Money saving move you regret the most?

[dgm]

We have tons of threads on the best money saving tip but what about the thing you did to save some money that you sorely regret?

I have many, but most notable for me is buying cheap Q-tips to save a few bucks.

Every time I use my off brand Q-tips (multiple times a week) and the cotton unravels exposing the cheap plastic stem it reminds me of how much I regret that decision.

I have a thousand of these things. So many opportunities for regret...all to save a few bucks....never again...

[Svensk Anga]

Using the GM Mastercard to get 5% of our purchases credited against purchase of a GM car. The last GM car we bought was the worst POS we ever had. Repair costs far exceeded the total credit card rebate. I will not have another GM car unless they give it to me. Too bad, as I always wanted a Corvette. I can afford one now, but not a chance I would patronize GM.

[LaurieAnnaT]

I have many, but most notable for me is buying cheap Q-tips to save a few bucks.

That reminds me of freshman year in college. I got a cold and bought the cheap box of facial tissues. Oh, my poor nose! It was already sore and irritated and those scratchy tissues just exacerbated the issue. It's been more than 40 years, but I've never bought a cheap box of tissues since then!

[Snuffycuts99]

Using the GM Mastercard to get 5% of our purchases credited against purchase of a GM car. The last GM car we bought was the worst POS we ever had. Repair costs far exceeded the total credit card rebate. I will not have another GM car unless they give it to me. Too bad, as I always wanted a Corvette. I can afford one now, but not a chance I would patronize GM.

Funny, that's one of my regrets, as well. But, for a different reason. When I told the salesperson about my card earnings, he said that I would save more money by letting him give me supplier pricing. He said unfortunately the two could not be combined...so my earnings were pretty much useless to me. I've since moved on to much better credit card reward programs. Live and learn

[cheese_breath]

I can't think of specific examples at the moment, but they usually involve buying too much of what I need because they're on sale. I plan on eventually using the extras but end up throwing them out instead.

[madbrain]

You can buy 1875 q tips brand name at Costco for something like $15 . Should last years. Only recently bought my second package.

[RickBoglehead]

QTips? Really? You could throw them out...

That's the worst money saving move ever?

[pdavi21]

Bringing food to the airport, restaurants, public events, etc. I actually would enjoy it if my wife, friends, and colleagues were less embarrassed.

[tolerable2323]

Bringing food to the airport, restaurants, public events, etc. I actually would enjoy it if my wife, friends, and colleagues were less embarrassed.

You bring your own food when you go out to a restaurant? Am I reading that right? Do you also bring your own beer when you go out to a sports bar?lol

[pdavi21]

Bringing food to the airport, restaurants, public events, etc. I actually would enjoy it if my wife, friends, and colleagues were less embarrassed.

You bring your own food when you go out to a restaurant? Am I reading that right? Do you also bring your own beer when you go out to a sports bar?lol

Yes. I no longer drink beer. The WHO estimates that 5.3% of global deaths are caused by alcohol consumption. I hope to reduce my healthcare costs in retirement.

[jabberwockOG]

A few times over the years trying to save some money on travel with inexpensive or lower cost lodging and then most of the time being very disappointed with the accommodations. Later in life I learned it was better for us, being relatively picky especially about bed quality and room noise, to spend more to get high end lodging/hotel for travel - makes for a much better and more relaxing trip.

[zeal]

Can't think of a money-saving move I regret... I like saving money. In all cases where I made a money-saving choice, I not only saved money but also learned a lesson on where not to cut costs. E.g., I bought a huge bulk pack of that paper-thin industrial-grade toilet paper once. Before we'd even used half a roll, my wife threw it all away & bought normal TP. The bad TP was so cheap we only really "threw away" maybe $1... Small price to pay for another lesson on "happy wife, happy life."

I guess I could maybe see someone regretting buying a piece of junk vehicle that's constantly in the shop. But then again, that wouldn't end up being a "money-saving" decision now would it? I'm stumped on this thread!

[Kennedy]

We have tons of threads on the best money saving tip but what about the thing you did to save some money that you sorely regret?

I have many, but most notable for me is buying cheap Q-tips to save a few bucks.

Every time I use my off brand Q-tips (multiple times a week) and the cotton unravels exposing the cheap plastic stem it reminds me of how much I regret that decision.

I have a thousand of these things. So many opportunities for regret...all to save a few bucks....never again...

