Page 22 | talk to me if you stupidly bought something £££ you couldnt really afford

WhyDidIDiddle · 2025-03-30T18:44:17+00:00

In my defence, I have had a horrible time featuring death which has left me on a swing between dark depression and f*ck it do it now you might be dead tomorrow. I bought a pair of shoes that I really liked but were a ridiculous amount to spend on shoes of any kind. I feel a bit sick when I think of it. I will keep them as its not bankrupting but it is stupid out of the savings money. I do like them but it was really really really stupid. No one should spend that much on a pair of shoes. Hoping I am not alone and someone can make me feel a bit better with similar tale that didn't end horribly.

hilariousnamehere · 30/03/2025 23:22

iseethembloom · 30/03/2025 21:57

I’m recovering from a bereavement that came without warning.

Last week I spent (clears throat) £120 on a rock tumbler and another £30 on grit to go in it.

Finding stuff on beaches (that’s the part that’s free) is a kind of hobby of mine.

But even so. It was self indulgent and unnecessary, and I’ve been feeling guilty about it. It’s whirring away in the bathroom as I type, consuming electricity.

I'm sorry for your loss, but what a glorious purchase! I had one when I was younger and it was pure magic turning pebbles into shiny gems. I got my mum one for her birthday a few years ago and we got a lot of joy out of it. Currently neither of us has anywhere to run it 24/7 but I'm working on a solution in my garage! I hope you get lots of magical results from yours.

krustykittens · 30/03/2025 23:22

My daughter is leaving home in five days and I am having a bit of a mid life crisis. I am a doll collector and an amateur artist and I just spent £1000 on a very beautiful ball jointed doll I commissioned directly from the artist. My DH, who rarely spends on himself, has just had a melt down this weekend over her but I don't give a shit. I have wanted this doll for years and could never afford her. I will spend hours photographing and painting her and seeing as I have arthritis in my hands, I really do not know how long I have to enjoy my hobby, so fuck it. Life is terribly short. It seems like yesterday my daugther was holding my healthy hands, while taking her first steps. I also have two Highland ponies!

Enjoy your shoes, OP. When people make an impluse purchase like this in the aftermath of a traumatic event, I think it is a way of saying to yourself, "Life is sweet." So think of that every time you look at them.

@edwinbear that is a very, very sweet story!

ReturnoftheBink · 30/03/2025 23:20

Compash · 30/03/2025 22:57

Isn't there a 'Jill pony book' (by Ruby Ferguson) where she goes to buy a horse and feels she has to buy a poor, neglected pony she sees at the same sale? (I devoured those books as a young horse girl)...

(Don't think Jill was drunk though...).

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Yes the horse was called Pedro. She was given the money for a new show jumper, but got Pedro and another horse for a riding school she was running with people she met near her cousin’s house when she had to stay there over the summer. They were trying to raise money to pay for the keep of their pony, Ballerina.

This crap in my brain is why I can never remember anything important!

FagsMagsandBags · 30/03/2025 23:19

Oh my days, @edwinbear that's one of the most romantic things I've read and I love you and Mr Bear. The canteen must follow, it just must!

Floatlikeafeather2 · 30/03/2025 23:18

edwinbear · 30/03/2025 23:04

No, we never have. The entire story (given it’s taken up much of OP’s thread, and I’m sorry for that).

Asprey were my client, I work in banking and was involved in the financing of their fancy new, showcase, Garrard Street store. DH (although he was my fiancé at the time) and I were invited to the big, red carpet, paparazzi filled opening. As we mingled and wandered about, marvelling at the REALLY expensive stuff, there was a premier league footballer looking at this showcase dining room table with this stunning cutlery on it.

The footballer and his wife were gushing over it and put an order in for the whole lot, right there. I said to DH how lovely it was and how amazing to be able to just spend that amount of money on knives and forks and not think about it. On our wedding day, he gave me a present of a single, £120 teaspoon from the set. And said to me, I can see how much you loved it, I’m sorry I can’t buy you the full set outright but I’d like you to think of this as a commitment to us getting the full set. It took us five years. Including the discount from my client. But that’s we did.

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I'm pretty sure there isn't an Asprey's in Garrard Street. Am I wrong?

Ladamesansmerci · 30/03/2025 23:18

£1500 for a Sphynx cat 🙈

My board game collection is worth well over a grand, but that's all been bought over several years.

ReginaTucker · 30/03/2025 23:18

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Booboobagins · 30/03/2025 23:17

I bought 3 designer jackets in Turkey paid for them on a credit card (several £000's) but I'm self employed and had no work contract in place so knew I would struggle to pay fir them. My DS thought he could resell them and make money.

Turned out they were fakes, so bank did a claw back though I had to cover the cost until the money was returned. Big shout out to Fendi and Dior at Bicester village though, they really helped me with the evidence to show they were fakes.

I got some tax back from HMRC in Jan so breathed a sigh of relief until the money came back properly.

