Real-Life Stories From People Who Wasted Tons Of Money

8. Aquariums

Aquarists know they have an expensive habit. What starts as a simple 20-gallon tank often turns into a fish room full of expensive, exotic tanks. /U/priteeboy shared a lifetime of aquarium spending. The user said, “First thing I sunk any real money into was an aquarium. Now I’ve loved aquariums since I was a little kid. I was always entranced by the ones in the homes of other people we knew and got my own small but good quality one at 14. It was the only thing I wanted for my birthday that year.”

They continued, “After looking after this one for the next 3-4 years, I felt it was time to upgrade now that I finally had some money. Not having a job or pocket money meant the $3k worth of savings I had when I decided to upgrade were the product of years worth of being, well – stingy with whatever money I obtained throughout those years. Now I loved this aquarium and looked after it for about a decade, so I definitely got my money’s worth out of the setup itself. But man, it cost me most of the said savings to get it set up.

7. Student Loans

Going to college is still widely considered a pretty solid investment in yourself. However, many don’t feel like it when they first get the sticker shock of seeing their monthly student loan payments after graduation. That is especially true if the borrower wasn’t the most responsible with their student loans, like /u/blahblahblah8812. This user shared, “I took out extra money on a student loan to go on a quick vacation to San Antonio with my now-husband. I’m still paying for it nine years later.” Compounded interest comes at you fast. However, at least their marriage is still holding, unlike the next student loan misadventure.

/U/bart_bandy shared a truly horrifying student loan story saying, “I started college after my wife finished her graduate school programs. I took out the max amount of student loans every semester, three times what my tuition/books/living expenses cost. I then used a good chunk of my excess loan money to pay off [my] wife’s student loans and put the rest into our joint savings. Several years later, just as I was about to graduate, we got divorced. The ex-wife is now debt-free. She also got most of our joint savings. I get to spend the rest of my life paying back tens of thousands of dollars in student loan debt that didn’t benefit me in any meaningful way in the first place.”

6. Luxury Computers

For many gamers, a high-end gaming personal computer (PC) is the ultimate status symbol. It can run the most cutting-edge games with smooth graphics and give competitive gamers an edge over the competition. One Redditor expressed embarrassment at an over-the-top PC splurge lamenting, “I bought an Alienware PC. $5500 of glorious gaming power that, in hindsight, was not that glorious. Pro tip: Build your own PC.” Others confirmed the mistake with /u/equippedchart49, saying, “Ouch… Yeah. You could build the same thing for less than half that. Might not be as pretty on the outside, but it’s the performance that counts!”

Of course, many lamented the silly, overly expensive computer purchases they themselves had made in the past. However, computer store workers also shared embarrassing tales of clueless parents overspending on children’s computers. User /u/anjinotter shared, “Dad: “Aiden here’s about to graduate second grade, so we are looking to build him a gaming computer.” Me: “Ok, what is your budget for the system?” Kid: Shrugs Dad: “We are thinking around 4.” Me: “$400 is a little tight, but we can see what kind of system we can do for that.” Dad: “No, no, $4,000.” Quite the second-grade graduation!

5. Mobile Games

The scourge of parents with children on their cell phone plans everywhere, microtransactions and in-game app purchases are a major way that mobile games make their money. While they’re often small purchases starting at as little as 99 cents, they can quickly add up. /U/legochemgrad warned, “Because once you start one, the temptation is always there. The ability to become one of the best in the game with a payment of $20, and then you keep buying to maintain your power. It’s a slippery slope. All the game needs to do is either be social enough for your friends to suggest it or for it to be decently fun.”

/U/gallifreyan expanded on the intentionally risky and addictive nature of in-app purchases. The user stated, “While some are less intrusive or predatory about it than others, a lot of freemium games are essentially disguised gambling. (Especially the gacha genre, where players spend money on digital equivalents of those little plastic eggs at the supermarket as the game’s means of recruiting characters, acquiring bonuses, etc.). I’m surprised the only warning to that is the “this game has in-app transactions” on the app store page.” Others empathized with almost every poster having spent at least a few dollars here and there on mobile games.

4. Funko Pops

Funko Pop is ubiquitous at any collectibles or comic shop you go to, and they will be filling our landfills for much of the future. They’re also, it turns out, costly if one gets addicted to collecting them. One Redditor said, “Omg, dude, my GF is absolutely obsessed with these. She must have a good $300-400 worth of these little things everywhere. We have a bookcase full of them. But she thinks they’re cute and has even bought a few for me. A Dark Souls one, League of Legends, and an Overwatch one. I must admit that if I find more like those, I’ll totally buy them for myself now too.”

