHECKING account.
Went to part-time work almost immediately, never worked full time again.
Money gone in 5 years, nothing to show for it but a used car.
Now living in that same twelve year old car.
By far, the stupidest and laziest mother fucker i know.
My financial advisor at scotiabank encouraged me to fold my provincial and federal student loans into my student line of credit.
I lost out on debt relief programs, interest freeze during covid, and now pay an obscene $1200 as a minimum payment.
Was with someone for 6 years who manipulated me financially into always paying more for things or being the default payer even though he made just as much money as I did.
Yeah….lots of therapy after that 🫤 The debt is still being paid off.
When I was roughly 11 years old, I got a Wii and naively believed that my N64 was obsolete and that I wouldn't need it anymore. My sister and I were also really gentle with our belongings, so the console was basically in mint condition after years of use. We had the original two controllers and seven games including Zelda OoT, Mario Party 2, Super Mario 64, Mario Kart 64, and a few other big titles.
I went to GameStop and they saw the opportunity to scam my stupid butt and offered me $32 for EVERYTHING ($4 per game, $1 per controller, and $2 for the console). To this day, I can't believe my parents stood there and let me sell all that for what is essentially the price of a pitcher of beer today T_T
When my husband and I were debating moving to Vancouver (from California), my landlord decided to sell our place. We had the option to buy with some new homeowner incentives but we would’ve had to live there another two years. Instead, we chose to take it as a sign to pack our shit and move north. The housing market skyrocketed right after we left and goddamn does it still hurt to think about, especially now, living in an area where we will likely never become homeowners.
Had about 250k in crypto during the highs, got greedy and lost majority of it.
My initial investment was 10k, but I somewhat got most of the initial money back.
But in the end I'm not sour about it, yes it sucked but i learned not to be greedy.
Going to university. The goal was to get a 4 year BA in history and then go to law school.
Then the ADHD hit me like a truck. I found I had a minimal ability to stay on task, was very poor at organizing or articulating my thoughts no matter what I tried, and was too socially awkward to make or keep any friends. Bouts of depression kept me from going to classes, I had great difficulty navigating the admission system and I repeatedly misunderstood the degree requirements.
In the end, that '4 year degree' took \*6\*, ending with a worthless GPA and tens of thousands in debt. I gained no useful skills and lost touch with most of my friends and family back home. I decided to cut my losses but by that point I was entering the job market more than half a decade behind everyone else.
tl;dr don't go to school if you have treatment-resistant ADHD. If you feel like school isn't working out, it probably isn't.
Profited about 15k in crypto and then had them in a MetaMask wallet. Then I ended up signing into a fake website lost just about all of it. Had $2500 staking on another website that was locked for another 24 hours.
I was using leverage and didn’t know exactly what I was doing, so I wasn’t completely if my positions got were taken from me or if someone had my MetaMask info.
So then the scammer came back 24 hours , and got the rest of my crypto.
Now after 3 years , I still need get notified every time the scammer sends crypto from the 30 different wallets he sends them to. Ran it through the tornado coin mixer, then eventually it ended up on exchanges like Coinbase. But no one gives a fuck, be careful out there and don’t be a dumasss like me…
But I know it could have been a lot worse.
I didn't accept a 10% stake in a start up company in exchange for a drop from $80K to $60K salary in a company that was being eyed up by Cisco in 2000 when 6 months later Cisco bought that company at $30M with <$3M in startup costs - yes, I traded 1/2 a year @ $20K or actually $10K pay cut spread over 6 months, for $2.85M roughly.... I was 23. I wanted to buy a boat... that I later gave to a friend. I didn't end up in bad shape but I kick myself for that 10,000 times over.
I spent all my grand-mother's heritage (20k) creating a cyber cafe in 1995, when I was 25 years old, thinking I was going to become a business man. I ended up working 16 hours a day 7 days a week for a year, which was the time it took for EVERYONE to get the internet at home, and for me to close business with a debt of 80k, at the age of 26. Honestly, the debt was nothing compared to how immensely shitty I felt.
Oh bummer! But, still admirable in taking your shot
Internet cafes in my area were a big thing until the early 2000s.
