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30 Nightmarish Financial Decisions That Left People Broke, Broken, And Bewildered
Interview With Expert
Nobody is born a financial wizard. You learn important lessons about spending, budgeting, saving, and investing through life experience and—hopefully—with the help of a good mentor. And any money mistakes you make, no matter how painful, are potential learning opportunities, so long as you have a growth-oriented mindset.
That’s not to say that any money-related blunders you make don’t hurt in the moment… they do. A lot! Recently, some AskReddit members opened up about the very worst financial decisions they’ve ever made. Scroll down for their stories, as well as the tough lessons they learned.
Bored Panda got in touch with personal finance expert Rick Orford, the author of 'The Financially Independent Millennial,' and he was kind enough to shed some light on getting out of debt and developing a healthier relationship with money. You'll find his thoughts below.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Do NOT, under any circumstances, loan money to a friend or co-sign any loans with them. It messes up your life for a long time when they do not pay their bills.
Colleen Glim 11 months ago
Never lend any money you aren’t prepared to lose. Doesn’t matter who it is or how trustworthy you think they are
Earonn - 11 months ago
A friend lent me money but we had a proper contract. We both wanted it that way. I was lucky and nothing prevented me from paying back the loan as intended. He would have got the money somehow in the end, but I'm glad there was no hiccup.
David 11 months ago
Earonn, Always document it. I find as much or more so with good friends / relatives because the closer / casual nature of the relationships makes it easier for one side to assume or remember wrong what the terms of the agreement was. I do have a couple of smaller loans out to relatives where I didn't bother with a formal loan agreement, but I also don't care too much if I get paid back due to the circumstances. (and both of those people are making payments anyway)
Load More Replies... David 11 months ago (edited)
I agree with Colleen, Never lend more than you are prepared to lose. Over the years I have loaned out I guess about $50K total in unsecured loans. That makes me sound super rich (spoiler, I'm not) but .. circumstances that I don't have room for here. It's all been paid back except for a bit of current stuff that isn't expected to be paid yet.. So it's doable given the right circumstances. Just be careful and be realistic about what you are willing to lose. Relative or not - DOCUMENT IT. Have a formal loan agreement. If nothing else it reminds both sides of what was agreed upon / avoids confusion.
John Dilligaf 11 months ago
I'll loan you money I can afford to lose. I won't co-sign a loan for anyone
Beak Hookage 11 months ago
The last time I loaned someone money I did it under the assumption that it would not be paid back and even considered telling them not to worry about it. I was very pleasantly surprised when, a few years later, they paid me back in full - and just when I really needed the money, too.
According to personal finance expert Orford, a healthy relationship with your finances means spending less than you earn while investing the rest of your money. "The sooner we live by this simple rule, the better off we are in the long run!" he told Bored Panda in an email.
He shared some practical advice about how someone who's deeply in debt due to their bad decisions can get out of it. "Single mistakes happen. Life events, bad decisions, or perhaps 'kicking the can' can all lead to someone being deeply in debt. Luckily, no matter how bad the situation is, there's almost always a way out," he said.
"It starts with accepting that you have this debt, owning the fact you'll sort it out on your own, and then coming up with a solution to pay it off. A solution might be getting help, restructuring the debt (i.e. through a consolidation loan) or bankruptcy," Orford explained.
RELATED:
#2
Got 100k from my moms life insurance and blew it within a few years. I was 19. And so dumb. And so depressed. With no guidance. I learned the importance of saving lol.
rorschach-penguin 11 months ago
...and that is why my parents structured their assets so that, aside from approved educational and medical expenses and so forth, they would begin paying out at age 25, then fully release at age 40.
Ron Man 11 months ago
This was what happened to a guy I went to high school with. His parents had died years before and when he turned 18 he got their insurance, as well as the money from their house being sold and other assets liquidated. He had close to a million. It was gone quickly.
PeepPeep the duck 11 months ago
It’s so easily done, when I was young I spent 70k of my payout from being set on fire in three months, bills, paying off new boyfriends loan, parties cos I could walk again and I wanted to live hard etc. after I was like whyyyyyy the fudge did I do that.
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Huddo's sister 11 months ago
My siblings and I each got $50K from my grandfather's inheritance, to go towards buying a house. My brother and I both used ours for that but my sister keeps drawing out of it to buy a car, get the car fixed, pay her rent, go on trips. There is no way she will have a house deposit when she wants one.
SpirklePlatz 11 months ago
Also you’d just lost your mom. Hope you can find some self-compassion for this.
Mary Kelly 11 months ago
that is why parents should arrange for all probatable and nonprobatable (e.g., life insurance) assets be placed into a trust until the child is 25 or 30 y.o.a....financial education is nice...but the maturity to act responsibility isn't there at younger ages.
David 11 months ago (edited)
I know of two relatives who each received (inherited) half of a roughly $500K retirement fund 15+ years ago. One of them spent a lot of money on trips and other stuff and their $250K is long gone. The other has just been taking the legally required annual payout (based on life expectancy) which is currently about $12K / year. The value of that fund is higher than the $250K it started at, even though they have received over $150K over those years. The spending relative did at least pay off their house, so some of the money went there. But so much of it was wasted on unnecessary stuff.
#3
Buying pointless “things” that now are just clutter I want to get out of the house. Expensive life lesson.
David 11 months ago
Now that I'm at an age where I'm trying to downsize my belongings, it really makes me seriously consider any new things I'm bringing into the home. I've never been a mass consumer and a great deal of what is in my home was purchased used or received used from relatives. But even so, it adds up over six+ decades.
Tom De Paul 11 months ago
Ooh, this one hurts. I like owning things. I just bought my 5th leather jacket.
Romy Rösli 10 months ago
We all spend money on lots of things we don’t really need. I’m trying to reduce pointless spending but not always successfully. I’m just human.
Magenta Blu 11 months ago
I never had enough money for basic things... Like a bed.. I'm skipping on a plain mattress for more than 15 years because I can't afford to save. I'm always needing food, or bread, or shoes or an unexpected fixing.. and somehow a bed is never really necessary since there are always other priorities
Whatever the individual case might be, getting out of debt will mean that you'll have to start spending less than you earn. "Easier said than done, right? Well, consider this: to have more money at the end of the month, we either need to increase income, or reduce expenses."
The expert said that he prefers to start by reducing expenses. First, you'll need to create a list of all of your expenses from the last month, or the past three months, ideally. "From the list, it should be very clear what can be cut," Orford said.
"Then, look at ways to increase income. That could be creating a side hustle, asking for a raise, or changing jobs. Once you've done both, the bottom line should be significantly improved, and a surplus of income should be available for you to pay down debt."
As per The Guardian, credit card debt reached $1.17 trillion (yes, ‘trillion’ with a ‘t’) in the United States in the third quarter of 2024. This is up from $770 billion back in the first quarter of 2021. Living with debt can be incredibly stressful.
23% of Americans who earn less than $25k per year do not have a bank account. Meanwhile, 46% of Americans earning between $50k and $99.9k had a credit card balance. Low-income US citizens were more likely to use ‘buy now, pay later,’ payday, or pawn shop loans with average annual interest rates of payday loans at a mind-boggling 400%.
#4
Spent $100k to get a commercial helicopter license and then realised the life of a heli pilot wasn't good at all. Fixed term contract work, traveling around the country looking for work, low pay, couldn't buy a house, build a relationship, have kids in the way I wanted.Took a desk job instead and took 12 years to pay the loan back. Never flew again. My young brain got swept away with the idea of being a helicopter pilot without thinking it through.
In the end it worked out, apart from loving the flight training and living on the airport I also met my now wife. So the way I see it is it cost $100k to meet my wife who is now the guiding light in my life.
Jrog 11 months ago (edited)
It very much depend on where you are and the type of helicopter you fly. Touristic flights pilots in large cities don't fare that bad, Med and rescue services pilots make good money, and people piloting cargo helos in mountain areas -at least in Europe- can definitely make a decent living
Tom De Paul 11 months ago
The 2 Stanford graduates who founded Failure Analysis Associates (it does what it says) don't ever fly in helicopters (hot air balloons, either.) In case of failure, it is always catastrophic.
Tom De Paul 11 months ago
Why does it cost $100k to learn to fly a helicopter? I know it's different, but you can learn to fly a plane by enrolling in the community college in Rangely, CO.
