Anna’s Story: Anna’s Silly Purchases
Posted by John | Filed under Hmmmm
I loved this post by Anna, and I invite y’all to fess up as to your “silly purchases” too. We are all guilty of buying crap. Sometimes taking the time to itemize it all helps us realize just how far it’s gone. So, let’s see what you’ve “wasted” your money on…
I wrote a success post some time ago on lessons learned but I wanted to enter for Gail’s Giveaway. Instead of a success story this time I thought I’d list out some of my dumber purchases in life (the ones I remember anyway). I’d love to read comments on everyone else’s silly spending. Let’s all have a laugh!
Motivational Tapes (2001, $400+): Yes, tapes. They were meant to make me rich. I can’t remember if I listened to them all – probably not since I’m writing a success post for free stuff. I think they’re on the top shelf of my bookcase.
Nintendo Gameboy (2002, $200 +): In 2002, goodness knows why I decided that I needed to become familiar with video games (I was an adult!). I still have it – in its original packaging. I think I played it twice and decided it was too complicated. Now the model is obsolete. Perhaps I should learn how to make the most of my DVD player before I try video games again.
Jones New York Business Suit (2003, $300+): The jacket fit, the skirt was too big but it was too good of a “deal” to pass up. I kept telling myself I would have it tailored. The tags are still on it and it’s sitting in my closet to this day – mocking me.
Costco box of Meal Replacement Bars (2003, $80+): I convinced myself I could live off these things and it was cheaper than groceries. I should have tasted them first. Four years later I finally threw the box away. They were so hard they broke the garbage compactor when it tried to crush them.
Lord of the Rings Collectors Edition (2004?, $60+): I fell for the hype of the movie and convinced myself I needed to read all the books – I read The Hobbit and got half-way through the first one of the trilogy. The rest are in brand new condition in their collector case. If I keep them for another 200 years do you think they might be worth something?
Deluxe Scrapbooking kit from the The Shopping Channel (2005, $100+): I don’t scrapbook. I don’t have time to scrapbook. I am now the owner of a complete kit taking up space in my home. I also have hundreds of pictures that I have never put into albums because I really thought I would suddenly want to scrapbook. The sales ladies on the TSC are really good at their job!
Silk Fabric from Malaysia (2005, $150+): I was going to have a dress made. It’s still sitting sealed in tissue paper. Don’t be surprised if you come over and I have really nice silk napkins at the dinner table.
Calgary Stampede Messenger Bag (2009, $20): Not expensive but silly. I have at least 8 messenger bags at home. I thought the idea of a bag full of “free” stuff was totally neat at the time and I fell for the sales pitch. The only things in the bag I could use were the bag of chips, a can of Coke Zero and a pepperoni stick – total value $2.30.
Okay, I’ve shared. Seeing it on paper helps me to laugh about it. Hopefully it will also remind me to THINK(!) before I buy.
October 1, 2009 at 7:53 am
Dearest Anna,
I LOVED the honesty in this post! It was both HUMEROUS — in that I made some of those same silly purchases: things “claming” to make you rich, falling for those “health” bars that get ultra-hard during storage, as well as trying to keep up with the latest electronic and reading fads, and it was REFRESHING to see that others have made the same mistakes to get us to where we are. It all begins by our mentality towards purchases.
Take Care Anna!
October 1, 2009 at 8:41 am
That’s funny and oh so true! Back to The Shopping Channel. When I first encountered the station 10 years ago, it helped fuel my addiction to face cream. I thought, wow, this is great. I can spend the same money I do on a jar of eye cream in the department store and get five times the product and a free hand bag. What a deal. The problem was I put everything on my credit card on easy pay and never considered that if you do that twice a month the 4 monthly payments as one big monthly payment catches up with you. I have bags of skin care products under my sink and throw out tons of partially used or not opened jars every year. I have sinced cut back drastically on my purchases. Probably spend 10% of what I used to spend. It’s so easy to get caught up in it. I don’t even bother putting the channel on anymore. If I run out of something, then I’ll buy it.
October 1, 2009 at 9:51 am
This may be in line with Gail’s post today as well. Years ago we bought into this great package of learning tools for our then young kids. So many different series of books and games. Well we tried to utilize it, but at the same time realized later that it would have been better for the money we spent ($2000-yes you see right) we could have bought them a computer which they get more use out of with access to different sites. We still have those books and try to push it on the kids as reference material. We don’t have the heart to get rid of them as they also act as a reminder of how easily one can be pushed in to a purchase from a savvy salesman. Beware out there!