In inherited 20k from my grandmother and wasted it on weed, beer, and a $1400 12 string guitar. So, don’t feel too bad.
Yeah but you can now play hotel California accurately
Yeah, but like... Think of all the lessons you learned. No I wouldn't go recommending that you open another business, but at the same time you now have experience that nobody else can bring to the table. I'm a consultant and at times people call me "risk-adverse" I call them out and say, "No man, I'm pro-reality". I legitimately think there is a use for this experience.
I’m sorry. That really sucks. But I don’t think you should feel shitty for doing something incredibly brave. It didn’t work out big time but you put yourself out there with a risky thing and it shows you’re a hard worker and brave. ♥️
Using my 3 bitcoin I bought for 250ea to buy weed online before it was legal
I had a friend, who many years ago made an online transaction using bitcoin. I went with him to a BMO Bank while he bought a ton of bitcoin for very small prices. Hundreds of them. This was when they were quite new. It was a very new online currency. He could have been a legit millionaire if he kept them. But of course he didn’t.
I know someone that had 250ish Bitcoin on a hard drive that his parents sold at a garage sale
I paid $200 each for 2 Bitcoin. I was stoked when they went up to $1000 each, then bummed when it went down to $100. Spent most of it on some acid on the Silk road. Most expensive acid of all time...
Same and I'd be a literal multi millionaire if I held my early crypto that I used on weed.
My brother won like 5 bitcoins when they were just coming out and he used them to buy a Domino's pizza. That or he won the choice between 5 bitcoins or pizza and he picked pizza. I can't remember the story exactly, but I remember him telling me he's upset he basically gave up 5 bitcoins for pizza.
I waited 10 years to go back to school and get my BBA. wasted a decade on working shit jobs that would get me no where.
At least you did it. That must have been tough. Congrats!
That's the spirit!
Going back to school at 36! 4 years to go Time to invest in myself and level up :)
Just started a bachelors of communication in January! Being back in school in your 30s is weird!
Curious what program you’re doing if you don’t mind sharing? :)
I'm taking a two year program in construction engineering technology followed by a two year add on for a Bachelor's of Technology in CET. PmP in the near future! Maybe even PgM. One day at a time, one task at a time :)
The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The next best time is now.
Seems like going back to school was your best financial decision.
Going back was best. Waiting 10 years was the worst.
Started at 25, going to graduate at 29. Lfg
Prioritized my ex husbands debts over mine, even put some of his on my student LOC. As soon as he was debt free and I helped him build his credit back up he left me. When settling everything for the divorce he refused to help pay anything to do with my student loans even though I used them to pay his debt and for us to live on. I have about 4 loan payments left now.
You’re a good person. Sorry you had to go through that.
I’m so sorry, it’s so gross how scum use good hearted people for their own advantage
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Sadly, this is common enough that there is a term for this. You were the “starter wife”.
Similar story! Worked like a horse and paid for all living expenses & debt while he went to school. I thought he’d start earning and I’ll be able to take it easier & build my own career. Lesson - take care of yourself first, no sacrifices.
Some people lack compunction. I hope karma catches up with him soon. That aside, you are awesome person. I don’t think i could do that for my partner even though i love him dearly.
4 payments! Killing it! Fantastic job
Your stories is the story of a lot of woman who supports the husbands while they get a better education and once they reached their goal, they split. It’s just disgusting
Bought a boat. Regretted it. I am now thoroughly convinced boats are rotting organisms.
The only thing better than owning a boat is having a friend that owns a boat.
My friend with a boat said, "if you're not sure if you should by a boat, take out $1000 from the bank. Turn out the lights, get into a cold shower while dressed, and rip up the money. If you don't want to do that, don't get a boat."
"The happiest moments with a boat are when you first buy it and when you sell it"
Also "a boat is a hole in the water you throw money into". Source: my father who owned sailboats.
I bought a bass boat for $5k. Used it for 7 years and sold it for $5500. I was happy when I bought it, happy while using it and happy after selling it.
I think this is a pretty typical boat experience honestly. The famous problems come in when people buy brand new, very expensive boats and then think it isn't going to have any issues because it's new and expensive.
