We learn from mistakes, right? So they're worth making. Unless that mistake costs you your living wage...then maybe not. Maybe you were better off erring on the side of caution.
u/One_Car_Garage asked Reddit:
What is the most expensive mistake you have ever made?
Here were some of the answers.
Millennia Mistake
GiphyBought a 40 year old house on 3 acres that was 3' above flood line of the century.
4 years later we had a 1000 year flood.
$160,000 so far to remodel. In cash cause didn't have flood insurance.
Water Water Water
GiphyThere was a leak from my bathroom upstairs to the kitchen right underneath it. Every time someone would shower, water would slowly begin to drip into the kitchen. I thought there was a leak somewhere in the drain pipe and I took the kitchen ceiling down looking for it. And this was an old home, so there was this cement type of plaster with metal latticework through it on top of wood slats. It took forever to expose the drain pipe... only to find out that the little knob thing on the shower faucet that you pull up to turn on the shower had broken and I just needed to replace that. That piece costs me $7. Then I had to completely replace my kitchen ceiling.
House Time
GiphyDad passed away, I was given his house 2+ hours away while wife and I had a newborn and were working full time. Let lifelong friend move in for monthly rent and he actually helped fix up the house and keep it in good condition. His gf started staying the night once in a while at the house, then more often. Him and gf had falling out. He left and stopped paying rent as we discussed. I sent family over to check on the house... Someone's living there? I check on house that weekend. It's my friend's now ex-gf living there.
She asks for 1 week to move all her stuff out that I didn't even know was there. I had my new family in the car with me and was not prepared for having to remove someone and all their stuff so I said ok. I was to come back the following weekend when my schedule allowed and she would be gone. Well this final week let her have a full 30 days living at my house, and she had proof, so she was now a resident and needed a full legal eviction to get her out of my house.
When youre involved in an eviction, there's all sorts of help and organizations and websites for the person living at the house to get answers. For the "landlord" evicting the tennant, I found almost nil. Had to pay a crap ton of money and had to drive to the county courthouse 2+ hours away like 6-8 times over the next two months to get her out of my dad's house. During this time, I was not allowed to enter the house.
I set up cameras on the neighbor's property with their permission, attempting record damage to the house, parties, theft of my property still at the residence... Didn't get jack squat.
She did about 40k damage to the home, stole a lot of my dad's belongings that were hidden in the attic, and cost me an insane amount of time. Well, really I did this to myself by letting my "friend" move in. Took almost 2 full years of going across the state every weekend to work on the house. I guess I can pay more money to go after her for the damages to the house, but she was living off illegal means and state aid during this whole process and would never be able to pay me back.
One final kicker... The house was heated via fuel oil in Michigan, and we have cold winters. This bitch ran out of fuel oil in late December, and she didn't have $150 needed to get a fuel oil delivery (you have to order a minimum amount to get them to drive out to your house and put fuel oil in your tank). She used electric heaters and had several of them running all winter to compensate. Because she was on state aid or some crap, the company couldn't shut off her power in middle of winter, so she racked up an average of $1,700 a month in electric bills over the winter. When I went to put the power back in my name, I was told that I have to pay her $6,300 balance before the power could be restored. This was because I didn't set up some landlord program with the power company in the first place. This took another 3 months or so, and a couple hundred to a lawyer, to get straightened out.
Wew I feel better. I think I made this long as hell so no-one actually reads it. It's like I'm pissed at her and myself all over again. Anyways, house is fixed up and sold now - for less than half the profit we originally anticipated. Jesus I lost so much money.
Tuition Down The Drain
GiphyI earned a few academic scholarships out of high school but didn't know how to use them. I figured they would have been automatically applied but I didn't start college right away so my lack of understanding, preparation, and willingness to ask people in the know resulted in me losing a couple thousand dollars toward my education.
Passions
GiphyWhen I built my first gaming PC back in 2005 I spent $800+ on the CPU alone. It was probably something meant for workstations and serious multitasking, and I stupidly thought "more expensive = better!". I could have had the same performance for gaming with something in the $200-300 range most likely. About a year later I also spent ~$500 on a second video card to get SLI, which was a big scam novelty at the time. The performance increase was super negligible and a giant waste of money.
I will say though, seeing some of the other responses in here makes me feel slightly better about my mistake.
Trust Lessons
GiphyI once trusted a person who said they needed cash to go to Boston to see a sick relative. I gave him 80 bucks for a bus there and back.
