Large purchase ever regretted or would do over?

[PierreBear]

Hi PS Friends. Was curious if anyone has made a large purchase and regretted it? I was first thinking about jewelry given the forum but I guess it can apply to many things. Thought it would be helpful/fun to share wisdom/stories.

 

[monarch64]

Oh, sure. You mean like the time my ex-husband went behind my back and bought a fully loaded vehicle with the most minimal down payment possible and the highest monthly payment EVER and thought that was a great idea? He drove a car provided by his company and my car had been paid for brand new in cash and would have lasted at least another 10 years, but apparently it wasn't sexy or luxurious enough. God I'm glad I got rid of him. (For the record, I regret the ex-husband, which was the worst financial decision I have ever made.)

Jewelry mistakes are much easier to resolve!

 

[iluvshinythings]

Oh, sure. You mean like the time my ex-husband went behind my back and bought a fully loaded vehicle with the most minimal down payment possible and the highest monthly payment EVER and thought that was a great idea? He drove a car provided by his company and my car had been paid for brand new in cash and would have lasted at least another 10 years, but apparently it wasn't sexy or luxurious enough. God I'm glad I got rid of him. (For the record, I regret the ex-husband, which was the worst financial decision I have ever made.)

Jewelry mistakes are much easier to resolve!

Funny! I had the same issue with my ex. I came home from a visit with my family to find the world's most expensive pick-up in the drive way. I think he paid full sticker price, financed it for 72 months and the stupid thing didn't even have leather seats. It was over $60k and wasn't even fully loaded!!!! And it was completely unnecessary as the company he worked for provided him with a vehicle for work and the one he had was only two years old.

The largest purchase that I completely regret is our house. It was custom built for the couple we purchased it from so it has a lot of extra features but it's not even remotely our style and the neighborhood is on a screaming decline. When we bought it there were only twelve houses in our price range and it was one of two we liked. Our rent was going up 57% and rents all over town were ridiculous so we rushed. The other house we liked had a bigger HOA payment so we went for the house with the lower HOA fees and bigger closets. Now the closets are jam packed because I'm like a gold fish. I will grow to fit my bowl every time!!! The other house was in a much nicer neighborhood where prices are still increasing every year. Blahhhhh!!!!

 

[telephone89]

Another car regret haha. We bought a BMW last year, and while it is gorgeous and FUN, maintenance costs are kind of ridiculous. I wish we'd gone with another acura or something.

 

[Calliecake]

Oh, sure. You mean like the time my ex-husband went behind my back and bought a fully loaded vehicle with the most minimal down payment possible and the highest monthly payment EVER and thought that was a great idea? He drove a car provided by his company and my car had been paid for brand new in cash and would have lasted at least another 10 years, but apparently it wasn't sexy or luxurious enough. God I'm glad I got rid of him. (For the record, I regret the ex-husband, which was the worst financial decision I have ever made.)

Jewelry mistakes are much easier to resolve!

Monnie, Just be glad you got rid of him. One of my girlfriends could have written your post. He did the same thing the first year they were married. They had had many long discussions about this where she told him in no uncertain terms it was a terrible idea, only to come home from a business trip to find the new sexy car sitting in their driveway!!! She has been married to him for 25 years now and believe me he has made one bad financial decision after another. And get this... the guy is a CFO for a major company. He can't handle his own finances and is running a major companies. Although there is a lot of speculation that this company won't be around much longer.

In the long run you saved yourself years of aggravation and ended up with a wonderful man! WIN WIN!!!!

 

[momhappy]

I can't really think of a large purchase - although it sort of depends on what one might consider to be "large" purchase?
I have purchased many expensive handbags and it has occurred to me that I could have just saved up instead for my holy grail: an Hermes Birkin. I am actually in the process of "recycling" some of my things and saving up the earnings to use towards my dream bag.

 

[Calliecake]

I can't really think of a large purchase - although it sort of depends on what one might consider to be "large" purchase?
I have purchased many expensive handbags and it has occurred to me that I could have just saved up instead for my holy grail: an Hermes Birkin. I am actually in the process of "recycling" some of my things and saving up the earnings to use towards my dream bag.

Mom Happy,

I feel better that I'm not the only person who feels this way about handbags. I'm debating returning one I recently purchased and just save the money toward a Hermes. Have you been collecting bags for years?

