Want to own up to any money mistakes?

[JanH]

Originally Posted by tinapbeana

boy, for a time when i was supposed to be getting smarter, i sure did a lot of dumb stuff...

I love this statement. I am going to use it when my college kids get down on themselves about their mistakes right now. That many of us feel this way about those years!

[PrincessPerky]

the latte factor..no I don't drink coffee, but I did a lot of little dumb things, which all adds up..wish I had done a lot of smart things would have added up in my favor instead of against!

One big thing is trying to sell toys that I loved as a kid, the toys changed, watered down, dumbed down. and the company has not kept up with the modern tech...I am all for low tech toys, but I want a high tech fast internet connection to buy them, sell them promote them and find them...not a lousy interface that has me running for a real store at the hint of a slow picture download (how am I supposed to buy a toy I can't see!)

I say big, but it actually cost me nothing but pain.....

[cashqueen]

Oh I have a few...WASTING money for YEARS on stupid stuff we didn't need. Thousands of dollars later I swear we have nothing to show for it... AND not starting a retirement fund early enough. I'll be paying for that one for years to come! I'm a little smarter these days and just wish I had learned earlier.

[rob62521]

Originally Posted by tinapbeana

like most: credit cards in college. regretting the student loan, too, because i could have gone to school elsewhere without one. also, wasting a small windfall of a few grand, again when i was in college.

boy, for a time when i was supposed to be getting smarter, i sure did a lot of dumb stuff...

Well, you learned through the school of hard knocks! Hopefully we are all older and wiser now.

[cschin4]

I spent too much on my first house trying to make it look good. I thought that if I just kept buying and spending on it, I would have a beautifully decorated house. However, I have a mish mash of tastes and my "decorating style" just leaves something to be desired. I discovered that even if I bought nice pieces of furniture, etc, I really didn't have the time or inclination to get the accessories that really make a place. I have accepted that this is not my "gift" in life. So, I just quit buying all that kind of stuff. Now, I just say my decorating style is "Early Halloween"!

[Ima saver]

I have been thinking but except for the expensive stock thing, I have been pretty good. I never blew money when I was young, I never had any to blow. I do regret some of the things I have purchased but none were real expensive.
I did sell a lot on the creek that I bought for only $5500. Selling land too cheap is my problem, I wish I could have afforded to hang onto all the land I have owned!

[lillyb]

Bougt into the 'you'll always have a car payment' theory. So I financed the biggest carpayment I could afford monthly. Plus financing toys. Combine both with always trying to do the bigger and better deal.. there ya go. So stupid.

[shengmei]

A lot of times I buy something just to qualify for the cosmetics "gift with purchase" events. Since I prefer travel-sized cosmetics, practically every single time I like the "gift" so much BETTER than the original product I purchased to get the gift in the first place.

I have never been able to resist a "gift with purchase" event. It is my biggest weakness. That, and my tendency to collect cats.

[kealina]

Originally Posted by shengmei

A lot of times I buy something just to qualify for the cosmetics "gift with purchase" events. Since I prefer travel-sized cosmetics, practically every single time I like the "gift" so much BETTER than the original product I purchased to get the gift in the first place.

I have never been able to resist a "gift with purchase" event. It is my biggest weakness. That, and my tendency to collect cats.

lol.. you need to find somebody to partner up with... i always ended up getting my grandma's "gift" as a teen because she was buying clinique skincare products regularly and would always end up with gifts... that was pretty cool and was the basis of my makeup for a long, long time... in fact, i still occasionally end up with stuff from my mom or grandma...

[MonkeyMama]

I have done good, BUT we have always had wonderful people and family to warn us away from stupid things. My father is very good with money and taught me much. One thing we almost did was a bridge loan on 2 homes and our realtor talked us out of it. I thank her much.

We did lose a good $6k on tech stocks. Considering we had never even paid more than $1k for a car at the time - LOL - it was a lot of money. my husband told me "there is no risk." I knew better but at the time I didn't think it would go so bad. We didn't know when to get out either. We are "buy and hold" type people - but those stocks sunk never to be seen again. That is by far our biggest money mistake.

LAtely I feel another big mistake is not investing my retirement more carefully. Kind of threw it somewhere and never thought about it. I think that was a big mistake. I feel lucky we learned our lessons very early on.

[Ima saver]

i was so excited about mutual funds when I first 'discovered " them, that I opened too many. No one needs 20 mutual funds!!

[wannabefree]

I've done a few stupid things. First was we bought a house before we were ready and it was in an area we knew we wouldn't be staying very long. We succumbed to the pressure from everyone saying "you're throwing away your rent money". Make sure your are planning on being in an area at least 5 years before buying a house. Also we bought a brand new car about 6 years ago. I plan on driving it at least 6 more years or until it's junk if possible at least that way I'm turning a dumb thing into a smart thing

[LuxLiving]

Years ago when I was young and poor and first started buying stock I fell guilty to the act of buying good companies yes but putting more into those that had the cheaper price even though they weren't my best performers. I just wanted to get to that magical number of owning a hundred shares of 'something'.

[asmom]

Yes, too many mistakes to name:

1. Every savings account I ever closed.

2. Not investing in stocks and real estate when I was much younger, even a little bit would have made a difference.

3. Every credit card balance I ever carried.

4. A few years ago, a company I worked for was sold and our ESOP was distributed to us but I spent the money instead of saving and investing it.

5. Believing that my husband and I were on the same page in terms of our financial goals, I should have realized a long time ago that we were not.

[Ima saver]

I forgot a biggie! We bought a boat when we first got married and we really could not afford it! What a waste of money!! Plus I then learned I did not really like boating.

[dossin1]

One of my biggest mistakes and one I truly regret was I cashed in my 401k when I quit my job to be SAHM. We needed new car, and I figured when I started working again, I could start saving. Well, than was 10 years ago, and I'm still not back to work full-time and now with no 401K.