What stupid stuff do you waste money on?

[SammyTheDog]

For me it's candles, and clothes in Primark that I'll either never wear, or wear once and chuck in the charity bag. Or getting tipsy on a night out and ordering (and paying for) expensive shots for everyone. I often wonder how much money I'd have for my retirement if I didn't spend so much on crap. Anyone else do this?

It used to be yarn and cross stitch kits - until I had a massive sort out and realised just how much there was, hiding in cupboards and drawers. I’ll never use up all the yarn or finish all the cross stitch. I’ve weaned myself off buying any more now.

Skincare products... so called money saving offers have cost me A LOT over the years.

Books from charity shops, cups of tea in cafes when I could easily get home, supermarket cut flowers. Not really a waste though, as I enjoy these things and can afford them.

Books, wine, candles and toiletries. Though I'm being very good now as I started writing down all of my expenses and it's definitely made me more cautious. I also tally total, and what it would have been if I hadn't bought stuff I didn't need. It's a bit sobering to get to the end of the month and realise how much more you could've had!

Bottles of shampoo, I probably have a million

Tat for the kids, including sweets etc

Cross stitch supplies - I could stitch 12 hours a day every day for 10 years and not finish the projects I’ve kitted up. And still I buy…

yeah books here too. I'll go into Waterstones for a browse and walk out with 2 or 4 new books (because they're buy one get one half price so I can never just buy one) and add them to the bookshelves full of books I have yet to read!!

Also, expensive moisturisers, eye creams, serums (I'm a beauty marketers dream 😂), takeaway coffees, candles and diffusers (although these do actually make my house smell nice so not sure if they're completely a waste 🤔).

Bubble teas and smoothies, frappes etc. I swear teenagers are made of the stuff!

Books, yarn and restaurants.. I'd definitely have a small fortune if I could be a bit more restrained with any of those..!

I do buy coffees out, but since I wfh I can justify the cost because it gives me a change of scenery a couple of times a week.

Books, silly gossip magazines (that I buy out of habit - I don't even know or care about 90% of the stuff), scented candles, dog toys (when they have way too many and I need to clear them out) and cleaning products that I buy but don't actually need and one of my biggest things is seeing something when I'm shopping and thinking "Ooh insert name will like that!" and I buy it - realised recently that my family are literally getting an expensive present per month yet here's me holding off buying a book I really want because it's over my price range.

Restaurants! I must have spent tens of thousands in them.

I’m a foodie so don’t consider it a waste or regret it ( and I do cook from scratch a lot of the time ) but our favourite restaurant that we visit is usually £250 a time and we visit it frequently, then we nip to other Michelin restaurants, cafes, pubs and farm shops when out and about, honestly I could have bought a private island with a full time chef with how much I’ve spent on food!

Lipsticks.

I had 2,500 and rising but have reduced it to around 1,800.

I have a make up and beauty room so storage is not an issue but lipstick buying is an addiction.

@SaintHonoria wow. That’s is possibly the most amazing thing I have read on MN. Do you wear a different color every day?

Sorry, you have 1800 lipsticks! That’s incredulous.

Me too - its bloody dangerous 😂

Clothes for the kids 🙈

I’m permanently pregnant/postpartum these days so don’t buy myself fancy clothes, but everything looks cute on the kids and I’m a sucker for the Ted Baker/ Monsoon/ Next sales 😂 They definitely have more clothes than they need!

Sports clothes. Hiking shoes. But it's my hobby and I guess I get wear out of them. I have a lot of stuff though.

Every now and then I spend out on some stupid app subscriptions like normal, an exercise app or yoga app that I am convinced will magically make me have more motivation to eat well and get fitter. It never works. Nothing external gives me motivation, when I have it I'm very determined....when I don't there's nothing that will change me....why do I make the same mistake over and over.

Cook books, I love them but cook the same.5 meals over and over because of my fussy kids.

Permanently? How many kids do you have 😬

😂 pregnant with no3 atm, planning on having 4 or 5, plus 3 miscarriages at the beginning, so I expect it’ll be 10 years in total before I can safely buy clothes in my prebaby size!

Costume jewellery for me. I love statement pieces and buy way more than I need, especially if it's on sale.

Poor planet with 5 kids from one person. What if everyone did that

Hopefully your mum didn’t or we’ll have 4 more moaning Myrtles roaming about!

Really? 😂 We currently have a problem with low birth rate, you need people like me. I do hope you don’t have any children to put further pressure on the ‘poor planet’ with an attitude like that! 😂

I don't think either of these things are 'stupid' because they make me happy, I use them, and I can afford them. But:

Trainers. I have a penchant for very expensive trainers. I have about thirty pairs, the cheapest by quite some distance was £150.

Cleaning and laundry products. I'm slightly addicted to buying and trying cleaning and laundry products. I can easily spend £50 per time in Savers or B&M on things to make my home and clothes smell lush.