Jrog 11 months ago (edited)
Guess you are talking about a a private license (PPL), that enables flying non-commercially small general aviation aircraft. Helicopter private pilot licenses (PPL-H) exist but are quite rare, and generally cost $25k and up in training, fees and flight hours. OP is speaking about a commercial license, that is a bit different. An Helicopter Commercial Certificate (CPL-H) starts at roughly $70k, since it requires a minimum of 150 flight hours (vs. 40 for the PPL). Typically, a solo training flight hour on an helicopter cost $300-400, twice the cost of a solo hour on a GA plane, while an hour with an instructor may cost up to $600, vs $200-250 for fixed wings.
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john doe 11 months ago
Shoulda had the military train you for free, you would have gotten paid too, only need to give a 6 year commitment of service.
tee-lena 11 months ago
Only🤨. I live next door to a homeless vets apartment complex. It is definitely not "only".
Load More Replies... #5
Instead of starting my second year of college, I decided to drain my bank account to buy my (now ex) fiance a car. He swore he'd pay me back and that he only needed my money so he could buy the car before it was bought by someone else.
I was only ever paid back $200, our relationship ended a few months after the car was purchased, I nearly ended up homeless, I had to put off college for a few years, and I ended up having to get a restraining order against him. It's been nearly 17 years and I still regret every second of that whole relationship. Don't ever let relationships sabotage your security and independence...and don't be stupid with your money.
Amy Lee 11 months ago
Just like in a cabin depressurisation situation... Help yourself first. If you put yourself in a situation where you're helpless, you're good to no one, esp yourself. So many people put themselves on the line to make someone else's life a little better at a huge potential cost to themselves.
Magenta Blu 11 months ago
I learned the hard way that if don't pay in advance, there is no relationship ever to happen. All relationships are based on what you can apport... They are NEVER FREE OR COSTLESS
Load More Replies... Tom De Paul 11 months ago
Unless you have a ring (and a co-ownership interest) do not finance a loved one.
#6
I was in a cult for 3 decades. I learned that religion is stupid.
Research from Harvard shows that positive relationships keep you happy, healthy, and living longer. When you consistently invest time and effort in strengthening the bonds you have with the people you care about (avoid anyone who drains you!), you feel invigorated. And, at the end of the day, it’s your family and friends who truly matter the most in life.
That being said, even though your so-called ‘social fitness’ probably should be a priority, you can’t ignore other aspects of your life. Namely, your physical health and finances. A life full of quality relationships is amazing. But at the end of the day, you still need to put food on the table, keep a roof above your and your family’s heads, and keep the lights on. And you won’t get much of anything done if you’re constantly ill, out of breath, and lethargic because you’ve neglected your fitness and diet.
The simple fact is that so long as you keep your spending in check, a good income, decent savings, and steady investments give you more space to do what you want. More money means better food, education, medical treatment, and more free time. As well as a safety net in case of emergency.
According to Robert Waldinger and Marc Schulz, the authors of ‘The Good Life,’ money won’t buy you happiness, and people with more prestigious jobs and money weren’t happier in their lives. However, money is still a tool that can give you security, safety, and a “sense of control,” Schulz says.
#7
I had a job with a startup where the owner gave me some unrealistic goals and told me if I hit them, he'd make it worth it to me. I had nothing better going on, so I said "f**k it, I'll take that chance." I was salaried, so only getting paid for my 40 hours, while working 60+ hours a week for about a year. I hit the goals though and he surprisingly followed through. He gave me a huge under the table bonus. More than I would've made if he'd just paid me the overtime.
What did I do with that money? He said I should buy a house, it's enough for a down payment and interest rates were really low at the time. Instead I bought my dream car (a 1970 challenger someone had thrown a 440 and T56 transmission into). Don't get me wrong, I love that car, but houses then literally cost half what they do now and I still kick myself every time I think about it.
Amy Lee 11 months ago (edited)
With the age of the car, pushing and shoving might be how it moves too!
Load More Replies... David 11 months ago
PSA to young Americans (I don't know the laws in other countries). Familiarize yourself with the laws regarding salaries, specifically exempt vs non-exempt. Over and over again I see some version of, "I was salaried so overtime was not paid". That is not how the law works except for exempt positions, which are usually upper management and getting a fat salary to start with. Unless the expected working hours are spelled out otherwise in the employment contract, "salaried" is assumed to be based on a standard 40 hour work week. An employer can not just call your position "salaried" and then work you 60, 70 hours a week. They still have to pay you for that overtime.
Curran Evans 10 months ago
I like this choice! Those old Challengers go for stupid money now. It's probably my GenX/muscle car lover brain talking though. LOL!!
#8
Being born to poor parents. Just don't do that.
fzc8yxyj75 11 months ago
Being a poor parent is doubly bad. Not only are you poor, you spend your life feeling terrible because you can’t help your kids out. I didn’t expect to be poor when I had kids, but then s**t happened.
StrangeOne 11 months ago (edited)
I was poor when I had a kid, but managed. You learn quick what you can live without and make do, and appreciate what you have. Kids are simple and need simple things to get by. They don't know anything better than that. It's all in the attitude and how you raise them. I don't think my mom was all that well-off when she raised me. She still managed to decorate a home that looked classy and clean, dressed to the nines, and, even though meals were simple and the same some weeks, she found a way to make delicious cheap meals. I never really knew how poor we were at times. She didn't tell me about her finances growing up. All I remember, as a hint, is that she got mad I bought a chocolate bar with the change back when she sent me to the store.
Load More Replies... DaisyBee 11 months ago (edited)
I feel like you shouldn’t have children if you can’t afford them. I’m not talking about sudden changes in circumstances and stuff, but if you can barely afford to feed yourself or children you already have, don’t have more children maybe?? You should be confident that you have back up plans financially before deciding to have a child. If you have no back up plans, or even current plans, maybe don’t have kids
Je souhaite 11 months ago
Plenty of welfare available if you can't afford them which is why poor people have so many kids
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Nadine Debard 11 months ago
I had poor but rather educated parents (which I think helps because I read a lot and spoke very well and could adapt to any place), and I live in a country where university cost very little, so I worked hard and now I'm an engineer and I own my house since I'm 35. Your chances depend a lot on the country you live in.
MonsterMum 11 months ago
I think I should have had rich parents too, I'd be really good at being rich!
#9
I didn't start saving for retirement until I was 40.
I also grew up in a religious cult that taught me I didn't need to save because Jesus was gonna be back by the time I was 30.
DaisyBee 11 months ago
Jesus is such a flake. He’s been “destined to return” so many times now and never does. Toxic of him really.
Michael Largey 11 months ago
Why would He come back? Look what happened before.
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My O My 11 months ago
If he would return he'd be put in a psychic ward in no time at all, put on sedatives and no one will ever find out
Tom De Paul 11 months ago
I think members of the staff would soon see the reality of his identity and the news would get out and spread (cellphone cameras and the Internet, anyone?)
Load More Replies... David 11 months ago
A big YES to start saving as soon as you can, as much as you can. Just getting into the habit helps even if the amount you can afford each month is paltry at the start. I didn't start until my 40s (wish I started sooner). I think I was putting about 10% of my salary into my 401K. At first it seemed like it would never amount to anything. then over time it finally reached the point where I could see the compound interest working in my favor.
Rick 11 months ago
I once invited Jesus over for a surprise party in his honor. He never showed or apologized.
DaisyBee 11 months ago
Was it the final nail in the crucifix for your friendship?
Load More Replies... Magenta Blu 11 months ago
I passed the 40s long ago and Im still not able to save. Money is not ever enough for basic things
Meanwhile, The Guardian reports that a new study conducted at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania found an increasingly positive association between money and happiness. As per Matt A. Killingsworth’s research, there was a larger happiness gap between wealthy and middle-income people than between middle-income and low-income ones.
According to Killingsworth, “A greater feeling of control over life can explain about 75% of the association between money and happiness. So I think a big part of what’s happening is that, when people have more money, they have more control over their lives. More freedom to live the life they want to live.”
However, he added that “Money alone—which we’re already pretty motivated to pursue—is just one small part of the overall equation for happiness.”
#10
Paid $7,000 to a witch to have her cast spells to get my ex back.
Bear Hall 11 months ago
I'm confused. Was it a bad investment because they did or because they didn't come back?
