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?

That would be an insufferable way to live.

You never ever have anything nice in life, you just spend on the necessities that you NEED.

Most things we have in life we don't 'need'. To exist by 'needs' only is some true Mumsnet Martyrdom right there.

I still remember wasting money on a baby monitor because someone then bought me one.

And then I always heard my son making a noise before I heard it on the baby alarm anyway so stopped using it.

Biggest Waste of Money Ever.

Recently I signed up for an exercise app - and then won six months free access to a different one! So that was a bit of a waste.

From two people.

Spending a fortune on driving lessons. I'm in my 40's and suffer anxiety/emotional issues. I just feel like I'll waste a fortune and have nothing to show at the end of it. Feel dumb as rocks after each lesson lol.

Definitely coffee. I love a nice oat milk cappuccino.

I’m not a wasteful person - we don’t throw away food etc but I do like a ‘treat’ and so am guilty of unnecessary spending. Too many pairs of trainers is a current example.

I did waste a few hundred pounds on teeth whitening as the first time I tried it the sensitivity was unbearable. Still have the kit but can’t face doing it again.

I'm still staggered by owning 2,500 lipsticks - at an average of say, £10 each, that's £25,000 - the average first time buyer deposit in the UK is £34,500.

So that's a lot of money wasted on lipstick.

Certainly makes me feel better about the odd scratchcard or coffee!

Im what you would call an extreme minimalist always have been.
Its not an insufferable way to live.
Everyones is different.

Poor you having to cart around all that smug nastiness in your mind all day, must be exhausting

Same here .

Did you try automatic?

Storage/organisational things (boxes, gadgets like t-shirt folders etc).

Makeup

Stationery

TBF it evens out the millions that have stopped having kids.

The population is in crisis due to the aging population outnumbering the young which is creating a massive burden of care and lack of workforce so PP is not the issue. Some countries are even incentivizing people to have families because numbers are so uneven.

The only way to fix a population bottleneck like this is too kill off the older generation NOT stop having younger people. You know something nature would try to balance with a massive pandemic that mostly kills the weaker older members but that we stopped.

Not that I want elderly people to die but that a simple fact of how the natural system is designed to work. Its not the birth that the problem its the residual effects of increased life spans mixed with the 'baby boom' generation (which already occurred).

Plant pots🙈 rarely in needed size

Perfumes. It started in lockdown. Used to be a one scent and use until it’s finished kind of girl. Now I have discovered cheaper versions and M& S and Zara and I can’t help myself. I have a whole drawer full now!

Vinted!!

Wool. I knit and I buy so much lovely wool. It’s under the r sofa (storage sofa) and it is so full 😬 but I had a delivery of cashmere today! Oh well. I can afford it and it is my main hobby and I wear a hand knitted top every day

Mine's the obvious ones. I have about 7 nice handbags bought just before the pandemic, when I started having to use a backpack to carry my laptop to and from work. And worse, I now prefer the look of a fabric tote.

Toiletries - I may buy something i don't need just because it's on sale, but it always gets used up. Shoes aren't too bad. But I have to many clothes. I once had a friend who had every grey jumper anyone ever made!

Take aways

I also seem to drop £80 every time I walk into B&M for cleaning products

Catnip.

Food - I’m terrible for buying more than we need. I feel like we always need options and to have things in for certain core meals we rotate around and then end up wasting.
Clothes - like you get stuff and don’t wear it.
coffees - biggest scam ever and I’m hooked!

Books! Also clothes, if I'm being honest. Given that I work from home and live quite a quiet life I could get by perfectly well with very little. But I just get so bored with wearing the same jeans and trainers every day...

@Sparklesandbeer yes I'm on my 3rd auto lesson, after giving up on manual after 3 lessons. I'm getting there slowly but it makes me feel dumb, that it's taking so long even in an automatic. Bloody reverse parking.

BigJet TV YouTube subscription £1.99 a month. Worth every penny of the not inconsiderable outlay

Fuck that I go front in. 😬 The automatic will help you massively.