Great 'What's your biggest ever waste of Money?' Hunt

winton_2

I have two biggies:

1) My degree - ok so I have a degree but a £20000+ student debt and a profession that isn't hiring much. What a waste!!

2) My computer - I went on a "super-indulge" as I love computers anyway... bought a 3XS Scan White Cobra PC and modified it so that the total package cost £3250!! It's 4 years old now, I'm thinking of selling/replacing it now. So cost per year is a little bit higher than I normally hope for!!

I have plenty others - I can't help myself!!

NORTHERN_LASS47

I got an e-mail from GLEAMIFY offering a tooth whitening system for £1.99 last year. This company also took £49.95 (unauthorised) out of my account later and sent me another system and charged another £1.99, I spoke to a lady on the phone who asked me to return it (cost me over £5 recorded delivery) and it would be sorted. Still waiting and have passed the details to my bank.

charlie-chan

winton wrote: »

2) My computer - I went on a "super-indulge" as I love computers anyway... bought a 3XS Scan White Cobra PC and modified it so that the total package cost £3250!! It's 4 years old now, I'm thinking of selling/replacing it now. So cost per year is a little bit higher than I normally hope for!!

I had a friend who blew his overdraft in his first year on a hideously expensive computer set up and he's yet to pay it off!

Emmarillo

I bought an exercise bike for about £200 a couple of years ago. My husband said at the time it was a waste of money, but I explained it was win-win; no gym fees,and no excuses because I could exercise whenever I wanted to.The trouble is,after about day three, I didn't want to,and its just gathered dust ever since...

nanabren

My absolutely biggest waste was buying a bagless vacuum cleaner Russell Hobbs Cyclonic 2000. Firstly, I found that I had to hold the black hose very carefully when vacuuming so that it didn't touch any walls or pale coloured furniture as it gave off black scuff marks. Then the auto retract electric cord didn't !! Stuck totally. OH took whole cleaner to pieces to release cord. Fine. Then the black suction hose split rendering the cleaner useless. And guess what - 2months out of guarantee !! OH again came to rescue and cut off the part of hose that was leaking. OK for couple of months - then split again. OH mended again but had to cut off another portion of hose. Ultimately I will end up with a vacuum cleaner with a 9 inch hose !! Contacted Russell Hobbs but no joy. ''our designs are well researched and we have had no other complaints'' etc etc. They said to send it back at my expense by carrier for them to look at - why would I want to throw good money after bad ? Especially when I know what their reply will be. Would have thought it would be good customer relations to offer a replacement hose - perhaps at a reduced rate - sorry - rant over !!!

cubelips

I was sorted for moving to Canada for a year abroad, had bought my visa, done all the paperwork, etc etc, only thing i hadn't bought were flights. Cancelled the trip 20 days before I left (it had been planned for a year and A LOT had changed in a year) and lost out on about £450. Just glad I didn't buy my flights! Spend the 2 and a half grand I had left on an electric drum kit and a three week holiday in New York and Florida instead. So worth it. Still, I think about that £450 all the bloody time.
Another one, that was £100, was a 'practice drum kit'; basically an electric drum kit with no electricity so I could practice at home with no sound and without annoying the neighbours. Then spent over a grand on an electric kit and now have this stupid piece of plastic lying around that no one wants to buy and I can't bring myself to sell for less than £50! Thats £550 in two months that I always seems to need!
I also have over 100 pairs of shoes/trainers/heels/boots and a few pairs I haven't even worn...it's a bad addiction but at least I work in a shoe shop and get a hefty discount, and the rest are cheapy ones. Well that's what I tell myself.
My last biggest waste of money was £400 on a laptop that broke THE DAY AFTER the warranty ran out. Just stopped turning on. Lost hundreds of photos and a $tload of music and files. Gutted. Can't bring myself to pay to get it fixed (it's totally wrecked and will cost about £100 to retrieve the files alone.)
So much money I could totally use now!

droopsnoot

Lucky escape: Signed up for a multi-thousand pound "make money from property" course with Inside Track, had a change of heart overnight and cancelled it (paid for on credit card), a couple of months later they'd gone bust.

I think I'm allergic to buying stuff, because I often regret buying even small things unless I get a decent amount of use out of them, so I don't buy stuff. Of course that gets me labelled as a "tight git" but there you go.

Primrose

Emmarillo wrote: »

I bought an exercise bike for about £200 a couple of years ago. My husband said at the time it was a waste of money, but I explained it was win-win; no gym fees,and no excuses because I could exercise whenever I wanted to.The trouble is,after about day three, I didn't want to,and its just gathered dust ever since...

Send it my way Emmarillo. That will prevent me spending £200 on an exercise bike and my OH then complaining that it's cluttering up space because I hardly ever use it. :rotfl:

mrs_montgomery

My ex-boyfriend. At the time I thought he was down on his luck, but in hindsight, what a loser! I must have spent hundreds in paying off his phone bills, taking him out etc. - he always ordered the most expensive thing on the menu wherever we were, if I offered to buy him a drink he would say 'two pints' - he claimed he would pay me back some of it but of course never did. I was a student at the time so had very little money but was trying to be nice. Anyway it was a life lesson - stay away from irresponsible, selfish people!

The other thing was failing my driving test twice through sheer nerves - was jumping with terror, made all sorts of stupid mistakes through losing concentration - cost $$$s in more lessons while waiting for next test date. Don't know what the answer to this is - learn to meditate?

glitterjunkie

I've probably wasted thousands over the years! Mostly on clothes and shoes when I was a lot younger... £110 on a pair of boots that I couldn't walk in and wore twice, £300 on a Mulberry bag that I did love, but ended up selling on Ebay for £100 when I was broke a few months later. £125 on a wedding planning correspondence course which I've never even opened, as I just don't have the time - might try and flog that on Ebay too. £500 on a holiday to Greece on which I got food poisoning and had to stay in the hotel room for an entire week, that was a rubbish one! £700 on my first car and £800 on insurance, which I drove for 2 months and then it broke down, ended up selling it for £250 a few months later and didn't even cancel the insurance! I could go on, but it would probably depress me haha. I was only in minimum wage jobs at the time (and still am actually, so perhaps my £15k degree was a waste too) so it was a lot of money to spend with nothing to show for it.

Mind you, I think it is all a lesson learned... Now that I'm older and have my own house and mortgage etc I watch every penny and am much more careful with money. I shop around for everything and try to get a good deal on everything I buy. I think I got all that impulsiveness/reckless spending out of my system when I was younger, and it's taught me to get a lot more value out of my hard-earned money now!

lovelyx wrote: »

Deciding to live in university halls of residence for my first year at university. I moved in in September, quickly grew to hate it and have now moved in with my boyfriend, but I can't get out of my contract with uni (unless I can find another university student to move in - which I can't, everyone has somewhere to live!) so I'm stuck paying for my room until June. More than £4000 for Sept-June, which apart from being such a rip off, is such a colossal waste of money. It depresses me to think about it but it was a mistake and I have to live with it

I did the same if it makes you feel any better! Apart from mine was in my 2nd year... paid £3,500 for the year's accommodation, stayed in it for the first 3 nights and then decided to go and live with my boyfriend instead. I never stayed there again! When I think of all the lovely things I could have bought with that money it makes me want to cry especially as money is very tight these days and we can't afford many treats!

BUT... that same boyfriend is now my husband and we have a lovely house together, so I like to think that it was £3,500 invested into our relationship and spending time together rather than completely wasted down the drain... haha. Make me feel a bit better to think of it like that!