What purchase do you most regret?

[missy]

I regret buying our 48 inch subzero side by side 7 years ago. It was an extravagant purchase that dh tried to talk me out of but I was set on having my huge subzero. And while it looks great and functions great while it is working it has been a big problem. One month after we got it the compressor broke down (when you spend 9K on a fridge you expect more than a month before it breaks!) and I had trouble getting an authorized subzero repairman to come before all our food spoiled. OK so the compressor got fixed. Well, here we go again. And this time (only 2 authorized repairmen in NYC!) I have to wait till Tuesday (I called them last Wed). So I am not looking forward to going back to NYC today and seeing if everything I had in it is ruined (I have sooo much stuff in that huge freezer ).

Next regret is our Fisher Paykel dish drawers and our Dacor range and convection microwave in our NYC apt.
Sensing a theme here. Our fault was we did no online research before purchasing in 2004. I didn't even know how to turn a computer on till 2006 but that's no excuse. My dh chose all the appliances except the fridge which I chose but every choice we made ended up being a poor one. Oh well, live and learn but we are still dealing with the consequences for sure.

I am so sorry for everyone who regrets purchasing their home. I totally understand how you can feel like that but for the new purchasers I would say to give it time. If you hold onto it long enough you will be able to sell for a profit or at least not a loss. And who knows...you may change your mind.

I know during the hurricane and after I was having second thoughts about the purchase of our new beach home- like what did we just do and is this the biggest mistake of our lives etc..but I know that it *probably* will be the best decision of our lives (I hope!) though right now it does feel like a money pit! Our bulkhead definitely needs to be repaired in one part if not the whole thing and we have to invest in a natural gas generator which is beginning to become this huge ordeal. We need waivers and permits from the town which will take months and the installation etc is going to cost more than double what we originally anticipated so I am sort of bummed right now. And on top of it all we still have not hired the person to install the generator because one guy didn't show up for the appt (he's out) and we only interviewed one other and we really need to do our due diligence before we spend over 10K doing this project. I worry while it takes all this time to hire someone, get the waivers (that takes months) and then the permits and then the actual installation we might be hit with a storm that causes our power to go out and then our sump pumps won't work and we will flood again. My dh is looking into short term alternatives while we go through this process but nothing is great. Gasoline generators, back up inverters, propane generators all for keeping the pumps pumping all have big drawbacks. Main one being we must be there at the time and keep it running and it is only for short term. Sigh.

I have more but I think I bored everyone enough.
I have lots of regrets but if you live life and take any risk that is to be expected I think.
Good luck everyone. I really hope that some of you will change your mind about your regrets after time!

 

[dogmama]

I will probably, probably get totally flamed for this! But I'm going to come out and say it. I regret getting my Leon Mege 3 stone setting.

*dodges rotten fruit*

It was my way of trying to get finger coverage since I knew that I wouldn't be getting a upgrade for at least 25 years or at all. So I thought, hey, this is a good investment. I was in denial from the moment I got it back. It was so low, and it just wasn't as simple or elegant as my Solasfera solitaire setting. But what could I do? So I sucked it up and just wore it. But in general I just felt so terribly sad about spending so much money on something I was disappointed and could have put towards student loans or a nice vacation for my husband.

I felt even worse when I suddenly and quite unexpectedly got an upgrade that my husband was pretty supportive of (and learning my lesson I stuck with a solitaire setting this time around) and couldn't unload either of my two previous settings!!! But wonderful man that he is, he simply said, when we have a child we'll use the LM as a right hand ring with a colored stone to mark the occasion.

So there is HUGE amounts of regret there but I seriously take that as a lesson learned. I have yet to be as impulsive as I was with that decision.

P.S. I also regretted my SP eternity that I got for a song b/c the stones were too big and therefore really uncomfortable on my 4.5 finger. I ended up resetting that into a DBTY necklace @ GOG. So minimal regret there now!

 

[LtlFirecracker]

My condo as well, which I bought in 2006. I am very upside down, and have resorted to short selling. I am having trouble doing that!

