Many of us at one time or another have made spontaneous purchases only to realize later that it wasn't worth the money.
Maybe it was an accessory at a clothing retailer you thought at the time might go well with the blazer you were buying.
Or, perhaps, it was an item you saw in an ad that popped up while scrolling through your socials you were influenced by.
Curious to hear from those who've experienced buyer's remorse, Redditor BestBusiness8892 asked:
"What purchase do you regret the most?"
The idea of owning something that appears to enhance life doesn't always pan out the way you'd expect.
Expensive Clothing Rack
"Bought a fancy ergonomic chair because I work from home. Turns out, I just use it to throw clothes on and still sit on my bed like a goblin."
– AutomationLikeCrazy
"I’m not even kidding, my brother owns a chair and I’m literally folding clothes on it while he sits on his bed lol."
– Stuffies2022
This Just Plain Sucks
"Anything with a suction cup. I have never had a suction cup work well."
– Oddish_Femboy
"My cat loves his suction cup window bed. Admittedly it does fall off the window with him on it sometimes though hahah."
– h3rpad3rp
Sonic Boom
"AirPods Max. I’ve never seen such expensive headphones with such cheap performance. Every time I get a text, the volume surges for a second before Siri talks to me. It’s enough volume to piss me off. This is just one example."
– Ecoli314
"I got a bonus at that required me to buy things with the bonus. I decided to buy myself some AirPod Max headphones, because I don't really want anything, so just decided to blow the money."
"Just after the warranty ended, they stopped charging, and no amount of Google tech support would make them work again. I took them to the Apple store, and they were sent away. Apple wanted like 300$ to fix them, and I said, 'nah.' "
"Apple did the fix anyway, and sent them back. Free fix."
"Whatever your problem is – take them to the store. They were expensive enough, and should work for you. Even if they want an arm and a leg, delay answering their emails then tell them no. See if they get fixed anyway."
– nappy-doo
Spellbound
"I once bought a 20 dollar kit after watching a demonstration at a ren fair of 'Levitation Magic'. The kit consisted of a bit of fishing line, some wax to attach the object being 'levitated', and a dvd featuring the guy who did the demonstration explaining the trick. Best salesman I ever met but god did I feel dumb."
– thederpdog
Huge Misstep
"$700 Versace shoe's e that were an inch too big, slipped me on my butt once while dancing and gave me the gnarliest foot blisters on a vacation F'K!!!!!"
– thebageljew
Lessons were learned the hard way.
Read The Fine Print
"Before the house boom, I worked with a home builder. Worked out the numbers for 2k sq-ft, 4/2, 2-car garage with a custom pool on 1-acre of land for $412k. Of that, land was $84k in a not-cheap area of Florida. They didn't break ground for 8 months."
"After a total of 2 years (we've been paying monthly for the construction loan), still missing 2 windows and the sheetrock just went up. No cabinetry, plumbing and electric only roughed in. They stopped work and I got a Real Estate Attorney involved. We came to an agreement that because they were over costs by $17k, we would pay that difference for them to finish."
"3 weeks after we paid them, we received notice that they closed their business. Several months later, we received word that 3 other couples were also screwed by them. We worked out numbers with another Builder to finish it and it no longer made sense financially (another $80k without the pool)."
"We sold the property as-is to another home builder. In the end, we lost $130k. Lesson learned: work with a Real Estate Attorney before signing a contract. I read that beast and didn't realize the tiny, grey areas that ultimately screwed me due to how certain things were worded... open to interpretation in favor of the builder."
– Visible_Welcome2446
Riding
" Weird, as someone who grew up racing motocross, I love gearing up. Even better, getting to take it all back off after a long day of riding. Now I just ride mountain bike, but I still love the process of loading up, then gearing up. I'm weird though."
– stinkbuttfartman
"You are better off. I rode for many years safely (with helmet and jacket), UNTIL.... Riding home from work, a guy ran the stop sign and I hit him. Luckily, 'only' a fractured femur (have a plate in my leg now), and a cut above my eye. Got some settlement money by my attorney, but... would rather that it had not happened. That was the end of my motorcycle riding days."
– deafvet68
The Generous Son
"The house i helped my parents buy. I gave them my life’s savings just for the down. Now im living with them helping with the mortgage which takes a huge chunk of my monthly check. Im 33(M[ale]) and its preventing me from enjoying life and taking away from me saving for my own place."
– KourageWolf
These major risk-takers still grapple over the results of their regretful decisions.
Failed Campaign
"Spent $120k of savings to run in an election to come in 3rd."
– chewedupbylife
"Winners don't fund their own campaigns, they grift the rubes!"
– DmtTraveler
"Never spend your own money."
– TwinFrogs
"Dumb question, if you spent $0 would it have changed the outcome? Thanks for having the courage to run for something."
– cam-
Regretful Lender
"Loaned a bf (at the time) $3000. Stupid, stupid, stupid."
– TBayChik420
"I loaned my now-wife $2400 to get her out of high-interest (60%) debt, at the time knowing there was every chance I wasn't going to get paid back. Worked out and she has a credit score of 809 now."
"Edited to change 'was' to 'wasn't" because 'was' obviously made no sense."
– 314159265358979326
"Never lend money that you arent prepared to lose."
– WarmerPharmer
Sunk Business Venture
"My deli that tanked in a year when I was 22. I’m 40 and still paying for it."
"I was a young, ambitious, woman chef since I was 16, and had some savings bonds to start a company with my (now ex) boyfriend swore he knew what he was doing (16 years older than me, mind you), and manipulated me to use all the money I had to open this business."
"He thought this was a 'open whenever you want, we don’t have to go to work every day' kinda thing. Made me open a credit card. Said he’d help me pay. He didn’t."
"The only advice I have for anyone is TRUST YOUR BUSINESS PARTNERS. GET AN LLC. I was young and dumb. Happy and with a wonderful man that wouldn’t do that to me now. But like throws you stuff sometimes. I don’t mind answering any other questions; this is just kinda a synopsis. Lol."
– chef_tuffster
Bad Leap Of Faith
"I spent tens of thousands of dollars to move across the country to a less expensive area, thinking that I would make it back in the long run. I would be able to buy a house, which would appreciate in value. My life would be cheaper so I would make that back over time. Etc. etc."
"I'm moving back next week because I have been here for 4 years and haven't made any friends. It has been the most miserable 4 years of my life. I have felt so lonely and isolated. To add insult to injury, the value of my house went down because interest rates went up immediately after I bought the house. So now I get to spend tens of thousands more to move back while losing nearly a hundred thousand on the sale of my house."
"Life savings went poof. But I have to do it. It will be worth it just so I'm not so miserable by myself anymore."
– dandroid126
Many examples above showed that people were willing to acquire things they really wanted only to discover the impulse was just a serious waste of money, with some financial losses being more significant than others.
A good rule of thumb is to consult with experts and friends on larger investments.
For the smaller items, remind yourself to prioritize your needs over wants.
New York Post
@realDonaldTrump/Truth Social
