Patricia
BTGNow.net
Dani
debt kid
VA Loan GuyShare your dumbest purchase ever, Win my DS Lite
Back in November of last year, I was having some really rough days. One of those evenings, I did a really stupid thing:
I bought a Nintendo DS Lite + Games at Walmart at 1am in the morning.
Why did I do this? I was depressed, I had the money in the bank, and I still hadn’t learned my lesson on budgeting cash flow. Since I had been “working so hard”, I decided to reward myself with this little gift. Nevermind the fact that I couldn’t really afford it, or that I had to use my company bank account to purchase it.
It was a dumb purchase. Since getting the little device, I’ve maybe played it a half dozen times. It’s been sitting on a shelf now for 2 months untouched.
It’s not that it’s not fun. It’s just:
a.) I resent the item and thus subconsciously avoid playing with it
b.) I feel guilty that I bought it
c.) I’d rather play sports in real life than on the DS
d.) I’ve never been a big handheld gamer (consoles and PC gaming is another story)
So here’s the deal. I fessed up about my dumbest purchase of late. And if you want to win my handy DS Lite, you gotta fess up too.
The Rules
This is gonna be kind of like going to confession if you’re catholic. There are two ways to enter this giveaway.
- Have a blog? Write about your dumbest purchase ever. Link back to here. Earn 25 entries.
- Leave a comment, share your dumbest purchase ever, earn 1 entry
You can leave one comment, and do one trackback. Don’t leave more than one, it will get deleted. Don’t leave multiple comments with different e-mails, I will delete them all. It’s really easy to detect. In two weeks, March 18, I’ll close the comments and trackbacks, assign them all numbers and use a random number generator to pick the winner.
Open to US residents only, 18 years or older.
Why This Contest
I’m sick of my perfectly good DS going unused….and I’m really hoping some of the bigger bloggers will join this confession train! (give ‘em a nudge, will ya?)
Don’t Forget
Don’t forget to subscribe to DebtKid…you don’t wanna miss a thing (cue song from “Armageddon”)
update March 19. The giveaway is now closed. Winner to be announced shortly…
on March 5th, 2008 at 12:09 am
I would have to say that, My dumbest purchase ever would have to be Scientology. Over the last ten years I have devoted both time and money to this and I honestly feel dirty about this. I’ve donated a good amount of cash each year to this and feel that it is by far the dumbest purchase ever in total I have paid more then thirty-six thousand into this it started off with a few bucks here and there but soon took up most of my free time buying into more and more events and gatherings.
Dame you Tom Cruse. Dame you and your good looks to hell oh wait it doesn’t exist according to you. never mind.
-Daniel in Texas
on March 5th, 2008 at 12:41 am
@ Daniel - Yep, that’s a dumb purchase. Sorry you got caught up in that. That sucks.
on March 5th, 2008 at 5:40 am
Cheap way to fish for links from ‘the bigger bloggers’
ps. I posted about my dumbest purchase last year (a framed, autographed team shirt from the Aussie football team that I bought online at 3am after watching them win a match in the second round of the world cup — they then got knocked out the next match, and the framed shirt is way too big to hang anywhere on my wall) but I’m too lazy to edit the post and add a trackback to here. I’m not in the US anyhow
on March 5th, 2008 at 6:08 am
Oh many a stupid purchase I have made in the past! My debt record would definitely reflect that! I wouldn’t say any one item is particularly dumb, but made under dumb circumstances. Like paying for my college books with the credit card, signing up for ice skating lessons with the credit card because I HAD to at that very moment, paying for a gym membership that I never went to, compulsive clothing purchases, etc.
If any of those things had any staying power (i.e. like I can show for them today), then they wouldn’t be so dumb. Now I just feel dumb!
on March 5th, 2008 at 7:56 am
[...] wants to know about our dumbest purchases ever. And I want his DS Lite. ’nuff [...]
on March 5th, 2008 at 8:36 am
dumb money…
One of my favorite bloggers, debtkid, has posed the question of your dumbest purchases. Oh, the dumb purchases I’ve made…let me count thee… Dumb purchases probably account for about 50% of my prior spending. I’m much better with it now,…
on March 5th, 2008 at 10:02 am
My dumbest purchase…….
Debt Kid, who I just adore and want to fix up with my hottie niece (if only they lived in the same city), is having a contest. He wants to know about the dumbest purchase you’ve ever made.
Well, as a compulsive debtor and reformed compulsive shoppe…
on March 5th, 2008 at 11:08 am
Dumbest Purchase…
In response to Debtkid’s Dumbest Purchase contest, I would like to first add that one of the best purchases I made was to buy myself a Nintendo DS Lite. After purchasing one for my sister, I enjoyed the games it had to offer, so I bought one for myse…
on March 5th, 2008 at 11:37 am
A home gym that I used about 3 times. Stupid waste of money.
on March 5th, 2008 at 11:39 am
[...] consider the actual price of the item, but only what the monthly cost was. I even wrote this as my dumbest purchase over at DebtKid. [...]
on March 5th, 2008 at 11:42 am
I don’t know. The purchase I resent the most is definitely a suit I bought last summer. It was winter-weight, but by winter-time I hated the look and wasn’t at my old job anyway. I probably should have thought more about it before buying it, because I might now have. I just doesn’t feel dramatic enough.