Ray Ceeya (RayCeeYa) 11 months ago
Have you not learned anything from Practical Magic? Whatever comes back isn't the same...
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BeesEelsAndPups 11 months ago
I'm sorry, this is funny. I know I shouldn't laugh, but I can't help it
#11
I bought a horse. What I learned from this was that I should buy another horse.
Marissa D 11 months ago
Yeah, we have issues. the main thought in our heads is, " Oh, but they need a friend. And another friend. And another."
Load More Replies... Upstaged75 11 months ago
The purchase price is the cheapest part of owning a horse. True story.
David 11 months ago
Horse = expensive. I had a horse as a teen but we had horses on our farm/ranch so my expenses were minimal. Hay and such, but no boarding fees. I loved my horse dearly and have fond memories. My current property is large enough to legally own a horse, but I am realistic about the finances and energy involved in trying to care for one these days.
#12
Fell for ‘Buy Now, Pay Later.’ Now I’m Paying Forever.
hungryghost 11 months ago
Yeah, anyone should be avoiding any kinds of paylater payment options like the plague. It's a scam. Period.
Bi.Felicia 11 months ago
Not necessarily. I have used things like After pay, which allows you to split your purchase into 4 payments, each payment is due every 2 weeks. Say I purchased something for $800. I would pay $200 initially and then another $200, 2 weeks later. They don't charge any interest or fees and you have the option to change some of the due dates, if you can't make the payment, when it's originally due.
Load More Replies... Guy Bare 11 months ago
I try to follow the lead "If you can't afford it right now, then it's not for you"
My O My 11 months ago
Same. There are exeptions: car, washing machine and a house
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David 11 months ago
I've seen more than one person not pay attention to the part of the contract that says unless the contract is paid in full on time, the interest (usually at high rates) is still accruing. AND I've seen where the company making the loan is quiet about that time. So while you'd think they might send an email or something reminding you, it seems they prefer you forget. I've used these terms to my advantage when I could afford to buy outright but was just earning interest on the money and then paid it off so they didn't charge me. But you have to really stay on top of it because the interest they pay you is usually way more than the interest you earn by leaving the money in bank / investment while during the term of the loan.
What are the very worst financial decisions that you’ve made in life, dear Pandas? What lessons about money did you have to learn the hard way?
On the other hand, what do you personally think are the very best financial decisions you’ve made, whether intentionally or by accident?
We’d love to hear about your experiences. If you have a spare moment, share them in the comments!
#13
Going to a four-year university right after high school. I could’ve gotten my gen-eds done at community college for free and saved so much money before transferring to a 4-year. I was too worried about what other people like my parents, classmates, and guidance counselors thought of me. If I have kids of my own one day I’ll recommend they go to community college first.
DelvianBlue 11 months ago
I took a lot of community college classes and later became an adjunct professor at one for a number of years. If you're careful and pick a good one, community colleges can have classes that are just as good, if not better, than a 4 year college - and for a fraction of the cost! I took organic chemistry and physics classes that were just as challenging as the biochemistry classes I later took at a 4 year school. Community colleges can offer a quality education!
Tom De Paul 11 months ago
Or if they prepare you for a career. Colorado Northwestern Community College can prepare you to fly planes, or become a paralegal or dental hygienist.
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ScootyPuffJr 11 months ago
This is a great idea, but be careful when transferring to a new school--lots of universities will declare your credits from X, Y, Z don't count.
rorschach-penguin 11 months ago
Generally speaking you should identify a few public universities in your state and, before starting at community college, look up the transfer credit agreements and equivalencies and also what the gen ed requirements are at the universities you ultimately want to apply to and graduate from. My school had a "transfer credit equivalency search" website; a lot of common courses already had established transfer credit rules and there was a petition form for courses nobody had evaluated or tried to transfer yet. Also, save all of your past syllabi!
Load More Replies... Bi.Felicia 11 months ago
I agree with going to a community college first, which is what I did. I was planning on going to nursing school and wanted to take every pre-requisite that I could, so I could strictly focus on just the nursing program. I ended up having enough credits to get my associates degree. Another way to get around wasting money on gen ed classes is to take CLEP exams. These test you on how much knowledge you have on a particular subject, if you pass then you don't need to take that course/courses.
DeoManus Argentem 11 months ago
CLEP was such an awesome time saver! I took all I could - even if I had no prior education on a particular topic, just buy a book on it (not even an expensive textbook, just a $10 book from a random bookstore) and read it over a weekend and go take the test!
Load More Replies... Glen Ellyn 11 months ago
Exactly! I wish more young people would do this. The community college thing, I mean.
David 11 months ago
RELATED: If you are / have teens in high school, look into dual credit programs in your area. Basically, HS students spend part of the school time attending local community college classes and get both high school credits and college credits for them. It's generally free since they are still minors in the K-12 system, and they can graduate high school with a good start on a two year degree. This wasn't a thing when I was in HS in the 70s (far as I know) but I know a few younger people locally who have benefitted from it. And I've also met others who didn't know it was even an option.
Curious Panda 11 months ago
So a community college isn't the same as a uni? Don't get me wrong, I did my Googleing... but I don't think I understood too clearly!
Tom De Paul 11 months ago (edited)
We (Stanford) didn't have gen-ed classes; we had diversity requirements. Before everyone loses it, it was subject matter diversity - a science involving calculation, a general science, a humanities class, a Western culture class, a non-Western culture class, a fine arts class. You learned to hone your writing, logic, and critical thinking skills in all of them.
#14
I thought I was going to k*ll myself in 2021. I used credit cards like it was my last month on earth!
I am now paying interest on my s***idal ideation.
Uncommon Sense 11 months ago
Oh goodness. That resonates. I very nearly did less than a year ago and while I'm not stupid, there is an element of, "sod it, I could be dead now" that's influencing my spending habits.
DaisyBee 11 months ago
Omg I had the opposite happen! I didn’t purchase anything and ended up saving tons because in my mind, I could leave that to my parents so they’d have something to cover funeral costs or whatever once I killed myself. I have a life insurance policy, but obviously they don’t pay out for suicide, so I felt the least I could do was save every penny to leave behind. I had it planned for the end of January 2025. (first attempt had been planned for April 2021).
Bear Hall 11 months ago
I'm really glad you didn't leave us, but you need immadiate help. If you have a new date to end it all get yourself checked in a hospital right now. I sounds like you have good relationship with your parents. It's time to get to be honest with them and let them know what's going in your head. You need as many people to hold you back as possibe. You'll be suprised how many people in your life want you to stay with them.
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Kathy Brooke 11 months ago
I had a patient spent a whole year preparing to end her life, even gave up her house. Heartbreaking!
#15
I've p*ssed a lot of money into my parents' situation. I've come to the bitter realization that all their problems are the result of poor decisions and bad behavior, and no amount of money will ever dig them out of the hole they're in.
TribbleThinking 11 months ago
I've done the same. The way I made peace with it is that I've gone above and beyond with the "paying back" bit, so I don't feel in the least bit bothered about ignoring her as she ages.
David 11 months ago
True for some folks. I spent thousands of dollars trying to help (relative) get back on their feet after an ugly divorce / etc. But I learned over time they do a lot to self sabotage their situation. Not like d***s / alcohol. More like not taking care of their stuff, everything becomes disposable. When they do get a chunk of money (tax return for instance), they have good intents but then end up blowing through that extra money in hand. I do not regret trying to help them because I love them. But I came to realize that no amount is ever enough because they go through life from one crisis to the next and always needing money to put out fires.
#16
Bought a 200 year old house.
I guess I learned. The next one we bought is only 100 years old.
Tamra 11 months ago (edited)
Our house is over 100 years old. I can attest that heating and cooling is an issue. Plaster walls with minimal to no insulation. Plus, repairs of any kind are usually more expensive, because you're dealing with materials and measurements that are no longer "standard".
martin734 11 months ago
My house is about 200 years old and is far better built than most modern houses. It has solid stone walls and a slate roof. The windows and external doors are all hardwood and were replaced about 50 years ago, so they should be good for another 30 odd years at least. The house was well maintained over it's life with the plumbing and wiring regularly updated. The only major upgrade I have done was to install underfloor heating. Most of the houses in my village were built between the 17th and 19th century though there are a few newbuilds from around the 1950's.
Tom De Paul 11 months ago
After reading the comments I have a question: were our ancestors always cold?
