Ask The Readers: What Is The Worst Purchase You Ever Made?
Editor's Note: Congratulations to Aaron, Kristina Wittchen, and Kasey for winning this week's contest!
Everyday we are faced with decisions of what to buy and what not to buy. While smaller purchases don't require that much thought, people tend to think more in depth about expensive purchases. Sometimes taking the time to think about whether or not to buy something pays off. However, sometimes bad purchases can still be made despite careful consideration.
What is the worst purchase you ever made? A new car? A gadget you really didn't need? What made it your worst buying decision ever?
Tell us about your worst purchase we'll enter you in a drawing to win a $20 Amazon Gift Card!
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The worst purchase was an impulse buy at a dealership. They had a reasonably priced car that I SHOULD have taken, but instead, I ended up driving out with a sporty car with three times the payment. Although I enjoyed the car, it was the worst purchase I had ever made. Never again will I, #1 buy used from a dealer and #2 buy on impulse!
Buying a house was my biggest mistake. I bought before the housing market went sky high, but I didn't take into account how expensive maintaining a house is. There are the property taxes, the home owner's insurance, rising utility rates, the new roof, broken plumbing, replacing a window; the repair of the stucco walls (I can't afford to pain and repair the plaster on the inside), a new floor, termites, etc. Every repair leads to a new discovery of something else that needs to be fixed; it never ends. I refinanced twice to try to get a lower monthly only to discover that this resets my 30-year-mortgage back to 30 years. I'm retired now. I'll never pay off this house. I can't afford to repair the house. It was and is a huge money pit. I wouldn't do it again if they were giving away house for a dollar. I definitely didn't think about all the costs involved.
Hmm...worst purchase? Probably a dress that I bought literally 10 years ago, and still have not been able to fit into! (I'm getting closer now though....30 lbs gone and 18 left to lose!) But I think when I do finally fit into the dress, it will be in a style too different from mine. LOL Oh well, it was a good incentive there for a while!
The worst purchase I ever made was a brand new car. I had a really good car to begin with, but it needed a major repair that was going to cost me $1000. I had the money, so I took it to the dealer to get it fixed. Unfortunately, while they were fixing it, I allowed them to encourage me to use that repair money to beef up a down-payment on a new $30,000 car instead. Granted, I loved the new car, but I could have saved a lot just getting the old car fixed and driving away from the dealership without looking back. Most expensive lesson I ever learned.
Worst purchase: I bought a car once using a student loan. Should have driven the car I had...dumb move.
the worst purchase I ever made was probably a heated diaper wipes container...it was the new thing out when i had my son, and I thought it was a good idea at the time- new mom, and I wanted everything for my baby, lol...only used it once, and even though it wasnt a great sum of money, I still feel stupid for buying it...finally sold it at a yard sale for a quarter--live and learn...
16 years old: I let myself get suckered into leasing a new Chevy S-10 truck.
Here's my tweet: http://twitter.com/hillarief/statuses/75570620875800576
Worst Purchase i ever made was some old basketball card that was "worth" alot and now is worth nothing
My worst purchase was a cute pair of jeans I paid $50 for ripped within 2 days after purchasing them.
Treating my first credit line, opened at the age of 19, like free money. 6 years after I opened it (and 3 years after I maxed it out), my parents had to bail me out. It was a pretty resounding lesson about spending money I didn't have: in sum, don't.
http://twitter.com/KarmellaS/status/75573745607122944
I think my worst purchase is always something I buy a lot of one sale and then don't need or use - or my house!
hi ashley -did you mean for the end date to be May 30th? anyways.. the worst purchase I ever made was buying a car from a friend. Sure, it got me around for a while... but a few months later I found that it needed a lot of repairs. as a matter of fact my gas line was so old it had cracked and was leaking - my car was a time bomb waiting to go off and I never knew it!
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http://twitter.com/#!/ReneeAChapman/status/75575398011908096
Bought a DVD camcorder from TigerDirect brick-and-mortar store that takes mini-disks that only hold 30 mins. of video. What a pain in the butt. Wish I could sell it, but who in their right mind would buy such a thing? (Clearly I was not in my right mind when I bought it!)
The worst financial decision I made was when I bought my first car. I didn't have much guidance from my parents either. I spent about $2000 to purchase the car and put in about $2000-$3000 to get it running again... I get a sinking feeling in my stomach when I think about it!
tweeted here: http://twitter.com/egood33/status/75577953571971073
Worst purchase? Hands down: COLLEGE.