I’m not a big spender. Most things that I regret buying are clothes that don’t turn out to be useful. Or that are cheaply made and I was too dumb to think about quality.
Micah and I spent a good 5 minutes going over my big purchases and we couldn’t come up with anything bigger.
I think a DS lite might be fun, especially since I wouldn’t resent it.
on March 5th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
I’m too ashamed to do an entire post on it, though I do mention it from time to time on my blog, but my dumbest purchase ever for me was a 1998 BMW Z3 2.8. I even made the down payment with a credit card.
Cool car. Big financial mistake.
on March 5th, 2008 at 3:13 pm
debt kid: Note- I find all those people whom are going about begging and kissing but as if it will help funny. even if I don’t win it was fun to be part of this.
My Blogspace
on March 5th, 2008 at 3:18 pm
I’d say it was a $30K new convertible sports car. I would have gone with something cheaper and used if I had it to do over again.
on March 5th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
My dumbest puchase ever was a $80 season pass to six flags that I never ended up using. I got a full time job after I bought it and never had the time to go anymore. I miss six flags…
on March 5th, 2008 at 5:38 pm
My dumbest purchase…
In response to DebtKid’s dumbest purchase, I really had to think about this one since I generally am happy with my purchases.
…
on March 5th, 2008 at 5:52 pm
@ Jill ~ That’s the saddest story ever. I think the single greatest day of my life was the one day about 8 years ago I spent at six flags. Only $80 for a season pass? Hmmm…maybe it is time to move…
on March 5th, 2008 at 7:00 pm
[...] is asking people to share the stories of their dumbest purchase ever for a chance to win his dumbest purchase ever, a DS lite. I had a hard time coming up with my [...]
on March 5th, 2008 at 8:22 pm
My dumbest purchase BY FAR was some debt repair program during my sophomore year in college. I was terrified by my financial situation and desperate for help. They claimed to have connections with major credit card companies. They promised to get me lower interest rates, lower monthly payments, and guaranteed to save me thousands of dollars. I don’t even remember the name of the company but they talked me into paying them $400 and then completely disappeared. The phone number was disconnected and everything. I ended up setting their paperwork on fire (well throwing it into a fire) after realizing I had been scammed. Grrrr. I know how to take care of myself now, but then… I needed help and they screwed me. Wish I would have found PF blogs instead of them. Free advice rocks.
on March 5th, 2008 at 8:22 pm
The dumbest purchase I ever made was a joint decision by my dh and I: to take out more student loans than we needed to pay for gas for his truck and utilities for our house (my dh was a part time student and had a full time job a 1 hour drive away - we live in a rural area and we thought, at the time, that the job he had would “advance” his career after college. It didn’t.) Now, 10 years after graduation, we are still paying off those loans… and them some.
on March 5th, 2008 at 11:54 pm
[...] free Nintendo DS Lite? I’m game… Mar.06, 2008 in Money DebtKid is giving away his DS Lite, to hear about my dumbest purchase ever. Ok. Which [...]
on March 6th, 2008 at 5:35 am
My Dumbest Purchase Ever… Debt Reduction Scam…
Debt Kid is asking readers to share stories of their dumbest purchase ever. Go leave a comment or a trackback from your blog to win his dumbest purchase ever… a DS Lite. Honestly, its about time I ……
on March 6th, 2008 at 6:18 am
My dumbest purchase was trading in a car that had $5000 left on it for a new car. I could’ve paid that off within a year and probably gotten out of debt and instead I increased my monthly car payment and insurance and 3 years later… suffering dearly for it.
on March 6th, 2008 at 6:32 am
[...] Debt kid is giving away a DS Lite for the dumbest purchase ever! [...]
on March 6th, 2008 at 7:01 am
[...] contest over at his blog where you can win his Nintendo DS Lite, and all you have to do is write about your dumbest purchase ever. Since it instantly came to me, I figured I’d share mine with all of [...]
on March 6th, 2008 at 8:12 am
My stupid purchase? It’s embarrassing, but when I was about 20, I gained a bunch of weight due to illness. When I stepped on the scale one day and saw how much, I immediately hopped in the car, drove to Sears, and bought a $980 treadmill. I paid for an extended warranty. I paid for delivery. I used it about a dozen times and it was the most expensive coat rack that I’ll ever own. It was huge, it was ugly, I had nowhere to put it so it was in my KITCHEN. Yes, stupid purchase doesn’t even begin to describe this gigantic, expensive, ugly, centerpiece of my apartment.
on March 6th, 2008 at 12:52 pm
all the food, soda and other crap that made me fat and lazy; I finally took control of my life back and now I’m 82 lbs lighter and my bank account, much heavier!