October 1, 2009 at 10:16 am
This post has incredibly good timing. I’m in the middle of cleaning out some storage space and came across some rollerblades – remember them? I bought them about 15 years ago and look almost brand new because I think they were used about 10 times.
My mom saw them in the charity box and asked me why I was getting rid of them since they looked brand new. I had to remind her that we were now living in our current house for 9 years and they had been sitting in the storage space all that time!
October 1, 2009 at 4:17 pm
About the rollerblades, well at least you did use them!!!!
Probably have a few good memories about those outings??
October 1, 2009 at 9:17 pm
Beth, I, too, have fallen for the promise of newly dewy skin (thanks to Victoria Principle) and the “quick fix” of diet pills that made my face numb and I thought I was having a stroke.
Alas, all my insomnia taught me was that I am very vain and should stick to playing Free Cell when I can’t sleep.
If I could return all my wrinkle creams I could probably pay off my mortgage!!
Loved your post, Anna.
October 1, 2009 at 11:35 pm
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with an adult buying a video game console. I LOVE my PS2 and the recently purchased PS3, which is also my DVD and blu-ray player.
October 2, 2009 at 11:25 am
Our splurges tend to be on stuff for our wii system. We picked it up back in April as a way for me to work out while at home. I lost 15 lbs in just 2 months it was great. Then life got busy and basically went on the maintaining track.
After two babies it gets hard to start losing weight both in finding time to work out and taking care of my boys.
Its true that most of us have silly purchases. I have tons of body wash that i bought from Avon when it was on sale. Yeh sitting in a bag because body wash last quite a long time.
Also another of our splurges tend to be on a hobby of my husbands. Ever hear of that card game Magic the Gathering. Yup my husband is a geek, but the game is quite fun to play when we have the time.
I also think there is something to be said about finding the right products that the companys usually stand behind them. I have never bought anything from a shopping channel< As much as I may have wanted to, but our thoughts always were, eventually they will come out in stores!
I tend to be more impulsive in stores, go figure!
we are working on it though and slowly but surely we are getting our priorities straight and getting our debt down.
October 2, 2009 at 4:06 pm
Okay – Sham Wow! I guess they are useful but my family loves the commercial and they think they are collector items so we don’t use them. Now, my husband wants the Slap Chop – same sales guy on the TV commercial – I think his name is Vince. If you order in the next 20 minutes you can get 2 for the price of one…..
October 2, 2009 at 4:30 pm
Hey Denise “we can’t do this all day you know” (another Vince quote)
I too am laughing at this post. If it’s true confession time, I would have to say I spent a small fortune on three new bathing suits for an upcoming “free” beach vacation (My husnand won the trip. I say “free” in quotes, because so far, it has cost us almost $400 in taxes (not included in the prize somehow), almost $400 in bathing suits, it will be about $300 in boarding fees for my dog, and then DH will want to scuba dive while we’re there, which will be at least another $200-300). I did need a new bathing suit, but not three, and certainly didn’t need to spend almost $400 in one shot!
October 2, 2009 at 6:35 pm
$80 magnetic resistance exercise bike, currently moldering in my parents’ basement. They claim they use it, but I’m not so sure. I bought it cuz it was on clearance.
$500 or so for a Syquest SparQ drive – an early removable hard disk system. It broke after a couple of months and then the company went bankrupt.
$200 or so for assorted portable music devices while I was trying to avoid dishing out for a 2nd gen iPod. They universally sucked and I eventually bought and was happy with the iPod.
$75 for a Shark vacuum cleaner trying to avoid an expensive vac (see a pattern yet?). It broke after 6 months, maybe partially my fault. Bought a refurb Dyson to replace it and am much happier.
$50 el cheapo trampoline for exercising. Was great for a bit, then broke. Bought a $350 replacement that I use daily. At least I found out that I would use the trampoline on the cheap one before buying the good one.
$20 chin up bar – it doesn’t mount properly, it’s huge, it’s metal, and I’m not sure how I’m going to get rid of it.