WubiDubi 11 months ago
They likely had a fire on most of the time, when burning wood (or coal) was not an issue
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David 11 months ago
Related - It doesn't reach the century mark above, but if purchasing a manufactured home to save money (like I did), be aware of potential limitations over a stick built. If they are over a certain age it can be harder to get home insurance on them. Some counties won't let you move them if they are over X years old. Stuff like that.
SAF saf 11 months ago
OMG! THIS! Unless you're a successful and wealthy General Contractor or just SUPER rich don't buy an old house....ever.
MonsterMum 11 months ago
Where I live, in the UK, it's either older houses (mine is 120 years old) or pokey little new builds with tiny rooms. I saw one new build and the 'master bedroom' was less than 10' x 10'! A lot of them seem to have thin walls too, so you can hear what the rest of the house are doing. I like my old house because it has character and decent sized rooms. Of course, if you are wealthy, you could have a new build built how you want.
Load More Replies... #17
Marrying the wrong person.
Don’t marry the wrong person.
Ange Marsden 11 months ago
Marrying the wrong person lost me at least half a million - when people promise they'll change after marriage, they won't.
DennyS (denzoren) 11 months ago
I'd rather be single and lonely my entire life than marry the wrong person and I hope I never do. I also hope that those who did can find a way out.
Beak Hookage 11 months ago
I avoided this issue by not getting married at all. Or dating either for that matter. Valentine's Day is always a bit surreal for me.
Curious Panda 11 months ago
I've never been married. Also I'm poor as hell, so I don't see how the wrong person could make me bankrupt. Joke's on him haha
Theora Fifty-five Johnson 11 months ago
Me, too. Emotionally and financially abusive. But it's hard to tell so forgive yourself.
#18
Borrowed money to purchase a car. My wife and I were newly married and had started our first real jobs out of college. We purchased a car after 4 months of starting our jobs.
When we multiplied our payments times the number of months of the loan, we were horrified by how much that car was going to cost. This was made worse because she was a mathematician and I was an engineer.
We made double and triple payments to end the loan and swore to never again pay interest for anything. Except for a mortgage, we never have: no car loans, no credit card debt, no home equity loans, nothing.
Mgtow Smurf 11 months ago
If possible pay cash for everything, interest on loans is money lost.
Sven Grammersdorf 11 months ago
It actually makes sense to take out a loan if the interest rate on the loan is lower than the interest you could make if you invested the cash somewhere.
Load More Replies... SolitaryIntrovert 11 months ago (edited)
I stopped using credit 25 years ago, and I don't miss it at all
#19
Buying a gym membership in January. Turns out motivation only lasts two weeks.
David 11 months ago
Bear, That is a standard sales pitch of almost every person selling gym memberships. And yet the reality is the world is full of folks saying they bought it / don't use it.
Load More Replies... Bi.Felicia 11 months ago
I don't understand why when people decide to make a goal for themselves to lose weight, they automatically must get a gym membership. My personal opinion is to start doing simple things at home or around your neighborhood. Start with walking and you can use cans of food or whatever as weights, you can do pushups and sit-ups at home, as well. Do this, until you have a set routine for at least 6-8 weeks or so, then sign up for a gym membership, if you want. You're more likely to not waste money, this way.
ILoveMySon 11 months ago
Proper upkeep of a home and gardening also helps.
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Nannychachi 11 months ago
I get my membership for free through Silver Sneakers! If you're over 60yo check into it.
#20
Bought a brand new car. No one can afford a brand new car unless they just have tons and tons of money. The $400 a month payment was the worst thing in the world and by far the worst financial decision I ever made. I grew to hate that car.
Bi.Felicia 11 months ago (edited)
I've been looking into buying a new to me car, hopefully at some point this year, but holy c**p are they expensive. My current vehicle is 10 years old with about 145k miles. I was able to buy it out right, 6 years ago and it's been so nice not having a car payment. I've been looking at cars that are slightly used, about 2-3 years old and my payments are estimated to be at least $600/month. So I'm planning on saving as much as I can, as well as selling my current car privately, rather than trading it in, because you get more money this way, imo. I've also been working on my credit score, which should also help to bring my payments down. It's absolutely crazy, how much cars cost these days. You can't even find a hooptie for $500-$1000 nowadays. 🤦🏻♀️
DennyS (denzoren) 11 months ago
Before the pandemic a pickup here was $200,000, now, over $300,000.
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Tom De Paul 11 months ago
And the depreciation. Get the auto issue of Consumer Reports and follow their advice.
The Starsong Princess 11 months ago
I always buy a new car. Then I look after it and drive it for a decade. I’m on my third one. Once I pay off the car loan, I put that monthly payments into an account and use it to buy the next car.
Jrog 11 months ago (edited)
The depreciation is well compensated by the savings in maintenance for the first years. You pay for the ease of mind of not risking buying a car with tampered odometer or hidden issues. New cars have better fuel performance, lower property tax (around here at least) and will not require significant repairs for several years; often you can have a 3 or even 5 years warranty. If you plan on keeping the car for 8-10 years, a new car is a way better investment.
Sara Frazer 11 months ago
I got my old truck from a junk yard for $750 and all that needed replacing was the fuel pump. 8+ years later and it's still running fine. I could never imagine paying hundreds a month for a car just because it's shiny and trendy!
David 11 months ago
AGREE. I bought one new vehicle in my life (1986) on a 5 year payment plan. My situation changed over time and I was SO GLAD when I finally got out from under those payments. I did keep it for 20 years but it was painful on the front end. If you can afford it, the sweet spot IMO is late model cars, maybe 3 or 4 years old. Lots of depreciation already happened, but if well cared for they are still like new. My current 2002 van, purchased used about 2005/6 is a good example. Still looked new when my mom bought it, still reliable transportation 2+ decades later. Other used cars I've bought were older but still saved me a ton. Paid $850 for a Mazda 626. Put $500 into a clutch job and replaced the brakes / rotors myself. Used it as a commute car for years, only paying for consumables like gas/oil/tires. Saved a ton on about 10 years of no monthly car payments, sold it for $800.
Mary Kelly 11 months ago
i purchased a new toyota corolla twice now...loan was only around $267/mo. over five years...did routine maintenance and neither car was ever in the shop....first one lasted 12 years but was totalled (by some idiot), second one is 7 years old and i expect that it will last at least 15-20 years...by a reliable basic car...you don't need to impress anyone...you do need a car that runs and doesn't break down though
#21
Got a car loan at 10% when prime was 3%, Never trust the salesman. Claimed the 10% was just a place holder until the banks opened.
Glen Ellyn 11 months ago
Use a credit union and always have your own financing ahead of time when you head to the car dealership.
Xenia Harley 11 months ago
Car dealerships get you on the price, the percentage of the loan, and on add ons.
David 11 months ago
ANY LEGAL CONTRACT - Always READ. What is in print is the only thing that matters. Houses, cars, cell phone contracts, whatever. Many times I have heard a younger adult say, "But the salesman said.....(thing)", but when I complained to the company they said my contract says (other thing). Salesmen shouldn't lie to you but many of them will. Or you may have just been confused because there were different options and you remembered bits from the option you didn't choose. Most sales contracts I have seen have a paragraph or two devoted to you agreeing the terms of the deal are only what is in the written contract and nothing said by any agent / employee matters.
#22
Move without securing a job first because I had a good amount saved up. It took me 6 months to find a job despite being in a high demand profession and with experience. The job market is tough af.
I had $22,000 saved up. Drained it all.
David 11 months ago
A move back to my home state is one of the few times I might have ended up homeless if not for good friends / relatives. I didn't have anywhere near $22K. It took me about six months to find a career job. I did find a 'throw away' job prior to that but it was minimum wage and the employer knew from the start it was a temporary situation for me. A good friend rented me a room (and food) for $200 / month. That was back about 1997 but even then the rent I paid was barely enough to cover the food I ate. A month or so after I got the good job I moved out to a studio apartment, but without the help of people who cared about me it could have been a rocky landing.
#23
I didn't file the proper form when I surrendered my house before foreclosure in 2016. One. Form. Didn't know, used an online tax service and that was that?
I was told by the collector I would never hear from them again. Oh, how wrong I was. See, the IRS thinks I owe taxes on the sale of the property, but I just handed over the property under the guise of washing my hands of the dire situation.