The crazy thing is that even the name brand Q-Tip has less cotton on the tips today than Q-Tips from prior years. I bought a huge box of Q-Tips (name brand) from Costco maybe in 2007 or so. When the package was getting low around ten years later (I don't use many Q-Tips), I bought another huge box from Costco and compared the two. The older ones had glorious mounds of cotton on the tips. The new ones had just a tiny bit of cotton. Made me sad that Costco would play a role in selling such a product.

[fortfun]

Flying SPIRIT airlines. Departing flight was delayed 4 hours. Didn't think it could get worse until we flew home and that flight was delayed 12 hours. Wish I had just flown the big carrier that the rest of the extended family took.

Also, stayed in a super cheap AirBandB in London. Boy was that a mistake...Ughhh.

Rented the cheapest bikes available to ride to lava flow on the Big Island. They literally started falling apart on the ride home (in the dark). To make up for it, I had to buy the family ice cream on the way home, thus actually losing money on the deal. This is typically how my money saving ventures end.

[AerialWombat]

Avoiding toll roads.

Every time I take a toll-free route in order to save $5-$10, I always regret it within 20 minutes. Every. Time.

[Cruise]

Failing to replace bathroom windows when every other window of the house was replaced. They were in decent shape then. Should have replaced them.

[longleaf]

I agree with q tips. Toilet paper is another one of these things.

[lthenderson]

My focus has always been to increase earnings and retirement savings, not to save every nickel and dime when shopping for consumable goods. With those, I opt for the better quality over the cheaper price so I don't have any regrets over toiletry items.

[snackdog]

If you are not regularly making over-frugal mistakes and catching hell from family and friends you are not frugal enough in my view. Get with the program! I have a huge laundry list of mistakes and am reminded of some of the more memorable ones periodically. Nobody died or suffered unduly.

One famous one was when we decided it wasn't worth to spring for a hotel our last night in Rome since it was late and we had an early flight. Spouse insisted we sleep in Fiumicino. So we went there on the train but found out it's not really feasible to sleep there. We ended up at the airport Hilton to the tune of about 250 Euro. They had an amazing buffet dinner which we loved, so it all turned out ok I guess.

[stan1]

Every time I use my off brand Q-tips (multiple times a week) and the cotton unravels exposing the cheap plastic stem it reminds me of how much I regret that decision.

So give them to a friend who is less particular or throw them away. No point having regrets in life over something like this.

[neilpilot]

I can't remember many.....years ago I prepaid a 1 week car rental. I almost never prepay, but this time decided to save a bit since there was no way I was going to cancel the trip.

The morning of our trip we got in the airplane for the 4 hour flight, but on startup there was a mechanical problem. My mechanic couldn't make an immediate repair, so we decided to drive our car instead. That meant I lost the entire car rental fee, but I did save maybe $40 by prepaying.

[monkey_business]

Bringing food to the airport, restaurants, public events, etc. I actually would enjoy it if my wife, friends, and colleagues were less embarrassed.

You bring your own food when you go out to a restaurant? Am I reading that right? Do you also bring your own beer when you go out to a sports bar?lol

Yes. I no longer drink beer. The WHO estimates that 5.3% of global deaths are caused by alcohol consumption. I hope to reduce my healthcare costs in retirement.

I'm pretty sure alcohol related deaths are due to alcoholism, drunk driving, etc., and not due to people having a beer or a glass of wine with their dinner.

[supersecretname]

homeowners insurance set at 5K deductible.

Yeah, I saved money on premiums, but roof got damaged and needed to be replaced. Sure wish I had a 1k deductible at that point....

[barnaclebob]

Bringing food to the airport, restaurants, public events, etc. I actually would enjoy it if my wife, friends, and colleagues were less embarrassed.

You bring your own food when you go out to a restaurant? Am I reading that right? Do you also bring your own beer when you go out to a sports bar?lol

Yes. I no longer drink beer. The WHO estimates that 5.3% of global deaths are caused by alcohol consumption. I hope to reduce my healthcare costs in retirement.

Bringing your own food to a restaurant is very tacky unless you have some pretty extreme dietary restrictions. The people dining with you are right to be embarassed.

[ENT Doc]

Or you could just not use Q-Tips, as they are unnecessary and on the average do more harm than good.

Single blade Bic razors for me. Was gifted a Gillette razor by my in-laws with replacement blades. Much better, and with stropping I haven’t needed replacement blades in over a year.