I once bought a 9-year old Accord for $3k. Thought I was getting a good deal because the car had low miles. Ended up having to replace the alternator, water pump, battery, tires and a slew of other things. Total lemon of a car. By the time I traded it in, I got a whopping $50 for it, which was probably $50 more than what it was really worth.
Also Tweeted: https://twitter.com/#!/dafost/status/75580004309807104
I purchased a $1600 membership to a singles social group without even going to any events because the sales person pressured and lied to me about how this was a great deal and only lasted until I walked out the door. As it turns out, a lot of the members spent significantly less, and though the events were fun- the group only lasted a few short months because the owner sold it to a woman who couldn't continue the momentum (plus competition with free meet up groups).
Our home! As a military family we move every couple years and when my husband was recruiting we bought a home in a state we never intend on returning to, have only been able to rent it half the time and its been more than 3 years now that we've been paying a mortgage and rent! Clitsm
The worst purchase I made was a used laptop as/is from a rental store. Since it was used, I bought it at a great price, but you get what you pay for. It took about 3 hours to remove the spyware, adware, trash leftover from the previous owner, plus all of the upgrades. What a mess!
I purchased an overpriced car, (rhymes with Tord Faurus) from a dealership. It had been a rental before I bought it. I financed with an APR of 28%. The car was constantly breaking down. I couldn't keep up with the payments because of all the repairs. 1 year later, I owed more on the loan than when I started (around $14k), the car was worth about $3k, needed about $2k more work to run properly. I added up the repair time and costs - I'd spent $9k on the car, and it had been in the shop more days than it had been out. I couldn't pay for it, and it was voluntarily repossessed.
Hands down, the Epilady!! I HAD to have it when I was a teenager to get smooth hairless legs. I used it once and after it ripped the hair off my legs I decided that the price of beauty should not be welted legs!
Probably the leather rocker recliner, purchased to replace a 20 year old recliner that had finally broken down. It looked & felt good in the store, but it is not comfortable, the leather is not wearing well, I didn't like the color after getting it home and it shows claw marks from the cat! Wish I'd gotten another comfortable fabric recliner like the old one we had!
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The worst thing I ever bought was the Baby Bjorn baby carrier. It sucks. Hated everything about it. Not sure why I didn't return it. Guess it was the sleep deprivation and unwillingness to make that trip back to the store with a two month old. In fact I just packed it up today to mail to a friend with her new baby. Let's see if she hates it as well, lol!
Worst purchase... it's not a huge one, but I got a Wii balance board and found it pretty useless as far as a real workout is concerned for me.
Co-signing on a wayyyy too expensive car for my 19-year old son. He ended up only making one or two of the payments. I made the rest, and eventually had to let the car be repossessed because I couldn't keep up his payments. Super bad for both of us and our credit.
The worst purchase I ever made was a new used accord from a dealer. When I went in to sign the papers, they had added on those sneaky 'dealer fees' and I didn't do anything about them. I was too excited about the new car. A week later, the car stank to high heaven, took it to the dealer who "deep cleaned the upholstery" and told me the previous owner "left a cantalope in it, which rotted." A cantalope?! seriously?! So I dealt with it until I traded it in for a better car a few years later.
Gym membership. (Does this really need explanation?)
Tweeted: http://twitter.com/#!/1upsuicide/status/75604948951375872
My worst purchase was definitely a semester's worth of community college classes for an ex-boyfriend. BAD IDEA.
Worst purchase I ever made is cheap bakeware. To me its worth it to spend more to buy more better stainless steel bakeware than the cheap store brands
Three new cars in three years. It's a long, sad story full of ridiculous thinking ... Fortunately, I am older and wiser and haven't bought a new car in the 10 years since...
at least you stopped at 3. I've have bought brand new cars since I was 18 and FINALLY paid my first one off; I'm now 36. I will NEVER buy brand new again and the next car I buy I'm going to pay cash even if I have to buy a clunker. I added up all the money I spent on car payments over the years...I could have literally bought a small house for the money I threw away on car payments. Ugh. Never Again!
The worst buy I ever made was a permanent hair dye that didn't match the description on the box. I came out looking like Elvira, mistress of the night! Of course this buy was also the BEST that I ever made since it convinced me to forgo using chemicals on my hair altogether!
