a long list of dumb purchases

There’s a contest going on regarding people’s dumbest purchases ever. Apparently, you could win a Nintendo DS Lite. Sounds like fun, but mostly, I love the irony of confessing a dumb purchase to possibly win a frivolous item. Based on some people’s answers, it seems like the prize ought to be a smack upside the head.

But it got me thinking about my spiral into debt and the slow crawl out. I can’t pick one dumbest purchase ever, because frankly, there’s been a lot of them. So I figured I’d list a few and let someone else decide how truly dumb I used to be.

1. The funky fashionista phase. I used to love bargain shopping. I would buy all sorts of ridiculous things because they were cheap and funky. Of course, they would be poor quality or ill-fitting, and they’d never get worn. But to make it worse, there were also the more expensive items that looked good in the store, but that I had nothing to match. So these items just sit on hangers waiting to be worn. I’ve probably donated about 10 bags of just these purchases to Goodwill in the past 8 years. Damage? Maybe 2-3K.

2. Stitching and bitching. One day, I decided I was going to relearn how to crochet. As I started to relearn, I got a little overenthusiastic and went on a shopping spree to buy yarn, crochet needles, patterns, beads, and all sorts of other useless items. When I moved, I finally gathered everything together and gave it to a friend. Damage? Approximately $300.

3. So you think you can dance? I got a gift certificate to a dance studio for a birthday. I used it to buy a series of belly dance classes. I absolutely loved it and decided to take the next level. All that would have been fine, but then I started exploring other classes at the studio. I bought series for belly dance and break dancing, drop-in passes for jazz and hiphop, and workshops out the wazoo. I also bought all sorts of clothes and accessories for these dance styles. But to make it all worse, I barely made the classes I had already paid for; my attendance was maybe 50%. After two and a half years of that nonsense, I finally stopped. At this point in my life, I am neither a belly dancer nor a b-girl. Damage? Close to 4k.

4. Moving on up… A few years ago when everyone was buying a condo, we decided it was a good idea to buy one also. So we looked around quite a bit and finally settled on one. I don’t think it was an entirely dumb purchase, but if we’d waited a couple years, we might have gotten a better deal. We might also have gotten something we liked better. Financially, it was also stretching my budget to be able to pay the mortgage. Damages? At worst, $400 a month for 3 years.

There have been other budget-damaging purchases, but those have been issues of timing and not necessarily bad ideas. I bought a computer when I was temping, but it wasn’t a purchase I regretted. I’ve spent a bit of money on beauty and skin care, but I also don’t regret that. But if I could go back and eliminate the four purchases above, I would in a heartbeat.