Everyone has a hobby they enjoy donating time and money into. But, what about those regrettable purchases that still haunt us? Spending money on Kim Kardashian’s game? Dumping too much money on a wedding? Investing in the great ostrich market of the ‘90s? These are some of the stupidest things people shamefully admit spending money on.
#1 Shocking News
I bought one of those ab belts that shocks your muscles into contracting to give you a six-pack. News flash: it didn’t work, but it did shock me. I was a 19-year-old, 125-pound female soldier with the 101st Airborne Division. Some of the guys I worked with said they were using them. I just had this little fat pouch I was hoping to get rid of.
Public Domain Pictures
#2 Kicking the Habit
I really need to quit smoking. I've tried to do it several times, but I always end up breaking down and buying a pack when I'm overwhelmed with stress. The amount you spend is ridiculous nowadays. Plus, if you smoke a lot, you can easily spend over $100 a week. I hope I can actually kick the nasty habit one day.
#3 Hiding Place
I picked up a metal detector when I lost my college ring. I somehow managed to lose the ring during a party that I threw for my friends. I thought I lost the ring outside and freaked out. So, I decided to buy a metal detector to find it. As it turned out, it was on my desk the whole time, underneath a dollar bill.
#4 Snoop a Loop
A Snoop Dogg concert. Snoop was so messed up on something that he didn't sing a single word. Someone stood behind a podium with a Macbook and played old Snoop songs over the PA. Snoop hobbled around on stage and threw items to the same people in the front row over and over again. Every now and then, he would wobble over to the mic and act like something of a hype man. He’d just say things like, “Yeah,” “Huh,” and “That’s right.”
#5 Duct Tape Artist
Duct tape. Looking back on it, it’s easily the biggest waste of money that I can think of. When I was around 12 or 13, I spent tons of money on duct tape to make wallets and things like that. I was good at it, but it really was a waste. At one point, I had a crate full of about 30 to 40 rolls. Ah, good times.
#6 Better Off
I wasted over $300 on my League of Legends account. One day, I just suddenly realized that I was wasting 40 minutes on a game when I could be doing something better. Not only that, the game was too toxic and detrimental to my mental health. So, I uninstalled and never looked back. To some, it may be dramatic, but I swear this game is almost like a substance and causes a lot of addictions. My life has been nothing but better since.
#7 Will Pay for Food
For me, I’d have to say that it’s going out to eat. If you think about it, going out for food all the time really does rack up your bill, even if you don’t think it will at first. I always budget approximately $400 for food a month, yet it actually ends up being closer to $900 because of how much I go out to eat.
#8 Brave New World
World of Warcraft . I was legit addicted to it for a long time. I completely ignored life and dropped out of my first year of college in favor of working part-time. I’d be playing WoW for about 10-12 hours per day. I finally broke the habit after about six total years of playing. Now, seven years after quitting, I still feel the urge to go back to it sometimes.
It was crazy addicting. But, I didn't really enjoy it and don't consider it worth it. I'm a completionist. At a certain point, it became "work" and not really "play" anymore. It still occasionally bugs me that there are achievements that I never got. The need to try and get everything was what kept me playing.
#9 Budgeting Properly
When I was young and stupid, I bought a car I couldn't afford. I put bills on credit cards when I lived beyond my means because I grew up poor and was never taught how to budget properly. Five years ago, I paid that car off and still drive it to this day. I plan on driving it until it fails me. I also consolidated my CC's into a low-interest loan with automatic payments. 28 more months and I'll be debt-free. It took me far too long to understand how to budget and use my money properly.
#10 Credit Card Woes
I was doomed the minute I got my first credit card. I grew up pretty spoiled, which gave me some weird illusion that "can't spend money on that right now" doesn't exist. I maxed out my credit cards and eventually couldn't pay the outstanding overdue payment. I managed to consolidate everything into one loan, which will be paid off in 11 months. But it baffles me what I managed to spend random money on before. I have to pay off about $700 USD per month for my loan and I manage to come by and still have some money left at the end of the month.