Last time I checked, the IRS wants over 100 grand. I got nothing for the house. Now I had to go to a CPA. My tax guy has delayed them, tried too casually to get a tax advocate to correct the problem. Almost 9 years later, they have kept every refund and I have this STILL hanging over our heads. The IRS has not waived a thing.
All because of one form.
Lost a house, lost all my money I put into the house, currently paying twice as much in rent as my previous house payments. Not a dime to spare. One. Form.
Shoulda. Coulda. Woulda.
Anonymous Female 11 months ago
Right? When the economy crashed in 2007-2008, I foreclosed on my house (both my husband at the time and myself lost our jobs). Didn't hear a thing ever again. Didn't even have any forms to fill out? The bank just came and basically said "Get out" and put their own locks on the doors and that was that.
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Tom De Paul 11 months ago
Change your withholding allowance. Don't have a refund they can get.
Ace 11 months ago
"IRS" implies the US, as does the rest of the story. But I think this guy's problems started long before the "one form" he's blaming it all on. He'd already failed to keep up payments and had his house repossessed, apparently in the belief that this would just wipe the slate clean.
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#24
Gambling. You can't outgamble your losses.
Losing is not a problem in gambling, if u lost everytime you will not gamble anymore. Winning on the other hand is the problem.
The more u win, the more u increase your stakes. You lose some, win some. No big deal, I went to a casino once with 2 euros and came out with 500, the next day went in with 150 and ended up with -300 euros.
Its a brutal cycle where the money you make will not be enough to make long term changes in your life and you ll loose them anyway on the next round of gambling.
Meanwhile your brain gets so hooked on, that you make radical, illogical financial decisions on your daily life even if its not gambling. Like buying expensive stuff for your soulmate, cause u either feel bad losing the same ammount last night or feel confident that you can make more money if u won.
SAF saf 11 months ago
Unlike d***s or drinking which have have eventual limits...ie passing out. Gambling has no end. You can gamble money you don't even have. It's probably the worst of all the addictions.
Bi.Felicia 11 months ago
Everything has a limit, yes your limit might be less with d.rugs or alcohol due to OD/death, but gambling has an end, at some point. I'm not sure how one can gamble imaginary money, that they don't have? Please explain. But when someone has reached the point of no return, on their gambling problem, they turn to loan sharks, or stealing from friends/family, ect. From my personal experiences, I'd have to disagree that gambling is the worst of all addictions. There are support programs out there for those struggling with gambling and even better there's no stigma.
Load More Replies... Sara Frazer 11 months ago
The only time I gambled i went with my sister to a casino because she wanted to go. I set my spending limit at $20. Ended up with $30. Then quit and just had a couple drinks while she kept gambling. Was only $10 but hey in my mind it was better than losing.
David 11 months ago
Sara, Same(ish). I've only been in professional casinos maybe a dozen times. (Though it sounds better if I say I've gambled on at least four continents / five countries - haha). Sometimes I'll get about $20 in chips, play blackjack, set aside winnings. When I've made back my $20 I gamble with whatever chips are 'extra'. Walk away even or up 5 or 10 bucks. Except for Japan and Monaco, when I've been to a casino it was usually because I was with someone else and just killing a bit of time. Casinos used to be a great place for a cheap dinner out.
Load More Replies... Ray Ceeya (RayCeeYa) 11 months ago
My mom used to play video poker. Later on she spent a couple years dealing blackjack at a casino. After watching this death spiral a few times she never gambled again.
Michael Largey 11 months ago
As one gambler said on his way to the track, "I hope I break even today. I could use the money."
Glen Ellyn 11 months ago
I will never understand why people gamble. You may have heard the expression "pin money." This is "bin money" because you're throwing it away.
patricia patricia 11 months ago (edited)
It's an addiction. Unless your brain is wired in a certain way you'll never understand why. Same with d***s. Or alcohol. Or eating disorders. It looks illogical. It *is* illogical. But we humans are flawed and our brains play weird games on us.
Load More Replies... #25
Recently fell for a romance scam. Lost all my savings. I hate myself.
David 11 months ago
So many lonely hearts who want so badly to believe they are loved they check their brains. I'm quite lonely, just too cynical / skeptical to fall for a pig butchering scam. But I can understand why someone would want to believe they were loved. A mutual friend lost a fair bit of money to one of these over about a year. We (me and another friend) tried to warn her, point out the red flags, but they wanted it to be true so badly they ignored us. Romance scams are the worst IMO because they both steal the money and break the person's heart.
DaisyBee 11 months ago
Unfortunately I do think the phrase “fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me” applies to many of these. They seem to lack basic common sense
Load More Replies... Curious Panda 11 months ago
Last Christmas I fell for one of those scams where, an item is for sale really cheap (it was a set of pots and pans that would usually cost well over $100) and it was advertised for $25. I immediately bought it thinking it would be my present to myself. Needles to say, I never got my package delivered. *Sad clown noises* I am so ashamed I have never mentioned it to any friends or family since they think I'm smart.
#26
I bought some fine art as an investment, but sold it a few years later for less than half what I'd paid. I should have trusted my gut, rather than some slick advisor.
Stygtand 11 months ago
I dont know why. But i have always felt that art trading is a money laundering scam.
DaisyBee 11 months ago (edited)
My gut has IBS, I’m not gonna take advice from something that can’t handle TOMATOES
Load More Replies... #27
Have children. I learned not to have anymore. .
Blah Blah Blah 11 months ago
OVERRATED! Come at me all you want, I'll die on this soapobx.They're completely overrated especially in the US for SO MANY reasons!
MotherRobinson 11 months ago
I have kids and I agree with you. Don't have any regrets but I won't have anymore.
Load More Replies... David 11 months ago
Kids are wonderful (usually) but they are way more expensive that most young people realize. Including me when I was a "young people". I had the good sense to get a vasectomy after two kids, knowing I likely couldn't afford to raise more. I love them, but in some ways my life might have been better if I never had any.
Beak Hookage 11 months ago
I like kids and get along well with them, but have no interest in parenthood. But that's okay - it means I'm around to help out with other people's kids! I shouldn't be passing my genes on anyway; I am not a healthy person.
Magenta Blu 11 months ago
I discovered having kids was the only way to achieve being loved. So I grew a big family, and it is worth every penny.
KnightOwl 11 months ago (edited)
I grew up with 7 siblings and while some parts were very hard, overall it was great. My parents were crazy though, they had 8 kids back to back, literally a year between each of us. I have no idea how any of us survived the teen years.. were now all in our 30s and early 40s and my parents have 16 grandkids. Family gatherings are insane but we love it!
Load More Replies... #28
Racked up $20k in credit card debt in my early 20’s. My mom always warned me to be careful but since I knew better I just knew it wouldn’t happen to me. Lol. Anyways, aggressively paying for a few years + two covid stimulus checks + totaling my car helped finish it off. Haven’t carried a balance since.
David 11 months ago
I did more or less same. Only about $10K but it was back in the 80s / early 90s. For perspective, $10K in 1985 is close to $30K in 2025 money. Plus all that horrible interest. OMG hard lesson learned. It wasn't expensive item binge spending. It was a long slow simmer of not earning enough and needing things like diapers, formula, new set of car tires and so on. The 'up side' is lesson learned / never repeated. But it was a lot of pain for several years trying to pay it down.
#29
Legos long term strategy in the 90s was to hook kids on them and then drop their dream sets when they had the money.
I'm still learning from it.
howdylee 11 months ago
My kids are into Lego... joked with my husband that oldest kid wants the X-Men blackbird jet for only $90. He laughed and asked if it was me who really wanted it. I said, No, I want the X-Mansion set for $320! He said there are alot better things to spend $300 on, I hate it when he's right :)
Bi.Felicia 11 months ago
I just bought myself 2 new Lego sets yesterday. I just recently decided to get back into them, since I used to have many sets as a child. I've been buying mostly from their Botanical sets, which double as home decor. As long as you don't go overboard, I think Lego are always worth it.
Glix Drap 11 months ago
I was looking at the Titanic model. Problem is I have nowhere to put it.
Load More Replies... Tom De Paul 11 months ago
It seems like they hold their value. eBay has Lego sets selling for $10-20k!
KnightOwl 11 months ago
I'll never understand why lego sets are so popular now. I grew up in the 80s and 90s when lego was about using your imagination, you'd get a big box of lego and could build whatever you wanted! Me and my 7 siblings had tons of lego and built huge castles, whole cities, rocket ships that we could fit inside etc. Now it's all about buying sets with very specific pieces and instructions to build specific things, no imagination needed just follow the instructions.. I hate it, noone has any imagination nowadays.