He shows up driving with a friend of his. I then realized he was scamming me.
Confirmed the next day when his girlfriend called and said he was arrested and she needed money to go see him. She said that he said I was his only friend, blah blah blah. And she asked for $100 to be money ordered to her.
Blocked numbers. I only lost $80 but I learned a huge lesson in trust.
How Rude
GiphyRented a U-Haul to move from appartment to condo (same town), and bumped one of the balconies in the alley behind the condos. Put a very small dent in the canopy part of the truck, and when we returned the truck they told us since we didn't get the insurance we would have to pay for the fix within 48 hours.
They said that it would cost $4800 to fix, and they refused to let me take it to a third party mechanic for a quote. Then they said that if we didn't pay within 48 hours, it would go to court where it would be doubled.
I wasn't to well off then, financially, and maybe too naive, but we decided to pay to avoid having it doubled.
My wife was in tears at the counter as she gave them her credit card.
F*CK U-HAUL!! They'll never get another penny from me, the rest of my life.
You Don't Even Work Here
GiphyNot my mistake but an employee of mine was mixing pigment with powder to create a certain color ( I used to be work in Rotomolding) and accidentally used the wrong powder costing us $2600. But it doesn't end there because unfortunately my brother (Floor Manager) decided to give him another shot since it was his first week on the job still and put him on the machines with him. A little backstory on the molds on the machines they are welded then coated with Teflon (expensive asf) so we can only use plastic scrapers on them to scrape the other excess plastic, well this guy ignored my brothers warning and used a metal scraper quite nearly stripping all of the teflon (cant mold something that has scratches all over it or it comes out fucked) Needless to say he cost us $5000+ in damages in one day, and fired on the spot this time.
*sidenote this employee was fully trained and warned about these potential mishaps before each shift and during.
A House Is Not A Home
GiphyMy parents bought a victorian farmhouse a year or so before they divorced. They'd already renovated a couple of houses at this point (it was partly a hobby, and partly a way of saving money) so didn't think twice about it.
Day 1 they realise that the house is falling apart. The garage can't even be entered because it's being propped up with a bunch of junk the previous owners decided to 'include' with the property. There's a well which was offered to them as a feature of the house but in actuality it's dangerous and something is wrong with the water so they end up having to pay an expert to cap it and pave over the area. There were a bunch of other problems but I was a toddler at the time so I don't remember the stuff that didn't directly affect me.
Anyway, when they divorced my Dad signed the house over to my Mum so she didn't have to juggle househunting while raising me. It was meant to be a generous move but honestly accepting that house was the biggest financial mistake my Mum ever made. It took her 12 years to save enough to move out. Constant repairs. There were rooms we never even used because they were in such disrepair. Even when we sold it she ended up spending an extra few thousands because the surveyor found that the foundations were messed up or the drains were weird or something like that. I remember she cried when we moved out because she'd finally built the house she wanted and then she had to leave it behind.
Spain
GiphyIt was my second try to get my driving license back in Spain.
Everything went well apparently. I was asked to park the car so I parked it in a huge space. It was in front of a garage door, so I thought "I'll move it backwards a bit". Little by little, I suddenly heard a huge thud. I hit the back car.
Funniest thing, that garage door was unused and I could've left the car there, and that was the end of the test. But of course, I failed.
Now, I don't know about other countries, but in Spain (at least my region) there's no tests in August, and this was right before that. So I had to keep going to driving lessons for a month, failed a 3rd time, until I passed at the 4th try, and in total I spent like 1000€ more than what I should.
I'll always remember this.
Experiencing death is a fascinating and frightening idea.
Who doesn't want to know what is waiting for us on the other side?
But so many of us want to know and then come back and live a little longer.
It would be so great to be sure there is something else.
But the whole dying part is not that great, so we'll have to rely on other people's accounts.
Redditor AlaskaStiletto wanted to hear from everyone who has returned to life, so they asked:
"Redditors who have 'died' and come back to life, what did you see?"
Sensations
Happy Good Vibes GIF by Major League SoccerGiphy"My dad's heart stopped when he had a heart attack and he had to be brought back to life. He kept the paper copy of the heart monitor which shows he flatlined. He said he felt an overwhelming sensation of peace, like nothing he had felt before."
