Things you wish you'd never bought

[goose1964]

I'll start with skinny co pornstar martini mix. Tasted incredibly sweet and synthetic. It stated use 1 part vodka to 3 parts mix. I tried that too sweet added more vodka so 50/50 just about drinkable. I drank another one with the reverse ratios, almost OK but I was so drunk I fell over and knocked the TV over.

The other downside was that it stank so much so that my empty glass had made the whole room stink.

A new kitchen and bathroom. We refurbished both with a view to selling the house, so they were quite neutral. We’ve since decided to stay, so we’re renovating both again to get something more personal. I cringe when I think of how much we spent and how quickly we’re replacing them.

A remoska. Wanted one for years, have used it about once a year and have melted and burned worktops with the hot heavy lid
An overlocker. Wanted one for years. I cry when it needs retreading so avoid using it
Cornsilk powder for faces, as recommended here. Settles in every line on my face like powdered chalk.
Blue Grass perfume, love the smell of it on others. On me it gave me a migraine that lasted 3 days.

Rethreading

Never had a Dyson or shark. Love my gtech airram but only had it 6 months, time will tell!! Also have dualit toaster and kettle, both fantastic, love the bagel button on the toaster

Love loads of these things mentioned - lumea - life changing! Ninja foodi - used everyday and still so many more functions to discover.

Mine are
Kitchenaid stand mixer - had it 8 years now and never used it once. Baked a lot of cakes back then and always reached for the £5 Argos hand mixer

Kitchenaid blender - use a £5 hand held blender for soups, apart from Oreo milkshakes one summer it’s never really been used, it’s so heavy and unwieldy.

George Foreman grill - never used. Sandwich toaster - got bored of toasties quickly.

Steam mop - well reviewed on Which but doesn’t clean well at all.

Jackets - all saints one which looks lovely but is a bit heavy to wear. Rick Owens bargain at £1500 which I wore for one autumn and then got fed up at the long arms which go up to my fingers.

Love my robot hoover, even though he gets stuck every night under the sofa.

Baby bike seat which got used for one outing. Bikes for me and DH which got used for one outing.

Years of expensive supplements and ovulation sticks and pregnancy tests- the body does what the body wants, and none of it helped me get pregnant.

Handheld Garment steamer which still sounds like a good idea, I am thinking of giving it a dedicated space which might encourage/remind me to use it more

Jimmy Choo heels - cant see myself wearing heels again, prefer flats, wore them once or twice

Can’t live without my Lakeland heated airer, dries one whole load reliably and folds up to rest behind the door. I guess it’s horses for courses!

Shit sorry for the massive post, I do like a ramble

I also love my Lumea. I spend 45 min to an hour every so often going back over everything and that’s no bother really if you watch/listen to something at the same time. One of my best buys ever.

I’ve got another!
Expensive ( plastic) rattan modular garden furniture. I thought buying each bit separately would give a variety of seating arrangements. In reality every time you sit on a piece they all move out of place and look higgledy piggeldy. I should have just bought one sofa.

I love Henry (though I have the pink one- Hettie!!!) Great suction and cord length is fantastic!

@Upwherethebirdsfly @WingingItSince1973

Be very glad that you were sensible enough to give up on your skates! I had the same thought - bought some skates that arrived on a Thursday and was in hospital with a broken wrist by Friday lunchtime. In surgery on Monday morning after which the surgeon came to my bed to tell me 'it looked like a bomb had gone off in there' and still, two months on, my wrist is fucked and I have to hope that I get full feeling back in my fingers eventually!

People keep asking me if it's put me off skating - OF COURSE IT FUCKING HAS!!!! I skated for less than 10 minutes and now have a scar on my wrist that looks like I did it myself with my eyes closed and apparently one of my wrist tendons 'might get caught on it' at any point between now and my (hopefully not skate related) death.

Love my Henry. He’s a heavy sod that won’t pull round a corner but boy does he do the job.

[quote DysmalRadius]**@Upwherethebirdsfly* @WingingItSince1973*

Be very glad that you were sensible enough to give up on your skates! I had the same thought - bought some skates that arrived on a Thursday and was in hospital with a broken wrist by Friday lunchtime. In surgery on Monday morning after which the surgeon came to my bed to tell me 'it looked like a bomb had gone off in there' and still, two months on, my wrist is fucked and I have to hope that I get full feeling back in my fingers eventually!

