Worst Financial Decisions People Have Ever Seen Someone Make

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        People Reveal The Worst Financial Decisions They've Ever Seen Someone Make
    

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Reddit user BasalTripod9684 asked: 'What's the worst financial decision you've seen someone make?'
By John CurtisAug 27, 2023
John Curtis
A novelist, picture book writer and native New Yorker, John is a graduate of Syracuse University and the children's media graduate program at Centennial College. When not staring at his computer monitor, you'll most likely find John sipping tea watching British comedies, or in the kitchen, taking a stab at the technical challenge on the most recent episode of 'The Great British Baking Show'.
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No two people have the same relationship with money.
There are those who grew up learning the true value of money, saving every penny whenever possible, and spending as little as they possibly can and need to.
Then there are those who see money as no object and spend large amounts without a second thought... even if they aren't nearly as good at making money as they are at spending it.
As a result, these people often find themselves looking back at some past, ill-thought financial decisions with nothing but regret, wishing they listened to the warnings of their concerned friends and family members.
Redditor BasalTripod9684 was eager to hear the most ill-advised financial decisions the Reddit community ever witnessed someone else do, leading them to ask:
"What's the worst financial decision you've seen someone make?"
Did The Wedding Even Happen?"I knew someone who got a loan for their wedding, but decided to blow it all at a casino."
"Now they have a loan for 20k to pay off and nothing to show for it."- armbar222
Has He Ever Head Of Brita?"A friend of mine who is very bad with money and his girlfriend bought some sort of water filtration system from a door to door salesman."
"He has to pay something like $300/month for this filtration system."
"He was all stoked because it came with a free set of pots and pans."
'Fast forward a year and his girlfriend has broken up with him, moved out of the house, and he's had to sell his home because he can't afford to live there."
"The water filtration system is now sitting in a storage unit where he still pays $300/month for it because he's on a 2 or 3 year contract (sorry the details are fuzzy)."
"We have great water quality in my area."- Anin1987
Overtime and Salary Are Two Different Things..."A coworker I used to have worked every second of overtime he could for several years to save up for a house."
"When he applied for the house loan, he based his mortgage payment on all of the overtime he had been working."
"I tried to tell him that wasn't a good idea but he didn't want to hear it."
"He ended up divorced a few years later because his wife got tired of him always working."- rubysundance
No One Is Invincible, Even The Yankees..."A guy in my fraternity got 30k for an undisclosed reason, I’m guessing a family death or something and he bet it all on the Yankees winning one game."
"They lost."- bulbipicg
Collecting Dust, Right Next To Their Pogs and Tamagotchis..."A dude who owned a small convenience store in our town spent like $20,000 on fidget spinners."
"He was posting for like a year begging people to buy them as he would lose his business and his marriage was falling apart due to it."- Solid_Internal_9079
Kind Of Amazing This Loan Was Approved..."My supervisor took out a loan against their 401k to pay their rent because 'their credit cards were maxed'." 
"Two weeks later, they bought a brand new 60k Lincoln with basically nothing down because 'her daughter just had a baby and I need a bigger car for that'."- ErraticA09
GIF by Matea RadicGiphy
Jealousy Isn't A Good Color On Anyone..."My maternal grandmother bought an 8-plex to avoid capital gains when she sold her large house."
"The apartment complex was in the red and needed a lot of repairs."
"She hired my father to do them and be on-site manager."
"The place started making money."
"My mom (divorced from my dad) was mad that my grandma bought it in the first place, then hired my dad, then was proved wrong because it was making money."
"My grandma was in her 90s and my mom pressured her for years so my grandma finally sold it."
"That place is in a high market area and is now worth millions."
"My mom made a poor financial decision based on petty spite."- Sensitive-Umpire2375
Shopaholics Are Real..."Ran up credit card debt requiring bankruptcy."
"Once they were able to build credit again (7 years later) they proceeded to run up a massive amount of debt again, but couldn’t go bankrupt again, so they used 'debt consolidation'.”
"The debt didn’t come from sudden expenses."
"They just needed to buy things to feel better."- Left-Star2240
Fashion Shopping GIF by T.J.MaxxGiphy
Those Who Keep Running Eventually Get Caught...
"Put everything in his gf's name to hide assets as he owed the IRS, the gf sold his business, cashed out his accounts and ran."- RavenBear2005·
One Can Only Hope He Was Happy..."Had a co-worker with 5 kids who could all go to USC for free once he has worked there for 15 years (even if he quit)."
"He quit at 14.5 years for a job that barely paid more than he made at USC."
"Cost all 5 kids a free education at a top school since he couldn't wait 6 more months."- theangryburrito
Never Buy Something On Blind Faith...
"My brother's ex fell for a Craig's list scam."
"She found a motorcycle and the guy 'needed money up front to pay bills' before she even saw it."
"We told her don't do it, it's a scam."
"She said she already sent $1000."
"Of course, he was never available to show her the bike and we found out from my brother after they broke up she actually continued sending him money in hopes of getting the motorcycle."
"I think she was out $3,000 by the end."- XCCO
crash fail GIFGiphy
We All Have Our Collections..."My coworker has 25k in anime figurines."
"He is in mega debt right now."- tankurd
Where To Even Begin?
"My former sister-in-law had a thriving medical practice."
"She got so stressed that she joined the Scientologists and started taking their classes."
"She opened up five-six credit cards without telling my brother, maxed the cards out with hundreds of thousands in cash withdrawals, and gave it to that cult."- AnybodySeeMyKeys
Priorities People!
"My friend bought a used Hellcat Challenger yesterday at 10.5% APR and $380/mo insurance."
"He lives in my other friend’s spare room."- chriss1111
george costanza ladies GIFGiphy
Have They Ever Heard Of Leftovers?"My roommate buys doordash almost every day."
"They’ll maybe cook for themselves once or twice a week but other than that they order food in 5-6 times a week."
"I know how much they make and I have not a clue how they can afford that."- TeHNyboR
It's no lie that life is much easier when you don't have to worry about money.
That being said, it's also possible not to worry about money while still being careful with it.
As one can worry about money a little less when you know you have money to worry about.
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No two people have the same relationship with money.