PeachesnPain
Recovery
"I had surgical complications in 2010 that caused a great deal of blood loss. As a result, I had extremely low blood pressure and could barely stay awake. I remember feeling like I was surrounded by loved ones who had passed. They were in a circle around me and I knew they were there to guide me onwards. I told them I was not ready to go because my kids needed me and I came back."
"My nurse later said she was afraid she’d find me dead every time she came into the room."
"It took months, and blood transfusions, but I recovered."
good_golly99
Take Me Back
"Overwhelming peace and happiness. A bright airy and floating feeling. I live a very stressful life. Imagine finding out the person you have had a crush on reveals they have the same feelings for you and then you win the lotto later that day - that was the feeling I had."
"I never feared death afterward and am relieved when I hear of people dying after suffering from an illness."
rayrayrayray
Free
The Light Minnie GIF by (G)I-DLEGiphy"I had a heart surgery with near-death experience, for me at least (well the possibility that those effects are caused by morphine is also there) I just saw black and nothing else but it was warm and I had such inner peace, its weird as I sometimes still think about it and wish this feeling of being so light and free again."
TooReDTooHigh
This is why I hate surgery.
You just never know.
Shocked
Giphy"More of a near-death experience. I was electrocuted. I felt like I was in a deep hole looking straight up in the sky. My life flashed before me. Felt sad for my family, but I had a deep sense of peace."
Admirable_Buyer6528
The SOB
"Nursing in the ICU, we’ve had people try to die on us many times during the years, some successfully. One guy stood out to me. His heart stopped. We called a code, are working on him, and suddenly he comes to. We hadn’t vented him yet, so he was able to talk, and he started screaming, 'Don’t let them take me, don’t let them take me, they are coming,' he was scared and yelling."
"Then he yelled a little more, as we tried to calm him down, he screamed, 'No, No,' and gestured towards the end of the bed, and died again. We didn’t get him back. It was seriously creepy. We called his son to tell him the news, and the son said basically, 'Good, he was an SOB.'”
1-cupcake-at-a-time
Colors
"My sister died and said it was extremely peaceful. She said it was very loud like a train station and lots of talking and she was stuck in this area that was like a curtain with lots of beautiful colors (colors that you don’t see in real life according to her) a man told her 'He was sorry, but she had to go back as it wasn’t her time.'"
Hannah_LL7
"I had a really similar experience except I was in an endless garden with flowers that were colors I had never seen before. It was quiet and peaceful and a woman in a dress looked at me, shook her head, and just said 'Not yet.' As I was coming back, it was extremely loud, like everyone in the world was trying to talk all at once. It was all very disorienting but it changed my perspective on life!"
huntokarrr
The Fog
"I was in a gray fog with a girl who looked a lot like a young version of my grandmother (who was still alive) but dressed like a pioneer in the 1800s she didn't say anything but kept pulling me towards an opening in the wall. I kept refusing to go because I was so tired."
"I finally got tired of her nagging and went and that's when I came to. I had bled out during a c-section and my heart could not beat without blood. They had to deliver the baby and sew up the bleeders. refill me with blood before they could restart my heart so, like, at least 12 minutes gone."
Fluffy-Hotel-5184
Through the Walls
"My spouse was dead for a couple of minutes one miserable night. She maintains that she saw nothing, but only heard people talking about her like through a wall. The only thing she remembers for absolute certain was begging an ER nurse that she didn't want to die."
"She's quite alive and well today."
Hot-Refrigerator6583
Well let's all be happy to be alive.
It seems to be all we have.
Trying to lose weight is a struggle understood by many people regardless of size.
The goal of reaching a healthy weight may seem unattainable, but with diet and exercise, it can pay off through persistence and discipline.
Seeing the pounds gradually drop off can also be a great motivator and incentivize people to stay the course.
Those who've achieved their respective weight goals shared their experiences when Redditor apprenti8455 asked:
"People who lost a lot of weight, what surprises you the most now?"
Redditors didn't see these coming.
Shiver Me Timbers
"I’m always cold now!"
– Telrom_1
"I had a coworker lose over 130 pounds five or six years ago. I’ve never seen him without a jacket on since."
– r7ndom
"140 lbs lost here starting just before COVID, I feel like that little old lady that's always cold, damn this top comment was on point lmao."
– mr_remy
Drawing Concern
"I lost 100 pounds over a year and a half but since I’m old(70’s) it seems few people comment on it because (I think) they think I’m wasting away from some terminal illness."