 

[Miss Sparkly]

Two actually. The first was a used Saturn Vue. That POS had so many things loose in it and sounded like a tin can of pennies as it rolled down the highway. After taking it back in for fixes weekly (to try and stop the rattles) we took it to another dealership to trade it in for something else. Thankfully they were running an amazing closeout special on a fully loaded Kia Optima (wonderful car BTW ) and we were able to squish about $9,000 of negative trade in equity into the Kia loan. Mistake here was that the only color option was black - try keeping black clean when you live in Idaho and drive country roads often The BEST purchase to come out of the Kia was gap insurance for $199. Just under one year later I was hit while getting onto the interstate and the Kia was totaled. Gap insurance covered almost 10k that the regular insurance didn't.

 

[lulu]

A 1980 Chevy Citation. Enough said.

 

[Phoenix]

I regret having purchased smaller bling and having set a few pieces of diamonds numerous times. I keep trying to tell myself that if I can just give what I end up not liking/ wearing to my sisters and nieces then that'd be fine, but the last time I saw them, they weren't wearing any of the stuff I'd given them. Fine, I know that once you give something away, you cannot decide when and even whether the stuff gets worn at all, but still what a waste of money! I'd rather the money had been given to charities instead, or I'd given my sisters and their families hard cash. Also, the stuff that gets reset and reset, I know that quite a few of us on PS get afflicted with this re-setting'itis, but it has got to be one of the biggest wastes of money! I'm learning to not do either again but it is hard, I have to admit.

 

[Amys Bling]

I'm teetering on whether or not I regret buying the estate- .60 transitional in a low color (buttery yellow in all lighting). Right mow it's in acting with bullets- but I'm dreaming up some sort of a yellow thin bezel surrounded by a white bezel pendant. So now in it's current state I'm possibly regretting it- but it was only 186.00.. Lol. I think once I start a project with it I will love it

 

[y2kitty]

No regrets per se, but instead of buying so many little pieces I could have bought one big one. But then I wouldn't have so many things that make me smile.

 

[Circe]

A Lucien Picard watch that I picked out for my 29th birthday. It's in the style of the Cartier tank, and I was hoping it would hold out until I could afford the real thing ... but after two years, the plating on the underside went, and it turns out that when they produce "gold tone" stainless steel, it can't be replated like normal jewelry.

So, $300 and a sentimental piece out the window - I can't bring myself to wear something banged up, and I can't bear to throw it away, so it sits in my jewelry box, glowering at me balefully.

Lessons learned: 1) never buy anything on Overstock, it's full of fake "deals" and crap quality. 2) Just buy vintage! They made it better back in the day. 3) Imitation anything will always disappoint.

Other than that, though, may I give a giant hand-clap to Jen W's words of wisdom? Life is, indeed, too short. So, lesson learned, and onwards! My bigger regrets are for the things I didn't do/buy - the gorgeous YSL jacket I missed at the flea market last year before Halloween, the gorgeous padparadscha-colored silk skirt with the crinoline I lost to a woman who was talking about tearing out the crinoline (vandal!) at a Fashion's Night Out event at my favorite thrift store. BAH.

 

[Rhea]

I have another one. A big for me one.

DH and I bought couches, really nice leather ones, because the difference in quality was huge from other places. So around $4,500 on these nice couches. Our circumstances have changed and while I enjoyed the two years we used them, I really wish we'd bought something less expensive. I like 1950s furniture and found a chair today I'd like to have. We could have mixed and matched, inexpensive ikea sofa bed with lovely 1950s Ercol chair. But we wanted a set. And leather because of cat barf. And sofa bed so we could have guests. And these really very large sofas fit well in our flat...the rented flat we no longer have. It's not huge, but it's one of most costly purchases to date.

 

[Black Jade]

Thread jack: Crasru can you tell you where you bought the alexandrite? I have a friend looking for one and we cannot find anywhere that sells them. I have combed the Colored Stones forum for information and not finding anywhere.

Actually, I regret purchasing my alexandrite but not the stone itself, but purchasing it over another alexandrite that I saw that day.
Also, one of my Mahenges which is nothing compared to the alexandrite in price but I just do not like it.