Gym membership. Not just one but two (over a 20-plus year period). I need to be smacked. Twice.
My worst purchase would probably be a desktop that I bought online many years ago from a supposedly reputable site. It crashed after a few days, and returning it cost me about $200 in total for the shipping both ways. I ended up buying a desktop from Office Depot, but the whole ordeal cost much more than it should have.
I also liked WB on FB! :]
I bought a summer trip to New Orleans on a credit card my freshman year of college. I had no way of paying it back, maxed out the card, and have been paying for it ever since!
The first thing that comes to mind is the pair of jeans I bought a few months ago that sit in my drawer with the tags still on because they were a size too small, but I loved the way they looked, the store didn't have a bigger size and I was going to start working out anyway *rolling eyes*
I've finally started working out, but I should have waited to buy those jeans!
The worst purchase we ever made was a fridge when we first bought our home. The sales person gave us what we thought was a deal for a floor model. The fridge gave us nothing but trouble. It kept going warm, and we would have to throw out all our food. We kept going back to the store, and the would send out the repair man since it was under warranty. The repair man actually blamed us! Awful. After about a year of this, we finally got through to someone at the company who made the fridge, and they sent us a replacement. The replacement was a cheaper fridge, since it was white and not stainless steel, but better than nothing.
Already like on FB!
http://twitter.com/#!/AngelMom037/status/75631827813015552
The worst purchase I ever made was buying WAYYY too much inventory when I first started in a direct sales company. Granted, I did sell a bunch, but I ended up having to place orders for other products that actually sold and ended up with products I couldn't move..about $500 worth.
Since restarting in direct sales, I've learned to start small with guaranteed popular products, or anything you love and use yourself (you'll be more excited to move it) and don't buy things on speculation!
Buying a house was our biggest financial mistake. Although we did not buy too much house for our income, we weren't adequately prepared for the high cost of maintenance, repairs and upkeep. Plus, I just HATE being in debt for $170K. (Other than the house, we are debt free.) I intend to sell and rent again if the market ever turns around.
I'm having a difficult time coming up with my worst purchase since I strive to be so organized when shopping - with budget, intention, and plan in mind. I also have been striving for simplicity for quite some time now - so am loathe to bring any thing that's not necessary (either for pure function of for enjoyment) into my house (no matter how inexpensive or even if free). But it's not like I haven't made some shopping blunders - and with my fixed, limited income, even the seemingly small ones sting a lot.
What came to mind when I saw this question/challenge was not actually a complete error on my part, but part my responsibility and greatly the shop vendor's responsibility. What happened is that, while I was in a wheelchair for several months, a friend took me shoe shopping. I ended up buying two pairs of shoes - one was Nike hiking shoes and the other was Teva walking sandals. Well, the Nike hiking shoes were supposed to have been a men's size 7 (I usually wear women's 8 1/5 to 9, which is equivalent) and the Teva's were supposed to be womens' size 9 (no half sizes in that style).
I tried on the shoes and everything seemed fine, got home and put them up on the shelf since I really couldn't use them much in the wheelchair. Well . . . I didn't look at the boxes closely and they had given me a men's size 9 (not 7) and the Tevas in size 8 (not 9). I should have known better since the reason I was at the store in the first place (wheelchair and all) was to return a pair of sandals 'cause they had given me a different size for each foot!
After I actually saw the problem (with the two wrong shoe sizes), I recalled the sales clerk trying to convince me that a men's size 9 was the same as a women's size 9. I insisted it wasn't and felt he had heard me and had given me what I needed. Several months later I was trying to make what I refer to as 'clodhoppers' or 'clown shoes' work for me - not a safe thing for someone on crutches and unsteady. So much time had passed by that I didn't know if I had the energy to argue for a return. The Tevas didn't fit at all (since they gave me a size too small). I'm currently looking for homes for both pairs of shoes and I don't intend to go back to that store again!!
Although while I write this, I am thinking it might be worth my while to call and ask for the general manager and see if they can give me anything - coupon, special deal, etc. - to compensate for their incompetence. I wish I had caught their error, but at the time I had a great deal on my mind and on my shoulders.
Worst purchase was buying a house that we couldn't afford. Luckily we sold it for something more affordable.