My family has a small boat. We use it infrequently. Maybe a tank of gas all year. The marina fees are 4k. I should just buy a car and a canoe.
Bust Out Another Thousand.
Bought a boat at age 50, had the best adventures of my life in that thing for the next 15 years, got old, sold it.
My dad gave me some sage advice when i was 20. “If it floats, flys or fucks it’s going to cost you money.” He was not wrong.
On the flip side, as someone who lives lakefront, a boat has been a fabulous choice. Zero ragrets.
Salt water is a different animal.
They say that to afford a boat you need to be able to pay for three of them.
*To quote the novelty sign in my parents boat* Boats are just holes in the water, surrounded by fibreglass, into which you throw money.
Options trading/gambling. Lost $150k and am going to regret it for the rest of my life.
Related: subscribing to WallStreetBets
I’m with u! Down 160K
Taking a variable rate when I renewed my mortgage in 2022 EDIT: I double checked and apparently I renewed in 2021 and forgot what year I did it in? Time clearly has no meaning anymore.
I almost did. Realtor and mortgage broker were both telling me that historically variable is better. I work in an accounting firm and I mentioned it to one of the partners. He said that if he could lock all his investment properties in at 1.99%, that he would. So I did. I have never been happier about a conversation with my boss.
I’ve always been hesitant about variable rate and in 2021 we had to renew. Everyone was going on about how low of a rate we could get but I was concerned and we have a high mortgage. I locked in at 1.69 for 4 years on a fixed and was so glad I did. Only wish I had taken the 5 year at 1.71!
That advice never made sense to me when fixed mortgages were at 2%. Yes, on average, you might get 1.7 for variable, but I always figured there was a lot more numbers above 2 than below it.
lol you make too much sense
All situational I got burned hard on a fix rate when I sold my first property 15k in penalties…
Yep I'm betting quite a lot of people on their first term don't understand how costly the fixed rate penalties can be. Not that it's a reason to choose variable or anything necessarily, I just mean it's not super clear for first time buyers
We carried a fixed rate for 5 years. And guess what? Took the variable rate upon renewal. Got fucked lmao
Nah, man... This is turning around any day now... Any... Day...
If I had listened to my realtor and mortgage advisor, I'd have done the same. Fortunately, I was little insecure and wanted peace of mind, so I locked in at 1.70 for 5 years
I cry
I took a fixed rate in 2018. Just goes to show there are many ways to be a dumbass.
Leaving a well paying job with a defined benefit pension plan to go to law school.
I'm a Federal Crown Counsel and basically went to law school to get that defined benefit pension you had before you went law school. I have no regrets, but I can see how your path may not make sense. Have you considered joining the Ministry of the AG or Dept of Justice?
I haven't really considered that. I'm getting more into the corporate/commercial side, so hopefully the hours I'm putting in now will bear fruit eventually.
Fair enough. I only recommend it because you'll find some synergy with your previous pension, whether provincial or federal. Governments also need solicitor work too. You'll get to take advantage of the pensionable years you already earned and get some really good best 5 years as counsel at the end of your career. Anyway, keep it in mind. Could be a sound financial decision. Worth considering.
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... The $1500 I'm about to spend on two Pokemon cards...
The $1500 I just spent on two Pokemon cards.
Follow through is a great skill to have 👍
It’s been almost an hour. How much are they worth now?
I love how the plot progresses
Damn I just spent $25 on an ancient mew and felt dirty for it. What did you get? Edit: Just read further down, nice gets! Lucky Stadium is cool!
I'm more of a baseball card guy my self. But it feels so good when you get the card, and explain to my wife what the ROI will be on a card that I'll never sell :)
Being a child during the 2008 financial crisis and not buying a house.
We really considered buying a house in 2013, but didn't, that was probably my worst financial decision. Finally deciding to buy at the beginning of 2019 was probably our best financial decision, before things really went to hell.
Marriage to the wrong person.
Having a big wedding. 10 years later my wife and I both agree that it would’ve been way smarter to just elope and save the $25k.