on March 6th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
[...] at DebtKid, he’s feeling bad about a fairly recent purchase (a Nintendo DS Lite) and giving it away to one…. But like anyone miserable, he wants company, so he’s asking bloggers to share their dumbest [...]
on March 6th, 2008 at 3:27 pm
My dumbest purchase(s) ever would have to be a few years ago. I was at CVS when I saw that Willy Wonka contest (just like in the movie) except if you find a golden ticket, you’ll win a million dollars. Well, I kept buying the candy (Nerds, not chocolate) and I kept getting “Sorry, you’re not an instant winner.” I lost track to how many of those I bought. =D
(P.S. The link to my blog is in my name, and on the site, the post about this contest is all the way at the bottom of my blog page). =)
on March 6th, 2008 at 4:16 pm
The stupidest thing I did was go shopping while still pregnant and bought entire wardrobe in prepregnancy size thinking I was going to drop weight as soon as I had baby and I never lost the weight and am pregnant again. The clothes are still there, maybe after this baby I can lose weight and get into clothes if they are still in style.
on March 6th, 2008 at 6:00 pm
The stupidest thing I have ever done was buy a house with sub-prime financing for my sister-in-law for a lease-option to buy (who even after 5 years of living there would never qualify to purchase it). After not paying a dime of rent, deposit, moved into it, only to move out after the first month. Needless to say the property is now going to foreclosure on 4/25/08. Yes, I know, never again.
on March 6th, 2008 at 7:44 pm
You’re on, kid! And you will never guess…this one is dumb beyond Dumb! If I don’t get the Nintendo, can I have the 25 plenary indulgences for confessing this shenanigan?
If iWeb lets you do a trackback, I have yet to figure out how. So here’s the page that has a link back to your post: http://www.funny-about-money.com/Funny_about_Money/Blog/Entries/2008/3/6_My_dumbest_purchase_ever.html
on March 6th, 2008 at 11:26 pm
taking1800 out of a cd i had and was penalized for it and went shopping at a fancy clothes store boutiqe because it said end of season sale and spent all my money their and and bought only 2 outfits and a coat that was to tight she told mr thats how they wear it in europe i was a sucker went home and later thought man that was really stupid because i had overdue bills so i went to take the items back and she said we cannot accept return items that are on sale i was screwed it was a expensive lesson learned
on March 7th, 2008 at 6:27 am
I will have to say that the dumbest purchase I ever made was for a “credit card”. My credit was TERRIBLE, and I thought that by paying a small fee, this company would magically make everything OK. When I went to the PO to pick up the COD package (clue!!!), I found out that all I got was the opportunity to buy “points” to later use for purchases. What a scam. I was so desperate for credit I would do anything. That was almost 20 years ago, and have since built good credit the right way.
on March 7th, 2008 at 1:18 pm
Dumbest purchase - A Vera Bradley Bag…what was I thinking??
on March 8th, 2008 at 1:07 am
[...] DebtKid is giving away his Nintendo DSLite if you’re willing to share your dumbest purchase ever! Hop on over for free stuff! To join the party, my dumbest purchase ever was investment related. It [...]
on March 8th, 2008 at 11:07 pm
Ever tried to make a car go faster?
I did. As if paying for a full tank of gas wasn’t putting enough in a car, try putting tons of money into an almost dead 84 Firebird. Everything on that car had to be replaced. The brakes would fail, and it would get a new brake booster. The carb would stick wide open (yes full throttle) in traffic, new carb. The car would overheat on the interstate for some reason, new radiator (even though on that occasion a $3 piece of plastic solved the problem). Car won’t start? Needs a new battery. New battery dies? Get another one and an alternator. Let’s replace the clutch. Broke my finger on that one, can’t get a new one of those (legally) so off to the doctor. Finger still snaps when I bend it 6 years later (I’m only 26).
I even had a windfall of $1500 coming my way. Guess what happened with that? Upgraded to a larger new engine. I convinced myself that a new engine would be more reliable (and secretly that it would produce more power). Well, it made enough power that the transmission only lasted a month. Then the entire car sat in the driveway for 3 years.
The worst part? I bought the car for $750 and sold it for $800 5 years later and sunk easily over $4,000 into it. Now I drive an ugly A to B car that gets 30 mpg and starts every time I tell it to. Other than oil changes, I’m never touching anything underneath the hood.
on March 9th, 2008 at 8:42 pm
Okay, you got me to admit my dumbest purchase ever (or at least the dumbest one that comes to mind): a fur hat. Keep in mind that I live in Southern California. It was 80 degrees today. We haven’t used the heater in at least two months. Why on earth did I buy a fur hat, you ask? Because it was cute, of course!
Read about some of my other dumbest purchase contenders and see a picture of the hat here.
on March 10th, 2008 at 5:56 pm
[...] remorse about his 1 a.m. purchase of a Nintendo DS Lite that has since been gathering dust, is holding a contest for the stupidest purchase ever. He’s gotten quite a response from readers and other bloggers. The [...]
on March 10th, 2008 at 8:34 pm
Ha ha - I love my DS Lite! My boyfriend bought it for me as a Christmas gift - it’s fun to play on the Metro.