Def won't be doing that again!

FagsMagsandBags · 30/03/2025 23:16

I'm glad the thread has made you feel better. You said you've been through some death stuff and frankly it's no wonder you're all over the place and so why not? You love the shoes? Keep on loving them. Worried about "ruining" them. I was showing off a pair of, I think they're called irregular choice shoes which are very much at the cheap end of a little bit expensive. I rarely wear them out because I don't do heels a lot even though the pairs I have are far more comfortable than one might imagine. Anyway, I sometimes just dress up, put the shoes on and do some washing up before dressing down again. Because life is short and you don't know what's around the corner. Hopefully, it's a long and happy life with not a worry to he had, gently going to sleep one night and not waking up but being found with a faint smile on your face and long gone the next morning.

I'm dealing with a death thing and just buying pretty things that will get very little use because I don't need them but they make me happy. I wish I could get drunk and not once but twice buy horses I can't afford, cutlery that I could take onto Antiques Roadshow, shoes with a red sole, but reading about others doing it while I buy more Chanel no.5 and the most perfect pair of ridiculously cheap but ultimately just the ticket fabric scarlet ballet pumps* makes me feel happy for you and all of us too.

*I said to a friend, when I sent a photo that they look like I'm either off to a Conclave to elect a new pope in my cardinal's slippers or I'm about to attend some zombie fucked up ball which is a mixture of Pride and Prejudice meets The Handmaid's Tale. That's the red. Perfection, a little like old Christian's red not in shade but in just what you wanted for you and me for me.

Pinkbendyman · 30/03/2025 23:12

@WhyDidIDiddle your shoes are gorgeous - you should wear them at every opportunity.

My grandma, who lived to the age of 100, was a firm believer in wearing her favourite perfume and jewellery every day and I’m happy to continue her tradition.

@edwinbear thank you for the whole story about your cutlery set - so romantic! 💕

edwinbear · 30/03/2025 23:12

WhyDidIDiddle · 30/03/2025 23:09

@edwinbear - also now I know the whole story, I totally double down on you getting the canteen. It's the essential end to the tale.

We have kids now!! All our cash goes on them!! But please! Love your shoes and wear them with pride!

Doodleflips · 30/03/2025 23:10

Blankscreen · 30/03/2025 20:33

A horse for my DD.

Currently in for about £10k what with buying him, saddle, rugs etc.

Worst part is she scared of him and won't even ride him 🤬

Poor dd 😢 . Sounds like a lot of pressure

Original poster

WhyDidIDiddle · 30/03/2025 23:09

@edwinbear - also now I know the whole story, I totally double down on you getting the canteen. It's the essential end to the tale.

OP posts:

OvaHere · 30/03/2025 23:08

Don't be sorry @edwinbear I love that you bought the cutlery and have had 20 years of joy from it. I'm certain that in the last 20 years I've spent 20 grand on shit I no longer own and can't even remember.

CrazyCatMam · 30/03/2025 23:07

Sminty2 · 30/03/2025 21:12

In the early 80’s, I bought a huge Dualit toaster that cost more than a month’s rent in my new flat. Still got the toaster and it is brilliant.

I bought one for our first house, 18 years ago and it’s still going strong! I’ve replaced a couple do the elements, but that’s it. Still looks stylish now as it did then.

Original poster

WhyDidIDiddle · 30/03/2025 23:07

@edwinbear

The entire story (given it’s taken up much of OP’s thread, and I’m sorry for that).

Please don't be sorry. Your story has been the acorn from which this thread grew! It's made me feel so much better.

Asprey were my client, I work in banking and was involved in the financing of their fancy new, showcase, Garrard Street store. DH (although he was my fiancé at the time) and I were invited to the big, red carpet, paparazzi filled opening. As we mingled and wandered about, marvelling at the REALLY expensive stuff, there was a premier league footballer looking at this showcase dining room table with this stunning cutlery on it.
The footballer and his wife were gushing over it and put an order in for the whole lot, right there. I said to DH how lovely it was and how amazing to be able to just spend that amount of money on knives and forks and not think about it. On our wedding day, he gave me a present of a single, £120 teaspoon from the set. And said to me, I can see how much you loved it, I’m sorry I can’t buy you the full set outright but I’d like you to think of this as a commitment to us getting the full set. It took us five years. Including the discount from my client. But that’s we did.

and that is an even more lovely story. It's like something out of a film!

OP posts:

edwinbear · 30/03/2025 23:04

SpringIsSpringing25 · 30/03/2025 22:19

How much? (I can hear my dad saying it.!! 🤣). What makes it so expensive what it's made from or who it's made by?? I can't even imagine spending that much money on cutlery, even if I won the lottery!! I'm genuinely shocked.

But I'm glad it still gives you pleasure this many years later 😊. Have you ever regretted it?

Show quote history

No, we never have. The entire story (given it’s taken up much of OP’s thread, and I’m sorry for that).