 

[monarch64]

Oh, sure. You mean like the time my ex-husband went behind my back and bought a fully loaded vehicle with the most minimal down payment possible and the highest monthly payment EVER and thought that was a great idea? He drove a car provided by his company and my car had been paid for brand new in cash and would have lasted at least another 10 years, but apparently it wasn't sexy or luxurious enough. God I'm glad I got rid of him. (For the record, I regret the ex-husband, which was the worst financial decision I have ever made.)

Jewelry mistakes are much easier to resolve!

Monnie, Just be glad you got rid of him. One of my girlfriends could have written your post. He did the same thing the first year they were married. They had had many long discussions about this where she told him in no uncertain terms it was a terrible idea, only to come home from a business trip to find the new sexy car sitting in their driveway!!! She has been married to him for 25 years now and believe me he has made one bad financial decision after another. And get this... the guy is a CFO for a major company. He can't handle his own finances and is running a major companies. Although there is a lot of speculation that this company won't be around much longer.

In the long run you saved yourself years of aggravation and ended up with a wonderful man! WIN WIN!!!!

Haha, my ex was my bells-and-whistles sexy car. I should not have ignored all the red flags and parts missing under the hood!!! But yes, I traded my "junker" in for a Rolls Royce...couldn't be happier with my new model.

He used to laugh and scoff at me because I came from "under a rock," being from a small town; he prided himself on being from the big city. I may have been small town, but I knew that money couldn't buy happiness, and that all the beautiful possessions in the world didn't make one a better person. That life was very exciting and we did a lot of fun things, but it was fascinating and also kind of repulsive to watch all the people around us competing while knowing they were all drowning in debt.

 

[LLJsmom]

a number of jewelry purchases. but at least PS allows you to redo, and try again... practice makes perfect!

 

[Mayk]

I would need five pages of tiny print to talk about how much money my ex spent on his hobbies since he owned a bike shop (his most expensive hobby because he only poured money into it and nothing came out), cars, golf, you name it. He was living large on my income.

So I'll stick to jewelry. My first ering (now on version 6.0). We didn't know enough. But like LLJsmom said we get do overs here

 

[PierreBear]

I can't really think of a large purchase - although it sort of depends on what one might consider to be "large" purchase?
I have purchased many expensive handbags and it has occurred to me that I could have just saved up instead for my holy grail: an Hermes Birkin. I am actually in the process of "recycling" some of my things and saving up the earnings to use towards my dream bag.

It sure is nice to have some variety but yes, I feel the same way sometime and I guess it's the age old debate - quality versus quantity.

Side comment on purses as I don't want people to make the same mistake as me, which is a regret I guess that I would do over! I bought a hand bag from madewell in light brown leather. I didn't know that the leather was untreated and left an unclosed water bottle in it. Water spilled and created dark spots. What you are supposed to do is gently dry it right away with a hand dryer. Not do what I tried doing, which was condition the leather to try to even out the dark spot with the rest of it yet. Just wish I knew it was untreated and I would have water proofed it myself. I still use it but catch myself being sad about the dark spots.

 

[momhappy]

I can't really think of a large purchase - although it sort of depends on what one might consider to be "large" purchase?
I have purchased many expensive handbags and it has occurred to me that I could have just saved up instead for my holy grail: an Hermes Birkin. I am actually in the process of "recycling" some of my things and saving up the earnings to use towards my dream bag.

Mom Happy,

I feel better that I'm not the only person who feels this way about handbags. I'm debating returning one I recently purchased and just save the money toward a Hermes. Have you been collecting bags for years?

I'm probably more of a shoe girl, but I like handbags too. I have always thought of Hermes as the ultimate purchase (in terms of bags), but I just can't justify the purchase. I think of some of the smaller purchases I've made over the years and had I saved rather than spent, maybe the Hermes wouldn't be that far out of reach. I may own one someday - likely a preowned Birkin, because I don't think the price tag of a new one is worth it (for me).

 

[momhappy]

I can't really think of a large purchase - although it sort of depends on what one might consider to be "large" purchase?
I have purchased many expensive handbags and it has occurred to me that I could have just saved up instead for my holy grail: an Hermes Birkin. I am actually in the process of "recycling" some of my things and saving up the earnings to use towards my dream bag.

It sure is nice to have some variety but yes, I feel the same way sometime and I guess it's the age old debate - quality versus quantity.