Anyway, my dumbest purchase was a $300 Coach messenger bag. It looks like a diaper bag. I should probably sell it on eBay or something.
on March 11th, 2008 at 3:13 am
I just may write an article about this, because there is a great story and lesson behind this, but my dumbest purchase ever was buying a Mercedes CLK 430 convertible. The price? $65,000. Let me repeat that to confirm that there are no typos in this comment–$65,000. I will say that I plan to keep that car forever. I figure if I can get 1.6 million miles out of it, I just might get my money’s worth.
on March 11th, 2008 at 3:46 am
[...] Kid is running a contest at his blog asking readers this question. He will randomly select a winner to receive his dumbest [...]
on March 11th, 2008 at 3:54 am
My dumbest purchase had to be flying lessons. Not because flying lessons are bad or that I didn’t enjoy them… but I let life get in the way and never used all the hours I paid for. That was $350 lesson!
on March 11th, 2008 at 4:22 am
I paid about $250/month into an investment policy for about 6 years before leaving South Africa, where I grew up. The promise was that it would be worth something after 10 years. My Dad encouraged me to start the policy, but he wasn’t able to keep up the payments in my absence, and nor was I able to continue them from overseas. Of course, it wasn’t worth anything at all by the time I stopped paying! So that was roughly $18,000 down the drain. I had no idea at all about investing or saving money back then - I was in my early 20s and very naive about money. How I would like to have that money now - I could buy myself a lovely, shiny red Nintendo DS lite!
on March 11th, 2008 at 6:01 am
[...] week DebtKid, shared his dumbest purchase and offered his Nintendo DS Lite as a contest prize to one lucky winner. Everyone who shares their [...]
on March 11th, 2008 at 6:02 am
[...] been seeing a lot of posts about “The Dumbest Thing I Ever Bought” mainly because DebtKid is giving his dumbest purchase away. I’m not even sure what the thing is that he’s offering up as a prize, but it’s [...]
on March 11th, 2008 at 6:49 am
Dumbest purchase ever…
New front quarter panel for my in-laws’ nearly-junked 16 year old car. The $500 purchase was good for family relations but a lousy investment, as the valueless car is going to be traded in, shortly.
…And to the fabulous set of legs that distracted me as I backed out of the parking stall and rubbed the quarter panel into a concrete pole…keep walking.
Careful boys, just looking can be costly.
on March 11th, 2008 at 6:59 am
So many good ones to choose from…all in college.
The start of my downward spiral was a pair of huge Cerwin Vega floorstanding speakers…I lived in the dorms!
Then there was the $1000+ mountain bike. I did get good use out of it, but still.
But the dumbest purchase, was my brand new car. I paid for that mistake (literally and figuratively) for years. It is still running well (106K miles) and all paid off, but my credit card debt reminds me of the five years of spending more than I earned.
on March 11th, 2008 at 8:58 am
Wow do I hope I win this contest! I’ve been itching to buy a DS LITE for months now.
Here’s mine:
Back in summer of 2001, I started a new job that was in the same building as this fitness centre. The fitness club would give a “great!” discount to people who worked at this place, and a free week trial period. I was young and stupid, so of course thought the deal was very good, too good to pass up on.
So I went into the Gym to enquire about the memberships and free trial… Before I knew it, I had signed up for a 2 year minimum membership with a monthly fee of 29 bucks!
Thinking back I still can’t believe how those recruitment people over there manipulated me so quickly to signing up for so long. It was a good learning experience, that’s for sure, but an expensive one.
on March 11th, 2008 at 5:14 pm
I don’t want the DS, I just want to complain. My dumbest purchase was a 2002 Volkswagen Golf GL. Small, stripped-down car that’s fun to drive, has gas mileage of a mid-size car, and has a tendency to have expensive repairs and replacements. Thinking it was a “deal” at 16k, I promptly leased it and followed up with a car loan, extending payments (if the car lasted that long) to 10 years. Of course, the thing fell apart early in the loan period and I end up owing more than the trade-in value. Paid off the remaining 6k and traded it in a day later at a value of about 5k (which admittedly is better than most cars). Not having any money, used it to get a lease for a (much much more reliable) 22k car. So… It’s been two years and now the car’s buyout value is just over 16k. Feel like I’m back where I started…
on March 12th, 2008 at 1:48 am
I bought a white pants and jacket suit. What the hell was I thinking? At least I didn’t wear it with a black shirt. (staying alive, staying alive) Do you *know* what happens to white things in Beijing? My grey suit is now just hanging there in the closet, a grim reminder of “having to get it cause it’s on sale for half off.” AGH!
on March 12th, 2008 at 4:02 am
My dumbest purchase was a suv on a LEASE. Boy I got hosed.
on March 12th, 2008 at 6:24 am
A Toyota Sienna, which is a beastly gas-guzzling minivan that I DID NOT NEED WHATSOEVER since I had one child. That was about 8 years ago. Will somebody please shoot me and get it over with? I still wake up at night from a nightmare that goes alone these lines: “I am at the gas pump and, after pumping $300 into the Sienna tank, the gas pump explodes.”