#11 Talking Yoda
Everything Disney I bought when I used to work for Disney World. They know what they are doing, they really do get you there. Like, I clearly don't need a lightsaber, talking Yoda, or large Mickey Mouse plush. And yet, I have all of them. That and I have to explain these purchases to everyone who visits my apartment.
#12 Those Tuition Fees
College. Not that the education was stupid in it of itself and it did get me a good jo. But, I did it wrong and took out loans instead of spending less on dining out and other shenanigans during my youth. I definitely should have paid my tuition off semester by semester, but I didn’t. You're welcome, Navient.
#13 Falling for Time Share
Time share condo in Park City. I had one good vacation there in six years of ownership because it was so hard to get an available week. At least I was well off enough to buy with cash. Never buy one of these. It's treated like property, it comes with an open-ended maintenance contract and (unlike real property) there’s no secondary market, so you can't sell it. Just don't buy it. However, since then, I've never hesitated to take their free tickets and offers. I listen to their pitch and then just tell the salesperson, there is literally nothing they can do, say or show me to get me to buy.
#14 See You There
I remember this one time when I went to a different city to meet a woman I was chatting with on the internet. I went through the whole shebang. I booked flight tickets and hotels in advance for three whole days. In the end, she didn't turn up. To this very day, this has been one of the biggest regrets of my life.
#15 Identical Books
Encyclopedias are totally useless. There's the internet, etc., but when I was a kid I saw those big identical books on the shelf and was drawn to them. They basically started my reading habit and instilled a sense of scientific curiosity that I nurture to this day. If you have old enough kids, show them the books and you might be surprised what a great investment you made.
#16 Comfortable in Her Skin
I never spent more than $400 a year on makeup at my worst. But, a few years ago I realized I was paying to basically not be comfortable looking at my naked, normal face. After that, I promised myself I'd only wear makeup when I really wanted to. These days, I wear makeup maybe twice a month and spend maybe $70 a year. It works for me.
#17 All Those Purchases
I bought an $800 mountain bike I’ve used twice. I also bought a $600 camera that I use occasionally. I just bought a brand new car in 2017 for $23,500. I bought a motorcycle three weeks ago and spent $2500 for the bike plus another $1000 on gear and registration. All this and my computer set up was over $4000. I spend about $200 - $300 a month on food just for work. Send help. I can’t stop.
#18 Hairy Situation
Laser hair removal. $1,500 and didn’t work. I am very fair-skinned with very light blonde hair. I didn’t know at the time that it really only worked on high contrast areas. My fault for not doing enough research. This also took place 12 years ago and the company is no longer in business. So as a result, I make sure and read the fine print and research a ton more than I used to, almost to a fault.
#19 Thanks for Helping
I spent thousands on Dominos these past few years. I order a small cheese pizza every time. Even when the medium or large was cheaper. It’s a really strange preference I could not get rid of. It started when my father passed unexpectedly and I found myself too depressed to cook. I had Dominoes once a day on really bad weeks.
I’ve been eating more diverse meals lately, but I still have some cravings. Ironically, I gained weight when I quit the trend. Luckily the staff were super chill. Although they had so many new hires, I'm convinced I may have funded them myself. My suspicions weren't far off as it turns out. Later, the manager personally thanked me and said I helped the business a lot. Not my proudest feat.
#20 Danger 5
I dropped $1,000 to own this German Shepherd puppet from the show Danger 5 . It was a lot of money, and such a stupid thing to own, but it was worth it for me to own such an iconic prop from one of my favorite TV shows. For those of you unfamiliar, it's a hilarious Australian comedy about a group of spies who are trying to chase down Hitler, but the show (at least the first season) is shot like it's from the 1960s.
#21 Commissioned Characters
I haven't done this in a while, but I used to spend ridiculous amounts of money commissioning artists online. Sure, it's not really a "stupid" thing to spend money on per se, especially because I like to support artists as much as I can. But, it got to a point where I was spending half of my wages or sometimes more on them.