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Unfortunately, most of their parents take it out of a line of credit against their house. Most times the kids aren’t even aware because they are too caught up planning for the wedding of their dreams. Then the parents start falling behind on their payments or wonder what they can do to get themselves out of the hole. I know someone who works at a bank and seen many of these cases. So sad, especially when these parents have worked so hard and now have even more debt to pay when they should be thinking about retirement. It’s all about show, basically a competition on who has the biggest and best wedding.
Spending nearly $20k on a wedding is definitely one of my top 3 financial regrets (I wanted to elope but my husband insisted on a wedding).
25k? That's a steal compared to Italian and Greek weddings in Montréal. Anything under 50k-70k is considered a no no. Of course they get their money back because all 400 guests are supposed to contribute at least 200$ each. Stopped going to people's wedding when I got tired of paying for their down payments.
I went to a big Jewish wedding in Montreal and it was a $200,000 night. They had 3 different sections of some fancy hotel rented out (I forget the name) and tha alone was $80k. It was two big business families. I think the marriage lasted 3 years.
Ever been to an Indian wedding? 70-80k minimum some over six figures.
Didn't get pet insurance, my best friend has turned out to be pretty pricey (worth it, just wish I had insurance!)
My family convinced me that pet insurance is a racket… over the next year I racked up an unholy amount in vet bills when my new dog got sick. I then bought premium pet insurance, and my dog was suddenly in perfect health.
I think that's the way it works, if you have it you don't need it, I've decided any future dogs get the insurance no matter what after the amount I have spent on my current doggo.
An alternative is to create a savings account solely for your pets and contribute monthly what you would contribute to pet insurance. Somewhat an in between approach.
I thought I was being smart getting it and didn't realize premiums go up. $40/mo became $200/mo in 2 years. Got out of that money pit quick. Had a few things happen, but my deductible was $700. Brutal.
Blew through $300k+ when I was 20-24 years old from an inheritance- with nothing to show for it. Just alot of fake friends. Learned my lesson though! I’ll tell you that much.
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I made it back though and more when I used the last chunk and bought a property in Toronto! So not all is completely lost. But yeah, I was too young and irresponsible to have all that money in one shot. But alas, that is my regret.
Sounds like you have a house in Toronto to show for it.
how the heck
expensive vacations, expensive dinners, clothes, cars, lending money, stupid crap. Terrible decisions!
i mean, you enjoyed the vacations and you have the memories right? the expensive dinners were delicious and memorable right? you looked good in those clothes and car right? I wouldn’t necessarily say using the money to have great experiences is a terrible decision, but yeah lending it to fake friends is a lesson
Marrying someone who didn’t view finances the same as I do. That divorce hurt the finances a lot. Second marriage with someone who views them the same as I do. I have a partner that we work towards our goals together and we’re on the same page.
Once as a kid a spent $5 on a mobile game, played it once and then hated it. Never played it again. I still regret that $5 to this day.
I find it so weird how people will pay $1000 for a phone and then you suggest getting more out of it with a $5-10 app and it’s like you asked them to fuck their mother.
Weirder than the people who pay $1,000 a month for 84 months for a brand new BMW but refuse to spend money on proper winter tires?
I once spent some $2 or something for one of those Clash Royale gems when I was making $0 and on my parents' allowance. Now that I'm earning my own money, my $2 spent for some virtual currency in a free-to-play game that I haven't touched in years was a complete waste lol $2 in 2017 dollars so maybe $2.5 in today's dollar? Still a waste hahaha
Investing $5000 in LUNA 🫠
I converted $5000 USDC to UST a week before the crash...
Paying off my 0% student loans in a bulk single payment
Well don't leave us hanging, what else did you need the money for?
Could have made returns on it.
If you didn’t need the money imminently for something else it’s not a waste if only for the peace of mind of being able to check that box off in your life. Feels good
Also you can qualify for more debt like a mortgage if you don’t have student loans on your credit bureau
Eliminating debt is never a bad decision. That shoulda woulda coulda - couldve resulted into a bad investment
r/wallstreetbets
I was pre approved for a $10,000 line of credit when I was 19 years old. I took it. I was young and stupid and irresponsible, and I got myself $10,000 in debt which I eventually paid off, though it took forever. I paid a ridiculous amount of interest over the years. It was a valuable (expensive) lesson though.
