$1000 on 6 laser hair removal treatments… did 3 treatments, then they had to move store fronts and my life got busy… then I got pregnant. Leg hair is definitely still there (though mostly sparser) and getting a boost from the pregnancy hormones. Hopefully the place will let me do the final three after the baby is born… but I haven’t gotten around to calling them to ask. On the plus side, I can now shave with an electric razor without going crazy, so that’s something. (Worth $1000? Probably not…)
$1000 on trees. That mostly died for weather related (and thus not covered) reasons. I especially weep for the beautiful willow.
I could have just put that money towards the mortgage… and then I wouldn’t have felt the need to spend it! But I didn’t know, couldn’t predict the future. If the trees had worked out that would have been awesome and would have cut down on water and air conditioning bills. Some of them may yet survive, but we won’t know until Spring.
Another semi-monetary regret: Letting the crazy dentist fill my cavities instead of switching beforehand. I just didn’t realize how crazy she was. My teeth seem to have adjusted but I really ought to see a new dentist to make sure everything is ok.
While we have the magic crystal ball out… the retirement investments didn’t do as well as putting that money towards the mortgage would have. Though probably once taxes are considered it’s a wash. If I had a crystal ball, obviously I would have invested in some little known stock that killed this year, and then sold it. But one doesn’t have a crystal ball, so one uses index funds instead and the stock market was pretty flat overall, despite its ginormous daily swings. It’s swung up recently though…
Have I learned anything from this? Probably not. It’s reinforced my “laziness is good” feeling. Normally I don’t do things like laser hair removal or home improvement. If it’s broke we fix it, but if it ain’t broke we don’t generally try to improve things. For the next few years we may go back to that philosophy. Even with vertical blinds.
Do you have any money regrets?
February 6, 2012 at 5:30 am
I did hair removal as a wedding present to myself. It does work and I was ms cactus before. Do the other sessions but call now to explain. All I have left is some wispy blond hair and some around my knees. I haven’t bought a new razor in 10 years where before my legs were stubbly 5 minutes after shaving. Since we only spent $3k on our wedding I thought it was reasonable to spend on hair which I detested.
Time will tell if I regret the pile of money I gave to my sons school. So far they have done nothing with it.
February 6, 2012 at 6:20 am
I have two:
1) Assuming that I would get Employment Insurance while staying home with Evan. I thought I had done my homework, and thought I was eligible even though I was a contract worker (which is true, unless you get paid in a very specific way…which was my case). So, we spent that money, and then had to pay it back in one big chunk when the government realized the problem ($3500 – not great when living on one income). We paid that in May and it took us until November to recover (part of the reason is #2).
2) I started a new job last year, and I really wanted to get a stylist to help me with my wardrobe. It was an amazing experience, but I spent a LOT of money (from our savings) on it. Then #1 happened, and that depleted our savings. If #1 didn’t happen, I’m not sure I would regret this. BUT, I do have a couple rather pricey pieces that the stylist pushed on me that I don’t really wear, and that would bother me no matter what.
February 6, 2012 at 6:22 am
(And by “recover” I mean being able to put a good amount into our savings each month again to build it back up).
February 6, 2012 at 6:55 am
The $6,000+ spent on health insurance, glasses, dental work, and uncovered medical bills from doctors who don’t accept Medicare anymore (more like $7,000+ when you add in the amount Social Security withholds from one’s dole to cover Medicare Part B). Realizing that comes to more than 20% of my income.
The City having jacked up the water bills so high I probably won’t be able to keep my trees alive next summer.
Getting bronchitis and so having to turn the heat on this winter, which I can’t afford.
Saving money on a cheaper hair stylist who left me looking like a cockatiel.
Failing to talk my son into defaulting on the house we’re copurchasing, which I could afford when I was employed but which I decidedly can not afford now.
Otherwise managed to refrain from truly unwise and profligate spending in 2011. But there’s always another day. ;-)
February 6, 2012 at 7:32 am
That stinks about the trees! I can never seem to keep plants alive.