October 2, 2009 at 10:12 pm
My first purchase on my new platinum (and that should have been a warning right there) was a jar of Creme de la Mer. That was years ago and I still have some of it left – separating from the sides of the jar. Apparently it never goes off, good thing!
The P90X exercise system. I have done 2 workouts.
Books!
Yarn. Who would like a sweater in say…oh, 2011.
October 3, 2009 at 7:58 am
I love this post!!…soooo true for me too:)…my husband and I have a running joke about how “savvy” we are…we always seem to pay more than anyone else on the planet for things..i.e. car shopping, you’d think we said to the dealership “you want 25k for that vehicle…oh no, we’ll only buy it if you let us pay 30k!”…lol…there are also all those great excercise machines we bought instead of new clothes hangars..lol…and all the other “health” products…vitamins, “health” foods etc…ridiculous…we’ve stopped all of it some time ago I am pleased to say, but, oh how I wish we had those dollars back!…good thing I read this BEFORE buying the slap chop I saw in the store the other day…LOL>>
October 3, 2009 at 11:44 am
The moral of this post is:
I think, therefore I buy.
October 3, 2009 at 11:46 am
Or perhaps
I am, therefore I buy.
would be better because if we thought – we wouldn’t have bought!!
October 3, 2009 at 2:02 pm
Jay,
You’re sooooo right about spending endless dollars on crap to avoid purchasing something of quality. I too am the proud owner of hundreds of dollars of MP3 players before finally buying an ipod that I enjoy. The chin up bar also made me laugh. I once bought a used metal desk that was a “steal” at $40. Trouble was it was so heavy that it took four people to move it into my apartment. When I moved out of the apartment I left it there for my poor landlord to deal with…
I’m enjoying the posts – it’s my morning laugh!
October 3, 2009 at 2:07 pm
Okay, I googled slap chop. Now I want one…thanks guys! Thanks a lot
October 3, 2009 at 2:33 pm
Ill stick with my pampered chef food chopper. It might be more expensive but shipping is cheaper and it comes with a 5 year guarantee.
October 3, 2009 at 5:46 pm
#3 Pasta machine – who needs to make their own noodles when they’re under $2 for a giant pkg at the grocery store?
#2 Fondu pot – yes they’re fun if you bother to do it, but could there be a less efficient way to cook a meal?
#1 Decorating Magazines!!! Oh, my. I’ve bought hundreds over the past 20 years, and almost never throw one out. I can pick up one from the 90’s and without opening it know what house or specific picture it was that caused me to buy that one. I’m not sure which is more disturbing – the amount I’ve spent in total over the years, or my inability to get rid of any of them… Now that our house is “done” (they never really are) and magazines are running in the $9 range I only buy a couple each year instead of each month like when they were $5. I’ve also noticed that about half the ones I buy now are on organizing and decluttering….of course that doesn’t apply to getting rid of my old magazines!
October 3, 2009 at 9:11 pm
my husband is constantly asking for the slap chop
That guy is really funny!
October 5, 2009 at 11:58 am
This is so funny! And yes, I am also laughing at myself. I don’t ever want to see the chopper commercial. I bought a pedometer that is still in the box, not sure what was in my head at the time, i have a Nike + that works great. I bought Proactiv off the TV when I was in high school, I threw it out a few months ago cause I think my skin is fine now. The one purchase I am proud that I did not make is a sales man vacuum! I have a Dyson that I love, and a student called me and asked if he could do a demo in my house. I said yes because he would get paid $50 to do it regardless. I was a poor student once too. So he came did his show, and I said thank you, but no. I guess it is procedure to call in if he does not make the sale, and the boss on the phone could not believe I had said no. He figured the kid was lying, so I had to speak to him. After dropping the original price from $2600 to $2000, he then told me he would credit me $600 for my Dyson. Still $1400 for a vacuum. What on earth would a $1400 vacuum do?! Send me to the moon? I still have Dyson.
October 5, 2009 at 1:21 pm
When we got married a few yrs ago we bought a cheap vacuum from walmart but to find a replacement filter they never sold one and had look around town for a vacuum store to buy a filter that cost the price of the cheap vacuum so when Dyson came out. We went out and spent the hundreds dollars for it since we can clean filter and never buy a bag again. Three to four yrs later and still running strong.. The only thing I can think of that I wasted money on is three yrs on subscription on garden magazines. U read it put on shelf and than hope to flip though all of them again but never do and become dust collectors..
