UPDATE: Spendster just notified me that they are giving me THREE $100 Visa Gift cards to give out now!!! So your odds of winning just got cut into three! :)
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! See how excited I am to do this giveaway! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Haha…Yes, so. Here’s the deal: There are TWO major giveaways going on right before your eyes today :) One from J. Money (that would be me) and one from the awesome as hell Spendster.org – who is sponsoring all the money to be given away (literally thousands of dollars)! Which makes them sexy before you even read on!
But you must read on so you can enter into all contests and grab that cash. And there is a LOT to be given, so wake up and get ready!
First, our gracious Spendster’s contest. If you have a camera, and can answer a simple and EASY question, you can enter. Check it:
It happens to the best of us in a moment of weakness, you buy something on impulse. Ten minutes later you regret blowing all that cash on something you didn’t need.
Well, now Spendster.org is offering you an opportunity to redeem yourself with the Second Chance Contest. Make a video showing us WHAT you wasted your money on, and then tell us what you SHOULD HAVE DONE with that money instead.
To enter, just post a video that’s 3 minutes or less and get all your friends to vote for you. The top 100 videos with the most votes will win cash prizes, including a grand prize of $1,000 . And this time, you’ll know what to do with it! (2nd prize: $750, 3rd: $500, and 97 other $250 prizes! Crazy, right?) So be sure to click over and show them some love & enter! :)
And now… The J$ Budgets Are Sexy super duper $100 $300 giveaway! W00T W00T! (yes, i’m hyper) In the spirit of staying on track there, I present to you the exact same question :) Answer it in the comments below and you will be entered to win $100 One of THREE $100 Visa Gift Cards here on this awesome weblog:
What have you wasted your money on lately? Where do you WISH it would have gone instead?
That’s it! Tell us your answer and I’ll use random.org to choose THREE lucky winners this up and coming Sunday, November 7th. And then digitalize and enter it into Spendster’s video contest for another chance to win! But you have to do that one by this THURSDAY – so don’t delay. Now enter away!
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PS: You must live in the U.S. to win – sorry my international friends :(
PPS: I don’t get anything out of this, except for the smiles on your faces. And also I hope to woo you so you keep coming back over and over and over and over and over and over and over again.
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***GIVEAWAY OVER***
Thanks to everyone who participated!!! Keep your head up for another GREAT giveaway on Tuesday :) Here are the 3 lucky winners!!:
$100 Winner –> Gina Maddox
$100 Winner –> Christine
$100 Winner –> Cesar
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I recently wasted money on popcorn at a movie theater. I wish I bought some candy at 7-Eleven and put the rest towards gas.
Aww! boo to the location discrimination! This Canadian wants to play too! Can’t we all just play nice… :)
I’ve been side hustling too much recently (one full timer and two part time jobs are exhausting!) and have been very tired so I have been buying way to much Red Bull! Red Bull is like $2.50 for a small can- and I’ve had at least 5 this past week! I should have just drank the coffee at work and put the money towards debt!
I had to buy a new computer and wish the money could have gone towards savings!
I bought a book I’d been wanting for a while on Kindle ($9.99). A few days later I found out my library had acquired the book since the last time I checked! I wish I’d added the money (which was part of a $50 birthday check) in my emergency fund instead.
I randomly bought a leather motorcycle jacket becasue it was on clearance for $40….oh, and i forgot to mention that i live in georgia where it’s still in the high 70’s and it’s NOVEMBER! I wish that I would have used that money toward paying off credit card debt.
2 months back i bought a office wear pant. I thought it looked good and bought that pant for 25$. After two months i wore that pant only twice.
I dont see that wearing it again. Thats 25$ down the drain!!!
May be i could have used that money for gas purposes…..
I went out to dinner and spent a little over $40 after all was said and done. I wish I would have put that money into savings instead
a while back I bought a flat panel tv. It was a pretty good deal, but not long after I bought it, I was annoyed with myself because not only did I just drop 500 on a tv, I now had to get cable tv service (and HDTV) to go with it. it was a nice way to jack up the monthly bills. I had the tv service for about 6 months before I got rid of it.
Now it just sits mostly unused in the living room.
And I wish I would have used the money I spent on the TV to pay down student loans.
I think I definitely waste money when I’m too lazy/oversleep and have to buy lunch at school instead of making my own lunch. And on top of that – it’s not even good food! I should have put it towards something for my wedding.
I don’t have enough friends to win the video :)
I tried some super expensive hair products from a friend – which is fine, they are insanely expensive but THEY WORK so I am fine with buying them. But somehow that meant that I then I started on a weird buy stupid stuff in ebay late at night couple of days – it was only maybe $30 total so I stopped soon enough, but I don’t need the stuff at all, so I am out money and have more stuff, both bad.
I wish I had set aside the money – a couple of friends of mine who haven’t been around because of work are going to be freed up, and I’d rather spend the money on doing some things with them.
Good news is I stopped pretty quickly :)
I wasted money lately by being indecisive about whether I would go to a conference and having to pay a higher registration fee because I waited so long to decide. I wish I could have saved that money and put it towards a conference in Rome next summer.
I wish I had known about this contest sooner! I’ll have to get my submission in pronto! Thanks for the tip!
My most useless purchase has to be buying track shoes after I had already graduated high school (I was convinced that I’d need them one day to run the 40 yard dash to prepare for going into the NFL). I have literally never used them.
I wasted money by signing up for a cooking class I was too scared to attend b/c I don’t like meeting new people in situations where I’m alone. I chickened out and never went, and it was nonrefundable!
I’ve been forcing myself to be a super saver lately. It’s caused me to look back on purchases from the last few years and kick myself, thinking, I am still paying for those darn (insert item here — clothes, shoes, airplane tickets, etc.)! A purchase from last year is the biggest thorn in my side though — my roof racks. Remember back in 2009, when we all got that fat stimulus check? Well instead of saving that money or using it to pay down debt, I thought it was my patriotic duty to stimulate the economy of Yakima, Washington by purchasing a set of brand-new roof racks for my car. But I didn’t just buy roof racks, I also bought several accessories, for my kayaks and that surfboard that I never purchased. All to the tune of $more-than-my-stimulus-check! Looking back, I wished I had gotten a pair of used racks instead and thrown the rest of my stimulus money at my credit card debt. Anyone out there looking to buy a never-used Strap Thang for attaching your surfboard to your roofracks??
