That's right, some purchases are just plain stupid
Ever wonder how much money you could have saved if you had hung on to it somehow instead of blowing it on another tchotchke?
If you want to feel a bit better about your silly situation, check out Spendster. Run by the National Endowment for Financial Education, it’s a fun place to share videos and stories about some of the really dumb purchases we’ve all made.
Entrants who've created a video showing their regretful purchases qualified themselves to win one of several prizes, ranging from $100 to $1,000.
It’s all in good fun, of course, much like the late Speaker's Corner.
In addition to video and photo uploads, you’ll also find a calculator that determines the actual cost of unnecessary and poorly used credit card purchases and how much these expenditures could have generated in savings.
45-year-old Cindy Spry didn’t realize how out of control her clothes-buying habit had become until she emptied out three dressers and an entire closet full of stuff she never wears.
Grand prize winner Kelli Johnson now realizes that she needs to be more careful when hitting since she ends up spending pocket money on shiny or trendy clothes that ultimately land at the bottom of her closet.
However, if you’re really serious about the fact that you may be overspending, have a look at April Benson's book, To Buy or Not to Buy: Why We Overshop and How to Stop, which draws on recent research and on decades of working with problem shoppers.
What’s the worst purchase you’ve ever made? Is shopping a real problem for you? Or do you just make the occasional goof?
By Gordon Powers, MSN Money
* Follow Gordon on Twitter here.
Posted by: Route 66 | Jul 13, 2021 4:35:31 AM
Unfortunately I am addicted to tools. If they are on sale, even moreso. My wife is the same with outdoor decor. There is rarely a time when we go grocery shopping and not somehow wander to the hardware department. Suddenly our grocery bill just grew by as much as $300.00.
We always vow not to do it again, but we do. The upside is that the whole neighbourhood loves to come to our garage sales. Most of the items for sale are still new. Lately I have started making comments like "I have to pick something up for the garage sale next summer." It's a hard habit to break. Some recent foolish purchases include: a chainsaw (I had 2 branches to cut), inflateable dingy ( we have a 26' jetboat), 2 tents (we have a motorhome) and an awesome compressor that was on sale (now I have 4). I make good money and we can't understand why we are always close to broke.
Posted by: binder dundat | Jul 16, 2021 3:19:51 PM
Route 66 - sounds like you have an addictive personality with no will power = very bad combo
better straighten that out asap.
Posted by: TheGreatGastby | Jul 16, 2021 3:53:29 PM
I bought myself a cute boy-toy. What a waste of money!!!
Posted by: Ani | Jul 16, 2021 4:14:09 PM
Reading this article on stupid purchases brings to mind my (former) bf. Although in his late 40s he spends like a inexperienced teenager might spend. He has no great income either, so thats what makes the "stupid" shopping worse.And otherwise, he is a very well educated and intelligent person, but when you live in squalid conditions, without heat, because you cannot afford to repair or replace your furnace, but you keep on impulse buying clothing, tools, household appliances, etc. there is a BIG problem! Why would a person buy a new computer when they have no furnace in their house? We dated for 4 years and he asked me to move in with him shortly after we started dating. I might have at the start, if there would have been any room for me & my kids in his house. He owns a 3000 sq ft home, which was filled to the roof with you name it, alot of crap his ex wife left him stuck with that he could not get rid of, but he would basically run out on a whim and buy an item knowing very well that he already had this same item in that house/garage of his, but he felt it was easier to buy another of the same than search through the rubble and locate the original. Can anyone say "Hoarding"? After giving him endless deadlines and trying my best to support his budgeting for purchases, 4 years later I just gave up. We never moved in together because he never found space in his house for me and a few of my things. It got so ridiculous with him that he would max credit cards, juggle lines of credit and owe so many. Although he did work with my plan that I had in place for a little while, to clean his house up, and not make any purhcases without talking to me first about them, unless they were under $20., but just when I thought we were getting somewhere he went off and bought renovations materials that he did not really need at the time, wood to build a deck that was left piled under snow for 3 years (until it rotted), living room furniture during the middle of massive living room reno projects ( 1e: nowhere to put it at the time so it got ruined). The list is endless. Throughout this entire experience I was trying to figure out if he had an illness of some sort of was he simply a "pack rat", but his inability to stop impulse buying and refusal to budget I now believe is a serious control issue. I think generally people that need to shop till they drop when they don't have the means to really afford it are addicted and need help. They not only are materialistic beyond the average north american but use their "stupid shopping" or their mountains of collectables to fill a void in their lifes.
In my former boyfriend's case it has cost him alot, not simply in dollars. He was so overspent on items that were not really essential with all of his spur of the moment purchases right before his kids were arriving to spend 5 weeks with him this summer that he was unable to complete a bathroom renovation before their arrival. Although their visit was planned for a year, he ended up not having enough cash to pay a plumber and get their tub/shower connected. Needless to say, living with young kids for 5 weeks without a bathtub or shower in the house strikes me as very bad parenting.
Although we have ended our relationship I offered to take care of the kids at my home for most of their visit- and provide them with daily baths/showers. To me this is a situation where a person's impulse shopping sprees should be almost punished by law.
Posted by: Chip | Jul 16, 2021 10:07:21 PM
@Ani... nice to see that you got your "little" rant out of the way; feeling better now ? Your War and Peace "comment" was longer than the article itself. Any other inane life stories you would like to bore us with ? Can anyone say "Shut the F Up" !!!
Posted by: neondon | Jul 16, 2021 11:31:25 PM
Chip - you are an idiot.... Show some respect to other people.
Those who shop compulsively with no plan have little ability to say 'no' to themselves. They are weak minded and try to make themselves feel better by buying up things that will give them short term happiness. Unfortunately, they will not be happy in the long run when they have no savings for retirement. I guess I will be paying for their retirement with my taxes after I spent a lifetime of saying no to discretionary purchases in order to save for my retirement......
Posted by: Chip | Jul 18, 2021 10:48:37 AM
@neondon... feel free to shut your little PC rat trap too. Your little psycho-babble commentary and your last line taxophobia bitch and moan about having to pay "my taxes" for the country's shopaholics retirements is inane at best. Go outside and cry some more Chicken Little !! And trust me Elmo... you don't have to worry about paying for MY retirement.
Posted by: Bill | Jul 20, 2021 9:22:45 AM
@neondon... I wouldn't bother with Chip. From the other blogs Chip has commented in, he has made a fool of himself so often that "idiot" and "Chip" have become synonymous. He once claimed to have a university degree! LOL! From where? Kassel or Enugu State?
Posted by: James | Jul 20, 2021 12:14:28 PM
@Chip, where do you get off on suggesting others to "Shut the F Up"? This is a free country, and we do not need your neo-Nazi kind here! Did anyone force you to read Ani's comments? You think you are a big man, but you have the yarbles of a eunich.