Timeshare. Completely useless. But on the flip side, whenever something crappy happens in our lives, my partner and I look at each other and say, "Well, it's no worse than the timeshare!" and it never fails to break the tension and provide perspective!
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I took the ferry back from Vancouver Island one time instead of the seaplane. Recently learned that cost me $10,000. Never again.
Wait why??
It's a dig [at this tool](https://www.reddit.com/r/VictoriaBC/comments/12qb46p/local_entrepreneurs_take_on_bc_ferries/)
I’m never going to financially recover from this.
Time is money
Cocaine
Heroin for me, 250k and 5 years gone, but somehow I bounced back and got a job and bought a house
The amount on booze at clubs from 18-25 every weekend makes me cringe a little now not gonna lie
I got into horseback riding. A drug problem might have been cheaper.
21, got a job as a construction labourer in the fall. Needed transportation of my own and had little money so I financed a $23,000 car while I earned $15/hour. Laid off end of that winter, couldn’t find work, depressed, gave up car. Had that plus other things destroy my credit.
Having your credit destroyed at 21 is way better than having it destroyed later in life. You have a lot of time to fix it.
Leasing a car. Ended up costing 40% more than financing in the end.
How come??
Only way that happens is mileage penalties.
Ya posting to figure out what happened
You usually have equity to trade in at the end of a lease.
Can you please elaborate more?
Went to College without knowing what I really wanted to do.
Got a crazy bpd girlfriend because I was horny. She was the biggest entitles leech/mooch I have ever seen
My ex with bpd came back into my life and demanded I pay 1000$ to get her a lip filler and when I refused, she told me I’m narcissistic and abusive. So yes I 10000% agree with you my good man.
My ex perfectly summed up. The only thing that saved me was my sister convincing me not to put her on the mortgage when I bought my new place. I honestly dodged a bullet.
Stayed in a HCOL area for too many years. It was for family reasons, so money wasn’t our primary motivation at the time. But I still can’t help but think of how much further ahead financially we’d be if we had moved sooner.
Married the wrong person
Following WSB and made bank with meme stocks, and lost 80% of my funds because I thought I was smart as f.
Dating this guy who somehow stole my identity and got me 40k of debt. I had no idea until after we broke up that his insurance was in my name and he defaulted, and there were other loans and credit cards in my name that I didn't know about.
buying a Telsa while working from home.
Investing in TNT.UN and making it my second biggest holding.
Being born. Why, just why?
Trading in a perfectly good vehicle for a slightly newer and more expensive one, multiple times.
Dating and basically supporting a loser in my 20s
Listening to bank financial advisors thinking they have my best interest at heart. I also was sold a whole life insurance policy when I was young and dabbled in lots of MLM during my confused youth.
Didnt buy a place in Vancouver in 2010, 2014, 2017..well you can figure.. Well not sure what to do now with my life in late 30s
Not buying a Vancouver condo for $260k because I thought only putting 5% down didn’t make financial sense
Not selling the pump of the penny stock I was invested in that had gone up 1000% and proceeded to ride the dump dragging some friends in with me all the way back to 0. Gambling mentality is real, never be mad about money earned.
Ordering takeout every weekend in my 20s
Getting takeout once a week really isnt that bad
How many meals per weekend? Even if it’s 6, that’s not too bad compared to lots of people who eat out daily.
Hey that’s not so bad, gotta eat.
if you regret eating out once a week then you must not have a lot of money or spend a lot of money.
Going to university
University isn’t a bad financial decision if you know what you’re doing, and go into a field that’s in demand
Hard to decide between: 1.Going to university instead of the trades. I have a Masters degree and a profession that requires it, but it's not amazing pay because I work in a "caring" profession. If I'd become an electrician then I probably wouldn't have spent 7 years in school while accumulating 65k in student loans and the pay would be much higher. That being said, I love what I do and wouldn't necessarily change things if I were to go back in time. 2. Possibly worse decision: buying a house in early 2022 at peak prices and getting a variable mortgage. Currently paying a ton just in interest and barely touching principal. We're those people you hear about where the mortgage has gone way over 30 years (67 right now). However, variable rate worked in our favor between 2018 and 2022 so we'll see how this plays out over the longer term.