I bought myself a $20 Yankee candle. As soon as I got home, I couldn’t believe I had just dropped $20 on something as silly as a candle. The foolish guilt made me return it the next day and I got my money back. I don’t know what I did with that money afterward, but it was definitely spent on something more important than a chunk of wax!! :)
I used to be obsessed with scratch off lotto tickets (not to the point that I needed Gambler’s Anonymous or anything) and I broke myself of this habit and didn’t buy any tickets for 3 months. Then last month I broke down and spent $6 on them at the grocery store. I (of course) did not win and immediately regretted the purchase. I wish I had spent the $6 on a bottle of wine instead!
My boyfriend insists that we buy those Entertainment Books from a local singing group he’s in since they sell them to raise money. It bugs the crap out of me that we pay full price for them when I know I could get them cheaper a few months later. The first year we probably used enough coupons to make it worth it, but now we always forget so its been kind of a waste. At least it went to a good cause, but I would much rather have used that money for a date night.
I wasted $100 on a new phone for my kid… she dropped it and the screen broke, but it was still usable. I should have made her “suffer” with the broken one, but I’m a sucker and she’s spoiled!
I wish it would have went into a savings account for her instead :(
I bought discounted toys, games and clothes for my niece and nephew and stored them away in a bedroom closet for future gifts. I completely forgot that I purchased them and now they are too old to fit in them or enjoy them. I wish I would’ve spent that money on items they could now enjoy.
YAR! I wish I’d been working on my fitness long before our Chicago trip. Can you believe we spent *well over $100* on cabs because I couldn’t walk 1-2 miles each way 2-3 times a day during our touristing?!
That was a huge expense I’m still disgruntled about.
I impulsively bought makeup foundation. The urge to have flawless skin overtook me. But after I received it, it just didn’t have the magic and appeal it once had…
I bought a bunch of restaurant dinners for a friend that was visiting. I wish I had cooked every time or spent all the money on a much needed area rug for my living room.
I just bought another compact point and shoot canon camera when I already have one. The new one is almost the same as my old canon with just a few more mega pixel. I kind of regret buying it now as I should of save the money and spend it to buy a DSLR in the future or better yet, use my old camera until it dies. The money saved should go toward my retirement saving.
We got a saltwater fish tank, ($$) and then discovered we should have done more research because then we had to buy all sorts of chillers and heaters (yes they need both apparently) ($$$) and then we had to get some pretty fish ($$$$!!!) We should have gotten a membership to the aquarium and put the rest away for a scuba trip… and after all that we’d still have money left for savings. :(
Wasted–stupid expensive dinner that didn’t even involve wine (and sooooo wasn’t worth the $$)
Should have spent on–early Christmas shopping
I just spend money on an ugly red wig that contributed to the biggest halloween costume fail ever. And now it is sitting in my closet looking like a dead animal. I wish I would have used what I already owned to create a free costume and used the money to purchase some basic work clothes that I actually need.
My CHI hair straightener finally gave up on me after 3 years. I use a straightener everyday and so I knew that a cheap drugstore one will not cut it. So I decided to order a Sedu hair straightener from folica.com. It was all good and I was getting it for $120 after coupons and discounts. Then I spotted that they were selling a Sedu kit with a smaller straightener, some clips, a glove etc for $30 more. I don’t need it, I have no use for a travel size straightener since I don’t travel often. But yet I bought it. It’s just $30, but I regret spending it on items that I don’t need, which will cause clutter in our apartment.
I wasted money in October on groceries because I didn’t spend the time to get organized with sales and coupons beforehand. I WISH that money would have gone towards our basement we’re finishing, and the new TV we just bought for it, since it will be the hubby’s “mancave!”
I wasted money on a load of diet stuff that I knew I wasn’t going to use! I wish I spent it on a new water heater! I know, fun times, right?
My husband and I wasted money going out to a lame Halloween party at a bar that was full of drunk college kids that don’t know how to act. We are way too old and sophisticated for that. I wish I had spent that money to have a party at home that would have been more age appropriate (and more fun!) for us and our friends!!
Had to buy a new router :-( Wish the money could went to credit card payments.
I shouldn’t have added the lace-up shoes to my cave-girl halloween costume. I sort of knew at the time they didn’t work, and the boots that I already owned worked out way better. I’m in the process of moving, and every spare dime SHOULD be going toward that process. Oh well!
I hated that I threw away produce because we’ve been “too busy” to make dinner. I wish I would have spent that money on paying down the honeymoon credit card. : (
McDonalds. My grocery budget. Unfortunately my children don’t beg me to take them to Publix, or this would not have been such a hard choice.
I waited to the last minute thinking my 13 year old wouldn’t want to do anthing on halloween other than hand out candy but at the last minute he said he wanted to dress up and instead of recycling an old costume or having him wear the santa suit we own we went to the store and spent $25 on a crappy costume that he won’t use again. That $25 should’ve gone into the wisdom tooth removal fund….
I am continuing to “waste”/ “spend” money on my gym membership. I don’t use it regularly enough to warrant the $35 a month fee. I basically threw away $210 since I didn’t go for 6 months straight. Currently I go about 5-8 times a month, which still isn’t that much :o( I could be beefing up my emergency savings with that money…….on an up note to cheer myself up I took a critical look at my cable bill, and have cut out 5 largely unwatched premium cable channels. I was really only watching 1 premium channel, and I was paying for 6 for the past year and a half :-o which probably added up to over $900 wasted money. Nipped that in the bud bill has been cut by $50 a month.
I have been underemployed and barely making ends meet for 18 months, so any expense seems like a waste. My five year old Mac laptop died and I bought a used Sony off of eBay. It’s fine for the moment, but not a great investment.
i bought a few little somethings at victoria’s secret to spice up my boyfriend’s birthday. he really didn’t notice, and now i’m wishing i’d used that $120 to pay off some of my student loan interest. luckily, i have an in-school deferment so i don’t have to pay, but i really do like reducing the amount i’ll owe once i’m done with grad school
When I was dating I took a woman to the British Open at Wimbledon and I wish I had taken the woman whom I ended up marrying.