#30
Lending friends or family significant amounts of money… just don’t.
Don’t mind lending you a few hundred until payday or something. But have had 2 different situations where I played myself.
Lent an uncle $5000 in like 2015. I was young and doing okay, uncle was in hard times. Asked him about it numerous times, always comes up with a new excuse as why he can’t pay me. I asked just to pay back monthly, throw me $50 a check or something to work it off. Haven’t seen a penny from him. We rarely talk anymore, and it’s definitely ruined our relationship.
Had a good buddy who I was friends with for years. Got himself in a bad situation. Begged for some help and the sucker I was, lent him $3000 to help out. It’s crazy cause the work this dude put in to sucker me; was honestly impressive. Had me totally convinced he just needed help and genuinely wanted to turn his life around.
Saw the dude few days later, gooned out of his mind. Guy promised me he was using my money to get a new apartment to get away from some people. Plot twist, he used it for d***s and alcohol.
Lesson learnt, don’t lend out money unless you expect to lose it. That extra $8,000 could’ve helped me out a boatload over the years. Or at minimum, took the wife and I on a sick vacation haha.
SAF saf 11 months ago
Here's the hard truth about lending family money. There's no easy option: you either lend the money and probably loose it or you don't lend the money and loose family. You're an a*****e every time you ask for money period.
David 11 months ago
SAF, Disagree about the "every time" part. Though I do believe in documenting it legally the same as you would for a stranger. Over the years, different relatives and a couple of friends, I've loaned out $10K, $15K, 30K and 12K and 2K - all paid back in full with agreed interest. More recently 2K and 4K to a couple of younger relatives, both have made payments but those are not supposed to be paid back yet. It definitely should be money you could afford to lose if it absolutely came to that. The larger amounts I listed were for people I trusted a lot and very specific situations.
Load More Replies... turk 11 months ago
I loaned my brother some money to pay an overdue utility bill, with the sob story they would cut off his power in winter, and he had a newborn, etc. Told me he'd pay me back on the next paycheck (we work in the same industry and make comparable money, but I was single at the time). Years go by with no attempts to pay me back. I find myself with some unexpected bills and text him asking if he can pay me back. His wife texts me later that they feel they have "done a lot for me" over the years, so they don't feel they have to pay me back. First of all, not sure what they are referring to. Second, then don't ask for a loan, send me a bill! We barely speak anymore.
Curious Panda 11 months ago
I ended a "friendship" because "friend" kept borrowing money without ever paying it back. Like I mentiones on a comment above, I'm poor af and any amount of cash feels like a loss. :(
MonsterMum 11 months ago
Don't lend money unless you are happy to give it away. Of course, if you lend a 'friend' £100 ($/your currency) and never see them again, it was worth it.
#31
Got my first job at 18, decided I had too much disposable money and that it was fine to bet £50’s on sports bets every so often..
Was in 10K debt by 22 with nothing in my name.. loads of loans, pay days, proper cocked my early years up.
At 23, my Mrs told me to sort my s**t out or she’s out.. so I did. Never gambled again, 4 years later I was debt free, had 30K saved up and we bought our first house together.
I mean, technically I ended up in bigger debt than I started, but in the form of a mortgage and not payday gamble loans.
#32
Flunking out of college when I had a nearly full ride.
…then when I went back, majoring in English.
#33
A few years back I took out a loan for $34k to buy a Michael Jordan rookie card in mint condition (BGS 9 grade). This was at the height of the hype coming off of Covid/The Last Dance etc and I didn’t want to miss the chance to own one of my holy grails of sports card collecting that I’ve wanted since I was a kid. As with all markets there are ebbs and flows, and unfortunately I bought right around where it peaked in value and now you can get 3 of them in the same condition for that price. Coming full circle, i learned nothing just goes up and up forever and if something is setting new records for how high the value is going it’s probably not a great time to purchase. *Obligatory “timing the market is a fools game” disclaimer* but I feel like overspending at the peak of the hype because I was scared it would become unobtainable later taught me patience and a better way to analyze the trends.
David 11 months ago (edited)
SO risky to invest in things that do not have intrinsic worth. You can live in a house, farm land, stuff like that. But a piece of card stock with a person's picture on it, a beanie baby, an old Avon perfume bottle and stuff like that, have no intrinsic worth. They are only worth / useful if someone else wants them worse than you do and are willing to pay more than you paid. I've seen so many garage sales where people were selling off their beanie babies with tags, or their NIB action figures, or yes, those old Avon bottles and similar stuff - where it was obvious they had gone heavy into "thing" thinking that "thing" was going to be an investment for them.
#34
Never buy a pet that’s prone to health problems and NOT have insurance on them. I preach pet insurance to anyone and everyone. My sphynx cat has heart disease and I learned about pet insurance too late so now he costs me… a lot in special food and cardiac care.
However since obtaining insurance for my other animals I can get my babies the gold standard care without having to worry about letting them die of something curable just because I can’t afford it.
fzc8yxyj75 11 months ago
True but adopted pets still have vet bills - speaking from experience.
Load More Replies... TribbleThinking 11 months ago
I asked my vet which ones he had had trouble with. He was happy to oblige. 🙂
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Artful Penguin 11 months ago
I had pet insurance on my Vizsla, thankfully. Saved thousands when she started getting spinal stenosis.
#35
Don’t try to buy your own stocks and expect to get a positive return unless you know what you’re doing. It’s index and mutual funds for me. Lesson learned.
Grenelda Thurber 11 months ago
Even the professional investors rarely do better than index funds. When you include how much time they spend doing it, index funds by far outperform individual stocks (in general).
#36
Went through a divorce and cashed out my 401k to get rid of the debt, it was an easy button and I didn't look at all my options or ask anyones advice. I was 37. I literally took 14 years of my work life that I'd saved and threw it away. I started over at 37 and am now financially healthy with my new husband, but I know it would have added another half mil or more to my balances and I could retire earlier.
Bonesko 11 months ago
A bit unrelated.My dad's ex wife had paid off her home prior to my Dad moving in. After a few years oft dad being himself, they separate and start divorce processings. My dad someone convinced his ex to give him the house, without any compensation. After a few years, my dad decides to move out of state and sells the house given to him to his ex for more than she paid for it initially. WTF! 🤯
Bi.Felicia 11 months ago
Seriously wtf? Where did your dad's ex wife end up going? I'm guessing that your dad didn't give her any of the profit made from selling her home? I understand that it's your dad, but I feel really bad for his ex wife.
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#37
Co-signing on a loan is up there for sure.
David 11 months ago
It has it's places, like my folks helping me purchase a used car when I was young. But you have to be prepared to be on the hook if the primary borrow defaults on the loan. I've seen people "surprised" when the bank or credit card company came to them demanding payment on the loan they had cosigned.
#38
I was living at home rent free at 18-22 and managed to still rack up debt taking out $1k loans and not paying bills bc I was spoiled and dumb. I have regrets.
#39
Thought I could ‘flip’ a thrift store couch. Ended up with a gross couch no one wanted and $50 less in my pocket.
DennyS (denzoren) 11 months ago
People always make "flip furniture" seem like a money maker. As a woodworker, it can cost a lot of money to flip, if done properly. I begin to doubt a lot of those videos I see where they sand it, paint it and all of a sudden, huge price.
The Starsong Princess 11 months ago
With their labor factored in, they make money from the videos, not the furniture flip.
Load More Replies... David 11 months ago
This one kind of made me chuckle. At least it was only $50. I don't flip, but used furniture is a great way to save money. And if you have young grandkids, a great way to not have a heart attack when they do 'grandkid things' on your new furniture. I am typing this post while sitting in a recliner I purchased for 25 cents at a garage sale about three years ago. The old lady just wanted some bulky stuff gone and everything was 25 cents. Also the three way pole lamp I bought from her at the same time.
#40
Timeshare.
Artful Penguin 11 months ago
I was a paralegal for a firm that helped people get out of their timeshare contracts. Part of my job was to review client contracts and the relevant state statutes. Those things are EVIL.