 

[Black Jade]

Hmm, I definitely don't regret my car or my house or big things like that--but I take a long to decide to buy things and am pretty much always satisfied when I finally get them.

The one thing I can think of that I OFTEN regret nowadays is going out to a movie, especially if I did not check it out before hand and finding out once in the theatre that there are a lot of things in it that I'd rather not be paying $10 or more to see and hear. I rarely go to the movies anymore for that reason. It's not the money, it's the waste of time.

 

[lyra]

Always furniture. I never pick the right thing. Right now it is our family room leather couches. They are 3 months old and look like crap. Our previous set lasted 10 years and looked great. Paid the same for these ($4000) and they are all stretched out, saggy and gross. In fact, we already had the loveseat replaced once, and DH is phoning tomorrow to see what further recourse we have. Ugh! Yes, things were made much better back in the day. I believe at one point my parents had vinyl that looked better and lasted longer!

 

[Bliss]

I don't know if it's a regret, but I sure wasted a ton of money setting and resetting my 2.16 ctw studs! I think I had 5 settings in all - just tryyyyying to love them as studs, even though I had a pair of studs already. Some of them were platinum settings, too. Sigh. Waste of money! But they sure were fun, anyway. Finally, Yekutiel at ID Jewelry made them into danglies with baby oval leverbacks, which was what I really truly wanted. Have been loving and living in them since - and that was a year ago, I think!

Other jewelry purchases I don't regret at all, since each one means something very special. Now that I have a baby girl, she's going to get it all - so that makes me very happy! I can't wait to start giving it to her and seeing her wear the pieces I have loved so very much. Since they have stories behind them, I know she will treasure them!

Hmmm...other regrets? Not much. I usually shrug off most purchases that turned out to be a bust. I guess my platinum ruby eternity is a small regret since I never ever wear it. I remember also wasting a ridiculous sum on a necklace I saw Lara Flynn Boyle wear in the movie Men in Black II. Tracked it down and bought it at Ten Thousand Things in NYC. Wore it once and have no idea where it is now. I almost bought the algerian love knot necklace Vesper wore in the James Bond movie Casino Royale. That would have been a $4k mistake! My new rule is, I don't buy on impulse anymore or I end up wasting money on things I don't wear. That having been stated, I recently bought a gold Zoe Chicco necklace "I Heart NY" with a diamond in it on impulse the other day and realized on the way home that I'll probably never wear it. It's teeny and delicate, so maybe I can give it to my daughter one day. Since she was born here, it will have meaning for her hopefully! I think it'll look cute on her when she's a teen, no?

 

[missy]

It's not the money, it's the waste of time.

This is so true Black Jade. You can never get back time and time is priceless. That is why I am so picky as to how I spend it. It all goes so fast.

 

[iLander]

Two actually. The first was a used Saturn Vue. That POS had so many things loose in it and sounded like a tin can of pennies as it rolled down the highway. After taking it back in for fixes weekly (to try and stop the rattles) we took it to another dealership to trade it in for something else. Thankfully they were running an amazing closeout special on a fully loaded Kia Optima (wonderful car BTW ) and we were able to squish about $9,000 of negative trade in equity into the Kia loan. Mistake here was that the only color option was black - try keeping black clean when you live in Idaho and drive country roads often The BEST purchase to come out of the Kia was gap insurance for $199. Just under one year later I was hit while getting onto the interstate and the Kia was totaled. Gap insurance covered almost 10k that the regular insurance didn't.

Tell me about this gap insurance! What is that?

 

[bee*]

The purchase I most regret is my car. I absolutely love it but I bought it a couple of months before I got accepted into college and so the money would have been better going into something else. I don't think I'd buy an expensive car again.

 

[iLander]

Around fifteen years ago I bought a steel and 18K gold Rolex.
I don't know what I was thinking as I rarely wear it.

Why don't you sell it?