I spent $70 on this silk lined clutch purse with this really awesome hand printed fabric on the outside. But I don’t think I will ever use it. I wish I saved it for the futon frame that I need to buy. I would rather have a place to sit.
I wasted money on a small can of formula yesterday because all the stores were out of the larger, cheaper cans and baby’s gotta eat!
I wish the money had stayed in MY bank acct!… where it belongs :)
I bought new winter boots over the weekend – cost about $80. I really should have put the money in my “new car fund” because my current car is on its last leg!
A few months back I bought some brand spanking new living room furniture. I had saved up some money, pulled together some generic gift cards to use, and set a budget that I would not exceed. But when I found something I liked in the first store I looked in, I impulsively bought it, even though it was a good bit more than I had budgeted for. I am *still* paying it off my credit card. I really should have just bought used furniture and put the money in my ‘saving to buy a home’ fund. I currently have lovely furniture in a crappy apartment but I’d much prefer well loved furnture in my very own home. *sigh*
I wasted my money on some makeup. Sad thing was that it went on sale for 20% off the next day. : (
This month I wasted money on eating out… Oh how I wish I could have that money back! It would all go towards paying off my credit cards faster!
This question is unfortunately too easy for me to answer. I dropped quite a bit of money on dress shirts I didn’t need, when that money should have easily gone to my student loans. Gotta keep hammering away or they’ll swallow me whole!
Wasted money on a new TV when I moved. Got a good sale, plus then it went on clearance before the 30 day period so I saved even more $$, plus ended up getting everything (all new appliances and tv) at 0% for 3 years (and you had better believe it will be paid off well before that 3 year window) because of the TV purchase. However I have been in my new house for 6 months and have MAYBE turned on the tv 5 times (to watch movies…I haven’t set up cable or dish). Wish I would have just used the money towards home stuff or into savings!
I wasted my money on a mobile broadband plug in for my computer, that I’m probably hardly going to use. I should’ve put it in my savings for a huge future goal.
I wasted money on a winter coat for my daughter…in a size that I knew she would probably outgrow but I thought the price was worth the gamble. I lost. It’s not even snowing yet. I wish I had that money to put towards a coat that will fit!
What have you wasted your money on lately? I’ve wasted money on coffees and eating out lately.
Where do you WISH it would have gone instead? I wish I put the money in my Roth IRA instead.
I spent $800 on a fancy telescope and now its too cold outside to use it. I should of put that money on my mortgage.
I’m not making a video, so I guess my chance is here!
Due to my problems with swollen and uncomfortable feet, I bought the most expensive pair of athletic shoes I have ever bought – and I went against my rule that my shoes have to be leather. I got some well-reviewed Brooks shoes at eBay, new, and even with a discount they were nearly $100. My heel slips and my sock ends up down under my foot, one worse than the other. This makes for utter dorkiness when one sock shows and the other does not. These shoes also cook my feet when I wear my favorite thin socks, so my option is to wear them barefoot. I don’t like that.
What I should have done is stuck to my leather rule and waited longer, but the state of my feet made it seem an emergency. I also bought a pair of Birkenstocks, but they are love :) I might have to get a couple of extra strap holes punched, but I’m happy with them. If suede could stand rainstorms, I’d be set with them.
We threw a GIANT halloween/bday party at our house this year. And in true form and fashion the people that helped ‘cohost’ left roommate and I with the bill…
SO between the two of us we dropped almost $500 on alcohol, food, entertainment, cleaning etc.
I would MUCH rather have used that $250 to take myself clothes shopping for my birthday (AND as a reward for dropping a jeans size…) or even thrown that money at Sallie Mae and felt better about it.
It was a fun party! But…not worth $500….
I bought a pair of new sunglasses…wish I’d pay some extra on my student loans instead…especially since I already had a perfectly good pair of sunnies!
These are GREAT guys!!! Thank you so much for participating and sharing all your dirty secrets! haha…
*****AND A HUGE UPDATE*****
Spendster has now informed me that they will be giving us $200 MORE to give out!!! So now THREE of you will win a $100 Visa Gift Card!!! WOOHOO!!! So keep them coming everybody, and everyone who’s already entered is still in the running for all 3 cards :) Your odds just got a helluva lot better.
Yesterday, I spent $100 dollars on shoes and a sweater at the mall. I really should have spent this money on a new cellphone (and protective cover), seeing as how mine is smashed up pretty badly! It still works but it’s definately on its last leg!
Let’s see, what have I wasted my money on recently. . .
– Star Wars pancake molds at Williams-Sonoma ($30)
– Entirely too many new clothes at various stores ($200 in the last month)
– Energy Drinks, snacks, anything to take the edge off the 3pm slump at work (Lord only knows, but having an office near CVS has been brutal for my budget)
– Booze, booze, and more booze (my roaring 20s certainly are roaring!)
And that’s just a small picture. I pay the bills, I stash away, but the disposable income has been used SO incredibly ineffectively. I need to be saving more (it would be nice to take a vacation next spring after busy season!) or paying down the credit cards (there’s so little left, but I’ve been using that as an excuse to spend more– bad bad bad).
Let’s just say the austerity plan is in high gear!
A few years ago my friend and I were backpacking Europe on a super, SUPER tight budget after studying in Italy for 6 months. We had a few hours to kill in Zurich before our train left, so we explored and decided to try some local cuisine. Fondue was on the menu, and I love me some cheese, so with a slight language barrier we awkwardly ordered a small fondue for us to share.
Unfortunately there was a miscommunication and we ended up with two giant orders of fondue that cost roughly $40 each. That was our food budget for a couple days! We were too embarrassed to correct them, so we dove into the giant vats of cheese, hoping to at least get our fill. Except my friend then discovered she doesn’t like traditional fondue, and I only had a mild appreciation for it. We still ate as much as we could, just to make those euros count, but in the end we were horribly disappointed. Guinness was our dinner for the next couple nights.