[jrbdmb]

Nothing huge, but I do regret not getting an EZ-Pass for my vehicle earlier than I did. Note than in my state (NJ) I do not qualify for discounts on any of the roads I drive and the $12 yearly fee annoyed me. I finally got one last year from PA when I had to start using the PA Turnpike - $3 yearly fee and a good discount (25%?) on Turnpike tolls. I almost immediately realized that it would have been well worth $12 a year to skip all of those lines for the "Cash Only" lanes.

And yes, I still only buy name brand Q-Tips. They aren't as good as they used to be, but the generic ones aren't either.

[stoptothink]

Bringing food to the airport, restaurants, public events, etc. I actually would enjoy it if my wife, friends, and colleagues were less embarrassed.

You bring your own food when you go out to a restaurant? Am I reading that right? Do you also bring your own beer when you go out to a sports bar?lol

I've never actually done this, but I do frequently go to restaurants (with work colleagues) and literally never eat. They know the drill and know why, so it doesn't ever surprise anyone. I've probably eaten restaurant food a handful of times in the past decade. I even usually bring my own food when I travel for work. If it is a longer trip, I find a grocery store. Then again, health is my career, so I am quite a bit more strict about what I put in my mouth than the average person. And beer, I have never had any interest in tasting it.

[F150HD]

[pdavi21]

Bringing food to the airport, restaurants, public events, etc. I actually would enjoy it if my wife, friends, and colleagues were less embarrassed.

You bring your own food when you go out to a restaurant? Am I reading that right? Do you also bring your own beer when you go out to a sports bar?lol

Yes. I no longer drink beer. The WHO estimates that 5.3% of global deaths are caused by alcohol consumption. I hope to reduce my healthcare costs in retirement.

I'm pretty sure alcohol related deaths are due to alcoholism, drunk driving, etc., and not due to people having a beer or a glass of wine with their dinner.

The high cost of alcohol itself would be enough reason to avoid based on frugality. I'll admit, it's fun though. Perhaps a good candidate for frugality I regret.

[Stinky]

Washing my 75 pound long-haired dog in the bathtub. Between the hair everywhere, the clogged drain, the burned out hair dryer, and my aching back from bending over the tub, it was a total fiasco.

I’ve learned to spend the $5 to wash him at the self-wash station at the pet store. Shampoo, towels, and dryer are provided - and if the drain gets clogged, it’s not my problem.

[pdavi21]

Bringing food to the airport, restaurants, public events, etc. I actually would enjoy it if my wife, friends, and colleagues were less embarrassed.

You bring your own food when you go out to a restaurant? Am I reading that right? Do you also bring your own beer when you go out to a sports bar?lol

Yes. I no longer drink beer. The WHO estimates that 5.3% of global deaths are caused by alcohol consumption. I hope to reduce my healthcare costs in retirement.

Bringing your own food to a restaurant is very tacky unless you have some pretty extreme dietary restrictions. The people dining with you are right to be embarassed.

Not really, if my companions are eating, they are making plenty of money. My only dietary restriction is I don't like paying to catch food poisoning.

[Shallowpockets]

Bringing food to the airport, restaurants, public events, etc. I actually would enjoy it if my wife, friends, and colleagues were less embarrassed.

You bring your own food when you go out to a restaurant? Am I reading that right? Do you also bring your own beer when you go out to a sports bar?lol

Yes. I no longer drink beer. The WHO estimates that 5.3% of global deaths are caused by alcohol consumption. I hope to reduce my healthcare costs in retirement.

Bringing your own food to a restaurant is very tacky unless you have some pretty extreme dietary restrictions. The people dining with you are right to be embarassed.

Not really, if my companions are eating, they are making plenty of money. My only dietary restriction is I don't like paying to catch food poisoning.

No. It is tacky. You can spin it any way you want. It is tacky. And the rationale of food poisoning is very far fetched. Afraid of beer also. There are a lot more problems here than regretful spending. Hope,it all works for you in decreased retirement health spending.

[Weston]

Pretty much every attempt I have ever made at do-it-yourself home repairs. I'm not good at it, I don't enjoy it, and it brings me little or no satisfaction.

[quantAndHold]

Used Expedia a couple of times, then had to reschedule the trip. Lost all the money I spent.