– dee-fondy
"Congrats on the weight loss! It’s honestly a real accomplishment 🙂"
"Working in oncology, I can never comment on someone’s weight loss unless I specifically know it was on purpose, regardless of their age. I think it kind of ruffles feathers at times, but like I don’t want to congratulate someone for having cancer or something. It’s a weird place to be in."
– LizardofDeath
Unleashing Insults
"I remember when I lost the first big chunk of weight (around 50 lbs) it was like it gave some people license to talk sh*t about the 'old' me. Old coworkers, friends, made a lot of not just negative, but harsh comments about what I used to look like. One person I met after the big loss saw a picture of me prior and said, 'Wow, we wouldn’t even be friends!'”
"It wasn’t extremely common, but I was a little alarmed by some of the attention. My weight has been up and down since then, but every time I gain a little it gets me a little down thinking about those things people said."
– alanamablamaspama
Not Everything Goes After Losing Weight
"The loose skin is a bit unexpected."
– KeltarCentauri
"I haven’t experienced it myself, but surgery to remove skin takes a long time to recover. Longer than bariatric surgery and usually isn’t covered by insurance unless you have both."
– KatMagic1977
"It definitely does take a long time to recover. My Dad dropped a little over 200 pounds a few years back and decided to go through with skin removal surgery to deal with the excess. His procedure was extensive, as in he had skin taken from just about every part of his body excluding his head, and he went through hell for weeks in recovery, and he was bedridden for a lot of it."
– Jaew96
These Redditors shared their pleasantly surprising experiences.
Shopping
"I can buy clothes in any store I want."
– WaySavvyD
"When I lost weight I was dying to go find cute, smaller clothes and I really struggled. As someone who had always been restricted to one or two stores that catered to plus-sized clothing, a full mall of shops with items in my size was daunting. Too many options and not enough knowledge of brands that were good vs cheap. I usually went home pretty frustrated."
– ganache98012
No More Symptoms
"Lost about 80 pounds in the past year and a half, biggest thing that I’ve noticed that I haven’t seen mentioned on here yet is my acid reflux and heartburn are basically gone. I used to be popping tums every couple hours and now they just sit in the medicine cabinet collecting dust."
– colleennicole93
Expanding Capabilities
"I'm all for not judging people by their appearance and I recognise that there are unhealthy, unachievable beauty standards, but one thing that is undeniable is that I can just do stuff now. Just stamina and flexibility alone are worth it, appearance is tertiary at best."
– Ramblonius
People Change Their Tune
"How much nicer people are to you."
"My feet weren't 'wide' they were 'fat.'"
– LiZZygsu
"Have to agree. Lost 220 lbs, people make eye contact and hold open doors and stuff"
"And on the foot thing, I also lost a full shoe size numerically and also wear regular width now 😅"
– awholedamngarden
It's gonna take some getting used to.
Bones Everywhere
"Having bones. Collarbones, wrist bones, knee bones, hip bones, ribs. I have so many bones sticking out everywhere and it’s weird as hell."
– Princess-Pancake-97
"I noticed the shadow of my ribs the other day and it threw me, there’s a whole skeleton in here."
– bekastrange
Knee Pillow
"Right?! And they’re so … pointy! Now I get why people sleep with pillows between their legs - the knee bones laying on top of each other (side sleeper here) is weird and jarring."
– snic2030
"I lost only 40 pounds within the last year or so. I’m struggling to relate to most of these comments as I feel like I just 'slimmed down' rather than dropped a ton. But wow, the pillow between the knees at night. YES! I can relate to this. I think a lot of my weight was in my thighs. I never needed to do this up until recently."
– Strongbad23
More Mobility
"I’ve lost 100 lbs since 2020. It’s a collection of little things that surprise me. For at least 10 years I couldn’t put on socks, or tie my shoes. I couldn’t bend over and pick something up. I couldn’t climb a ladder to fix something. Simple things like that I can do now that fascinate me."
"Edit: Some additional little things are sitting in a chair with arms, sitting in a booth in a restaurant, being able to shop in a normal store AND not needing to buy the biggest size there, being able to easily wipe my butt, and looking down and being able to see my penis."
– dma1965
People making significant changes, whether for mental or physical health, can surely find a newfound perspective on life.
But they can also discover different issues they never saw coming.
That being said, overcoming any challenge in life is laudable, especially if it leads to gaining confidence and ditching insecurities.