 

[iLander]

I regret buying our 48 inch subzero side by side 7 years ago. It was an extravagant purchase that dh tried to talk me out of but I was set on having my huge subzero. And while it looks great and functions great while it is working it has been a big problem. One month after we got it the compressor broke down (when you spend 9K on a fridge you expect more than a month before it breaks!) and I had trouble getting an authorized subzero repairman to come before all our food spoiled. OK so the compressor got fixed. Well, here we go again. And this time (only 2 authorized repairmen in NYC!) I have to wait till Tuesday (I called them last Wed). So I am not looking forward to going back to NYC today and seeing if everything I had in it is ruined (I have sooo much stuff in that huge freezer ).

Next regret is our Fisher Paykel dish drawers and our Dacor range and convection microwave in our NYC apt.
Sensing a theme here. Our fault was we did no online research before purchasing in 2004. I didn't even know how to turn a computer on till 2006 but that's no excuse. My dh chose all the appliances except the fridge which I chose but every choice we made ended up being a poor one. Oh well, live and learn but we are still dealing with the consequences for sure.

I know what my retirement job will be; subZero repair guy in NYC!

Actually, I fell for a Bosch dishwasher and it was a nightmare. I finally got rid of it after 87,000 repairs and got a $200 GE. Works great.

 

[iLander]

My condo as well, which I bought in 2006. I am very upside down, and have resorted to short selling. I am having trouble doing that!

I just sold a house (it's horrible, isn't it?) and I swear it's the PS dust that did it. Start a thread and ask for dust.

Here, I'll start; house selling dust for you!!

 

[Miss Sparkly]

Two actually. The first was a used Saturn Vue. That POS had so many things loose in it and sounded like a tin can of pennies as it rolled down the highway. After taking it back in for fixes weekly (to try and stop the rattles) we took it to another dealership to trade it in for something else. Thankfully they were running an amazing closeout special on a fully loaded Kia Optima (wonderful car BTW ) and we were able to squish about $9,000 of negative trade in equity into the Kia loan. Mistake here was that the only color option was black - try keeping black clean when you live in Idaho and drive country roads often The BEST purchase to come out of the Kia was gap insurance for $199. Just under one year later I was hit while getting onto the interstate and the Kia was totaled. Gap insurance covered almost 10k that the regular insurance didn't.

Tell me about this gap insurance! What is that?

Gap insurance as most dealerships call it (USAA calls it Total Loss Protection) is a one time fee insurance that can be bought when the car is purchased. In the event of an accident in which the vehicle is totaled the Gap Insurance will pay for the difference between the current value of the car (as deemed by the at-fault insurance company) and the loan amount. In my case the insurance company of the at-fault driver paid just over 12k and the gap insurance paid about 10k. If I didn't have that insurance I would have been on the hook for 10k and without a car Another lesson learned - never buy a new car. The value fell a few thousand as soon as it rolled off the lot

 

[iLander]

I regret having purchased smaller bling and having set a few pieces of diamonds numerous times. I keep trying to tell myself that if I can just give what I end up not liking/ wearing to my sisters and nieces then that'd be fine, but the last time I saw them, they weren't wearing any of the stuff I'd given them. Fine, I know that once you give something away, you cannot decide when and even whether the stuff gets worn at all, but still what a waste of money! I'd rather the money had been given to charities instead, or I'd given my sisters and their families hard cash. Also, the stuff that gets reset and reset, I know that quite a few of us on PS get afflicted with this re-setting'itis, but it has got to be one of the biggest wastes of money! I'm learning to not do either again but it is hard, I have to admit.

You can try giving pieces to charity to auction off. Then you can deduct the price from your taxes!

 

[iLander]

I have another one. A big for me one.

DH and I bought couches, really nice leather ones, because the difference in quality was huge from other places. So around $4,500 on these nice couches. Our circumstances have changed and while I enjoyed the two years we used them, I really wish we'd bought something less expensive. I like 1950s furniture and found a chair today I'd like to have. We could have mixed and matched, inexpensive ikea sofa bed with lovely 1950s Ercol chair. But we wanted a set. And leather because of cat barf. And sofa bed so we could have guests. And these really very large sofas fit well in our flat...the rented flat we no longer have. It's not huge, but it's one of most costly purchases to date.