[RW-Expat]

Pretty much every attempt I have ever made at do-it-yourself home repairs. I'm not good at it, I don't enjoy it, and it brings me little or no satisfaction.

I second this!

[HenryBemis]

You bring your own food when you go out to a restaurant? Am I reading that right? Do you also bring your own beer when you go out to a sports bar?lol

Yes. I no longer drink beer. The WHO estimates that 5.3% of global deaths are caused by alcohol consumption. I hope to reduce my healthcare costs in retirement.

Bringing your own food to a restaurant is very tacky unless you have some pretty extreme dietary restrictions. The people dining with you are right to be embarassed.

Not really, if my companions are eating, they are making plenty of money. My only dietary restriction is I don't like paying to catch food poisoning.

No. It is tacky. You can spin it any way you want. It is tacky. And the rationale of food poisoning is very far fetched. Afraid of beer also. There are a lot more problems here than regretful spending. Hope,it all works for you in decreased retirement health spending.

Have to agree with Shallowpockets here, for what it's worth. I'd like to add that mental health is also very important. Perhaps you should keep that in-mind, with all respect.

[MichCPA]

You bring your own food when you go out to a restaurant? Am I reading that right? Do you also bring your own beer when you go out to a sports bar?lol

Yes. I no longer drink beer. The WHO estimates that 5.3% of global deaths are caused by alcohol consumption. I hope to reduce my healthcare costs in retirement.

Bringing your own food to a restaurant is very tacky unless you have some pretty extreme dietary restrictions. The people dining with you are right to be embarassed.

Not really, if my companions are eating, they are making plenty of money. My only dietary restriction is I don't like paying to catch food poisoning.

No. It is tacky. You can spin it any way you want. It is tacky. And the rationale of food poisoning is very far fetched. Afraid of beer also. There are a lot more problems here than regretful spending. Hope,it all works for you in decreased retirement health spending.

+1 definitely tacky. A restaurant exists for its customers. People that go and order nothing (or even worse order only water and expect table service without buying anything/tipping) take up space while others are waiting and crowd out paying (and tipping) customers.

[FlyAF]

How does one take their own food into a restaurant? I mean, wouldn't the waiter be all WTH, get out?

My biggest regret was flying Spirit once.

[randomguy]

I'm pretty sure alcohol related deaths are due to alcoholism, drunk driving, etc., and not due to people having a beer or a glass of wine with their dinner.

Most recent research says that any alcohol consumptions (yes including your glass of red wine) is unhealthy. It is a very minor effect for the one glass/day drinker but ramps up as consumption increases.

[stoptothink]

Pretty much every attempt I have ever made at do-it-yourself home repairs. I'm not good at it, I don't enjoy it, and it brings me little or no satisfaction.

I second this!

I've given up at this point. I am very fortunate to have some friends who are handy. My wife wanted to call a handyman recently because we had a serious of things happen in the last few weeks. She gave me a week to fix them before she called. In one day I had 2 friends come and fix a leaky faucet, diagnose an unattached ground wire in our breaker which caused 3 lights to go out simultaneously, and patch a hole in our wall that our neighbor's kid caused when she pushed my son's rocking horse down the stairs. Saved us several hundred dollars.

[Blueskies123]

Bringing food to the airport, restaurants, public events, etc. I actually would enjoy it if my wife, friends, and colleagues were less embarrassed.

You bring your own food when you go out to a restaurant? Am I reading that right? Do you also bring your own beer when you go out to a sports bar?lol

Yes. I no longer drink beer. The WHO estimates that 5.3% of global deaths are caused by alcohol consumption. I hope to reduce my healthcare costs in retirement.

I'm pretty sure alcohol related deaths are due to alcoholism, drunk driving, etc., and not due to people having a beer or a glass of wine with their dinner.

Have you considered how much alcohol gets consumed if you have one drink every night, or 4 drinks on Friday and 4 drinks on Saturday? That would be the equivalent of 4.5 gallons of vodka or scotch - per year.

[SuperGrafx]

Bringing food to the airport, restaurants, public events, etc. I actually would enjoy it if my wife, friends, and colleagues were less embarrassed.

You bring your own food when you go out to a restaurant? Am I reading that right? Do you also bring your own beer when you go out to a sports bar?lol

Yes. I no longer drink beer. The WHO estimates that 5.3% of global deaths are caused by alcohol consumption. I hope to reduce my healthcare costs in retirement.

