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Thread: "I Wish I had the Money I Spent on [BLANK]"

  1. #1
    Senior Member catherine's Avatar
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    "I Wish I had the Money I Spent on [BLANK]"

    I found a little trick I'm using to try to minimize expenses that don't reflect my values or where I want my life energy to go. I'm at that stage where I've seen a number of foolish purchases go under the bridge and while I consider myself fairly frugal in that I have no interest in vanity purchases like designer bags, jewelry, expensive clothes, etc, I certainly can say I've wasted a LOT of money.

    I'm also at that age at which, even though I still am earning well and hope to for the next few years, I can see over the mountaintop when I'll be forced to rely on whatever money I've saved or the government will give me.

    So this is what I've been doing as a little test whenever I am tempted to buy something: Say I am tempted to buy a Kate Spade wallet on sale. (I'm not--this is just an example). I imagine myself retired. Then I imagine myself thinking "I wish I had the money I spent on that Kate Spade wallet." If I can imagine myself thinking that, while I'm standing in the store, or browsing on Amazon, I don't go any further with tinkering with the idea of that purchase. For some reason it really helps me clarify my values.

    I would tell you what things I've bought over the years that I wish I had the money for today, but it would be a long boring list.

    Are there any things that you once bought that you wish you had the money for today?
    "Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it--every, every minute?" Emily Webb, Our Town
    www.silententry.wordpress.com

  2. #2
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    Quote Originally Posted by catherine View Post
    Are there any things that you once bought that you wish you had the money for today?
    Yes, I don't know anyone who really doesn't have those feelings. Often it is with "collectibles". (currently have a neighbor that was trying to sell some thinking he was going to get big money, only to find out probably less then he paid)

    The rocking chair approach is an old idea to life, that one has to be mature enough to understand.

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    Senior Member Ultralight's Avatar
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    ...on my second master's degree. haha

    No, I am only half kidding.

  4. #4
    Senior Member razz's Avatar
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    Definitely!!
    Let me see - a piano course that did not meet my need, some picture frames that I was going to fill with my new paintings, a parcel of land later sold at cost rather than investing the money, an unforgettable knit pant suit in the colour pumpkin that fought with my rosy complexion but the price was so amazing ...
    I don't think that one can pass through life without making poor choices at times as that is how one learns what not to do.
    Cute thread!
    As Cicero said, “Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.”

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    About 29 of the 30 homes...............

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    But really not in the last many years (other than homes) we have followed the: will it make me happy, does it bring value to my life and do it need it approach and that has been the biggest factor.

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    Really big money wasters? Therapy. I think I wish I had that money back. Sometimes, I'm tempted to try it again, it makes lots of promises, but ugh, it's mostly actually been a waste of money.

    Small money wasters, oh too many to name, some books that end up sucking, a shirt that shrinks in the first wash, plenty of food that doesn't get prepared and rots in the fridge, a product sold with a dishonest description that I didn't send back. I am sure there are others I have forgotten.
    Trees don't grow on money

  8. #8
    Senior Member Ultralight's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by ApatheticNoMore View Post
    Really big money wasters? Therapy. I think I wish I had that money back. Sometimes, I'm tempted to try it again, it makes lots of promises, but ugh, it's mostly actually been a waste of money.
    I try to think of it more like a "rent-a-friend" business than something that will actually solve any of my problems. For about $15 an hour, once a week (or less), I can rent a friend to talk to. That is all therapy is to me.

  9. #9
    Yppej
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    Bad relationship costs including co-signing a loan for my husband at the time. It was such a bad vehicle that no bank would do the loan but dummy us went to a savings and loan. Bam! Next year the S&L crisis hit the country because they really would loan any amount to anyone for anything.

  10. #10
    Senior Member rosarugosa's Avatar
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    Well 38 years worth of cigarettes would top the list without a doubt. But clothes might be second on the list because I've spent thousands and thousands of dollars over the years and most of them eventually made their way to the Salvation Army.
    This thread did help keep me from buying a nice denim shirt at Talbot's today that I absolutely do not need. Future retired me gave the purchase a thumbs down.

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