#41
I bought a 2015 Jeep Renegade, FWD, automatic, brand new. I learned, never buy the brand new model of a car. That car was the biggest piece of s**t on wheels i had ever driven. It was way terrible on gas from what was listed. It was bad shifting between 1st and 2nd gears, and would only ever go into the 9th gear if you were going downhill at 70+ mph. It would have weird electrical glitches in the rain. When the battery died, it broke the computer so it wouldn't start, plus, it had a weird bug that drained the battery way fast, and it would need a new one in less than 2 years. It would have the check engine light pop on constantly because of the capless fuel tank.
#42
Not going all-in on Bitcoin when I first heard about it. I think I'd have something like $50 million, but honestly I don't think there's much of a lesson there.
I chose not to gamble and it ended up hitting big, but that doesn't mean gambling is a sound investment strategy.
StrangeOne 11 months ago
We can't beat ourselves up for not being able to predict what will happen.
David 11 months ago (edited)
Bitcoin is the newer version of those folks who were early investors in companies like Microsoft and Intel. There will always be plenty of examples of "coulda woulda shoulda". But people brag more when they win. The world is also full of people who invested in companies that completely failed. Theranos is probably one good example. "Theranos raised over $700 million from investors and venture capitalists. The company's valuation peaked at $9 billion in 2013 and 2014. " And today it is worth nothing.
Grenelda Thurber 11 months ago
Bitcoin was a fluke. There have multiple crypto-currency failures/scams. Don't kick yourself for not being psychic.
#43
Rejected payment of 35000 BTC for writing an essay in 2009.
Lost Panda 11 months ago
Would say this is hindsight is 20/20 versus a bad financial decision. In 2009, that probably would have been a bad financial decision.
Chris 11 months ago (edited)
I agree, it is like the people that say, "If you bought Apple in XXX", but forget you mention that Apple almost went bankrupt, and you would have had to hold through that. Or a co-worker of mine where he was complaining about getting three times his money from selling our company stock after we got it instead of pay during a bad time for the company. His reason for complaining? If he had held it a month more, it would have been four times.
Load More Replies... #44
Paying for insurance but not following through on claims. Got trip insurance for my honeymoon, had a medical incident and couldn't go. I made a call to see if I was covered, I was and I was supposed to follow up... but I didn't. I can't even remember why.
$5000 down the drain.
Now I follow up, not just on all my insurance claims but on everything that might get me money back: warranties, refunds, etcs. I refuse to leave money on the table out of laziness or convenience.
David 11 months ago
Kind of related - but try to pay attention to insurance you don't know you have. I usually ignore credit card 'perks' because often the savings are useless in real life. Stuff like "15% off (brand name) Hotels" but then you find out the discount is based on the published rack rate of the room and just calling in as a nobody usually gets you a lower price anyway. ANYWHO - 2016 Philippines trip. Had a camera pick pocketed. About $400. Sadness but that's life. Then back in the US, someone happened to mention, "Did you buy that camera on your Amex? It might be covered". Which prompted me to read the terms and sure enough it was. Filed a claim with Amex and they credited me the purchase price and I bought a new one. Which is what I mean by insurance I didn't know I had.
Blah Blah Blah 11 months ago
Insurance is a scam! They would have found a way to not pay you anyway
#45
Secondhand, out-of-warranty BMW.
OWL ON A MISSION 11 months ago
The mistake was buying a used BMW, even new those things suck mechanically. I can't count how many I've seen stranded on the side of the road. If you want a reliable used car it's Toyota all the way.
Nichole Harris 11 months ago
IDK.... Is Toyota still reliable? I know they used to be.... Back in like the late 80s and early 90s..... Honda is really awesome too...... Miss my lil 99 Civic
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#46
Living paycheck to paycheck when I didn’t have to. Learned that saving early gives you freedom later.
#47
Student loans. A s**t ton of them. But I’m grateful in a way for them because it led to me to learning a lot about personal finance and investing and now would consider myself somewhat financially savvy. About 33% through paying off all my debt but am beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
#48
Getting credit cards to survive between jobs during COVID. I’m still paying them off, but after they’re cleared I am never carrying a balance again.
#49
Not me but - I had a roommate back in 2010 decide he was going to do a 2 month cross country road trip. He got a payday loan to cover his rent/bills for that time, and then whatever else he could get, basically asked for the max amount. Quit his job, gave me (less than the amount) of rent/bills for those two months, and hit the road.
I still get calls from those collectors looking for him because we had that shared address at the time he pulled the loan.
He ran out of money after 3 states and just didn’t come back for like 6 months.
Also noteworthy - I have a good childhood friend that got a wild hair to join a bjj gym. His second week he was paired with an elderly man, and in the midst of doing a walkthrough on something, the man either tore something or broke something.
He was a lawyer and decided to sue my friend AND the gym, which he promptly won and my friend had to file bankruptcy at 23 and will likely spend his young adult life paying that man back.
Bi.Felicia 11 months ago
For those like me that are unfamiliar, a BJJ gym is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu gym.
#50
Going back to graduate school at midlife thinking I could recareer. Took on a lot of debt before I realized that you really cannot start over anytime.
Age discrimination ruined the return on investment. However, what little work I did get at that age was better than what I was doing before. But it set me up to be poor for the rest of my life.
Bi.Felicia 11 months ago
I'll be turning 40 the same day as I'll be starting my second year of a 3 year program. I was supposed to graduate in May of 26 but unfortunately I had to take a medical leave of absence from school, this past November, which has pushed me back a year. I'm a disabled veteran that had the opportunity to go back to school and I took it. Does it suck sometimes being the only ancient dinosaur, in my program? Yes but only because I need a nap by the time I make it to campus. Haha! But tbf, my commute is at a minimum 2+ hours each way and I feel like I do not have the same 24 hours as the majority of my classmates. Somehow my old a*s has made it work and I've even made the Dean's list every semester.(I'm overcompensating for barely graduating HS, due to untreated ADHD) I'm working towards my bachelor's degree in Radiography and plan on working for the VA, when I'm done and I can still retire before I'm 60 with a government pension.
StrangeOne 11 months ago
I'll try my hand at university when I'm 65, when the tuition is free. (Manitoba)
#52
Upending my entire life to dart across country to help/fix another family fiasco.
It ended horribly for me every time. Personally and financially. I lost jobs, apartments, relationships, etc. and I was never compensated for it because “that’s what family does.”
And sadly, I taught my family that I’d suffer financial ruin and anything else to help them and it’s been very hard teaching them that I won’t do that anymore.
#53
Leaving my stable job of 30 years. Still looking for work a year later.
DennyS (denzoren) 11 months ago
Yeah, this bothers me everyday. I would like to change but the market is so saturated.
#54
Purchasing and running a restaurant. The margin of net profit is thin. It’s damn hard work. And I also discovered I had no passion for the industry. The covid pandemic finally forced my hand and decided to close up shop.
StrangeOne 11 months ago
I've imagined what it would be like to own a restaurant. Then I think of all the food in my fridge dying from neglect, forgotten in it's barren existence in the hidden parts, tucked way in the back.
#55
I spent $23,000 on chemotherapy for a cat. Cat died anyway.
David 11 months ago
Me personally, NO. I know that is the unpopular take because it seems "unkind" but growing up on a farm gave me a more realistic approach to the reality that sometimes animals get sick and die and - as noted by OP - throwing money at it often doesn't help anyway. When my mom died, her beloved cat was part of the estate I was dealing with. Because she loved it, I did take it to the vet when it was ill. Spent about $400 on tests. But it turned out the cat was dying twice. One was a form of cancer, and other was I think feline aids. Vet said he could maybe prolong her life a little bit but that realistically there was nothing he could do and the cat was going to die. So I gave it all the love I could until the day it could barely shuffle walk and was obviously in a lot of pain, and I put it down. I cried, but it was what needed to be done.
Load More Replies... sturmwesen 11 months ago
I spent 6-8k€ and my dog died. If I didn't I would've forever regret it.
Colleen Glim 11 months ago
That’s a tough call. We all want our pets to live forever. But at what point do you call it done?
ScootyPuffJr 11 months ago
I know I'll get downvoted to hell for this, but why would you put an animal through that?!
detective miller's hat 11 months ago
I don't know if I could ever put a pet through chemotherapy.
rorschach-penguin 11 months ago (edited)
I couldn't either. I love my cats more than life itself, I'd probably die of smoke inhalation in a burning building trying to lure them out and get them the f**k out of the apartment, but I think it's kinder to just let them go.