Bringing your own food to a restaurant is very tacky unless you have some pretty extreme dietary restrictions. The people dining with you are right to be embarassed.

+1.
When did this forum become the Cheapskate and Miser forum?
Some people have no shame, I guess lol!

[MisterMister]

Buying generic cereal.

I'd rather have eaten the cardboard box than its contents.

[nisiprius]

Buying generic cereal.

I'd rather have eaten the cardboard box than its contents.

Oh, well, that's always a live-and-learn thing. Sometimes you buy the house brand or the generic and wonder why on earth you paid more for the name brand. Other times you say "never again."

[DaftInvestor]

Every time I use my off brand Q-tips (multiple times a week) and the cotton unravels exposing the cheap plastic stem it reminds me of how much I regret that decision.

Throw them away and write it off as a paid lesson learned!

[nisiprius]

I said something about this in another posting and it's on my mind. Again, there's no rule; I don't regret this in a "should-have-known" sense, but I really wish we had replaced our lousy stinking GE dishwasher when it crapped out on us the second time. Instead of buying a new dishwasher for $1,000, we had that crappy piece of GE feculence fixed for $300, and we got three more miserable GE years out of it. Three more awful GE years of unsatisfactory GE performance. By the way, "let's fix it instead of replacing it" was absolutely a joint decision, both spouses were in agreement.

It was a GE washer, by the way, in case you were wondering what brand it was. By GE.

[DaftInvestor]

Bringing food to the airport, restaurants, public events, etc. I actually would enjoy it if my wife, friends, and colleagues were less embarrassed.

You bring your own food when you go out to a restaurant? Am I reading that right? Do you also bring your own beer when you go out to a sports bar?lol

Yes. I no longer drink beer. The WHO estimates that 5.3% of global deaths are caused by alcohol consumption. I hope to reduce my healthcare costs in retirement.

Bringing your own food to a restaurant is very tacky unless you have some pretty extreme dietary restrictions. The people dining with you are right to be embarassed.

+1.
When did this forum become the Cheapskate and Miser forum?
Some people have no shame, I guess lol!

Some of the restaurants I go to likely wouldn't let you ever come back once they knew you as the guy who brought his own food. Events and Airport I could understand (where food might be really suspect) but restaurants?
Hopefully you are insisting on paying a $20 seating charge and at least a $10 tip for them allowing you to have a seat with your own food - otherwise you shouldn't be sitting in a restaurant.

[MisterMister]

I said something about this in another posting and it's on my mind. Again, there's no rule; I don't regret this in a "should-have-known" sense, but I really wish we had replaced our lousy stinking GE dishwasher when it crapped out on us the second time. Instead of buying a new dishwasher for $1,000, we had that crappy piece of GE feculence fixed for $300, and we got three more miserable GE years out of it. Three more awful GE years of unsatisfactory GE performance. By the way, "let's fix it instead of replacing it" was absolutely a joint decision, both spouses were in agreement.

It was a GE washer, by the way, in case you were wondering.

Just wondering... what do you think of GE products?

[Jimmie]

I said something about this in another posting and it's on my mind. Again, there's no rule; I don't regret this in a "should-have-known" sense, but I really wish we had replaced our lousy stinking GE dishwasher when it crapped out on us the second time. Instead of buying a new dishwasher for $1,000, we had that crappy piece of GE feculence fixed for $300, and we got three more miserable GE years out of it. Three more awful GE years of unsatisfactory GE performance. By the way, "let's fix it instead of replacing it" was absolutely a joint decision, both spouses were in agreement.

It was a GE washer, by the way, in case you were wondering what brand it was. By GE.

I had a problem with a GE dishwasher once. All I needed to do was swab a few dirty parts with a generic Q tip.

[k3vb0t]

I said something about this in another posting and it's on my mind. Again, there's no rule; I don't regret this in a "should-have-known" sense, but I really wish we had replaced our lousy stinking GE dishwasher when it crapped out on us the second time. Instead of buying a new dishwasher for $1,000, we had that crappy piece of GE feculence fixed for $300, and we got three more miserable GE years out of it. Three more awful GE years of unsatisfactory GE performance. By the way, "let's fix it instead of replacing it" was absolutely a joint decision, both spouses were in agreement.

It was a GE washer, by the way, in case you were wondering what brand it was. By GE.

I literally laughed out loud at this. Well done.