You know that feeling when you look in your closet and think…”WHY did I buy this?” Yeah me too. My closet is stuffed with things I regret purchasing. Now they are destined to remain stuffed in the back of my closet, accumulating dust, until they reach the fateful day when they get donated to Goodwill. A survey showed that 76% of people purchase items they don’t intend to, and this often leads to at least $2,400/year on purchases they regret.
I also have made plenty of big purchases that I am still thankful that I made because they’ve improved the quality of my life. I’ve done some honest reflections, and below are the things I really regret and the big purchases that I don’t regret.
Do regret
You’ll likely notice common themes of the things that I regret below. Pretty much anything that goes to waste, does not last long, or goes unused is money down the drain. Do you have similar regrets?
- Fast Fashion
- I regret purchasing pretty much everything from Forever 21. These clothes are extremely trendy and disintegrate after 3 washes. It became so expensive continuously replacing the items that either broke down or quickly went out of style. I always felt like my closet had nothing in it because I didn’t have any lasting, classic pieces.
- Scuba diving gear
- To be fair, I had to buy my gear to participate in my study abroad marine biology program. But since my program in 2014, I have never touched my gear (except when transporting the box it sits in during each move). I dream of picking up scuba diving again, but it doesn’t take precedence in my life.
- BIG purchases for hobbies I’m not committed to
- What I’ve learned from the above point is to not invest heavily in a hobby if I’m not sure I’m actually going to continue with the hobby. I thought I’d continue scuba diving, and I definitely have not.
- Overpriced drinks at concert venues
- What’s a live concert, right? Once shelter-in-place is lifted (see you next year I guess), we will be going straight to a concert. I love live music and concerts, but I really do not enjoy paying $25 per drink.
- Non-returnable online items
- I’ve gotten quite a few things from eBay/Poshmark that didn’t fit or wore down extremely fast. Yes, these items are significantly cheaper than retail price, but I also can’t return them. When something doesn’t fit, or is broken beyond repair, it feels like money straight down the drain.
- Super high heels
- Super high heels should never have been invented because no one should ever have to endure wobbling in these “shoes.” I regret every single pair I’ve purchased, and they are all purged from my closet. If I’m in heels, I’m all about the comfortable low block heel life.
- Expensive furniture
- I’ve moved once a year for way too many years, so the thought of expensive furniture that may or may not work with the next apartment is not appealing. Once I am in a long-term home, I’ll consider higher-end furniture, but for now, it’s all Craigslist and Ikea.
- Food that spoils before I prepare it
- This is not to be confused with grocery shopping in general (because that saves so much money relative to eating out). I hate throwing out food, with a passion. If I buy produce, I want to make sure I cook and eat all of it. If I have to throw out veggies because they spoil, or worse, throw out meat, it rips me up a little bit inside. Not only is it an obvious waste of money, but someone worked hard to produce that food and it went to waste.
Don’t regret
But on the flip side, these are purchases I don’t regret. The common theme of these items are the exact opposite above. These are items that I use frequently, save me money, or improve the health and quality of my life.
- Audible subscription/non-fiction book
- Audible is ~$15/month and every month you receive a credit. I will never regret investing in myself and learning new tools. I don’t find the time to sit down and read a book, so Audible has been an awesome substitute to continue learning.
- Bike (and bike trainer, thank you Matt!)
- After being hit by a car in a hit and run, I splurged a bit on a nice road bike because I knew I needed to look forward to getting back on a bike, or it would never happen. I now spend most weekends out on a ride, and when I went into the office, I commuted also. I love the exercise from my bike and it saves on commuting.
- Running shoes (you have to protect those knees)
- After playing Division 1 sports in college, my knees are wrecked. I still love exercising, and if I do any running activities, I notice a major difference in pain if my shoes are bad. I will never regret paying a bit more to stay active and minimize injuries.
- Robot Vacuum Cleaner
- I recently purchased a robot vacuum cleaner (very similar to a Roomba) on sale for around $150, and I’m obsessed. Our two dogs shed constantly, and now that I work from home, it drives me crazy. Now, I save time vacuuming by sending the little robot out at night or when we’re out of the house, and our floors look amazing.
- New skills that save money in the long run
- I recently picked up sewing during shelter-in-place, and it’s been so fun to learn a new skill during this time. So far, I learned to make tanks and shorts, which is not only fun to learn, but will be a major cost-saver in the long run if I keep it up.
- Nutribullet
- There are hundreds of types of blenders that work, and I absolutely love being able to make healthy green smoothies every morning. It’s an easy way to get a lot of fruit and veggies in my diet and it’s a delicious way to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
- Toolkit
- Things break all the time. All the time! Having a toolkit is so essential to be able to fix things as they break down.
- Vitamins/Probiotics
- If you haven’t already noticed my trend, I don’t mind spending a little extra for a healthier lifestyle, and I’ve noticed a big difference in my health when I take probiotics and vitamins, so I don’t feel guilty when I spend a bit more on this items.
Overall, I try to keep my spending low and avoid spending money on the categories I regret. I still try to keep spending low on the items I don’t regret, but on the occasional times I do pull the trigger, it’s well thought out and worth it.
Do you feel the same way, or different about any of these categories?
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