What has been your Biggest Waste of Money? (charge, savings, range)

[MNTroy]

Originally Posted by meo92953

Scratch off lottery tickets. I've since quit. Well, except for the $2.00 one I bought the other day which paid $25.00.

My BIL AND I will exchange $10 worth of scratch offs for Xmas. We have done this over the last few years. For myself, anything I win over $10, I will pocket. Anything less than $10, I will keep buying scratch offs and see how long I can keep the winning streak going

After my luck runs out, I don't buy a scratch off until next year. I may buy a powerball here and there if the jackpot is high.

I find the lottery as entertainment, but for the most part I would rather spend my fun money on other things

[CapnTrips]

Everything I ever bought my ex-wife.

[galaxyhi]

Originally Posted by AfternoonCoffee

Daaaayum!

Is that really what is costs to smoke a pack a day?!

THe cheapest pack {NOT Marlboro or other name brands} in my area is $7.98/pack with taxes.

so at $8/pk-7 pk/week: $$56, times one year is $2,912.00 a year.

Thats a lot a dough.

Imagine 2 pack-a-day smokers! at least $6K a year wasted!!!!!!

I drank a lot of my extra money in my 20s, biggest waste IN ADDITION to smoking, I swore I;d quit when they reached $1/pack.

Didn't quit until aobut $4.75/pack, but had quit drinking MANY years earlier.

Thnaks you for this stroll down money-pit lane....

[bbnetworking]

i bought a condo that dropped 40% in value, is that biggest waste of money or what?

[randomparent]

Eating out by far. My New Year's resolution is to keep the restaurant meals to two a week: Saturday night and one weekday lunch.

[Ncliving60]

Only after we retired did we discover thrift stores. Finding inexpensive, high quality and wonderful pieces of furniture to use in a tiny second home has made us realize how much we may have wasted on new expensive items with our past purchases. But we haven't let disappointment about our past waste get in the way of the fun we have in this new adventure. We have always been thrifty, and what we bought then was good quality. Also, I'm not sure if there were so many thrift stores available as there are now. Plus, we didn't have the time to search and find, so while the costs then seem wasteful, maybe it's an illusion.

Now I (the wife) have wasted a lot on clothes--an entirely different category of waste--all my own!

[maraging]

For me it's been cars.

[PaulK1]

£2250 on a new car , crashed it within two days

[magpiehere]

Food really. I'm good with all else but food....yummy food. I like quality and I like the small snooty stores.


Coffee (at home) habit and eating out goes in here too. I don't eat out too much but when I do it is over $50 usually anytime.


Technically I could eat like bologna sandwiches everyday but...just...ick.

[fluffythewondercat]

Clothing I buy and don't bother trying on until it's too late to return it.

I'm getting better, though. I haven't bought anything in a few months and I'm donating what doesn't fit, trying to reduce the closet contents to a basic wardrobe.