How about those (garden or cook) books that u keep buying every month the pgs to add to the book but it ends up that it goes on to long and it seems forever to finish the completion of the pgs to book. U start adding how much the book is costing u and it’s not a fifty dollar book but way more $$.. That I finely gave up on making the payment but they called on why they not getting payment every month and according to the agreement once u quit paying them they are suppose to quit sending the pgs..That a wasted book since it missing alot of sections…
One day I’ll move it out of house to forget that stupid book. I do look at it once a yr…
October 5, 2009 at 8:21 pm
My husband was cutting veggies tonight for dinner threw down the fork and exclaimed that he needed the slap chop! I burst out laughing because of these messages
October 5, 2009 at 10:28 pm
The $800 eliptical exercise machine that I sold for $30 at a garage sale last year.
October 6, 2009 at 11:22 am
My $500 crib bedding set for my first baby.. oh I searched and searched second hand stores to find a set that I liked for cheap and came up with nothing .. so I splurged on it and happily set up the baby room with my new bedding.. about six months in with a VERY pukey baby I realized that I had actually paid $500 for a crib sheet, window valance and crib dust ruffle … the pillow was never used, the comforter was barely used as baby threw up so much , bumper pads apparently are unsafe, the wall decorations were never even considered as they were hideous.. I managed to sell the set for $80 so that is $420 for 3 non-essential baby items..yikes!!!
-baby #2 had the walmart crib sheets and homemade blankets..lesson learned.
October 6, 2009 at 1:39 pm
I loved this post….:) It made me laugh…love all the references to Slapchop <- my husband wants one too
.
I too invested $100+ in the P90x system, plus the pull-up bar plus the resistance bands. I used it three times.
Other "crazy" purchases from my "younger and more naive" days
:
1) $125 on a poncho from BCBG that I bought at a warehouse sale and decided not to try on because the change rooms were too busy. Of course the pants didn’t fit. :S
3) $400+ on an RCA Lyra portable entertainment system that played music *gasp* it’s not the money, but I know have these random tops and bottoms (they were $1 each) sitting in my drawer taking up space.
October 6, 2009 at 2:24 pm
Sorry about the incoherent post above……words seem to have mysteriously disappeared
October 7, 2009 at 1:10 pm
Oh the stories I could tell too! Luckily I discovered the brilliance of eBay years ago and have been able to recoup a lot of my losses. Made about $500 this year so far just on clothes and shoes. Now the trick is to not buy any more!
October 22, 2009 at 12:33 pm
Thank you all for being so candid! It has been fantastic to laugh with everyone while remembering my own dirty secrets… I have to be honest and say that the face cream and various facial products have sucked me in too! I use them but am not certain that I will ever finish off the “bonus one time only” offer from the last round of purchases – $97.83 in total
November 16, 2009 at 8:35 am
Walk Fit shoe inserts. Saw an infomercial on TV and not only bought myself a pair, but my mother as well for a cost of about $100 total. We each wore them once. They actually hurt to wear them. Mine sit on a shelf in my office as a reminder of the pain of impulse shopping. It’s funny how the informercials always seem to succeed at getting you to buy 2 of whatever the promo product happens to be!
November 23, 2009 at 6:01 pm
Do any of you remember those food dehydrators from the infomercials?
Yes.. I bought one.