Side comment on purses as I don't want people to make the same mistake as me, which is a regret I guess that I would do over! I bought a hand bag from madewell in light brown leather. I didn't know that the leather was untreated and left an unclosed water bottle in it. Water spilled and created dark spots. What you are supposed to do is gently dry it right away with a hand dryer. Not do what I tried doing, which was condition the leather to try to even out the dark spot with the rest of it yet. Just wish I knew it was untreated and I would have water proofed it myself. I still use it but catch myself being sad about the dark spots.

Yes, exactly - quality over quantity.
Sorry to hear about your handbag

 

[Calliecake]

I ring I bought a few years ago. Rushed into a purchase and had I waited I could have purchased my dream ring. Not very smart and it was a pre pricescope decision. I'm still banging my head against a wall over this one.

 

[momhappy]

Oh no! Thankfully, I had found this site before doing my upgrade (which was not really an upgrade because I just reset my old stone). I still see rings on here though that make me second-guess. There are so many gorgeous styles out there!!!!

 

[Calliecake]

I can't really think of a large purchase - although it sort of depends on what one might consider to be "large" purchase?
I have purchased many expensive handbags and it has occurred to me that I could have just saved up instead for my holy grail: an Hermes Birkin. I am actually in the process of "recycling" some of my things and saving up the earnings to use towards my dream bag.

Mom Happy,

I feel better that I'm not the only person who feels this way about handbags. I'm debating returning one I recently purchased and just save the money toward a Hermes. Have you been collecting bags for years?

I'm probably more of a shoe girl, but I like handbags too. I have always thought of Hermes as the ultimate purchase (in terms of bags), but I just can't justify the purchase. I think of some of the smaller purchases I've made over the years and had I saved rather than spent, maybe the Hermes wouldn't be that far out of reach. I may own one someday - likely a preowned Birkin, because I don't think the price tag of a new one is worth it (for me).

Mom Happy, I have to agree about the Birkin being the holy grail. I purchased a Saint Laurent and have been eyeing a Gucci but am thinking it may be smarter to just save for the used Birkin or just purchase a used Chanel. Do you find that you get tired of your bags quickly?

Sorry for the thread jack PierreBear.

 

[momhappy]

Yes, sorry for the threadjack
My problem isn't that I get tired of bags, it's more that I'm constantly searching because I genuinely enjoy it. Im always looking for unique items, vintage finds, good deals, etc - I suppose that's a lot like many of the jewelry enthusiasts on here. Occasionally, I will find something and make a purchase and even though it's fun, I'd be better off if I was working towards my quality-over-quantity goal.

 

[lovedogs]

I ring I bought a few years ago. Rushed into a purchase and had I waited I could have purchased my dream ring. Not very smart and it was a pre pricescope decision. I'm still banging my head against a wall over this one.

I feel the same way about my ring. I LOVE my ring, but know now that we severely overpaid, and would have easily gotten the same or better quality for less by going with a different vendor. This was years before I ever found PS, but it bothers me because DH is sentimental and prefers that I don't upgrade the ring itself (center stone is he is okay with, but since it's a halo that doesnt leave much room for a larger size).

 

[Calliecake]

I ring I bought a few years ago. Rushed into a purchase and had I waited I could have purchased my dream ring. Not very smart and it was a pre pricescope decision. I'm still banging my head against a wall over this one.

I feel the same way about my ring. I LOVE my ring, but know now that we severely overpaid, and would have easily gotten the same or better quality for less by going with a different vendor. This was years before I ever found PS, but it bothers me because DH is sentimental and prefers that I don't upgrade the ring itself (center stone is he is okay with, but since it's a halo that doesnt leave much room for a larger size).

Well at least I know I'm in good company. It makes me sick when I think of how I overpaid and what I could have had if I had purchased after finding Pricescope. Thank goodness one of my nieces loves the ring. I can always give it to her one day.

 

[Calliecake]

Yes, sorry for the threadjack
My problem isn't that I get tired of bags, it's more that I'm constantly searching because I genuinely enjoy it. Im always looking for unique items, vintage finds, good deals, etc - I suppose that's a lot like many of the jewelry enthusiasts on here. Occasionally, I will find something and make a purchase and even though it's fun, I'd be better off if I was working towards my quality-over-quantity goal.

You aren't alone Happy Mom. My husband doesn't seem to mind this obsession too much because it still is cheaper than the jewelry I love. I keep telling him I'm not in love with many bags but I'm finding out that isn't necessarily true. Of course I've never mentioned Hermes either.