Honestly, it was almost like I was addicted to just throwing money at artists to see my characters portrayed in different genres and scenarios. I still enjoy looking at the various pieces I commissioned, but every time I see them now I can't help but cringe at how many there and how much money I must have spent. Super easy trap to fall into if that's your thing.
#22 Stone Temple Pilots
My stepdad once saw Stone Temple Pilots and there was a couch on the stage. Scott Weiland saw his opportunity, sat down on that couch, and never got up once. He sang a little bit at the beginning, then started nodding off while maybe singing a word here and there. Then, he just went ahead and full-on fell asleep.
#23 A Different Role
I spent about $200 worth of Dungeons and Dragons books, figures, dice, and miscellaneous accessories. My co-workers and I played fairly regularly, but the guy whose house we played got mad when things didn't go his way. So, he stopped all games at his house. We tried playing a couple of times at other locations, but he had been located centrally, and depending on where we played, some people ended up driving more than an hour. Plus, when he quit, he took his girlfriend and best friend with him.
#24 Breaking Out
Partying. I don’t even want to know how much money I dropped on it over time. Was it fun at the time? Sure, I guess. But, it eventually messed with my brain chemistry so much that it changed my personality. I became depressed and riddled with anxiety. Turns out, partying just made everything worse in the long run.
A friend once said, “partying is basically just borrowing happiness from tomorrow.” True enough, but the trade-off isn’t fair at all and ultimately if you use it frequently it’s just purely destructive, even if it does provide a few laughs at the time. I’ve been sober for six months now, finally feeling almost normal again, and I’m never looking back.
#25 Green Thumb
A garden! Man, you never think about how pricey trees are or the recommended multipliers on plant purchases. (The idea is that you want “drifts” of plants, not dots of singular, unrelated plants). And that’s just the plants. Well, plants need good soil and nice mulch. Good feed.Nice tools to keep everybody in shape. Ornamental rocks, benches, patios, planter boxes, pots, decor.
What about the animals? Feeders, bird baths, nesting spots, bug “hotels.” And unless you’re magic, some plants will wither away. The bark chips will fade, a crow will pull out your plants. A squirrel will destroy your bulbs searching for peanuts that the idiot neighbor just tosses around. So, it multiplies. But I love it.
#26 Starving Artist
I spent almost $60K on an art degree. I’ve had eight different jobs since graduating from college five years ago. I could’ve gotten all of them without a college degree and none of them pay enough to help me pay loans. I think my interest is growing faster than I’m paying. I wish that I could go back in time and not do college. Now I’m sad.
#27 Life of the Festival
Renaissance Festival outfits. I do Fest every year and have been since ‘93. I paid over $500 for a custom made headpiece from Denmark, another $200 on leather boots, $150 on actual bodice and chemise, and another $400+ on accessories. That's just one outfit. I also have two custom gowns, just ordered a third, and am working on a pirate costume. I have over $3000 in stuff I wear five or six times a year.
#28 Get Your Nails Did
Jamberry nail wraps. I have so many of them because I love all the designs, but I have a hard time keeping them on my nails. I watched all kinds of videos on YouTube to learn ways to apply them to make them last longer than a few days. But, nothing really works. I think it's my nails. If I use nail polish it will start to peel off my nails almost immediately. Gel polish seems to work really well for me, so I try to stick with that.
#29 Puffball Pet
When my sister and I were younger, instead of Tamagotchi, we played with the knock-off brand "Giga Pets." They were little digital handheld pets, but they also plugged into a console game on the TV. It was like a whole new world in color! My sister had been reminiscing about it last year, so I decided to rummage through our old stuff and play it again.
I couldn't find it anywhere, so I went online to buy one. The system was few and far between, the cheapest one going for $85! On top of that, I bought a $30 handheld pet to plug into the game. Specifically the puffball pet, because it was rainbow colored on the console game, and she was so jealous that I had one back in the day.