I lost thousands because I ended up returning the leased disaster to the dealer and they ripped me off.
Carlos.
on March 12th, 2008 at 6:49 am
[...] by deepali on March 12, 2008 There’s a contest going on regarding people’s dumbest purchases ever. Apparently, you could win a Nintendo DS [...]
on March 12th, 2008 at 7:05 am
My dumbest purchase ever was recent. I let my husband talk me into getting rid of my 93 Towncar and bought a 2006 Nissan. Now, the Nissan does get better gas mileage and has A LOT less fewer miles… but my Towncar was reliable and had NO PAYMENT!! I owned it! Now I have a 400$/month car payment, higher insurance, and it will take me longer to actually get out of debt. So… yeah… stupid.
on March 12th, 2008 at 8:46 am
My dumbest purchase ever was solar energy heating for my hot water. My brother-in-law and my sister gave my name as a referral to a salesperson for solar panels for my hot water heater. It cost $ 8,000. I said no, no, no, no, no, no, no so many times to the presentation, but when the salesperson said you get a 50% tax credit on your purchase, I finally said yes. It seemed to me that getting the money back from Uncle Sam was only paying half-price for the solar heat.
I financed the $ 8K and by the time that I got the money back from Uncle Sam, then I was in debt (largely due to the need to make monthly payments on my solar purchase), so I used the tax refund money to pay off my debts. I wound up refinancing my house and rolled the $ 8K for the solar into the refinancing. I figure over the last 20 years, those solar panels cost me over 20,000 dollars. The pump broke and the panel connections at the roof leaked, so I had the solar panels removed when I had to have my roof re-done. My brother-in-law received a $ 50.00 kickback from the salesperson. I think that I saved $ 200.00 total on my hot water bills. What a dummy!
on March 12th, 2008 at 8:56 am
I posted about my dumbest purchase today:
http://www.familyandfinances.com/2008/03/our-dumbest-purchase-ever.html
Sorry about the link. I don’t think I can do trackbacks on Blogger???
on March 12th, 2008 at 9:34 am
Dumbest purchase: A barn that was being demolished for a subdivision to go in. We were going to tear it down and use the wood for our barn. Now, this barn was oak, and have you tried to take nails out of 100 year old oak planks? It’s impossible. By the time it was over with, I spied a backhoe operator working on the site and begged him to demolish it and burn it along with the tree stumps they were burning in a pit.
I’ve bought things I never used, but this was by far the DUMBEST one. Didn’t do any homework, or even try to take one board off to see if it was feasible.
on March 12th, 2008 at 9:57 am
So here it is; the most compulsive, uneducated purchase I’ve ever made. My wife came up with the brilliant idea to start a salt water reef after having no experience with one whatsoever. The only fish we had ever had were beta, and since they were bought at a large retail chain, they were lucky to last a week. We started to investigate further the responsibility required to care for such intricate creatures, so we went to a local dealer and were astonished at how amazing the setup looked. We started small, 46 gal. tank, appropriate filtration system, salt / distilled water, and nearly $1000 worth of live rock! We had to wait it out for 6 months before we could actually put any fish into the environment so that everything could acclimate. After the waiting period ended, we bought several fish, anemone’s, toadstool leathers, pulsating hands, shrimps, tube worms, you name it we had it. Approximately $5,000 dollars of “we had it”. Upon cleaning the tank one day, and forgetting to put gloves one, the nail polish from my wife’s fingers polluted the water to a point were subtly things started to dye. Even though the water tests came back correct each week, it eventually got to a point where I was looking at a bunch of dead rock sitting in some smelly water. Suffice to say, the reef is no longer, and the fish tank is sitting in my basement, lucky to go to a new home for $300 if anyone is interested!
on March 12th, 2008 at 11:55 am
While on vacation in Hawaii I bought a monkey in a hula skirt, made entirely of coconuts. It wasn’t a big purchase, but by the time I had to pack it into my bag, I was definitely wondering what motivated me to buy it.
on March 12th, 2008 at 12:14 pm
I went to a home show and for some reason there was NO FOOD! You would expect a concession stand or something! Well- I smelled hamburgers cooking a few aisles away- so I go over and they are selling food programs. I signed my life away and scheduled an appt for a small taste of that juicy burger! When the sales rep comes out to my house, all seems like a great cause- they deliver food right to my door every 6 months (mind you I totally have 6 grocery stores in a 3 mile radius) So I’m sold- I get the “lease” freezer delivered and it’s stocked full of food- Well when the food ran out 6 mths down the road I decide I dont want any more of the food or the freezer that goes with it! Turns out now I’m stuck paying for this freezer as I didnt read the fine print in my ding-dang contract. After payoff I spent about 2500.00 on a 300.00 freezer!!
Still a very touchy subject and all my friends use it to their advantage when they are ragging on me!
on March 12th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
I bought a $2,000 vacation club membership. I was taken by the cheap rates on airfare and hotels. They also gave you $500 in “gifts” you could purchase from their online catalog.