February 6, 2012 at 7:41 am
Last year was really bad. Freakish weather.
February 6, 2012 at 8:25 am
My first thought was that I did pretty well in the “spending regret” area in 2011. The two years before (2009 and 2010) included several spending regrets, so I tried hard to stay on top of things last year. And I was doing very well until a certain bird came into my life.
I spent waaaayyyy more than is even remotely reasonable trying to keep alive a young chicken that I was given last summer. I eventually euthanized her the day after Thanksgiving since by then it was obvious she could not live a normal life and would likely die soon anyway. The only upside is that I found a great veterinarian in the process and am happy to have established a good relationship with his practice office.
February 6, 2012 at 9:35 am
Gosh, a year is a long time over which to remember dumb decisions.
The big waste of money for me was paying for colic surgery on the horse, who died about 45 days later. I don’t regret that, though; I mean, I do regret putting him through the surgery (with hindsight) and obviously spending the money wasn’t a big plus, either, but lacking the crystal ball I actually feel good about having done for him what I could even though in the end it didn’t work. He was a good candidate for surgery and … no crystal ball. Including the cost of the colic surgery I still spent less than $1K per year on vet care, total, over the 15 years I owned him, which really is probably less than I should reasonably have budgeted (on average), even if a bunch of it did come as a big whack at the end. And of course now I no longer have the board bill. Or the blacksmith bill. Or any horse-related vet bills.
There were some DIY attempts at car life support that probably cost between $200 and $500 not counting time and that might have cost less had I sought professional help sooner or more consistently.
I feel like I’m forgetting one other, but those are the 2 that spring to mind.
Laser hair removal, huh? I’d be a great candidate (hate to shave) but am reluctant to make permanent elective changes to my body. Hey, shaggy chick legs may be the next big thing! Plus, the cost: yikes.
February 6, 2012 at 11:04 am
Hmmm, let’s see.
In April, I maxed out my Roth IRA, then I got a huge bonus and calculated that my AGI would go over $107,000 for the year, so I recharacterized all of my contributions to Traditional and then converted it back to Roth. A few months later, I figured out that your AGI is your gross income LESS your 401(k) contributions, which I was maxing out, so I didn’t come anywhere close to $107,000… That was a bit annoyingly complicated.
I bought some shares of an active bond fund in taxable before I learned that bond funds should go in tax-sheltered investment vehicles. And then I swapped those shares for shares of VOO and quickly figured out that I liked index funds better than ETFs. I eventually sold those to raise more money for my down payment that is now not happening right now…
I bought a really crappy smartphone for almost $200 and then 3 months later, bought a nice smartphone for $200 and switched from prepaid to a data plan. So there’s $200 down the drain, though I might be able to sell it for $50-75.
How about every time I bought a gallon of milk, planning on drinking it, and then hardly even opened it? That’s wasteful.
February 6, 2012 at 7:58 pm
I regret not smoking more weede.
February 10, 2012 at 8:03 am
YES
February 7, 2012 at 5:34 am
The puppy from a breeder. She was expensive and I feel guilty about that. Not sure it’s exactly regret since she’s now a member of the family and she doesn’t shed and is sweet. She isn’t cute but since that was below non-shedding and sweet, I guess I can’t complain? Except I am. She ought to be cute, too, for the price tag. Ah well, live and learn and be thankful it’s a cost that we won’t have again for years (hopefully).
February 13, 2012 at 5:06 am
[...] Nicole from Nicole and Maggie: Grumpy Rumblings presents 2011 money regrets [...]
February 13, 2012 at 7:25 pm
I regret leaving my iPhone on top of my coat on the bed, picking up my coat, and then having the iPhone fall to the ground and shatter. Just after the 1-year warranty was up. But that’s all fine because we moved to a much cheaper state, which puts paying for a second iPhone in a little more than a year in perspective.