There are those who grew up learning the true value of money, saving every penny whenever possible, and spending as little as they possibly can and need to.

Then there are those who see money as no object and spend large amounts without a second thought... even if they aren't nearly as good at making money as they are at spending it.

As a result, these people often find themselves looking back at some past, ill-thought financial decisions with nothing but regret, wishing they listened to the warnings of their concerned friends and family members.

Redditor BasalTripod9684 was eager to hear the most ill-advised financial decisions the Reddit community ever witnessed someone else do, leading them to ask:

"What's the worst financial decision you've seen someone make?"

Did The Wedding Even Happen?

"I knew someone who got a loan for their wedding, but decided to blow it all at a casino."

"Now they have a loan for 20k to pay off and nothing to show for it."- armbar222

Has He Ever Head Of Brita?

"A friend of mine who is very bad with money and his girlfriend bought some sort of water filtration system from a door to door salesman."

"He has to pay something like $300/month for this filtration system."

"He was all stoked because it came with a free set of pots and pans."

'Fast forward a year and his girlfriend has broken up with him, moved out of the house, and he's had to sell his home because he can't afford to live there."

"The water filtration system is now sitting in a storage unit where he still pays $300/month for it because he's on a 2 or 3 year contract (sorry the details are fuzzy)."

"We have great water quality in my area."- Anin1987

Overtime and Salary Are Two Different Things...

"A coworker I used to have worked every second of overtime he could for several years to save up for a house."

"When he applied for the house loan, he based his mortgage payment on all of the overtime he had been working."

"I tried to tell him that wasn't a good idea but he didn't want to hear it."

"He ended up divorced a few years later because his wife got tired of him always working."- rubysundance

No One Is Invincible, Even The Yankees...