What we should have spent it on? Cheap food from a cart, or a modest collection of groceries.Heck, even a tacky souvenir. Anything better than two vats of fondue cheese.
Last week my wife and I went to sign up for a local run – we thought it would be something fun to do together. The problem? We registered late, so we had to do it online. We got hit with processing fees and late fees and ended up paying 88 bucks. All we have to show for it is some T-shirts and 9 miles worth of P-A-I-N.
Next time, I’ll run the race without registering and take my wife on a REAL $88 date instead of a painful run for the same amount! Booooo for penalties and processing fees!
Two weeks ago, I bought my fave perfume, which happens to be quite pricey, Thanks Chanel. I could have used the $100+ to go toward the credit card that I’m trying to pay off!
I recently wasted money on 2 tickets to a 3D movie…and regretted the purchase about 20min into the movie
J and Spenster,
Lately I have been impulse buying snacks and sodas. Everyday at work I walk by a vending machine and spend $1 for either crackers or soda.
I could easily bring snacks and drinks from home. This adds up every month and I regret not buying in bulk.
Todd
My friend was getting a facial at a beauty school and I went to pick her up to go out and celebrate my birthday. While I was waiting the receptionist said that for twenty dollars I could have my hair done. My hair was already done but I figured it was my birthday and someoen could make it cuter. The guy made it look EXACTLY the same, but the pins fell out about 15 mins after we left. I even gave him a tip. Why did I do that???
I regret spending the money to get my hair done and even more to give him a tip.
I used money I got for my birthday. I should have used it to buy a cute birthday outfit!
Lately I’ve watching a lot of poker on TV and got the itch to play again. (I used to play when I lived in Vegas before it exploded in popularity, easy pickings back then.) So I headed to Tunica for the weekend and proceeded to lose $650. I sure wish I would have used the money for my student loan.
This month I went to the casino two times and dropped a $100 each time…oh my god!!! I wish I had spent that money on ANYTHING else.
I padded the food budget a little last week so I could “stock up” on some things. Well instead of stocking up I bought $20 in clearance Halloween candy and 3 12 packs of Dr Pepper. I wish I would have spent that money on stock up pantry items like veggies and pastas!
bailing out mi hermano :(
I recently spent $20 on a new edition of a book that I already have. I wish I had spent it on a book that I do not already have.
I’m from Canada, so this doesn’t count, but I spent about 400 bucks on a TV remote over the summer. The coolest TV remote ever though.
It’s the Logitech Harmony 1100 universal remote. I still take it from friends for buying that.
I recently spent money on Caramel Frappes from McDonalds as a pick me up on the way to work! Although it brightened my mood, I wish I had searched for an alternate method like listening to some good music on Pandora at work.
What I should have spent the money on was marketing for a side hustle to pay my student loans. With the money I spent on Caramel goodness, I could have printed out flyers for my horse riding business and driven all over and posted them in tack shops and relevant places. This probably would have gotten me more money to put towards my student loans in the long run, and I think that is what I will do with it next time around!
I have been too lazy to pack my lunch for work and bought lunch everyday last week! Boo. I wish I had saved it to put towards my student loan…
I spent all of last week saving money, packing my lunches and dinners for work. Making my own Halloween costume from old clothes and scraps of fabric I saved. Then Sunday rolls around and I went out to breakfast, lunch and dinner because friends were in town. Had I just woken up earlier I could have cooked two of those meals for friends saving us all a good bit of money.
Lately it’s been small impulse purchases during the grocery shopping trip. I start with a list but always end up getting a few extra things add up to around $15-30 extra…. That $30 could have gone towards the Christmas fund!
I have spent way to much lately eating out. Not only am I spending more by eating out, but I am eating too much bad food. I wish I had put it to savings.
I bought a bunch of ZipZaps (tiny remote control race cars) at the height of their pre-Christmas popularity thinking I’d resell them on ebay for a profit. Yeeaah, they’re still sitting in my closet.
I could have better used that money paying down debts!
A few months back, on little sleep and hungover from a night in Atlantic City, I wound up with my girlfriend’s at some outlet stores. We all saw this one dress in the window and everyone turned and looked at me–it was clearly beckoning me. It’s definitely my style, but the color is so bold! And I have on like it! And it was $60, and I had no immediate event to wear it to! But I cave under peer pressure when shopping, and after they rationalized that my brother is getting married and I have things to wear it to (rehearsal dinner, or maybe even reception?), I caved.
Yup, so now I’m a bridesmaid, which means I don’t need it for the wedding. Maybe I can wear it for the rehearsal, but that’s more than a year after I bought it–a year just hanging there, unloved.
Now I really wish I had that $60 to put into my bridesmaid fund–with travel and showers and outfits, I need all the cash I can get!
In the past year I’ve spent over $2000 eating out. Sometimes alone becausae I was in a hurry, sometimes with the kids because they were starving and sometimes with friends, but I can count on two fingers the memorable or incredible meals we had. The rest? Just blown money. And I’m a great cook! I could have had $2000 in savings or to use toward starting my new business.
I was slightly tipsy and spent $100 on a keg! If I had another chance I would pit it towards my student loan.
I wasted money on a new computer game…I definitely should have put that little bit extra into savings
I can not lie, I believe in retail therapy. It’s true, when I am having a bad day the first thing I think is, “When can I get to the mall?” There is nothing like a brand new pair of jeans when your day is not going according to plan. When you try on those new jeans in the dressing room, it’s like rays of sunshine are shining down on you in the dressing room. These rays are sometimes accompanied by the, “ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh” sound as well. When I am retail therapy shopping, I can justify just about any purchase. This is where I spend my money. See, one day I was having such a bad day, I bought a pair of $100 jean capris. Let me tell you, they were not really worth that. If any of use ever go shopping I just want you to know a little secret. Good parking= Good shopping. Remember that!