My worst purchase was a Shark steam mop- not a good idea! The floor was streaked & the mop was so hard to push on the floor that it hurt back. To top that it fell over on the floor & broke at the base during the first week I used it!
The worst purchase I ever made my was first pack of cigarettes. Thankfully, after mayn years, many health problems and a lot of money, I'm free of them!
I liked you and the article on Facebook.
My biggest mistake was buying a used Volkswagen from a dealer with a warranty. I purchased a 2006 VW Passat in October of 2009. Three months later, the Check Engine light came on, so I took it to the dealer. $4,000 later...cracked fuel tank and a whole host of other items. The warranty covered about $1600 of the repairs, but that was still a huge amount. I have dumped literally thousands of dollars into this car and have been trying to sell it for a year. Worst purchase ever!
nothing too serious! maybe just a shirt here and there sometimes ;)
i like wisebread on fb
tweeted ! http://twitter.com/#!/oshkoshbgosh123/status/75715177647063041
Worst purchase I made was for a diet company (which shall remain nameless). $2000 and I had to eat about 500 calories/day. I could have starved myself for free!
tweeted http://twitter.com/#!/oshkoshbgosh123/status/75715177647063041
Also, just liked on FB
I just cleaned out my closet over the weekend and was reminded--yet again--that it is always a bad idea to buy clothes that are too snug and to be convinced you will fit into them some day. You won't. The only good news is that I sold them since they were in perfect condition.
The worst purchase I made was getting suckered into a TV infomercial and buying an electric current abs toning belt.
When we bought our house we purchased all new appliances. They have all been lemons and we can;t wait to replace them. The washer and dryer alone have had over 15 service calls and one of those calls was to service 3 appliances. When we buy again we will not buy all the same brand.
The worst purchase I ever made was a suit from Goodwill for a costume I was trying to make. I didn't try on the sports jacket before buying it, and wasted 25 dollars. Not a huge financial mistake, but still one that cost me some money.
i used my birthday gift card to buy a cat cone collar for my cat to stop pulling her hair out and the day it arrived she stopped pulling her hair out without putting it on.
I bought a lovely wool jacket. It wasn't super expensive, but I've never worn it, but I still like it and won't get rid of it...(it has been nearly 20 years!)
The wedding ring I gave my first husband - total waste of money!
My worst purchase was buying my in-law's minivan - without having it checked out by a mechanic. They offered to GIVE IT TO US (but my husband insisted on paying for it). Of course, as it turned out, the van had TONS of problems - my in-laws were both too deaf to notice all of the rattles and squeaks (and grinding noises). After spending thousands on repairs, we finally sold it to a neighborhood teen who wanted a "fixer-upper" to mess around with - but it took another 18 months to finish paying for it (while simultaneously making payments on the replacement vehicle, with low miles, that we bought from a dealership after having it thoroughly inspected). We've had the replacement car for 7 1/2 years now, so we learned our lesson!
A can opener from the Dollar Store comes to mind...but at least it was only a dollar.
My worst purchase was a starter kit to sell Creative Memories products. I was a teacher fresh out of college making new teacher pay ($926.00 a month after taxes), my mother-in-law took me to a Creative Memories scrapbooking event, the CM rep chatted me up about how easy it was to make _so much_ extra money doing this on weekends - and I bought it (literally). It was a couple of hundred dollars up front, and I sold about $50.00 worth of product before I realized that a.) I had no free time to conduct events b.) I had no business savvy and most importantly of all, c.) I never was and likely never will be interested in running my own business; I wanted to be and want to be and plan to be a teacher until I drop. Big "oops"....! Lesson learned: if you have never, ever considered doing something, and you don't even know anything about it, don't invest in the start-up kit to do it!
We had an upright hoover vacumn cleaner we loved until we bit the dust. We were going to buy another one, but multiple friends convinced us cannister was the way to go (they work better, are lighter, etc). So without trying them in the store we bought a pricey model off the internet. Turns out, both my husband and I hate cannister vacumn cleaners; you have to drag both the sweeper part AND the cannister around (two things to deal with one) the sweeper part won't stay upright and falls over if you try to prop it up, and the cannister fills instantly. We should have stuck with what we knew we liked and worked for us.