I wrapped it up and gave it to her for her birthday. She laughed and played it for 20 minutes. It's never been touched again. It was easily the worst $115 I ever spent on an irrelevant childhood memory gag. Poor puffball still cries that she's hungry at night… haunting me for my terrible financial decisions…
#30 Wedding Bells
A wedding. It was probably around $15K when it was all said and done. Was it beautiful? Sure. Would I do it again? Absolutely not . I think of what I could have in savings if we went cheap, but he wanted the big wedding, so that’s what we did. We’re divorced now (still friends), but I will never again go through that.
#31 Comic Book Nerd
I just recently got into comic books and I’m actually surprised at how fast this hobby racks up. Every time I step foot in the comic book store, I spend about $50. And that’s just for little single issues and paperbacks. I haven’t even gotten into buying omni’s, collectibles, and old graded Comics. This is a rabbit hole I know I’ve sunken into and it’s going to be hard to get out of. Mind you, I got into comics to replace my hobby of buying sneakers, thinking it was a cheaper alternative. Wrong.
#32 Ostrich Market
My mom and dad bought $50,000 worth of ostriches because back in the early ‘90s. They were supposed to be the “next big thing.” Living in Canada, the birds did not do too well in the cold. Those that didn't freeze became almost worthless within a year because the market for ostriches crashed hard Last year, Mom and Dad celebrated paying off the debt that the birds caused.
#33 Hardcore Gamer
A phone game that I'm still playing to this day. I'm nowhere near a whale compared to most games, but I do spend money on it. Yes, it's a bit of a dumb game, but I'm ultimately enjoying it and the game doesn't own me. I play a few games on my phone, but this is the only one that I actually choose to spend money on.
#34 A Few Regrets
Lipstick, even though every time I put it on I think I look ugly and immediately wipe it off. I then put on a cheap gloss you can barely see. Also, DC Universe on Steam until they switched studios and I literally lost everything I paid for. I booted it up and had nothing. Some people even said they lost the downloadable content, but I can't confirm that. Additionally, a pillow-top mattress is in my bad purchases. It wasn't my money, but my folks’ when I was a teen. Those mattresses suck, or at least this one did, and you can't flip it.
#35 Come On In
One night, my wife and I were watching TV and heard a knock at the door. A lady handed us a can of Glade and asked some questions, but I wasn't paying attention. I ended up saying yes and then some dude came in with a vacuum cleaner. Two hours later, we cracked and bought one thinking we could afford it. When he left and our senses started to come back, we heavily regretted our decision. The good news is that there is a cooling off period and it is possible to have your contract cancelled in less than three days.
#36 City Girl
I once spent $450 on two nights’ accommodation in a really horrible city to see this one girl I liked. I then spent an additional $150 on the train tickets to and from said city. Two days before I was due to go, she told me that she was dating someone. So, I obviously never went to see her. Nothing was refundable.
#37 Wisdom Teeth
I had teeth removed when I was younger, so when my wisdom teeth came in, they weren’t impacted and had plenty of space to grow. However, I wasn’t able to floss and brush behind them that well. Cue cavities. For at least 15 years, I was paying to fix those suckers. It finally occurred to me to get them pulled. I had my wisdom teeth removed last summer. At my last teeth cleaning in April — no cavities.
#38 Champagne Showers
VIP service. My friends and I were super messed up and I spotted this roped-off area with a huge furry zebra-striped bed. At that moment, I felt I needed to be there. Turned out, it was for bottle service only. I asked a server how much and it was $400. I thought it over for about three seconds and decided that it sounded like a worthwhile investment.
I also decided that my friends would definitely be down to split that with me. I then gave the server my credit card without actually consulting said friends. We had fun for about 30 minutes before my boyfriend yakked on the floor and they asked us to leave. My friends did not reimburse me, rightly so. Not my finest moment!
#39 Refund My Time
My prom. Ticket alone was $95, then I'm pretty certain that the full suit was about $300, with massive discounts. The food was utter garbage (who knew that chicken could be drier than saltines), the music was way too loud, they only played two slow dance songs, and my crush said no when I asked to dance. Overall, I wish I could get a refund on both my money and my time.