Asprey were my client, I work in banking and was involved in the financing of their fancy new, showcase, Garrard Street store. DH (although he was my fiancé at the time) and I were invited to the big, red carpet, paparazzi filled opening. As we mingled and wandered about, marvelling at the REALLY expensive stuff, there was a premier league footballer looking at this showcase dining room table with this stunning cutlery on it.

The footballer and his wife were gushing over it and put an order in for the whole lot, right there. I said to DH how lovely it was and how amazing to be able to just spend that amount of money on knives and forks and not think about it. On our wedding day, he gave me a present of a single, £120 teaspoon from the set. And said to me, I can see how much you loved it, I’m sorry I can’t buy you the full set outright but I’d like you to think of this as a commitment to us getting the full set. It took us five years. Including the discount from my client. But that’s we did.

istabraq · 30/03/2025 23:01

@Compashyessss. -I grew up reading g them, as did many of my similarly aged horse friends. We can blame Jill. She started it and embedded it as a totally normal thing to do.

One of my best friends started off with one. At one point she had seven. Because she needed a companion for it, then one went lame so she got another, then that turned out to be in foal, then…. She’s only got three now and is very proud of herself.

ForeverDelayedEpiphany · 30/03/2025 23:01

edwinbear · 30/03/2025 19:51

If you really like the shoes and you can afford them, it’s really not a waste of money. You’re allowed to have nice things! DH and I spent £20k on a cutlery set when we were young, pre-kids and had money. That’s arguably a ridiculous amount of money to spend on knives & forks, but 20 years later, we still get pleasure from them.

20k on cutlery?! Was it pure gold?!

If it's still giving you use and pleasure, I'm not one to judge.

Speaking of Judge, I spent a lot on a set of Judge saucepans years ago and that was definitely money well spent. So yes, absolutely it is worth buying a decent item for a lot sometimes.

Worryworrierworrying · 30/03/2025 23:01

Last year not last night!

Worryworrierworrying · 30/03/2025 23:00

OvaHere · 30/03/2025 22:33

I understand this too. I haven't had a recent bereavement but my mother died somewhat prematurely from cancer but my father is going strong into his 80s.

Now I've hit proper middle age (nearly 50) I veer between 'fuck it who knows how long you have left' but also worrying how I can fund years of old age/retirement.

So I end up with a foot in both camps and making a variety of incompatible financial decisions. One minute I'm upping my ISA contribution and the next buying a far too expensive handbag.

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Oh I totally get this, my DH had a near fatal accident last night and it feels like a never ending justification now of life is too short not to try and enjoy it

Original poster

WhyDidIDiddle · 30/03/2025 22:58

@MayaPinion MayaPinion · Today 22:56

@IShotTheDeputyItWasMe
IShotTheDeputyItWasMe · Today 21:41
Last year I bought:
a lumea. I have pale hair on white skin. Not sure what possessed me.
a bear. Used a few times and I think I can see a difference but I don't like using it.

I have no idea what you paid for the bear but it was totally worth it.

😀 That is hilarious. No idea what you paid for the bear but it was totally worth it.

OP posts:

Compash · 30/03/2025 22:57

istabraq · 30/03/2025 22:52

One of my friends has form for buying horses drunk. Another went to buy one and can back with 2. Another only nought one but came back with a carousel horse head in the trailer as well.

it’s a horse girl thing.

More than one buys them all the same colour in the hope that disinterested DP/Hs don’t realise there is a new one in the field. One has 2 almost identical black ones. One is a bit bigger.

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Isn't there a 'Jill pony book' (by Ruby Ferguson) where she goes to buy a horse and feels she has to buy a poor, neglected pony she sees at the same sale? (I devoured those books as a young horse girl)...

(Don't think Jill was drunk though...).

ReginaTucker · 30/03/2025 22:56

TiredCatLady · 30/03/2025 22:16

A beautiful silk dress for a formal ball. It’s gorgeous and I’ve worn it once in the 15 years since I bought it. I definitely couldn’t afford it at the time and lived on noodles and beans on toast for months. I love it and felt amazing in it (still have the photos even if I can’t get u to it these days). I feel so guilty every time I look at it though as it’s been sat in a garment bag for far too long.
Currently trying to sell it as a prom dress in the hope I might be redeemed by a teenager getting their dream dress for £20.

Edited

Show us! I’m in the market for a silk prom dress!!

MayaPinion · 30/03/2025 22:56

IShotTheDeputyItWasMe · 30/03/2025 21:41

Last year I bought:

a lumea. I have pale hair on white skin. Not sure what possessed me.
a bear. Used a few times and I think I can see a difference but I don't like using it.
an electric pelvic floor exerciser. I'm not sure I use the right muscles when using it plus it's a faff to charge.
a soup maker. Waste of money and a faff to wash.
a Dyson hairdryer. Something half the price would have been just as good.

I have no idea what you paid for the bear but it was totally worth it.