I used it a couple of times to try and book airfare and hotels. Each one was straight from expedia.com. My credit card bill for the items even had expedia on the credit card bill. The gifts were cheap garbage that you paid for through the shipping fee.
You can call be stupid for that purchase.
on March 12th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
I was 21 years-old and a friend asked me to go with her to a country music club/bar. I hated country music, but she said she’d buy the drinks if I went with her, so I quickly agreed. A couple of hours and SEVERAL cocktails later, and without so much as a glance at my checkbook which showed that I had $15 left to my name until payday, I decided it would be a great idea to buy a $125 bright purple suede cowboy hat from the vendor who wisely set up a table to sell goods right next to the bar. I woke up the next morning with a horrible hangover, a negative checking account and a purple cowboy hat. Oh, and I still hated country music,
on March 12th, 2008 at 12:41 pm
One of the worst purchases I made was signing up for a 3 year contract with 24 hour fitness. At the time I was motivated to get in shape, etc and I went there straight for about two months but after that I can’t find time to go to the gym or anything. I wish I would have just signed up month to month so I didn’t have this commitment!
Now I have to keep my membership until Dec 2010. Definite worst waste of my money and I usually try to research things before jumping in.
on March 12th, 2008 at 1:04 pm
Tickets to a Green Day concert in St. Louis on ebay. I live in New Jersey. Blah.
on March 12th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
One of the dumbest purchases I ever made was a Dusky Conure (this would be a parrot). I love animals and happened to walk into a pet shop just to look around. This charming little bird got the best of me so I purchased him for $600. I also spent about $120 on a cage, bird toys, and accessories. Oh, I did buy a book to educate myself about this creature, and the book was probably the least expensive thing….I read in this book that the bird was too mature to train, and I realized also he had a commanding and dominant personality. Also, since birds like to hang out in flocks, every time a human would leave the room, the thing started squawking and, well…SCREECHING, trying to get the “flock” back together again. I didn’t sleep for days, I was about ready to kill the bird, my cats were nervous and WERE ready to kill the bird, and my boyfriend at the time was ready to kill me. Sadly, I had my boyfriend take the bird back to the pet shop later that week. Don’t make ill-informed purchases based on emotion!!!
on March 12th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
My dumbest purchase is video 30 GB IPOD in last ThanksGiving. I have used it only twice or thrice since purcahsed. I have to pay for every download from iTunes which i avoid to keep the cost low. hence I am not going to buy whatever my friends are buying.
on March 12th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
My husband and I purchased a program that said we’d never have to pay taxes again 5,000… only three years later we lost our house and had to claim bankruptcy to stop the interest and penalties on….. you guessed it back taxes. It almost ruined our marriage and our lives.
on March 12th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
My worst purchase ever was buying a car out of desperation. The crankshaft seal on my 1979 Toyota Celica broke one Friday night, leaking massive amounts of oil. But I had to work that Monday morning so I needed some resemblance of transportation before then.
On that Saturday, I got a quote to get it repaired but it was just too high (I don’t remember the exact amount but it seemed really high for someone who’s barely out of high school). I decided that maybe replacing this old car would be a better option. I called a few big dealerships around and no one really wanted to take the car in as a trade-in. But then I saw an ad on the local Auto Trader publication for a small dealership that would take any trade-ins. I talked to their salesman over the phone and he assured me that my car would not be a problem at all and that they will finance anyone regardless of credit (if I only knew about used car salesman!).
That was all the encouragement I needed so on Sunday morning, I took a buddy of mine with me (to help push if necessary) to get me a working car! I forgot to mention that this dealership was over 30 miles away, by freeway, so we first purchased a case of the cheapest car oil at the nearest gas station. I understood that this was a one-way trip with no turning back, so one case should do. On the way there, I had to stop every so often to add a quart of oil. I don’t quite remember how I figured out when to re-fill - either when the oil pressure gauge suddenly dropped, or maybe with the engine light, or maybe even using the temperature gauge. In any case, we used up the entire case but we were bound and determined to get there. Believe you me, it was hard enough to pull over and get back on the road every few minutes on a California freeway. Oh, did I mention that there was this little voice in my head asking if we should still keep on going since this looked ridiculous? “But I shall not be deterred!”
Once we got there, just as surely as the salesman said yes on the phone, he easily declined the car in person. However, I felt trapped because I had no way to get home since the engine seems shot (maybe running without engine oil on the last few miles did it and the fact that it won’t start anymore). I ended up begging them to give me anything they’ve got, just to get home and eventually to work the next day. He mentioned this Datsun (pre-Nissan days) in the back lot that may or may not be working. Well, he got it started and pulled it up to the front of the dealership so I was willing to take it. I believe they gave it to me for over $3000-something, with 21% APR, and no money for the trade-in but tacked on the $800 left I owed on the car. Needless to say, I had tons of buyers remorse by the time I got home. The car does run but the transmission made a blackboard-screeching type of noise when it hits over 50mph and the steering wiggles at different speeds. As a kicker, we didn’t have a key to the gas cap so my friend and I were trying to pop it out at 2 in the morning with a big flathead screwdriver and a hammer, just so I can get it gassed up in time for the my 8AM shift.