I wasted money on some lip gloss from sephora that I did not need because I own every possible color already but that darn coupon made me think I was saving. Not really. Could have used this money towards bills :(
Eating out a lot lately! The only good thing about that is that I’ve been getting better about finding good deals and using restaurant.com certificates. Unfortunately my bf and I have a taste for some finer things. Money could be going toward saving up toward the deposit for the apt we’re eventually going to move into together!
i recently wasted money on some groupons that i regret getting (silly me). i should have saved them towards savings for my wedding next year!!
Hey J$,
My biggest mistake was the purchase of my house. I shoot a quick video for the contest too.
http://bit.ly/a3UmsH
I would love your vote and the vote of all the Sexy Mother Budgeters out here!! (sorry had to keep it clean)
I like candy bars…ALOT! Its always a waste of money, especially after 12 cavities….bad habits, ugh…..
I just dropped $500 for computer software – an upgrade – as well as $99 for an online class just so I could get the software at the student rate! Both will hopefully help my career as I look for a full time job.
I spend my money on fast food when it should be going towards my emergency fund. I need to stop, but it tastes so good lol.
Every single day, I purchase a coffee and hashbrown from my local convenient store. Yet, I bought a coffee maker and a bag of coffee beans as well a month ago. Haven’t used it yet!!! So which one is the waste? Probably the coffee maker.
Aloha J!
I’ve had this storage unit that I was only supposed to keep until I moved out of the room that I was renting at my friend’s house…I’ve been living with DBF for 3 years and I still have the unit ($100/month) and all the crap that I haven’t needed in the past 3.5 years. The unit is a line item in my budget but saving that extra $1,200 a year would be really nice in the future car fund account or the future non-retirement portfolio account…I’ll be out of the unit by May because that’s when I’d have to update the CC information.
Cheers!
-KP
Some shirts that were on sale at Target. Still don’t get that sale items aren’t always as much of a value as they seem…
Hey guys! If you submit a video over at Spendster, let me know so I can help pimp it here in the comments :)
Here are two that are live right now from y’all… HELP ME VOTE FOR THEM!!!
Jeff @ Deliver Away Debt
Kevin @ Thousandaire
I recently bought about $200 worth of clothes and then decided I needed to get in shape. The clothes are already to big on me. I with I had waited to purchase new clothes – now I don’t have any extra money to show off my slimer figure.
But I feel better about myself and that’s important!!
Thanks, Wendi
I recently bought a recliner so that I can watch some cool football games in style and comfort; aka like Al Bundy. I wish I could have used it to get some early christmas gifts, I felt guilty for like three days.
I wasted money on eating out when I could have saved the money and put it toward getting my car registered. :(
We recently wasted it on paying the fare difference for a flight that was booked for the wrong day – big oops! Wished we hadn’t had to do that and could have used it for another of the many flights we’re booking these days. (Husband is finishing medical school and is interviewing all over the country = lots of expensive flights!)
Thanks for the chance!
My biggest waste of money has been Netflix. I know everyone raves about Netflix and says it is great and I agree. However I never seem to use it. My husband and I are not big movie watchers and we already pay for satellite. I mostly turn the TV on while I am cooking or folding laundry and I find it easier to just pick a show from my DVR or live TV rather than wrestle with the Wii Remote to get Netflix going. We sometimes eat dinner with the TV on (bad, I know!) but we are not the kind of people who sit in the couch with the purpose of watching TV. I have been paying for $10 a month for more than a year and it just pains me to think of what I could have done with that $150. Even if I didn’t save it, I would have rather spent that money on a PS3 or something else that we would have actually enjoyed and used. Though I consider myself frugal, I have no problem spending money on things I enjoy. It’s this kind of mindless spending that irks me.
Where do I start? About a month ago we sold all of our cows and rec’d around $7,000. We used that money to pay off a credit card @ around 13% interest and a few smaller bills. Turned around and got a car loan for $13,000 at 4.75%. We could have put $2000 into our mini van and not purchased the used vehicle and gone into more debt. Sold some pigs and paid off a few more small bills and also purchased three Shirley Temple dolls at an auction @ $35 ea. and also eating fast food more often. I shouldn’t have purchased the dolls & we should be eating at home and applying the money to the rest of our credit card debt which is over $12,000.
I recently spent money on a bunch of discounted halloween candy. now I have so much candy I can’t begin to think about eating it all. Maybe I should just throw them away but I was raised to not ever waste anything.
Come check out my blog at http://www.wealthvest.com/blog/
I’m even embarrassed to write this, but….In the late 1990s I was a recent college grad living with two girls I barely knew, working two jobs and still struggling to make ends meet, feeling kind of lonely, when one day I was watching TV and got sucked into an infomercial. Don Lapre sold me on the idea of making 1000s of dollars by place “tiny classified ads” in papers throughout the country. It was as absurd then as it is now, but I was almost desperate for money. I ended up calling the 1-800 number and after “haggling” with the sales guy (“Oh, I know I shouldn’t be doing this/can’t afford it/etc”) he kept coming back on the line with a lower & lower price until in the end I paid around $200 for their marvelous “system”. I put it on my credit card – because I had no money. The day it arrived I opened the box up and confirmed my insanity for buying it in the first place. The package went into the back of my closet in shame, only to be thrown in the dumpster two years later when I moved out. How I wish I had invested that $200 instead – it would now be worth at least double that now.
I recently wasted money on vending machine drinks. They’re so expensive compared to if I bought a pack at the store and just brought one to school/work with me. All that money could have gone to replacing the broken fan in my bedroom!
I blew a lot of money on fast food last month (which Mint helpfully pointed out, and I unhelpfully ignored), and wish I’d spent that money on groceries instead. I’d have eaten at least moderately healthier and maybe picked up a few cooking skills to boot!
Kept a Redbox DVD at home for six days!! Sheer laziness…the Kiosk is 0.2 miles from where I live and I pass by it four times a day while going to and coming back from work! I could have watched six more movies instead!
My worst impulse buy ever was an acoustic guitar. While most might say that it was a great purchase, here’s all my reasons why it was a really stupid impulse buy:
1) I didn’t even know how to play the guitar at the time (nor do I really know now!)