"A guy in my fraternity got 30k for an undisclosed reason, I’m guessing a family death or something and he bet it all on the Yankees winning one game."

"They lost."- bulbipicg

Collecting Dust, Right Next To Their Pogs and Tamagotchis...

"A dude who owned a small convenience store in our town spent like $20,000 on fidget spinners."

"He was posting for like a year begging people to buy them as he would lose his business and his marriage was falling apart due to it."- Solid_Internal_9079

Kind Of Amazing This Loan Was Approved...

"My supervisor took out a loan against their 401k to pay their rent because 'their credit cards were maxed'."

"Two weeks later, they bought a brand new 60k Lincoln with basically nothing down because 'her daughter just had a baby and I need a bigger car for that'."- ErraticA09

GIF by Matea RadicGiphy

Jealousy Isn't A Good Color On Anyone...

"My maternal grandmother bought an 8-plex to avoid capital gains when she sold her large house."

"The apartment complex was in the red and needed a lot of repairs."

"She hired my father to do them and be on-site manager."

"The place started making money."

"My mom (divorced from my dad) was mad that my grandma bought it in the first place, then hired my dad, then was proved wrong because it was making money."

"My grandma was in her 90s and my mom pressured her for years so my grandma finally sold it."

"That place is in a high market area and is now worth millions."

"My mom made a poor financial decision based on petty spite."- Sensitive-Umpire2375

Shopaholics Are Real...

"Ran up credit card debt requiring bankruptcy."

"Once they were able to build credit again (7 years later) they proceeded to run up a massive amount of debt again, but couldn’t go bankrupt again, so they used 'debt consolidation'.”

"The debt didn’t come from sudden expenses."

"They just needed to buy things to feel better."- Left-Star2240

Fashion Shopping GIF by T.J.MaxxGiphy

Those Who Keep Running Eventually Get Caught...

"Put everything in his gf's name to hide assets as he owed the IRS, the gf sold his business, cashed out his accounts and ran."- RavenBear2005·

One Can Only Hope He Was Happy...

"Had a co-worker with 5 kids who could all go to USC for free once he has worked there for 15 years (even if he quit)."

"He quit at 14.5 years for a job that barely paid more than he made at USC."

"Cost all 5 kids a free education at a top school since he couldn't wait 6 more months."- theangryburrito

Never Buy Something On Blind Faith...

"My brother's ex fell for a Craig's list scam."

"She found a motorcycle and the guy 'needed money up front to pay bills' before she even saw it."

"We told her don't do it, it's a scam."

"She said she already sent $1000."

"Of course, he was never available to show her the bike and we found out from my brother after they broke up she actually continued sending him money in hopes of getting the motorcycle."

"I think she was out $3,000 by the end."- XCCO

crash fail GIFGiphy

We All Have Our Collections...

"My coworker has 25k in anime figurines."

"He is in mega debt right now."- tankurd

Where To Even Begin?

"My former sister-in-law had a thriving medical practice."

"She got so stressed that she joined the Scientologists and started taking their classes."

"She opened up five-six credit cards without telling my brother, maxed the cards out with hundreds of thousands in cash withdrawals, and gave it to that cult."- AnybodySeeMyKeys

Priorities People!

"My friend bought a used Hellcat Challenger yesterday at 10.5% APR and $380/mo insurance."

"He lives in my other friend’s spare room."- chriss1111

george costanza ladies GIFGiphy

Have They Ever Heard Of Leftovers?

"My roommate buys doordash almost every day."

"They’ll maybe cook for themselves once or twice a week but other than that they order food in 5-6 times a week."

"I know how much they make and I have not a clue how they can afford that."- TeHNyboR

It's no lie that life is much easier when you don't have to worry about money.

That being said, it's also possible not to worry about money while still being careful with it.

As one can worry about money a little less when you know you have money to worry about.

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People Reveal The Worst Financial Decisions They've Ever Seen Someone Make