Redditor BasalTripod9684 was eager to hear the most ill-advised financial decisions the Reddit community ever witnessed someone else do, leading them to ask:
"What's the worst financial decision you've seen someone make?"
Did The Wedding Even Happen?
"I knew someone who got a loan for their wedding, but decided to blow it all at a casino."
"Now they have a loan for 20k to pay off and nothing to show for it."- armbar222
Has He Ever Head Of Brita?
"A friend of mine who is very bad with money and his girlfriend bought some sort of water filtration system from a door to door salesman."
"He has to pay something like $300/month for this filtration system."
"He was all stoked because it came with a free set of pots and pans."
'Fast forward a year and his girlfriend has broken up with him, moved out of the house, and he's had to sell his home because he can't afford to live there."
"The water filtration system is now sitting in a storage unit where he still pays $300/month for it because he's on a 2 or 3 year contract (sorry the details are fuzzy)."
"We have great water quality in my area."- Anin1987
Overtime and Salary Are Two Different Things...
"A coworker I used to have worked every second of overtime he could for several years to save up for a house."
"When he applied for the house loan, he based his mortgage payment on all of the overtime he had been working."
"I tried to tell him that wasn't a good idea but he didn't want to hear it."
"He ended up divorced a few years later because his wife got tired of him always working."- rubysundance
No One Is Invincible, Even The Yankees...
"A guy in my fraternity got 30k for an undisclosed reason, I’m guessing a family death or something and he bet it all on the Yankees winning one game."
"They lost."- bulbipicg
Collecting Dust, Right Next To Their Pogs and Tamagotchis...
"A dude who owned a small convenience store in our town spent like $20,000 on fidget spinners."
"He was posting for like a year begging people to buy them as he would lose his business and his marriage was falling apart due to it."- Solid_Internal_9079
Kind Of Amazing This Loan Was Approved...
"My supervisor took out a loan against their 401k to pay their rent because 'their credit cards were maxed'."
"Two weeks later, they bought a brand new 60k Lincoln with basically nothing down because 'her daughter just had a baby and I need a bigger car for that'."- ErraticA09
GIF by Matea RadicGiphyJealousy Isn't A Good Color On Anyone...
"My maternal grandmother bought an 8-plex to avoid capital gains when she sold her large house."
"The apartment complex was in the red and needed a lot of repairs."
"She hired my father to do them and be on-site manager."
"The place started making money."
"My mom (divorced from my dad) was mad that my grandma bought it in the first place, then hired my dad, then was proved wrong because it was making money."
"My grandma was in her 90s and my mom pressured her for years so my grandma finally sold it."
"That place is in a high market area and is now worth millions."
"My mom made a poor financial decision based on petty spite."- Sensitive-Umpire2375
Shopaholics Are Real...
"Ran up credit card debt requiring bankruptcy."
"Once they were able to build credit again (7 years later) they proceeded to run up a massive amount of debt again, but couldn’t go bankrupt again, so they used 'debt consolidation'.”
"The debt didn’t come from sudden expenses."
"They just needed to buy things to feel better."- Left-Star2240
Fashion Shopping GIF by T.J.MaxxGiphyThose Who Keep Running Eventually Get Caught...
"Put everything in his gf's name to hide assets as he owed the IRS, the gf sold his business, cashed out his accounts and ran."- RavenBear2005·
One Can Only Hope He Was Happy...
"Had a co-worker with 5 kids who could all go to USC for free once he has worked there for 15 years (even if he quit)."
"He quit at 14.5 years for a job that barely paid more than he made at USC."
"Cost all 5 kids a free education at a top school since he couldn't wait 6 more months."- theangryburrito
Never Buy Something On Blind Faith...
"My brother's ex fell for a Craig's list scam."
"She found a motorcycle and the guy 'needed money up front to pay bills' before she even saw it."
"We told her don't do it, it's a scam."
"She said she already sent $1000."