Load More Replies...
Robin Roper 11 months ago (edited)
I loved every cat and dog I ever owned; but would never put that kind of money into my pet's health care. There is a limit.
#56
Buying a brand new 8k motorcycle as my first bike that I was using to learn to ride 🙃 ending up reselling for 2.5k because of all the cosmetic damage and only had it for a year. huge loss.
#57
I gave my wife £4000 from an inheritance to buy a kiln which has never been fired once in the last five years. I learned not to pour money into projects.
#58
Apple Watch. I’ve owned three and all of them wound up not being worth it long-term. Garmin is a lot better.
Bi.Felicia 11 months ago
I have 2 Samsung Smart watches, one is paid off and they both sit in my jewelry box, collecting dust. Idk if it's because of the smaller size of everything but I prefer to just use my phone. Maybe if I messed around with it more, I would actually wear it?
#59
College. didn't advance my career one bit.
i started my career without college, so i was told to go back in 2005. still paying them loans lol.
#60
For me it was buying into workout supplements… not steroids but the glutamines, bcaas, pre workouts… thinking one was better than the other etc.
Probably lost 5-10k over the years till I one day gave it all up.
Wish I saved the money instead of going down that road but lesson learned. Part of the issue was living at home, not truly knowing the value of a dollar or budgeting.
Bi.Felicia 11 months ago
Were they buying into these supplements for personal use or was it a MLM scam?
#61
Impulse buying for myself and buying for other people who couldnt afford.
One year I was splurging on Video game collectors editons. I was addicted to the steel books and statues. That same year me and my buddies were going to Comic Con. One friend didnt make alot of money and was suffering from depression. I paid for his ticket for the 4 days. Burned a hole in my wallet but seeing him being happy and there with us was good enough for me
But the lesson Iearned was to take a step back and not to buy anything I couldnt afford.
#62
Motorcycle maintenance is not cheaper than car maintenance. Maybe a single routine is cheaper, but you do everything 2x often, tires wear out quicker, fuel usage similar as a hybrid car.
#63
Delayed serious efforts to save money for retirement until I was in my 30s.
Advice? Put everything you can into retirement money regardless of your age. Remember, this money can go towards your first home.
I realize that is not possible for everyone. I also realize it is far more possible than the number of people doing it.
#64
Agreeing to co-sign a college loan from American Education Services for my son in law, now ex son in law. they are loan sharks, and I ended up paying it all back. Probably cost another 15 thousand over the amount he borrowed. My ex son in law knew nothing about money. He did get educated and has a career. It would be nice if he had told me thank you, but he was poorly raised and never taught that. I paid it off with an inheritance and then gave him 10 grand as a gift from the inheritance. He is the father of my grandchildren and is a decent guy.
rorschach-penguin 11 months ago
You gave your ex son in law multiple tens of thousands of dollars?
Pandemonium 11 months ago
"He is the father of my grandchildren". That outlasts the marriage.
Load More Replies... #65
Not consistently investing
You can't save your way to wealth, you must invest it.
Automate it and set & forget it.
Bi.Felicia 11 months ago
But you can save your way to having a good sized nest egg, versus investing in something that tanks.
rorschach-penguin 11 months ago
Mutual funds will never tank (sure, they'll dip, but they always, always go back up. In February 2020, the NASDAQ fell from $9,731 to $7,373 in under two months; it had fully recovered by June.) Not until there's a complete apocalyptic breakdown of the global economy—not a recession, like there's actually an alien invasion.
Load More Replies... #66
Grew up way poor, so my spending when I started making ANY money (think: $30k) couldn't keep up with credit cards and student loans.
It took 5+ years of discipline (and closer to poorness) to unwind.
I solved it by marginally changing my spending behaviors, but increasing my income by 4/5/6x and marrying someone who also makes that much.
Follow me for more life hacks.
#67
When my aunt died, she left me and my siblings her house and the rest of her estate. I had the opportunity to use that money to pay off my current car, house, and credit card debt. I could've been completely debt free and saving around $2,000 a month.
Instead, I paid off my current car and bought a new car, and paid off my credit cards. Then I ran my credit cards up again so at this time, I am still paying off my credit cards and I am also paying off the new car. Nothing has changed, except the clock.
Did I learn from it? I would like to think so, but we'll see.
rorschach-penguin 11 months ago
...there was enough money to pay off the rest of a house, but not to completely buy a new car without having monthly payments?
David 11 months ago
rorschach, depends on balance of home vs cost of car. I have about $30K remaining owed on my house mortgage. Many new vehicles cost more than that. But obviously OP made the wrong choices no matter what they owed on the house.
Load More Replies... #68
Getting into real estate.
I own two rentals. The only one that was making any money just had the tenant default and now we have to evict him. I drove past it for the first time in too long and found a massive pile of garbage in what was supposed to be its parking space.
Just stick with a mutual funds account. If you find you need money for an unexpected expense, you can't just call your realtor and tell them to sell $20,000 worth of the townhouse and send you the cash. Mutual funds don't call you at 3:00 a.m. to tell you the toilet is stopped up. Mutual funds don't suddenly need $50,000 for a new roof. Mutual funds' neighbors don't call you to complain about the loud parties. With mutual funds, you don't live in fear that you'll have a vacancy that causes you to start losing money out of your paycheck. Mutual funds don't have tenants that neglect to let you know that a pipe burst in the wall.
David 11 months ago
Maybe people like you calling them "f*****g landlords" is part of the problem. It's popular these days to hate all landlords but many of the smaller ones are kind, fair minded people.
Load More Replies... David 11 months ago
This is the side of being a landlord everyone forgets / ignores when they want to bash on greedy landlords screwing everyone over. Yes, some landlords are d***s, but so are some tenants. My best friend's sister and husband have a few rentals in a small town. ONE tenant in one house screwed a bunch of stuff up and cost them over $35,000 in repairs. You will always have routine maintenance like painting or a new roof but if you are a small landlord, one crazy nutjob can cost you a ton of money.
#69
I kept working through the pandemic, i lost about $3000 in unemployment I would have gotten if I didn't volunteer to keep working, and I would've had a few months off instead of majorly burning myself out.
#70
Trusting my wife with finances.
David 11 months ago
that comes across as sexist. but yes to one partner may be more money savvy than the other. With (relative), it is the wife who has the better money sense IMO. The husband has done some stupid money things over the years that just makes me want to slap them and say, "What were you thinking?!"
What do you think ?
ThisIsMe 11 months ago
Former friend of mine bought hundreds of Beanie Babies as an investment, thinking she was one day going to sell them for a lot of money. Do I need to explain why that was a bad idea?
Binky Melnik 11 months ago
Ah, geez. I hope she doesn’t own a buttload of NFTs, too. 😕
Load More Replies... Earonn - 11 months ago
I've learned that not teaching your child about budgeting and saving, and instead always giving them money, even if it's not much, is also a form of neglect. And that some men only stay until the shared loan is paid off and the savings are high enough for them to "start a new life". Didn't work out for him, so that's that, but I'm also not able to save for retirement now.
Grm Moore 11 months ago
Ours: Partner bought second house with redundancy. Not my idea, I fought it. Used ours as collateral, got bridging finance. Year later had had to sell for cost of deposit, we lost all that money. Went from mortgage free, with money back to mortgaged when he started his business. Should have done it the other way round, business THEN buy another house. Oh well, business did ok.
ThisIsMe 11 months ago
Former friend of mine bought hundreds of Beanie Babies as an investment, thinking she was one day going to sell them for a lot of money. Do I need to explain why that was a bad idea?
Binky Melnik 11 months ago
Ah, geez. I hope she doesn’t own a buttload of NFTs, too. 😕
Load More Replies... Earonn - 11 months ago
I've learned that not teaching your child about budgeting and saving, and instead always giving them money, even if it's not much, is also a form of neglect. And that some men only stay until the shared loan is paid off and the savings are high enough for them to "start a new life". Didn't work out for him, so that's that, but I'm also not able to save for retirement now.
Grm Moore 11 months ago
Ours: Partner bought second house with redundancy. Not my idea, I fought it. Used ours as collateral, got bridging finance. Year later had had to sell for cost of deposit, we lost all that money. Went from mortgage free, with money back to mortgaged when he started his business. Should have done it the other way round, business THEN buy another house. Oh well, business did ok.
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