Was supposed to save me so much on groceries, mostly sat around on a shelf because I did not want to spend 10 hours babysitting it
November 29, 2009 at 12:38 pm
“You’re gonna love my nuts” is my favorite part of the Slap Chop commercial!! And when I find one in the store, I am going to buy me one!! This is a great post, cuz son #3 and I were just discussing some silly purchases. My benefits plan through employment offers a Wellness allowance of $240/year; I have an Elliptical Trainer in my basement which I stood in line at 7 a.m. at Canadian Tire to get at 60% off – great deal, for a clothes hanger! I have used it, but it isn’t all that steady, for an expensive machine. We also invested in a reclining weight bench with removable pull-down lat bar/leg lift unit, and all the weights, which is a great place for sorting office papers!! But hey, they were reimbursed, so basically free, right? I also invested in a multi-tool spin saw kit, with router, jigsaw, angle grinder, and other ’stuff’ cuz son #3 showed an interest in wood working at school. This unit was on sale for about $150, and turns out, most of the blades, etc, are for metal! Go figure. Has been used twice that I know of, in the past three years. We are wondering if we would use a Treadmill, as I am overdue for my $240 for this year. Even worse than the stuff we spend money on, tho, can be the ‘free’ goodies our local community web site offers on occasion. 14 months ago, I received ownership of a two year old Arabian/Standardbred filly, because the owner liked the ‘tone of my voice on the phone”, for free. The ‘cost’ of a horse is the cheapest part about it!! There are boarding fees, farrier fees, vet fees, special treat/food costs, tack/grooming costs, and the grand daddy of them all – trainer costs, if you ever want to ride your free horse. I am currently paying $600/month (which includes boarding, feeding, and care), minimum of two months please, and my mare will be there for at least 3 months, if not more. No one told me that Arabian cross horses eat like a – horse!! I am 52 years old, and although I spent most of my childhood on a horse, hadn’t been on one in over 9 years until a few days ago! Son #2 broke my tailbone and I was forbidden to ride anything that could jar my backside!! The ride 9 years ago was a short one and the first in 15 years, so what did I need/want a horse for to mess up my life, at that stage of my life, after 23 years without one around?? I guess I needed something for me, since I don’t smoke, drink, party, buy clothes or fancy shoes. All I know is that now, Silk, my beautiful black mare, is extremely important to me. Just like the beautiful Bailey, a two year old purebred Golden Retriever that I also got for free when she was four months old. I am a sucker for “FREE”, I guess…..
December 6, 2009 at 2:22 pm
Ok, I have one that beats all….a 10,000.00 investment on a vending machine. It was my husband’s idea, and although the warning bells were ringing, I went along with it and we took the money off a line of credit. Needless to say the machine was a piece of crap maybe worth 1500.00 and the guy/dealer that sold it to us with a promise of placement and alot of other things, went missing after the cheque was cashed. The line of credit has since been paid, but that vending machine, after being placed in a friends shop ended up in the garage for years. I had to put a sheet over it, because everytime I passed it I felt sick. Finally I took it to the scrap yard an got 13.50 for the metal and laughted at myself all the way home. I did learn that no matter what, if you are hesitating over a purchase run far and fast.
December 10, 2009 at 2:55 pm
Got to read all these amazing and delectable posts while looking for opinions out there on that silly Slap Chop, cuz I want one! What I want to know is why is the Platinum set cheaper (S&H) than the Original??? Honest, go to their web site and check it out. To get 2 Originals you end up paying $19.95 + $7.95 S&H + $7.95 S&H (for 2nd set) – to the tune of ~$36 total. It doesn’t look like you can just buy one. To get one Platinum you pay $9.99 + $3.95 S&H (so ~$28 total for 2). Ok, so should I go for it? Now I don’t want to entice any of you to go out and make unnecessary purchases. Myself, I’ve been cleaning out the house of extra stuff and trying to download it just to help out at Christmas….
December 11, 2009 at 12:08 pm
Ruse,
Home Outfitters (division of the Bay) sells the slap chop! Look around at retailers and you might save yourself the shipping! Not to mention you can return it more easily if it doesn’t work.
Anna
December 13, 2009 at 9:08 pm
This made me think of all the crazy things I’ve bought that are still in the original box or pretty close.
Winsor Pilates kit – $299 – 8 years ago -never used
Weight Watchers membership – $250 (?) – I attended a few meetings, and gave up, I might try again – I wanted the points calculator
vacation timeshare – $3500 – it turns out that when we travel we usually visit friends so we don’t need accomodations – we recently got rid of it
Magazine subscriptions – I only order these to get the “special gift” – not renewing any of them – turns out my local library has them as well.
Clothes steamer – $150 – for my husband to steam his suits – turns out the drycleaners do a better job
And so much more.
These were all in my past, I just hope they don’t make it into my future.
December 26, 2009 at 4:15 pm
I found the SlapChop at Walmart just before Christmas, and it even had the little cheese grater thingy with it – no shipping and handling, I think it was about $15, and best of all? I was shopping with my mom, who loves the commercials, and bought it for me for Christmas! Now, THAT’S smart shopping!
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