"Of course, he was never available to show her the bike and we found out from my brother after they broke up she actually continued sending him money in hopes of getting the motorcycle."
"I think she was out $3,000 by the end."- XCCO
crash fail GIFGiphyWe All Have Our Collections...
"My coworker has 25k in anime figurines."
"He is in mega debt right now."- tankurd
Where To Even Begin?
"My former sister-in-law had a thriving medical practice."
"She got so stressed that she joined the Scientologists and started taking their classes."
"She opened up five-six credit cards without telling my brother, maxed the cards out with hundreds of thousands in cash withdrawals, and gave it to that cult."- AnybodySeeMyKeys
Priorities People!
"My friend bought a used Hellcat Challenger yesterday at 10.5% APR and $380/mo insurance."
"He lives in my other friend’s spare room."- chriss1111
george costanza ladies GIFGiphyHave They Ever Heard Of Leftovers?
"My roommate buys doordash almost every day."
"They’ll maybe cook for themselves once or twice a week but other than that they order food in 5-6 times a week."
"I know how much they make and I have not a clue how they can afford that."- TeHNyboR
It's no lie that life is much easier when you don't have to worry about money.
That being said, it's also possible not to worry about money while still being careful with it.
As one can worry about money a little less when you know you have money to worry about.
"What is your best financial life hack?
Resisting Food Trucks And Take Out
"Bringing packed lunch, or always have a snack in my bag."- sunnyjooooy
"Uninstall GrubHub and DoorDash from your phone."- Joker8pie
Kenan Thompson Breakfast GIF by NBCGiphyIncrease Your Lowest Decimal...
"Adjust what you think your zero is."
"Everyone has that 'oh sh*t I'm broke' number."
"I just inflated mine so I think I'm broke when I'm not."
"If I have $1000 in my bank account, I treat it like $0."
"$1050 is treated like I have only $50."
"It's weird, but it's been working so far."- Clandestinechic
"Set a new zero."
'My checking account has $531."
'$500 is my 0, so I only have 31 to spend/save as I please."- HeyImBroccoli-
Animation Typography GIFGiphyCut Out Sugar, Cigarettes, And Alcohol
"Just drink water."- Meowsommar
"I don't smoke or drink."
"Saves me a lot of money."- ChessGuy90
No Smoking Animation GIF by MashedPlain And Simple
"Make an actual budget and stick to it."- radicallefter
Save For Later, Not For Now
"Think of your future self as a different person you need to help."
"Every time you’re able to save back even $1 it helps your future self out."- jollytoes
Save! Save! Save!
"Automate your savings to pay yourself first."- Nervous_Pie4233
Save Credit Card GIF by MillionsGiphySpend Like You Have Less Than You Really Do
"Act like you always broke."- LVL100Stoner
"Live below your means."- DrteethDDS
Never Stray From Your Shopping List
"Eat before you go to the store and always make a list and stick with it."- Mac_nocheeze
Stressed Animation GIF by Holler StudiosGiphyWhen At A Loss, Eat Chicken
"Rotisserie chickens from the grocery store are usually a really good deal & make for a good middle ground between eating out & cooking dinner."- Reasonable-While-101
People Tend To Forget, It's Free...
Use the library for books, CDs, DVDs, and audiobooks."- SuvenPan
Money has a way of disappearing faster than you think.
Which is why it's always a good idea to keep a closer eye on it and spend less of it than you might normally like to.
No matter how tempting that second round of drinks always is.
Redditor bluscorp91 wanted to hear about the things we really need to financially evaluate, so they asked:
"Which everyday item do people waste too much money on?"
I waste on takeout. I can't help it. I'm me.
Go to the Fountain
Scared 30 Rock GIF by HULUGiphy"Water."
brakjeeptj
"If you have safe tap water witch most people in Europe, Australia, and US/Canada has you can save thousands on water. One gallon costs under a dollar from the tap, and one gallon from the store will cost 5 dollars or more."
mincraftpro27
Tea at Home
"Takeout coffees."
