How about a townhouse that has other similar models on the block selling for 55% of what it was bought. What's that saying? Buy high, sell low . . . or something like that.
I usually look back at the ungodly amounts of money I spent on video games and shake my head. Video games, are for the entertainment value, one of the best bangs for the buck. Fifty-sixty bucks for endless hours of entertainment. But adding up all the consoles and all the 20-30 games per console I'd buy at release prices. I was working two jobs one summer in high school and buying 2-3 game every week or so. I bought games just to play demo disc for game I wanted later. I think I've spent 4-5k over my life time on it. The worst part is that, the shit doesn't hold it's value, resale prices are a fucking joke. It's the only thing that really stings me. There are other hobbies of mind that could have been a bit more productive and held value. Some of the guns I've always wanted for one. I just feel good I never started smoking weed as hardcore as some of my friends.Talk about sunk cost. Most of my friend's would always end up dealing ounces to feed their quarter a week habit. I am sure some of my friends could have bought brand new cars or put down money for starter homes with the money wasted.
Shoes. I definitely spend most of my money on shoes. Do I regret it? Not one bit. I wear shoes every day and I like to look good. Plus I like to have options when I'm getting dressed in the morning. The second thing I spend most of my money on is food. I love to cook and try new recipes so a bi-weekly trip to the grocery store will run me about $80. I'm really trying ways to cut back on this since I'm trying to save for a house. Gotta start somewhere, right?
This isn't nearly the amount of cash y'all are talking about, like by a factor of 10, but it still bugs me that I convinced myself that I needed a tank with fish. Most of the fish and a couple of the plants died. What a fucking waste of energy and money. Every time I walk by that stupid tank I scheme on ways to get some of my money back (selling what's left on craigslist for example).
CD's. Christ, if I had a crystal ball in 1998. What a waste of a cash flow. Vinyl, on the other hand, is NEVER a waste.
I got certified to dive about 5 years ago and the instructor/owner talked me into buying the most expensive shit he had, including a $1200.00 dive computer that I don't even know how to work, I dive maybe 5 times a year and everytime I descend it pisses me off to look at that thing and feel like I got taken, when my buddy has a set of gauges that tell him the exact same thing for $50.00.
I think you missed the focus. That's ok, poor people can make bad decisions too. Focus: Money I've given to charity, fuck those in need, $1002 I want my money back! Alt-Focus?: Tonight's alcohol, it was easily worth double what I paid.
In high school, I made a quick $20,000 with an online business. In the following two years, I spent every penny of it. Some things I wasted the money on: - The most baller sound system money can buy, top of the line headphones, and hundreds of CDs ($2K) - iPod for every person in my family ($1,200) - Car. I trashed this thing for fun and paid to fix it later, since I was making money so easily. Drove it across fields, drifted around corners, and eventually totaled it (sunk cost of maybe $8K) - Invested money into a second business that failed within days ($5K) - Diamond earrings for GF. Not a waste, but not financially sensible by any means. ($1K) - New laptop ($1,500) The only thing I have left from that list is the sound system, which has been sitting in a box for years. Goddamnit.
All my 80s and early 90s hip hop vinyl. I barely spun and only because my friends did when I was in my early teens. I had so many albums. Sold em all for near nothing when I needed to rebuild my old Audi oh-so long ago.
Rent. Four years of it, in fact, and you get nothing back. Looking back on it, the real estate market is at a peak. Now that I'm in a position (of sorts) to buy, I'm not sure I even want to because of the low chance of a decent return for the timeframe I'm looking at.
The one responsible thing I've ever done with my money was buy property. My own home / rental investments. If I had my time back, I'd spend that money on something useful, like hookers and blow. In principle, I understand what went wrong and I understand that real estate investment is low risk, stable and blah blah blah. In practice, I came away with no assets, $60k of debt, and having spent 3 times as much as I would have spent on rent. Partly bad luck from stuff beyond my control and partly just poor research - but I'd be massively better off if I'd never, ever signed a mortgage agreement. With the exception of maybe my shitbox cars and some of my international travel, I can't think of anything I ever bought using finance/credit cards that I would buy again if I had my time over.
The only substantial purchase I regret is getting my belly button pierced. I blame the person who pierced me (she "double-pierced" me where she shoved the needle through a second time through the skin above my belly button after piercing it in the right place, so I'm assuming she did something else wrong too to mess it up), but within a month it got really fucked up. It didn't just get infected and gross like normal when piercings go awry but the earring pushed its way out of my skin and ripped off. So I threw away around ninety bucks for something that lasted a month, caused me a ton of pain and discomfort, and I still have a weird scar on my belly button three years later. Even before the earring started to get rejected, it was just always in the way and I think I would've taken it out relatively quickly anyway.
I was thinking that for my age there are very few things I have wasted significant amounts of money on until I remembered the personal trainer I hired at the start of the summer. Jesus what a fucking waste of cash. He preyed on the fact that I naively thought he wasn't a piece of shit and kinda scammed me for more than he was worth. I can't even type out the details without getting pissed off. Can't really demand money back from a 250lb black linebacker. My best friend is a marathon runner and he wrote me out a running schedule. It has been unbelievably effective and was free. The asshole even fields my stupid post running texts, probably just to rub in how useless the PT was. Lesson learned.
I quit drinking a few months ago because I did the math. I was spending almost twice as much a month on booze as I do on rent. When I figured that out, I decided that it was time to switch the priorities in my life (So I don't die when I'm 35 of some terrible liver disease poor and alone). When I decided to do this I got really depressed. I thought for sure that I would come out of it without any friends, any way to have fun or any way to blow of steam. You know what I learned? I don't miss any of it* and my only regret is not figuring this stuff out sooner. I still have my friends. I still goof off with them. I still hang out. But I do not wake up with a hangover. I go to the gym every morning. I cook an awesome dinner almost every night. I've lost 30lbs. I have a savings account again. I got a huge new TV to watch football on. I think my girlfriend may even love me more because I don't get drunk and do stupid things like call her names, or puke in fun places. What do I have to show for all of that money? A hand full of funny stories, a court record, some undiagnosed health problems, and less brain cells than the normal 27 year old should have. Now that I have figured out how to live life without making booze priority number 1, I plan to slowly let it back in my life. And if it takes control again, I will cut it completely out of my life. It only gets one chance. *Why lie, there is one thing I miss bloody marys and general day time drinking on the weekends.
Were your drinks made out of fermented unicorn blood or do you have really cheap rent? Even when I was in a phase of drinking all day every day I wasn't spending more than $300 a month on booze.
Frebis is a robot that used to be fueled by beer, but now he's gone full electric (and apparently considering a hybrid setup). Picture Bender with a desk job.
I certainly can as I now have a full shelf I can't drink My car is great, but I really spent beyond my means buying it, and now that I want to move and make it work with car payments, it's a pain in the ass. Live and learn I guess.