I have learned that "heirloom furniture" is an oxymoron. I have owned 8 couches since we got married, not ONE fit in the next place.

 

[iLander]

Two actually. The first was a used Saturn Vue. That POS had so many things loose in it and sounded like a tin can of pennies as it rolled down the highway. After taking it back in for fixes weekly (to try and stop the rattles) we took it to another dealership to trade it in for something else. Thankfully they were running an amazing closeout special on a fully loaded Kia Optima (wonderful car BTW ) and we were able to squish about $9,000 of negative trade in equity into the Kia loan. Mistake here was that the only color option was black - try keeping black clean when you live in Idaho and drive country roads often The BEST purchase to come out of the Kia was gap insurance for $199. Just under one year later I was hit while getting onto the interstate and the Kia was totaled. Gap insurance covered almost 10k that the regular insurance didn't.

Tell me about this gap insurance! What is that?

Gap insurance as most dealerships call it (USAA calls it Total Loss Protection) is a one time fee insurance that can be bought when the car is purchased. In the event of an accident in which the vehicle is totaled the Gap Insurance will pay for the difference between the current value of the car (as deemed by the at-fault insurance company) and the loan amount. In my case the insurance company of the at-fault driver paid just over 12k and the gap insurance paid about 10k. If I didn't have that insurance I would have been on the hook for 10k and without a car Another lesson learned - never buy a new car. The value fell a few thousand as soon as it rolled off the lot

I suspect I can get an insurance agent to sell me gap insurance. Have you EVER met an agent that said "Gee, no I can't sell you that policy"? Thanks for the info, I'm going to check this out for sure!

 

[zoebartlett]

I thought of another one. We bought two couches 2 years ago. The store's lighting was fabulous of course, and when we walked in and I saw 2 lime green couches sitting in the middle of the floor, I knew they were meant to be ours. Not those exact ones, but in that color. I thought we were being brave by going with that shade but we LOVED it. Well, lighting's tricky (which I knew but must have forgotten about), because the real color isn't lime. It's basic green. I fell out of love.

Not only that, but the stuffing has moved out of the corners of the back cushions and they look all warped and saggy. I specifically mentioned that I wanted to choose whatever insides would make the cushions look great after a few year's wear. After just two years, it looks like our set is really worn because of the funky shaped cushions. It's frustrating.

 

[iLander]

I try to buy EVERYTHING at Costco, or on their website. I can (and have) return a ton of stuff, even years later. So that helps keep down the regrets.

But I do regret a particularly virulent hobby that I had for a while . . .

Ready?

Teddy bears. Hundreds of them. Not the cheap ones, the expensive Steiff bears, the artist mohair bears, the limited edition high end, the antiques, the hundreds-of-dollars-each stuff. In my old house they were fabulous and filled the sitting area off of the bedroom with happy smiles. Now they sit in boxes, all stuck away .

I have one that I really regret, but he is magnificent. A huge bear, he stands about 4 feet tall and weighs about 80 lbs. He's glorious, all mohair with a wonderful expression. BUT, he's huge and requires a full size chair all to himself and cost almost $1K. I would sell him on ebay, like I have with a lot of the others, but HOW am I going to ship that guy? He's too big for UPS or anything, he would require a crated shipment, easily $800 to ship. Sigh . . .

When I finally realized that I was out of room for bears, I started to collect mini bears, like little Ted below. And the sickness isn't over; I still get a tiny bear for every Christmas or birthday.

I guess I should understand my issue; when I came to this country, I only had my teddy bear from my mother (I never saw her again) and I still have him. Then on my honeymoon, my DH got me a stuffed fluffy bear. Then DH really started it the problem, when he bought me a "collector" bear because it was cute. So, it's DH's fault!

I'm going to go and remind him of that right now . . .

 

[Miss Sparkly]

I try to buy EVERYTHING at Costco, or on their website. I can (and have) return a ton of stuff, even years later. So that helps keep down the regrets.

But I do regret a particularly virulent hobby that I had for a while . . .

Ready?