2) He’s my ex-boyfriend for a reason. He was so controlling and wanted me to get involved in his crappy cover band even though I didn’t know how to play. He basically nagged/cajolled/threatened me there in the store (along with the salesman) until I relented
3) I made the purchase on a credit card, i.e. money I didn’t have
4) I managed to convince myself that it was a good deal because it was on sale, when later I found out I could have bought the same guitar with a case for half what I paid
5) I still have the guitar and haven’t been able to sell it, even though I’ve listed in on Craigslist for a quarter of what I paid! So basically, I have a very large paperweight (guitar in hard case) just cluttering up my living room
I’m going to make a Spendster video and post it tonight – vote for me!
I wasted too much money this past weekend. We wanted to go out and do something fun for Halloween. We ended up going to a local casino that was having a Halloween party and we blew $100. I would have much rather just stayed home watching scary movies and eating popcorn and candy. I should have just put the money towards my debt and will do that if I’m lucky enough to win!
I recently wasted $16 on this body cream I bought online. I didn’t realize how small 4oz was until it arrived and I got something the size of a baby food jar! I wish I would have bought some yummy smelling body wash I had been eying instead :)
I spent way too much money on a coat for this winter, and then found the one I bought at the end of last season on clearance! AGH!
We spent $70+ on a mediocre steak dinner. It was good, but just plain steak, nothing too sexy about it- just old fashioned steak dinner. We had a Restaurant.com certificate, so it was less expensive than it would have been, but it still left a bad taste in my mouth that we spent that much on dinner. We could have splurged on steaks for home and had several meals for the price of that one!
I bought a new dress for a wedding…a dress I know I’ll only wear once! It was too pretty…I couldn’t resist. I wish I had put the money towards my own wedding, instead!
I bought a Halloween costume this year and I feel really guilty about it since I can only wear it one day out of the year. :-( I should have used it to pay a utility bill or something.
In the past couple of weeks I’ve had lunch out three times. It’s not a ton of money, maybe $21 total, but I wish I’d put it in my vacation fund. :-(
A pint of Chunky Monkey. It was $3.99! I could have bought 4 boxes of pasta for that much and made 8 dinners with it! UGH!
It makes me sick to even think about this, but here goes.
About 3 years ago I had just finished paying off all of my credits. I was down to one car payment; and that vehicle was close to being paid off. At that point I would have only had the mortgage remaining and a student loan. I was maxing my 401k for the first time ever; I was on track.
This lasted for about 6 months until I started feeling sick. Thirsty all the time; waking up 5+ times in the night to urinate; double vision. I went to the doctor and they ran some labs; that was when I found out I have metabolic syndrome; Type 2 diabetes combined with a whole host of other problems, bad thyroid, bad cholesterol, bad triglycerides. At the time my triglycerides were at 900; the doctor told me my blood was basically turning to sludge and that I was going to be dead in short course if I wasn’t on proper meds and made sure to take them everyday.
I was in some serious depression; I didn’t know how this happened to a guy that’s in his late 20s, goes to the gym 4 or 5 times a week, and only weighs 150. Really bad genes is how.
At this point I felt all of the saving and spend thrifting was for nothing and that I was going to die without enjoying life and doing any of the things I wanted to do. Basically in a panic I started to spend like never in my life. I cashed out the 401k (wasn’t going to need it since I figured I’d be dead inside 10 years) remodeled the house, bought a new truck, a new SUV for the wife, a motorcycle, an ATV, new cell phones with big data plans, NetFlix, a Playstation 3, blu-ray discs; I don’t even remember what else. What I do know is at the end of it my 401k was gone and I had accumulated an additional $85K in debt; my A+ credit rating was now in the tank.
Now my disease is being managed and it looks like I’ll be living a long time with this regret over my head. I have begun paying it back; at this point I still have $63k remaining to payoff; I can’t afford to contribute more than a very minimum to 401k with all of the payments I have now. I’ve tried to sell the motorcycle and the ATV, but no one is buying recreational vehicles in this economy. If I could take it back and kept my head on I would have so much less stress. I don’t know how I let myself get here.
I bought a SUV two years ago after having my first child. I already had a car that i paid cash for but i got the SUV because the stroller couldnt fit into my car trunk well it could but it was a hassle (great reason, right). Car payment is $500 each month and insurance is $1000 a month. Every month i regret buying this SUV but I was young and unwise.
I wasted money on a bicycle that cost more than I should have spent. I wish instead it would have gone toward paying down my credit card debt!
I bought some plane tickets, and wish I had used the money to pay down my student loans.
I’ve wasted it on furniture that my wife wanted, I wish it would have gone into savings for a lake house. :)
Hey J.Money! I haven’t been on here in a while, but I got the newsletter saying about the giveaway and I thought I should stop back in! Recently I have lost track of my budget and have been wasting money buying lunches and getting drinks from the vending machines at work… It’s SUCH a waste of money!! I wish that I could’ve stopped myself from making those purchases and threw all that money into my savings account. Sadly to say, there is only about $10 in there. Man have I gotten off track.. That $100 would surely help with the holidays coming up!!
I’ve been buying lunch out instead of bringing lunch to work, and that money could have gone to our emergency fund or baby’s college fund! (*kicking myself*)
I recently bought a floor steamer that I really should have just kept the money and put it towards debt instead.
I recently purchased a power washer when working on my back deck. However, after using it for a weekend, it is now sitting in my basement collecting dust. I don’t know why I didn’t consider just renting one from the hardware store!
I wish the money could have gone toward our travel budget. With holidays approaching, we could use the extra money for travel expenses.
I can honestly say I don’t think I have wasted ANY money lately. I am VERY careful because we don’t have money to waste :) For some reason November is always a “poor” month for us. I should be back on track wasting money in December on Christams gifts and holiday entertaining.
Good luck to all ~ I know ALL of us can use the extra cash!
PS If I win you can give half of my money to LOVE DROP!! I think it is a great project!
This happens multiple times a week some weeks so it probably adds up. I get tired in the afternoons at work, I need caffeine, I don’t drink coffee so I go get a soda, at 1.25 a pop. I could so cure this by getting a 12 pack and bringing it to work at like a quarter a piece
Sheesh, just last night the wife and I went to Buffalo Wild Wings when we had perfectly good food at home. For those not in the know that generally is $20-$25 each time.
