Stupid Purchases

[EGC]

Hi, Well Finally, I really into being a frugal person. i'm really looking forward to it. well, I have a bad habit which hard to break. I can't believe that I spend 320. for coffee and breakfast sandwich last 4 months which it should go to my cc bills!!!! Ack!!! It's kill me!!! Of course, i brought books too but I do read them but I'm skipping read different book and not finish one book at a time. However, I find them interesting anyway. Now, I drop by and said Hi!!!

[Lisa23]

Picture frame to load digital pictures. We used it Christmas week, and haven't turned it on since.

[Sundai]

Originally Posted by amyschiff

I live alone in my apartment, which means I have to grocery shop and cook for myself most of the time. What I regret most is when I buy fresh produce and it rots before I get around to cooking it

It's not a consistent thing--some weeks I'm really good about using up everything I have--but sometimes I buy produce and then forget I have it because it's tucked away in that crisper drawer in my refrigerator! I should really start posting an inventory of items on my fridge so that I can remember I have things with a quick glance.

Hi amy, I used to do this too. Now I just make 2 Big things for dinners and freeze, New England boiled dinner, beef stew or soup, Pork and Sauerkraut, things like that a lot and one or two snacky things BUT if you keep a running shopping list going ALL the time, this stuff doesn't happen. Whatever I FORGET from the list goes on next week's list.

Originally Posted by 72Tiger

here's something geeky to use some of that extra yarn on:

http://carissaknits.blogspot.com/200...d2-beanie.html

I too SEE much Beautiful yarns at yard sales, secondhand stores and at a Shelter for the homeless I volunteer at { FREE Stuff }. Sometimes I wished I knitted but I just don't have the desire to.

Originally Posted by jdp

I've made like 35 years of bad decisions lol. I wouldn't know where to start. DVDs (unless you've rented it 5x's it probably isn't something you MUST own), Books (I have absolutely NEVER reread a book, not for principle but just because there isn't enough time to read all the ones I want to the first time), poor clothing purchases I thought were good (have since learned how to determine quality and make a truly informed purchase), baby toys, baby specific furniture - those are mainstream things - I won't list the thousands of other stupid purchases from picture frames to momentos. Yikes.

Originally Posted by kav122

I love all of you that overbuy on yarn! I go to goodwill and garage sales and STOCK UP!

I do have a massive record collection that I amassed in high school, though. My husband also has a big one from his DJ'ing days. We keep telling ourselves that we are going to put up a big bookcase in the basement so we can access and play them, but haven't gotten around to it yet.

Ask friends who have a movie you want to make a copy for you. I don't ask, people just do it and send them to me. I don't think I have rented or bought a movie in 20 years. PLUS, at your local library they have FREE Movies. At mine you can have 6 for a week and renew up to 5 times.

[gt0163c]

Originally Posted by Sundai

Ask friends who have a movie you want to make a copy for you. I don't ask, people just do it and send them to me. I don't think I have rented or bought a movie in 20 years. PLUS, at your local library they have FREE Movies. At mine you can have 6 for a week and renew up to 5 times.

Borrowing movies from friends or the library is a great idea.
Making copies...not so much as, in most cases, it's in violation of copywrite laws.

[starshard0]

I bought a bunch of Warhammer 40k stuff because I though I'd actually paint and put together a whole army. I ended up just giving it away because I wasn't that interested.

[Alisha]

The number 1 thing that I do is meal planning. The number 2 thing that I do is stick to a grocery list. If I were to go grocery shopping without a list, I would probably go way over budget. Make a list and stick to it. Planning your meals ahead of time means you won't have to pop into the grocery store everyday to get that night's dinner. Check out my blog for more info, mealplanning101.blogspot.com/. I'm getting ready to plant a veggie garden too.

[Greg Summers]

For all you book fanatics.... Consider using Half.com to sell your used books or buy the ones you want to read. Its the next best thing to a library and pays better than a tax deduction for donation.

Market demand dictates the selling price. Half.com reimburses you a reduced shipping rate and takes a 15% commission.

http://eliminatethemuda.com/2009/09/...he-most-value/

[calicocash]

My stupidest purchase ever was our starter house. I bought a $55k house six years ago with the intent of living there about five years. The neighborhood wasn't great at the time, but not that bad. We put about 20k into it too to make it nicer. New windows, installed dishwasher, new washer and dryer, room remodel, added A/C, new hot water tank etc..

Two years ago, the neighborhood was getting worse so we decided to move. The house was already on the market for a year, and didn't sell. We decided to rent out the property and move to a house in a nicer neighborhood.

The house stayed on the market for an additional two years before dropping the price to 35k. And guess what? It still didn't sell!

We finally took it off the market and decided to just continue keeping it as a rental property.

Anyways, it was the stupidest purchase we ever made. We would have been better off renting than throwing our money down the toilet in that place.

[The Wise Buck]

Here is a different approach...when it comes to making foolish mistakes I think everyone has indulged. But - just like eating a dessert every now and then, I really believe it is OK to allow ourselves to go MAD! LOL

Now I am not talking about anything major like a car or gambling an month's salary away...but what about if you take 1-3% of your monthly pay and allow your self the freedom of doing what ever you want.

Now I know....that seems like a tiny sum BUT...remember allowing yourself to do this takes the urge away and I believe makes personal finance fun!

[Sundai]

A Bose Wave radio/CD player that never plays CDs. It played CDs for the first month or so that I had it but then just quit. I even put in brand new CDs and it tells me the CD is Unplayable. I sent the damned radio BACK to Bose twice for them to fix the problem and it still won't play. You'd think Bose would have just replaced it with a new one after the second time but Noooo, they just sent it back so I just resigned myself that I got screwed. I even asked them to give me a new one and they just said no. I will NEVER buy another Bose product again. I might as well have just thrown the $800. out the window.

A Gateway computer that came with a $100. mail in rebate. I did EVERYTHING it told me to do within the alloted time and they STILL denied my rebate. It's just a scam. I will NEVER buy another Gateway because of it. Unless I get ANY rebate now at the time of purchase I won't buy it. I have heard they do this as a matter of everyday business and they get away with it too.

Once these big companies get their money they don't care about anything else.