Like most, mine is probably a car - a $36k convertible I leased, only because I loved the one my fiancee had bought (which was a year older and only $29k, for starters); I had convinced myself my perfectly-good car was untenable just because it needed a couple of repairs, and as such ended up with a nearly $200 increase in payment, and a credit card bill for the downpayment... On a LEASE, mind, which I'd never done before and won't do again. I am now in a 5 year old Jeep which cost less than half that. Fiancee still has her convertible and I still like it plenty, just not enough to have my own.
Of course, there *is* the time I spent $1000 over the internet on a pair of funky sofas that turned out to be basically styrofoam inside - I could lift the entire full size sofa over my head with no trouble - and, of course, no returns on "custom orders". (Custom? I picked a color!) I took a bath on those, couldn't get them gone fast enough.
Worst purchase I ever made (well, my husband and I ever made) was a sitio (rural home) in Southern Brazil. Oh it was beautiful, on the side of a high hill, overlooking the city below. Had a little house and around 20 acres, a pond and a small shed. We built an outdoor barbecue area and beautiful infinity pool on the side of the hill, and when it was all finished (in the spring), summer arrived. Along with summer came: spiders in the pool, small biting gnats, mosquitoes, and various other bugs. There were bats living in the attic of the small house, and roaming the grounds were large (4-6 ft) lizards. I kid you not. In our case, buyer beware was a huge understatement. We sold the place not long afterwards and were lucky to find someone who wanted it. Fortunately, I am able to remember the beauty and not the beast.
Probably an art print that I'd bought at a Beatles convention when I was 18 or 19. Paid $300 for it, and I've never put it up on the wall.
Worst purchase was our water softener system. It was one of those units sold door-to-door (like Kirby vacuums - another bad purchase). We financed through their company and are still paying the stupid thing off. It works great, but then again so would several other cheaper options (combined)!
I paid for six months on a dating website...Met a guy from a nearby town.We dated for a year.he ended up draining my bank account,writing bad checks and other criminal behavior..I was homeless,lost my two dogs and everything I owned,and spent three months in a homeless shelter.That was over five years ago and Im still struggling to get my life together....
A membership I had signed up for. I couldn't opt out until I had paid about $1000. Never even used it.
A college education.
My worse purchase was cosigning for a loan for someone who did not take the agreement to get good grades seriously.
We bought a cheap glorified kiddie pool that was deep enough that code enforcement would require a fence around it...who would pay for a new fence to go around an inflatable pool?
After seeing an info-mercial (yeah, I know...) about the hooks that can hang super heavy pictures, I had to have them. BUT, these guys are so tricky! They get your credit card number first (all automated phone call)..THEN, they make you listen to ..I think was AT LEAST 10 other offers of items for sale!!! They know you won't hang up because the system has your credit card!! Oh, I was SOOO mad by the end of that call!!! But to make it even worse, the darn hooks didn't work in the old house I was living in because the walls had some kind of wall in between!!! ARrrrrghhh!!!
Our worst purchase was our first house. It was on a busy road, lousy workmanship, and lower level was always wet.
I Like you on Facebook as Selene Montgomery
It is a three-way tie - My house, law school and a baby wipes warmer. The last was by far the most useless, but also the least debt-inducing.
I was once pressured into buying a gym membership. I think I went twice the whole year. It was not a good fit for me.
My first car was my worst purchase. It was a lemon.
Cable...so unnecessary these days when you can watch almost anything online...or just watch less TV
Health insurance from the American Bar Association (ABA). I was a law student and I aged out of my dad's plan. I knew I needed health insurance but knew nothing about how to shop for a good policy. I got a solicitation from the ABA for a policy that was $795.00 per year, which sounded good since I have epilepsy and make frequent trips to doctors and hospitals. Fast forward a few months. After a few ambulance rides to the hospital, I start getting various bills related to my care. I forward them to my carrier, who soundly rejects each and every claim. All told, I owed about $30,000.00 in healthcare. The policy paid for nothing. Zero. Zilch. Notta.
The worst part was that I thought I had good insurance, and an organization like the ABA seemed like a good bet for a referral. I was wrong. So very wrong.
It's not the $795.00 I regret most, but the fact that the policy I bought turned out to be useless, the equivalent of buying regular coffee that's actually decaf. You don't realize you've been screwed until the headache kicks in, when it's already too late.
When we bought a computer it had an option for an addiitonal $100.00 to learn Excel, this was many years ago and the husband thought it was a good idea. I am sad to say we purchased it and never logged it to learn.
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