Recently I have been buying breakfast almost every morning – about $5 each time…I should be making my breakfast at home and putting all my extra money towards my Discover card bill!
I recently purchased a digital camera for $117 with tax. I really wanted to take shots of my son growing up, post on our family website, and lets face it – facebook. What I’ve found is that I rarely use it and when I do I forget to put them up on the computer.
I really wish I had used those funds for my sons Christmas list. Since he just found out about Santa I want to make all his wishes come true this year.. and being a single mom working 2 jobs, it isn’t gonna be easy!!!
I have two young kids so picking up fast food is easy. That’s what I waste my money on. I should save the money for a fab new pair of heels!!
I went out to a chic restaurant with my co-workers to celebrate my new job. I ended up spending $45 when I had leftovers at home.
Now I wish I had that money for gas since my commute went from 4 minutes to 40.
Feeling jipped out of a real vacation by taking a staycation, I went on a splurge and spent un-budgeted money I didn’t have in hand in the spirit of having a “real vacation” . This meant a lot of comic books (when my current to read pile would take weeks to read), vinyl toys and eating out. I tapped money earmarked for savings and when I added it all up I could have made major progress on my savings goal of a new computer or reached my next benchmark in emergency cash!
Kicking myself!
Too many Groupons….and Living Social deals, BWM, Bloomspot, etc, etc! There are some great deals to be had, but I think I got a little out of control. Now I have a stack of coupons that I can’t really afford to use. I should have saved some of that money for Christmas gifts instead.
I have wasted WAY too much money on restaurants and takeout just because I was feeling too lazy to cook and/or thinking I deserved a treat because I’d had a hard day. (Lots of hard days lately = being broke!)
Being lazy has cost me in terms of eating out. The Mrs. and I are usually pretty good about making grocery lists every week, but when we forget or get lazy, we end up eating out a few nights that week.
I’d much rather have that money back in savings for our vacation.
Oh man, iTunes! It’s the micro-purchase phenomenon. I think I’m not spending much on music and apps, but when it gets drafted from my bank account it’s usually quite a bit more than I thought I had purchased.
Biggest Financial Goof: Choosing a practical, affordable car (what I wished it had gone towards) or a luxury car aka. Mercedes-Benz. Since it’s my biggest goof, I’m sure you guys know that I picked the MB (what I wasted my money on). Ever since that day, I have regretted every buying it. My car payments are $500/month, Insurance is $200, and the maintenance alone is priceless (not the good kind either). On top of that, I have been been upside for 4 years. Words of Wisdom: I have definitely learned that the car you want is not always the car you need.
I went to Target and spent like $20 on Halloween clearance items I didn’t need….. Should have gone toward savings!!
I recently bought several video games that are now just gathering dust. Instead I could have used that money on something that I’ll actually use, like baby diapers!
I wasted my money on 1) Halloween candy (no one came to the door) 2) a hose for the vacuum (who wants to buy a vacuum hose) 3) 1.50 wasted by forgetting to use my three .50 off Ben & Jerry’s coupons on my three containers of Peanut Brittle ice cream.
Aside from that I am so rocking my budgets. They are all on target. Yeah!
I wasted my money recently on food (some of it junk food). And if you ask why it’s a waste, it’s because I had perfectly good food at home. I was just too hungry to resist buying it. The money I spent was better saved for food I eat at home or even better: to pay off my credit card.
I recently went out shopping and bought a pair of relatively expensive work slacks. Now that I’ve worn them twice, I don’t like the way they look. I will probably not wear them again. The money should have gone to savings instead.
oh poop I totally missed this giveaway. Oh well, I really can’t say I spent my money on anything I regret in the past month. I spent anything extra to fly about 900 miles away from home, just to take care of my mom after double knee surgery. I can absolutely say I am pretty happy right now, and don’t need to spend money on dumb things :) Good luck everyone.
This sounds wacky, but we wasted money on a sausage maker!! The ideas was that we could use it to make cheaper, healthier homemade sausage….we’ve used it twice in 6 months and now it’s taking up space in our pantry….and I still buy sausage from the store….sigh…
I wasted money buying a $300 universal remote!! It looked so cool in the store with the LCD touch screen, but it’s not very practical since you must operate it with two hands :(
I recently wasted money on a new surround sound system, I sounded so good in the store, I had to have it!
I wasted way too much money on Halloween candy. We barely had any trick-or-treaters, and now I’m stuck with all the rest of the candy I don’t need to eat! I wish I would’ve put the money toward other groceries instead.
I wasted money in Vegas… oh those table games just called my name… Amy Amy Amy Amy play me… double down Amy.. keep going.. and then I left with a bad taste in my mouth. Instead I should have spent the money on a new computer! So sad to waste it like that! So now more Vegas for me and STAY AWAY TABLE GAMES…AWAY NOW! LOL
Ugh, I spent $100 last week going out to eat. I’m a student, and I just got hired at an on campus job, which meant I would be on campus Mon-Thurs for 9 to 11 hours, depending on the day. So instead of packing lunch, I foolishly bought EVERY MEAL on campus and basically wasted away a week’s worth of wages on EATING OUT. Shoot me now. I would’ve much rather preferred to use that money on people’s Christmas gifts!
When my daughter was a baby, I spent MAJOR money on her outfits. I wish I would have saved that money for her education! Thanks for the contest!!!
Hmm…I’ve been working on setting up a few new websites and I’d have to say for me it was buying a cheap VPS for $20/month that had no customer support when I know nothing about running a VPS, and paying that three months in advance…Well, after pulling my hair out for two weeks decided to go with a fully managed VPS for $35 a month…which has been wonderful and what i wished I had just done in the first place! So the lesson to be learned is sometimes trying to save money/going the cheap route ends up costing you more in the long run -it’s not the $60 I’m sad about as much as the three weeks of my time I lost :(
Clothes. It’s always clothes! I have plenty, but they are so pretty I can’t help it. Ugh.