LucyVialli
"What I don’t get is how people have TIME for that in the morning."
"There’s a coffee stand place by me that consistently has a huge line that sometimes blocks traffic. The few times I have been there on days off I have waited over 20 mins and that wasn’t even during rush hour."
"Like who has time to spend 20-40 mins before work in line getting coffee?!?"
pooponacandle
Skins
"Fortnite."
anyma6
"The skins are cool as sh*t, I'll admit it, but damn, $20 per skin? People are out here claiming it's fine because it's a free game, but $20 per skin means if you have 3 skins, you could've gotten a completely different game all together. And most kids have hundreds of skins. My coworkers son spends all of his allowance, Christmas, and birthday money on Fortnite skins."
"He's claimed that his son has spent over $1200 on Fortnite. That's f**king insane."
"My buddies are full grown men and they buy like one skin ever 4-5 days, it's crazy. They spend anywhere from $80-$120 a month on Fortnite. I literally don't understand at all. It's an entire bill to pay every month. I play it with them from time to time and only have like three skins. I still feel like I spent too much on that."
B3RS3RK_CR0W
Vroom
"Cars. I don't know how so many people can afford the mortgage on cars that cost twice the average annual salary around here. And they are legion."
"If you want to save money, you drive a 10+ year old beater. It is paid for, you will have to repair it every year for a couple of hundred bucks, but the cost per mile is a fraction of that for a new Polestar 2 or Volvo XC60."
"I'm guessing I am seeing the caste that lucked out on the housing market."
Derpygoras
For Good
Mothers Day Netflix GIF by Grace and FrankieGiphy"Netflix."
OptimumRedditor
"10 bucks a month is worth it."
RandomBloke2021
"Netflix prime Hulu, Appletv, Disney+ and all that crap that we can just find free on the internet free. Hell no I'm not paying for 100 different subscription services."
gracie4questions
There are way too many options. YouTube is cheaper.
MOOOO!!!
Stone Cold Reaction GIF by WWEGiphy"My Family spends A LOT of money on milk, since my entire family drink like 2 bottles a day total. Not with coffee or anything, just plain milk."
MonkeeBoi123
All that milk... I hope they change the flavors.
Last Call
Happy Hour Drinking GIFGiphy"Alcohol."
orbittheorb
"Buying alcohol at the bars. Seriously, downtown Chicago, 'Can I please have 2 rum & cokes and a Bud Light?'"
"'Ok that will be $35.'"
"Forget that mess."
Angel--Wonderland
A Communication Must
"Phones."
DrLycFerno
"I'm going to disagree since you left your reply so basic. Now if you buy the newest phone at launch, and repeat that every new release, yes that is wasteful. I bought a 1 year old model 4 years ago and it's still fine. If it turned into a brick tonight, I would drop like $800 on a 1 year old model and be good for several more years. That isn't wasteful."
somedude456
Need a Roof
"Rent."
abby_normally
"If our economy wasn't trash right now, I'd say buy your own place. I rented for 3 months then bought... renting is like flushing your money and any potential home equity (God I hate that word these days) down the toilet."
Runner_Girl1217
"It’s too expensive but unless you’re living outside your means the money is not wasted. Shelter is pretty important, it’s right up there with food and water."
HutSutRawlson
Clean Up
Toilet Paper Poop GIF by Paper PooGiphy"Toilet paper. Wash your butt with water, and you can save tons of toilet paper."
"Never could understand what it is with toilets with nowhere to wash, and walking around with chocolate caked holes."
lefttheovenoff
Next Day Problems
"Surprised no one else has said this. Throwing away left over food instead of eating it later. I've worked in the restaurant industry for years and it's appalling the amount of food that gets thrown away that would be perfectly fine the next day. I constantly pack my leftovers and eat them for lunch."
Angel--Wonderland
We really need to evaluate our spending.