#40 Banned From eBay
A bus from eBay. I had a crazy idea to take two families on holiday in a bus. We were going to take three cars, which was not a popular choice as it split the couples up. A week before, I found an 11-seater with huge luggage space that could be driven on a standard licence. Sadly, the insurance cost a fortune.
It was a disaster. We just got onto the ferry and over the sea to Europe and it collapsed. We hastily arranged two hire cars, stuffed ourselves into them and I drove what felt like the longest trip of my life. My right ear still rings with the echo of my wife's voice to this day. I'm not allowed on eBay without upper management approval.
#41 Pulling the Plug
We went to see Rob Zombie in concert once. Out of all the songs he played, only two of them weren’t covers. Instrumentally, they were all on point. Vocally, the whole thing sucked. They kept pulling the mic and video feed because he kept trying to get girls to take their shirts off on stage. It was just… sad.
#42 Cup Runneth Over
Cups. I work at a Starbucks and every time a new group of cups come out, I buy one. Color changing cups? Got 'em. Pride cup? Got one. Holiday cup? You betcha. Metal cups? Yeppers. Cheap one with just the siren on it? I think I have four. I wouldn't say it's tons of money, but it's definitely more than I should spend on cups.
#43 Dream Coat
I spent $1,100 on a replica of the coat Benedict Cumberbatch wears in the Sherlock series. I'm not a fanboy. I mean, I like the show and all, but I just love that coat. The real one (Belstaff Milford) is $1,400 and they no longer make it with the same material. The replica is spot on. I only wish I had more occasions to wear it. I love that coat so much. I want to be buried in it.
#44 Kim Kardashian: Hollywood
If I had to pick one purchase that upsets me to this day, it would hands-down be that stupid Kim Kardashian game when it came out. I spent easily $100 on it just to get that dog. Once I did I was like, “Oh my god! I’m going to become an A-lister!” But, nope. I’m still stuck on the C list. I hate 16-year-old me.
#45 Raw Deal
I honestly spent a little over one thousand dollars back in the day on WWE Raw Deal cards. I remember when I used to earn money through odd jobs here and there, I'd spent most of it buying an entire box of boosters rather than individual boosters. I did this just so I could increase my chances at getting foils!
#46 Say Cheese
Residential video surveillance equipment. Costco always had those 16 camera systems with hard drive recorders and real-time internet connectivity. Great concept. At most, I set up maybe three cameras. Still fun to log on remotely and look at your front porch. The best video captured was me staggering past one of the cameras after flipping my quad ATV on the hillside behind my house.
#47 Nothing but Garbage
Fast food. It basically tells people you can't take care of yourself. Trust me, women won't appreciate that you can't cook basic things for yourself. Your body and mind aren't at 100% either because you feel like garbage from eating nothing but garbage. You are making other companies richer while you get sicker.
#48 Drop the Pens
All of these pens. I own pens already. I own lots of pens. Some nice ones, too. I have lots of colors of pens. I walked into Staples to get a calculator. I like the nice pens from Muji anyway. Yet, I bought two packs of different colored Pilot G5 pens. I really can't afford to randomly spend money on things I don't need because I already own 100 of them. I don't need more pens. They aren't even for art, just regular writing pens. But I bought the pens.
#49 Scrap Metal
I collect old license plates. You'd think it would be a cheap hobby since it’s basically scrap metal. I regularly spend $100 - 200 a month on these things. I have a lot of rare ones and they literally become more valuable as they age, so it could be an investment. Doesn't matter, I've drained my bank account on these things before.
#50 Ready for My Closeup
Film making equipment. I had $400 saved up when I was younger and spent it all on accessories for my camera. Follow focus, external battery, external display, that sort of thing. Once I had all the equipment, I literally didn't use it. I ended up selling it all back on eBay and lost a lot of money. Moral of the story, don't invest in a bunch of equipment at once, make sure you know what you're doing first.