People keep asking me if it's put me off skating - OF COURSE IT FUCKING HAS!!!! I skated for less than 10 minutes and now have a scar on my wrist that looks like I did it myself with my eyes closed and apparently one of my wrist tendons 'might get caught on it' at any point between now and my (hopefully not skate related) death.[/quote]
Oh my goodness. You poor thing that's awful! Yep I think I was reliving my youth through Rose tinted glasses but reality is it hurts when you're older and injure yourself. I spent my 30s and early 40s riding my horses and had the odd fall but was ok. I see roller skating as my dangerous as falling is far more likely and now I have dodgy wrists I would probably break one easily. Really hope you heal and can look back and laugh soon, maybe 😬

Aw @Malin52 what are we like ha ha. I had made notions of skating along with my dogs on their leads having a great time. But then once I had the skates I realised that most of our paths around us are totally unsuitable for standard skate wheels and I would probably need a skate park where are the youngsters hang out. Though I fell over in the kitchen and whacked my head on the wall so it sort of lost its shine 🤣

I discovered some more this eve when I went into the cupboard in the utility room and found the flour I stockpiled in the first lockdown in fear we wouldn't have any bread etc. Also thought of myself spending the time at home constantly baking with the kids etc. So now I have numerous bags that all need using this month! How many cakes and loaves can one eat in a month! (As a side note I didn't clear shelves of anything and never stocked loo rolls as I crochet and thought if it came to it I'd make some washable ones!! )

SpongeBobJudgeyPants
I agree it’s the aspiration we are shopping for not the practical reality but the joke is I keep thinking I can buy my way out of that exact issue . So I keep going on the quest for the one that is going to solve it all.
I love that a lady on here has made her way through an assortment of vacum cleaners and still hasn’t found the one

@Peanutsandchilli the main problem is usually not tucking in any exposed bamboo/microfibre thoroughly, which is hard to do (lots of little bits!). These are the parts that tend to ‘wick’ onto clothes and cause leaking. It’s true they don’t work quite as well on babies under 3 months/until they ‘fill out’ a bit (especially on babies with skinny legs like my son!), but long-term I don’t see the baby feeling that they are wet as being a problem. How are they supposed to learn if, like with disposables, all the moisture is immediately drawn away from their bottoms? The problem is in a way that disposables are almost too good at their job - hence why children toilet train far later now than in the past. I would personally rather have that as a ‘problem’ than the nappy rash caused by all the oils and plastics in disposable nappies 🤷‍♀️

@TowandaForever exactly. My son has toilet trained quite early and I would imagine that at least some of that is attributable to the reusables.

@smoothieooo - how did the bread making experiment go?

A second hand Volvo. 'Oh Volvos are amazing the engines go for years etc etc'. Spent £4K on ours then another £1k servicing and replacing cam belt and radiator - only for the head gaskets to blow and shear the entire engine. Had the car less than 6 months, had to entirely write it off - right in the middle of me being in really aggressive chemotherapy for lymphoma. I lost £10k of work this year due to cancer and the £5k down the drain on that fucking car stung like no ones business. I can't even look at a Volvo now without getting cross.

Hate my dyson hot/cold fan. The fan is completely rubbish, a cheap Argos one is much better (albeit noisier).

(Love my dyson cordless hoover though. Went top of the range and it was worth every penny)

@Knittedfairies It was a success! I had all the ingredients necessary (although the powdered milk was a bit old) and chucked it in. It made a lovely sticky dough that came out in one piece, straight into a loaf tin, then baked for 40 mins,

DS1 thought I’d added some crack as well as he ate half the loaf in one go 😂

Good to hear @smoothieooo - I never bothered putting the milk powder in.

@SleepyMathematician, which one was it please? Had a similar experience!

Whenever we watch Korean dramas I’m always tempted by those things that look like miniature hotplates on which you cook food at the table - a sort of tabletop barbecue
However I remind myself of DJ’s ban on further gadgets……

I’ve know of lots of people owning fondue sets - and even sometimes using them! - but I’ve never seen or heard of these tabletop cookers in this country.

My best recent buy was a Bush vacuum cleaner for £50 (I think reduced from (£75)

Better than the shark at picking up cat hair it’s brilliant. My carpets looked like they have been professionally cleaned after

It is noisy though but only vacuum cleaner I’ve used that world so well with hair and