Another Redditor, /u/rift_in_the_warp, confirmed the sneakily addictive nature of the Funko Pop. The user said, “When I first started working at a comic book/game store, I saw these and thought, ‘man, these are so dumb, who buys them?’ And then I saw a Mushu one with Cricket. And then a set of Monty Python & The Holy Grail ones. Next thing I know, I have a Bookshelf FULL of them.” With each new Funko Pop costing at least $9 and some special-editions retailing for even higher prices, not to mention the secondary market, amassing collections that can fill bookshelves cost hundreds of dollars, at least!

3. Card Money

Anyone who has played a modern collectible card game (CCG) like Magic the Gathering or Yu-Gi-Oh! knows just how quickly the expenses can add up from buying packs of cards hoping to strike it rich with a lucky rare or buying incredibly expensive single cards on the secondhand market. Some people view it as a long-term investment and don’t have regrets, like /u/PlanetSmasherJ who said, “I’ve spent thousands over the years on Magic: the gathering (spend many more thousands of hours playing and still have a collection I could likely recoup more than I spent though so no regrets).”

However, not everyone is lucky enough to have built a collection that maintains its value, nor does everyone have the patience to let cards become rare and valuable. /U/recklessangel complained about Magic the Gathering, “4th edition, ice age-era cards, etc… 300+ cards. But then high school ended, and all my friends and I moved to different towns across the country for college/university. So I didn’t have anyone to play with. I went to trade my collection in, and the store I went to took out four cards ($20 altogether). When I got home, I threw the rest in the trash.”

2. Car Mods

Most people are aware of the typical expenses of owning a car. You have to buy the vehicle. However, don’t forget about the monthly payments, insurance, oil changes, registration, and more. What isn’t as well known is the massive amounts of money some people sink into modifying cars just for the sake of it. Redditor /u/cofonseca confessed, “I got really involved in the VW/Audi scene and spent a ton of money building a GTI and an A4. Between engine internals and parts, suspension, brakes, tuning, drivetrain, exterior, wheels, and tires, I had to have spent at least $15k over the course of a few years.”

Others commiserated, with /r/Im_Negan saying, “VWVortex ruined me. I got all the “rare” European OEM parts. The HID headlights were worth it, but all the other stuff wasn’t.” One particularly ridiculous tale was shared by /r/GodMonster, who said of a coworker, “He decided one day that he should put under-car lights on his $300, 1987 Chevy Celebrity. He spent $400 on a fancy set of lights and another $200 to have them installed. […] Then, he decided to show off his $300 1987 Chevy Celebrity with its $800 rims, $500 audio system, and $400 under-car lights, which weren’t particularly legal in our state. He concluded that the best place to do so was the local carnival, sponsored by and held outside of the local police station.”

1. Burning Up Money

The closest you can come to truly just setting your money on fire is likely cigarettes, given the combustible sticks’ incredibly high cost. Redditor /u/c4ndybar elaborated on this, saying, “Cigarettes. I spent about $24k on cigs between the ages of 16 and 26. Most of the things people are listing are not a total waste (Partying, alcohol, cars, eating out). But cigarettes really are a COMPLETE waste of money and then some. Redditor /u/Magic-Pool confirmed, saying, “Cigarettes. I reckon I spent over 25 grand on tobacco products over a 19 year period. That’s a conservative estimate from a time when they were cheaper.”

More Redditors chimed in, sharing stories of the expense in their areas, with /u/Zhabba_Zeeba saying, “As a former smoker, cigarettes. They were expensive when I smoked, and when I asked my brother (who still smokes), he said he was paying almost $10 a pack! Holy smokes!”/U/janga7 pointed out that some regions face even steeper prices per pack, declaring in response to /u/Zhabba_Zeeba, “That’s nothing. In Australia, they go for $30+.” The discussion was full of price comparisons and lifetime totals that ran in the many thousands of dollars spent on cigarettes over a lifetime of smoking.

More Sources:

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/8ymxg7/what_is_the_most_outrageous_waste_of_money_you/

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/6s40qz/what_did_you_waste_your_money_on_because_you_were/

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/7bdgem/what_do_people_waste_money_on_that_amazes_you/