What purchase of yours was a waste of money?

[2025isavibe]

I'm ill in bed and bored. Mines a slow cooker. I don't like stew or casserole, I know you can cook lots of things in it but I never use it. What's yours?

God, yes, the coffee machines! DP bought about three that ended up getting chucked...

I fell for the marketing for the calming koalas that are meant to soothe you with their breathing. They don't. All you can hear is a whirring, crunching, popping sound from the motor. Never again.

You should only add a miniscule account of water - just enough to barely cover the bottom of the pot. Tiny amounts of water create huge quantities of steam (1 tablespoon of water equates to 20 litres of steam). The steam will cook the veg and meat, which both release loads of water as they cook.

Most recipes aren't designed for slow cooking and contain far too much liquid - e.g. Half a litre of chicken stock or a tin of coconut milk. You're better off waiting until things get naturally wet and then adding a stock cube. Use tomato puree instead of tinned tomatoes. If the recipe needs coconut milk, wait until the last 30 minutes and then add a quarter of a block of creamed coconut (cut lengthways). If you add it at the start, it might burn to the bottom of the pot.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=creamed%20coconut

I bought a professional deep fat fryer (just like you see on Bake Off) as I had people coming round for a 'dinner party' and I wanted to do breaded brie for a starter. I felt so clever until I fished out the breaded brie. All the cheese had somehow escaped into the oil and I was left with some crunchy breadcrumb bits.

I was so cross I put it in the garage next day and it's still there years later.

Ninja creami, bread maker, fancy veg dicer thingy, starting to realise I’m no good in the kitchen

Sodastream machine. I drink lots of fizzy water so bought it to reduce the plastic waste. However, it doesn't make enough at one time to last me a day and it's a faff if I have other people around who want sparkling water. Also it takes up a small bit of valuable worktop space. I usually buy big bottles of the cheapest supermarket fizzy water so the Sodastream didn't save me any money either.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/food_and_recipes/1748583-Slow-cooker-meals-too-watery

Coffee machine I just cba with the faff making a cups of tea is easier (I don’t like instant coffee hence buying the machine)

A picnic bench for the back garden, it's so uncomfortable, never used and has to be repainted every year.
My 22ct gold wedding and 18ct gold engagement rings. I don't like them, and wanted something less heavy and in platinum.
A circular dining table that's big enough to take up space, but not long enough to be practical.
A dinner service with plates too big to fit in the cupboard - it's still in the box.
A food processor/blender combi. The blender part is still wrapped in plastic in the box and the processor has been used twice.

Things I haven't bought - and thanks to earlier posters "taking one for the team" I probably won't now:
Slow Cooker, Bread Maker, Dyson Airwrap, Air Fryer, Ninja Creami, Sewing Machine, Cross Trainer.

I leave the lid slightly off to let excess fluid evaporate. But if it's not you, stick it on FB marketplace.

A fancy exercise bike which now sits in the corner of the bedroom unloved and unused (except when DH hangs his clothes on it!).

My coffee machine. It's been demoted from the kitchen counters and now sits in the cupboard no one opens. I love coffee. However the pods are a faff, expensive and I somehow always manage to poke a hole in one before it goes into the machine deeming it unusable. Frustrating - I begged DH get me it for Christmas one year 😂

This is mine too. I bought it within minutes of discovering they exist, like a woman possessed. Literally used it 3 times

Juicer. Its a bastard to clean and you have to put about £20’s worth of fruit in to get a single glass.

Steam mop - bought after a recommendation on here
Absolute faff to fill,use and store and it seemed to just dampen the dirt and push it into streaks while filling the room with vapour

Depends on the make of bread maker, my mum had one (cant remember make) but she could not get a decent loaf out of it. Looked at reviews and she bought a different make (think it was a panasonic) and perfect loaf everytime.

Steam cleaner

Juicer/eufy. Not only was the juicer a bitch to clean, the amount of fruit needed is astronomical.

it baffles me that anyone would think a ninja creamy was a good idea. I looked at one once and then looked at the instructions and my god what a faff.

Crimpet. The 1st time I used it I actually managed to end up in A&E with damaged rib cartilage (granted, I'm clumsy, but still...). Tried using it one other time which wasn't very successful.

Pizza oven. An utter faff to use as you really need multiple paddles and one person making the pizzas and another one cooking them. We only used it a handful of times.

Weighted hula hoop and waist twister for at home exercise. Never get used and I'm worried I'll hurt myself rather than get toned!

Water flosser. Took out a filling with mine so it went straight in the bin. I hear they are good for cleaning grout. 🤣

Electric spinning foot file. Rubbish and returned to using a cheap foot file instead.

Nespresso machine. Rubbish coffee that doesn't come out hot enough and felt like an environmental disaster with the pods. Bought some of the compostable pods instead and they jammed up the machine. Ended up giving the whole thing away.

Egg slicer for boiled eggs. I have literally never used it, but at least it was cheap!

Loads of storage solutions for things we shouldn't have kept/bought in the first place. DH presented me with about 15 really useful boxes yesterday (not the really big ones) that I used when I was sorting out his essential must keep electronic/cable hoard a few years ago as he has now decided that he doesn't want the contents afterall. I'll add that to all the home edit containers I bought when super-organising my clutter (that has now been decluttered, in part at least).

I've had to delete most of my post as it became endless! I would say about 50%+ of all the things I have ever bought.

One that really stands out is a foot spa. I bought the most expensive one on the market at the time. It is a PITA to move about (especially with water in) and the rollers on the bottom make it not that comfortable. I have now replaced it with a simple plastic bucket that is shaped like two feet - that cost about £5 and actually gets used. The other one really needs to go...

I just want to encourage everyone to put one thing on Vinted, FB Market place or similar today. You'll feel so much better getting rid of this stuff 😁. Just because you hate your Ninja Creami doesn't mean no-one else wants it.

Most dresses I have bought get very little use.

We bought a Panasonic 25+ years ago and my father still uses it 4times a week - fantastic bit of kit. God forbid when it breaks and we need to find him a new one

The iPad I bought and left on the train home.

I replaced my broken Karcher window vac with a Beldray one which is just rubbish.