on March 12th, 2008 at 2:56 pm
Well lets see my dumbest purchase would probably have to be the time I went to the Body Shop in a near by mall with my mother. We enjoyed our time together and we stopped in to see what home fragrances they had in store. After seeing the scented oils used for burning. We selected a few scents. I purchased $600 dollars worth of scented oil which happened to be over 100 bottles………We still laugh about it today…..as one of the most ridiculous wastes of money! After getting home with all of it, we unpacked the bags and just laughed… What are we going to do with all this?…….. was the burning question…… not the scented oils.
on March 12th, 2008 at 2:57 pm
My dumbest purchase ever? A gym membership that I hardly used over almost 2 years. over a thousand dollars down the tubes.
on March 12th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
My Dumbest Purchase Ever…
Over at Debt Kid he’s running a contest right now with a grand prize of his almost new DS-Lite! What do you have to do to win? Just write a blog post about your dumbest purchase ever, and trackback ……
on March 12th, 2008 at 4:27 pm
My dumbest purchase ever was a timeshare. My husband and I placed an offer on a house that we thought had a million to one chance of being accepted. Then we went on vacation. To save $100.00 on tickets to Disneyworld we went to see a timeshare… and bought one. When we got home, we found out we had 19k on a 6 month contract for the timeshare and our offer on the house had been accepted with a caveat. We needed to put an additional 10k down on the house within 6 months. We ended up having to refinance the timeshare over 3 years when we found out there was no escape clause even though we had owned it less than a week so we could use the money toward the house that we really did want. We still own the timeshare… current value 6k. Dumbest Purchase Ever!
on March 13th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
[...] Debt Kid is running a contest, and he wants to hear about your dumbest purchase ever. ; The prize? ; He’s giving away his dumbest purchase ever: ; A Nintendo DS Lite that he bought at Walmart at 1:00 one morning. ; Yes, that’s 1 a.m. ; If you want to enter, you’ll need to hurry. ; The contest closes on March 18. [...]
on March 13th, 2008 at 6:10 pm
[...] even remember whose blog I clicked through from, but I found an entry where he proclaims dumbest purchase ever was a Nintendo DS lite. Typical of your middle of the night Walmart runs, and he hasn’t even [...]
on March 13th, 2008 at 6:30 pm
There’s a link above to my “dumbest purchase” post (http://hestial.blogspot.com/2008/03/dumbest-purchase-ever.html).
This is a great contest, and it really got me thinking!
on March 14th, 2008 at 6:30 am
DK,
My dumbest purchase had to be the brand new Montero Sport I bought two months out of college. I didn’t realize insurance was going to be so high, like $200/mo. I had to bring the Montero back and lost my down payment of $1000.
PT
on March 14th, 2008 at 7:20 am
My dumbest purchase ever was also a timeshare. My resistance was low after a long sales spiel and I bought it when I couldn’t afford it. The timeshare week is in December at the Outer Banks. I’ve never used the December week. And I still own the stupid thing. Heavy sigh…
on March 14th, 2008 at 8:05 am
[...] Debt Kid is running a new contest on his blog. The prize will be a Nintendo DS Lite, which happens to be his dumbest purchase ever. I thought I’d play along and share my dumbest purchase. [...]
on March 14th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
My dumbest purchase ever…can we just say I’ve spent and continue to invest considerable chunks of change into my wardrobe/shoe collection? I justify it with the fact that almost everything I buy is on sale or comes from a discount store, but…man, I could have had a lot more in savings by now.
on March 15th, 2008 at 8:02 am
[...] to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting! This post is in response to a contest being run over at DebtKid. He wants you to share your dumbest purchase for a chance to win his dumbest purchase, a Nintendo [...]
on March 15th, 2008 at 8:03 am
My dumbest purchase would be the 1966 FoMoCo Thunderbird that I bought during a family weekend away in Solvang, Ca.
http://bloggamoney.blogspot.com/2008/03/my-dumbest-purchase-ever.html
on March 16th, 2008 at 9:00 am
Needing money, I rented a booth at an antique mall and took what antiques I had there to sell. No problem selling them, but the rental fee, commission, and truck rental for transporting cost me more than I made. The antiques are gone, and I ended up paying more than I made. Also, some of my things went missing while there. The place went out of business soon after.
on March 16th, 2008 at 9:20 am
My husband bought a Volkswagono GTI when we were dating. He let the insurance lapse and crashed it. We have been paying $500 a month for a car that no longer exists. Stupid thing to let happen, but the worst purchase ever!
on March 16th, 2008 at 9:36 am
My wife purchased a hockey table for $200. It is still in the original packaging as of right now, after nearly four years. Seems she did realise the apartment was too small for such game. We did not even have space for a dinner table. What was she thinking?????
on March 16th, 2008 at 11:20 am
[...] Kid has posted a challenge at his blog wanting to know about your dumbest purchase ever. Since purchases can have a big impact on your credit score, I thought I’d share my dumbest [...]
on March 16th, 2008 at 1:51 pm
My dumbest purchase ever: five candy/soda vending machines.