Teddy bears. Hundreds of them. Not the cheap ones, the expensive Steiff bears, the artist mohair bears, the limited edition high end, the antiques, the hundreds-of-dollars-each stuff. In my old house they were fabulous and filled the sitting area off of the bedroom with happy smiles. Now they sit in boxes, all stuck away .

I have one that I really regret, but he is magnificent. A huge bear, he stands about 4 feet tall and weighs about 80 lbs. He's glorious, all mohair with a wonderful expression. BUT, he's huge and requires a full size chair all to himself and cost almost $1K. I would sell him on ebay, like I have with a lot of the others, but HOW am I going to ship that guy? He's too big for UPS or anything, he would require a crated shipment, easily $800 to ship. Sigh . . .

When I finally realized that I was out of room for bears, I started to collect mini bears, like little Ted below. And the sickness isn't over; I still get a tiny bear for every Christmas or birthday.

I guess I should understand my issue; when I came to this country, I only had my teddy bear from my mother (I never saw her again) and I still have him. Then on my honeymoon, my DH got me a stuffed fluffy bear. Then DH really started it the problem, when he bought me a "collector" bear because it was cute. So, it's DH's fault!

I'm going to go and remind him of that right now . . .

Oooh, I want a four foot teddybear Just put in him the passenger seat so you can use the carpool lane

 

[Amber St. Clare]

When I got out of rehab I bought myself a micro pave dome ring that has a row of baguettes around it. It's a really nice ring, but it was expensive and I bought it because I told myself I deserved it, NOT because it was a good buy, because it definitely wasn't. I still have it, I don't wear it all that often and it gives me more regret than pleasure when I look at it.

 

[missy]

I regret buying our 48 inch subzero side by side 7 years ago. It was an extravagant purchase that dh tried to talk me out of but I was set on having my huge subzero. And while it looks great and functions great while it is working it has been a big problem. One month after we got it the compressor broke down (when you spend 9K on a fridge you expect more than a month before it breaks!) and I had trouble getting an authorized subzero repairman to come before all our food spoiled. OK so the compressor got fixed. Well, here we go again. And this time (only 2 authorized repairmen in NYC!) I have to wait till Tuesday (I called them last Wed). So I am not looking forward to going back to NYC today and seeing if everything I had in it is ruined (I have sooo much stuff in that huge freezer ).

Next regret is our Fisher Paykel dish drawers and our Dacor range and convection microwave in our NYC apt.
Sensing a theme here. Our fault was we did no online research before purchasing in 2004. I didn't even know how to turn a computer on till 2006 but that's no excuse. My dh chose all the appliances except the fridge which I chose but every choice we made ended up being a poor one. Oh well, live and learn but we are still dealing with the consequences for sure.

I know what my retirement job will be; subZero repair guy in NYC!

Actually, I fell for a Bosch dishwasher and it was a nightmare. I finally got rid of it after 87,000 repairs and got a $200 GE. Works great.

I'll be your first customer because no other fridge will fit in that space LOL so we're stuck with it!

Our Fisher Paykel repairman told us to replace it with a cheap dishwasher and it would be better than the Fisher Paykel which cost a fortune in 2004. This poor guy came to our house about 4 times in the first 2 years of us owning it. He always would order a part and temporarily fix it but it would never last more than 6 months. Luckily my dh is very very handy and intelligent. He decided enough was enough (as I wouldn't get a new dishwasher on principle- we had 2 of these one at each home)and he took apart the dishwasher and figured out how to fix it. That was in 2006 and knock wood it's still working and no repairman for the Fisher Paykel has been necessary since he did that. Too bad the subzero is a bit more difficult. We think it is the compressor so we'll see what the repairman has to say. Ugh I am seriously considering buying an extra fridge/freezer here in NYC but there really is no place to out it and what a waste of money. I just don't want to lose the whole freezer of food...maybe a small chest freezer? Or are we going to regret that purchase too.

 

[Tacori E-ring]

I am surprised so many people regret buying their homes. I really can't think of anything I regret buying...probably I don't buy much I spend a lot of time when I am looking for an item. Also, I try to live with as few of regrets as possible.