My biggest mistake is not saving for retirement earlier. Even just small amounts. Goodness . . . The crap I wasted money on in my 30s!!!
My husband and I spent $30 on a cab when we could have just taken the subway for under $5.00. We are pretty good about saving our money-I guess laziness just got the best of us. We should have put the money toward our holiday gift fund.
Spent money on eating out and should’ve put the money in our house downpayment fund!
I’ve wasted too much money on food at convenience stores – I wish it had gone towards my Masters degree instead!
Been trying to spend less than $30 after tip and tax for a meal for two, but fell off the wagon last two weekends and have spent more.
Wasted money? Hmmm… I would say last week, when my husband and I flew last minute to Florida. But that was due to unexpected family emergency, so I can’t really call it a waste… But it was something I never want to repeat again. (Even with my $400 voucher, ouch.)
I wish we could have saved it for the trip we are planning to Florida for next year! Hubs says it’s a tragedy that I haven’t been to Disney World yet at 22. I guess it is, lol. I’ll try and redeem us with our upcoming dity move.
Last month we wasted our money by going to a specialty Halloween store and buying our kids’ costumes, which cost twice as much as they should have. I wish the money would have gone to some of our never ending bills instead.
I bought a bunch of domains thinking I would have the time, energy, and commitment to develop those sites. Yeah, didn’t happen. I should have just pooled the money to buy the site DigitalHustler.com.
Hmm. I’ve been lazy lately, not wanting to cook and spent money eating out that when there was perfectly good food in the house. I would have rather put the money in savings since we have to replace our roof :(
Ok, I agree with someone elses post, too much spent on Halloween candy and very few trick or treaters this year. It all adds up like pennies in a piggy bank. Hate to waste any $…
I agreed with my spouse to pay the landlord’s portion of the broker fee to refinish the kitchen. Given that we only plan to live there for 2 years before we buy our own place, I should have pushed to live with the existing kitchen and spend the money on things we needed for the apartment (e.g. bedroom furniture, desk set)!!
I’ve been wasting bits here and there, to include some butter I bought today that was nine dollars for six ounces. God it’s good though! If I hadn’t just had breakfast and lunch out, then it would have been easier to justify!!
I wish I had saved some of it to put towards these jeans I’ve been eyeing.
I have wasted money on eating out lately! Just being to tired to make food and ordering pizza, etc. It’s not even all that good usually!
I’ve spent money on food items that weren’t the best! I would have rather put that money towards healther food choices or saved it.
Luckily, we don’t give out candy on Halloween so that saves a big chunk of money! We also rarely ever buy costumes, so we saved there too.
Thanks for the contests and all the great info.
I just impulse spent on the Sephora website, for some anti-aging facial products that likely won’t do anything more than the free samples I already have plenty of in my medicine cabinet ;). It was a moment of weakness! What I should have spent the money on is an extra deposit into my house/car/wedding savings accounts.
I was late on turning in some library books, I wish I had spent the money on some e-books/audio books instead. D’oh!
I treated my daughter and her friends to a meal at the Rainforest Cafe, even though I knew
it was overpriced and not that great. I really really wish I had put that in savings, because now
there are shake ups at work…
I wasted money on a pair of boots and shoes that should have went to my bills now I am behind on my bills
Even after cutting back, we still spend way too much on dining out! Money should be going toward building a $10k e-fund.
I wasted money buying airline tickets for a trip I had to cancel (need to keep my job!). It will be at least $300 for the change fee but could end up being more.
I wasted my money on some bad homeschool curriculum last year. I wish I’d used it to buy my own piece-meal curriculum. (And then I did, with the next year’s budget.)
Private school. I need not elaborate as we all know how expensive private colleges are.
I spend very little excess money but when I blow money I blow it on fast food! I wish that money had gone to debt repayment instead.
I got a $100 loan from a random online lender so that I could go to an amazing music festival that I attend every year. I was only recently able to pay the lender back, after four months. I probably lost about $200 in fees. It wasn’t worth it…because my mom found out, and got angry with me for not asking her for help. I could’ve used all that money to pay off a medical bill.
The festival was great, by the way.
I recently spent several thousand dollars on dental work. It needed to be done so that is not where the waste was … the waste is that I didn’t take the time to find dental insurance that would really help me out before I went ahead with the procedures. I wish that I had spent the time rather than the money!!
Well today I am helping my parents host a garage sale. My husband & I brought a few of our items as well. One of them was a weight bench set that I had really wanted him to use. It was almost brand new & he sold for a ridiculously low price. That could’ve gone to the current moving expenses!
I spent money on a trip that I knew I couldn’t afford. :( Blew my budget. I’ll be trying to fix that mistake for a couple of months.
I wasted money on the Samsung Vibrant Galaxy S phone. I could have paid my light bill with all that money…. love the phone, but it sucks when I have to pay the bills and think of all the money I waisted.
OMG we all waste a crap ton of money ;) Incredibly interesting how different we are though. Some people consider fancy cars wastes of money, while others vending machine snacks. Guess that’s why we call it “personal” finance, eh?!
*Giveaway Ends Tomorrow!*
I wasted money on dinner at a restaurant with friends, where I couldhave had a potluck and saved the money for the gas increases.
I wasted my last ten dollars on a cab for me and my kids to go to the doctor because it was cold outside. I wish I had walked or caught a ride because I ended up needing to fill a prescription for myself that my insurance didn’t cover and I felt so stupid that I, ironically, was ten dollars short of getting my medicine.
I spend all my money on my girlfriend. I go to school full time and also work full time but all the money that I do make is wasted on her. We go out to eat constantly and she orders the most expensive thing on the menu. See, I’m fine with that but it is the fact that she only takes two bites out of it and says full.
i recently bought a copy of the movie “click” in the five dollar bin at walmart. I wish i had spent the money on “road house” instead.
***GIVEAWAY OVER***
Thanks to everyone who participated!!! Keep your head up for another GREAT giveaway tomorrow ;) Here are the 3 lucky winners!!:
$100 Winner –> Gina Maddox
$100 Winner –> Christine
$100 Winner –> Cesar
Look for an email out to ya. Have a great week everyone!
-J$