I took out $30,000 on a second mortgage to buy the machines, sold them for pennies on the dollar (I think I made roughly $300 per machine when I sold them), then had to bring $1,500 to the closing table when I sold my condo… because the second mortgage put me upside down.
Yep, a $30,000 mistake with a nice little $1,500 “reminder” at the end of it all. Not to mention all the emotional anxiety while I was in the middle of the whole mess.
Ryan
on March 17th, 2008 at 6:58 am
I bought two investment properties back to back. the first one was easy, didnt need any work and we got renters in it immediately.
so on the second, we got lazy and didnt get it inspected. after closing we found out it had flooded and the walls were full of mold.
a total gut, six months of my time and all the money i had and could borrow, was to follow.
advice, never rush anything. pay attention to the details.
on March 17th, 2008 at 11:07 am
Mine would definitely be a $7000 used ski boat 10 years ago.. while I was in college using student loans mind you. Although I used the boat quite a bit.. I could barely afford the maintenance, gas, and docking fees.. THEN… 6 months later an arsonist went on a rampage and burned a trash receptacle, a house, and my boat down in one night.. I didn’t have insurance.. my college buddies bring this up still to the day as the most ridiculous purchase they ever witnessed..
on March 17th, 2008 at 5:35 pm
[...] insight to others who might inadvertently make the same mistake I did. Being that it also for DebtKid’s (Dumbest Purcahse) Contest, it seemed like an appropriate time to bring such a painful memory. I was a sophomore in college [...]
on March 17th, 2008 at 5:58 pm
I bought an 1985 Cadillac for about $2000 and paid to give it away for $70. I had more trouble with that car than any other car put together and almost caused a global environmental incident. Read about it here:
http://milkyourmoney.com/2008/03/17/my-dumbest-purchase-ever/
An awful waste of money that I should have used on tuition.
on March 17th, 2008 at 8:32 pm
I have a feeling this contest is over but i stilll wanted to share my stupidest purchase ever.
it was a designer bag and wallet, combined i spent about 600 dollars on them and put myself in debt. which made the purchase useless cause i as a result had no money to put in the wallet.
at the time of this purchase i was working at a clothing store and it hink i spent every penny i earned there trying to pay this back.
on March 18th, 2008 at 9:24 am
My most stupid purchase is definetly a Flirting Seminar I took.
The cost was around $28 dollars. I have since learned not to purchase anything online past 2AM. The class was horrible. Everyone else in the class looked as if they had just come from NBC’s To Catch A Preditor.
on March 18th, 2008 at 10:56 am
The contest is probably closed by now but my dumbest purchase was after an accident i had in my Toyota Camry that totally demolished the vehicle (this was 4 years ago). I was so desperate looking for a car because I had a girlfriend, I wanted to go out, and I just couldn’t afford something new. So I perused all the deal sites, forums, newspapers etc, and found a low mileage Mazda 626. I thought Mazda’s were great cars, so I purchased the car 2 weeks later with the help of my parents (broke college student at the time.. still broke, but no more college). Still was slightly under warranty because it was a 1997 and thought it would be this great purchase. Boy, was I wrong. I ended up putting 7 new transmissions in the vehicle (1 a week after I bought it and the only warranty I had left on it, that i later found out, was a paint warranty. The power train warranty ran out in 2000 and 20 miles ago). Definitely this will keep me from ever purchasing a Mazda and/or recommending one. I went to Mazda about this particular problem and even though there are probably over a 100 complaints through the BBB about the transmission that was built in this car, they refused to do anything because the warranty was up.
on March 18th, 2008 at 1:34 pm
Well, if my massive debt can attest to anything… the unused gym membership, the new car I really didn’t need and regret now, because I have to keep it since I can’t afford a used one without a loan… which defeats the purpose of buying used… because I have the new car. The LCD and Wii I bought for my ex before he broke up with me (I kept them both…. just didn’t especially want either at the time… and both are on credit cards).
I could go on all day with this…
on March 20th, 2008 at 10:47 am
[...] rat race is voluntary. You can choose to subject yourself to meaningless, futile competition for stuff that cannot make you happy. Or you can choose to set your own goals, milestones, and paths to get there. You’ll be [...]
on April 3rd, 2008 at 3:54 am
[...] in Spending Over at Debt Kid, there was a contest running. The winner won Debt Kid’s dumbest purchase ever - a Nintendo DS. Lucky for him, that’s only a $130 or so purchase. Though the [...]
on April 3rd, 2008 at 9:31 am
[...] or death, but usually the choice is between dining out and preparing food at home. That new tool or gadget might make your job easier, but you could probably make do just as well without [...]
on April 8th, 2008 at 2:12 pm
[...] to Randall at Credit Withdrawal for winning the dumbest purchase ever contest held by “Debt Kid.” Randall won a Nintendo DS Lite for sharing his story about how he bought vinyl siding for his [...]