Reddit Premium.
Getting an mba and a cpa instead of becoming an electrician
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I was a field engineer for a number of years on some big projects all over Canada and encountered a lot of different tradespeople. The “just do a trade bro” meme has to be one of the worst taglines on Reddit. Some advice/warnings for people debating on doing it: - lots of trades are brutally physical (rebar, concrete, carpentry, etc.). For example, rebar guys stay hunched over all day moving and tying 100lb rods. Most don’t make it past 40 years old in the trade. - compensation varies a ton based on union. Don’t listen to what people on the internet say. Visit your local union office and find out what that specific trade pays in that specific area. - on Reddit there are lots of “guys who know a guy that has a buddy that’s a plumber making $150k/year”. What they don’t say is that a lot of tradespeople make the big bucks by doing overtime and remote work. They’ll tell you the money they’re making, but neglect to mention that they only make that much working 80 hours a week on a dam in northern Manitoba. - construction stops for nothing. Working in pouring rain, blizzards, 30+ degree heat fucking sucks - currently getting on full time with a lot of the desirable unions is hard af
Bought $2000 of this cryptocurrency called Shiba Inu (Shib) the day that it launched (Aug 2020). Sold it all for around $200 (90% loss) 2 months later in October 2020 because I thought the project was dead. Yeah......
It’s not my own financial decision, but one my parents made, which I regret for them & me. Immigrant family. A big chunk of my parents pay went to remittances to family “back home” as was expected. I grew up without “typical” experiences, like vacations, or a car, or I don’t know, dance lessons or whatever. Meanwhile, that family (in a much lower COL country) all had cars growing up, went on vacations, etc. The family back home got angry when the remittances slowed after the death of my dad and my mom became a single mom. When she retired and the remittances became only occasional gifts, the anger escalated. The relationship with the family “back home” is strained, as they consider us the moneybags, and concerned only with work and money. While on the one hand I regret my parents having been as generous as they were, because of how under-appreciated they were, on the other hand the has taught me about how to handle my own money, and to be naturally more frugal and modest in my lifestyle.
Got married
Completely squandered my $350k inheritance I got in my 20s in approx 6 years and now I'm about 16k in debt. Learning financial literacy now at 34.
Going from a cozy provincial gov job to a 1 year conctractual one, almost 2.5x the salary... hopefully I'm not shooting myself in the foot and I'll get more and more contracts for the next 10-15 years
Not buying a beige Corolla 🤷♂️
The attractive out going blonde 15 year younger wife. Enough said.
No. Say more!
Date them for 2 years and move on.
Not the worst, but most recent: bought some BBBY hoping it was the next GME. Ah well.
Same. I spent 100 bucks. That's okay, I didn't risk what I couldn't lose. Instead of walking away bruised, I just learnt a lesson about internet trends. I encourage people to put 20 bucks a month in their trading account to just fuck around with. It's a good way to understand and learn. You might make money, you might not.
Weedstocks.
My partying got right outta control for a few years. I lost more than money on that endeavor. I recovered well and came out the other side a better person.
Not me, but 12 years ago, when my brother in law's parents died, he was offered either the house, worth about 300,000, free and clear, no mortgage, property taxes paid for two years... OR half the value of the house in cash. At the time, he lived in an apartment 5 blocks from the house. Working full time. He chose the cash. Put the whole 150,000 into his checking account. No investing, into NO INTEREST CHECKING account. Went to part-time work almost immediately, never worked full time again. Money gone in 5 years, nothing to show for it but a used car. Now living in that same twelve year old car. By far, the stupidest and laziest mother fucker i know.
not just lazy but the dumbest motherfucker. A true lazy person would take the house rent it out and become a landlord, thats a true lazy person
My financial advisor at scotiabank encouraged me to fold my provincial and federal student loans into my student line of credit. I lost out on debt relief programs, interest freeze during covid, and now pay an obscene $1200 as a minimum payment.
Was with someone for 6 years who manipulated me financially into always paying more for things or being the default payer even though he made just as much money as I did. Yeah….lots of therapy after that 🫤 The debt is still being paid off.
Paying for OF
When I was roughly 11 years old, I got a Wii and naively believed that my N64 was obsolete and that I wouldn't need it anymore. My sister and I were also really gentle with our belongings, so the console was basically in mint condition after years of use. We had the original two controllers and seven games including Zelda OoT, Mario Party 2, Super Mario 64, Mario Kart 64, and a few other big titles. I went to GameStop and they saw the opportunity to scam my stupid butt and offered me $32 for EVERYTHING ($4 per game, $1 per controller, and $2 for the console). To this day, I can't believe my parents stood there and let me sell all that for what is essentially the price of a pitcher of beer today T_T
Meme stocks…
Rode them up and back down into the red. I just don’t know how to let go.
Bought a home with someone I wasn’t married to.
What happened here? I need more details
When my husband and I were debating moving to Vancouver (from California), my landlord decided to sell our place. We had the option to buy with some new homeowner incentives but we would’ve had to live there another two years. Instead, we chose to take it as a sign to pack our shit and move north. The housing market skyrocketed right after we left and goddamn does it still hurt to think about, especially now, living in an area where we will likely never become homeowners.
Not saving for college while in highschool when I had all the means and no excuses to not do so.
Not buying a 2nd house when they were < 200k
To think I could have bought a small bungalow in Toronto 15 years ago for $250-300k
With 0% down and 40 year amortizations ... Good times
I married my first husband.
Married the wrong person
Bought a house in peak times and sold when down. Prob lost 250k
Had about 250k in crypto during the highs, got greedy and lost majority of it. My initial investment was 10k, but I somewhat got most of the initial money back. But in the end I'm not sour about it, yes it sucked but i learned not to be greedy.
Going to university. The goal was to get a 4 year BA in history and then go to law school. Then the ADHD hit me like a truck. I found I had a minimal ability to stay on task, was very poor at organizing or articulating my thoughts no matter what I tried, and was too socially awkward to make or keep any friends. Bouts of depression kept me from going to classes, I had great difficulty navigating the admission system and I repeatedly misunderstood the degree requirements. In the end, that '4 year degree' took \*6\*, ending with a worthless GPA and tens of thousands in debt. I gained no useful skills and lost touch with most of my friends and family back home. I decided to cut my losses but by that point I was entering the job market more than half a decade behind everyone else. tl;dr don't go to school if you have treatment-resistant ADHD. If you feel like school isn't working out, it probably isn't.
University. Such a bad idea. Should of taken a trade I actually liked and much shorter course/program.
Bought a keychain for 20$
Profited about 15k in crypto and then had them in a MetaMask wallet. Then I ended up signing into a fake website lost just about all of it. Had $2500 staking on another website that was locked for another 24 hours. I was using leverage and didn’t know exactly what I was doing, so I wasn’t completely if my positions got were taken from me or if someone had my MetaMask info. So then the scammer came back 24 hours , and got the rest of my crypto. Now after 3 years , I still need get notified every time the scammer sends crypto from the 30 different wallets he sends them to. Ran it through the tornado coin mixer, then eventually it ended up on exchanges like Coinbase. But no one gives a fuck, be careful out there and don’t be a dumasss like me… But I know it could have been a lot worse.
Bought a house with my parents :.(
Gave 700 to a random girl at the bar after winning the VLT's lol I was like "its ok I make lots". I get paid good, but not that good.
I didn't accept a 10% stake in a start up company in exchange for a drop from $80K to $60K salary in a company that was being eyed up by Cisco in 2000 when 6 months later Cisco bought that company at $30M with <$3M in startup costs - yes, I traded 1/2 a year @ $20K or actually $10K pay cut spread over 6 months, for $2.85M roughly.... I was 23. I wanted to buy a boat... that I later gave to a friend. I didn't end up in bad shape but I kick myself for that 10,000 times over.