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Original poster

If you were told you’d die tomorrow, is there anything you would regret?

94 replies

TeaAndSymumthy · 04/04/2026 19:10

This has been plaguing my mind for days.

I had a dream that I was told I only had 24hrs to live, it was quite realistic in the sense that life was exactly how it is now, same age, same home, same point in time.

In said dream, I said to DH on my deathbed, that I love him and the kids and they are my greatest achievement.. however I am absolutely gutted that I spent my life trying to avoid getting in debt, being frugal, not being able to afford anything of any real luxury. We never took the kids abroad, we never took them camping, we’ve never done Lapland or similar because we couldn’t really afford it. I never had a ‘nice’ car that I really loved, we never spent money on the house or the garden to really make it a home. - there was quite a bit 🤣

and I’ve woke up feeling very ‘fuck it’ about life and that we should just be doing things, going places, having experiences and having nice things.. because life really is short and money is a man made concept that’s stopping us living a life we can look back on and say yeah, that was pretty good. At the moment I feel like I’m going to get to the end of my life and say ‘I really wish I’d…”

does anyone else feel like that?! Obviously we can’t just go and get into debt. But I do feel sad about it 🤣

OP posts:
EmpressaurusKitty · 04/04/2026 19:17

I’d be enormously thankful that I got divorced 12 years ago & rebuilt my life, because otherwise my biggest regret would have been not having done that.

Shaveitall · 04/04/2026 19:20

I’d be relieved that it was all over.

SlimShandy · 04/04/2026 19:21

I think I'd mostly regret finding out I was going to die tomorrow.

skippy67 · 04/04/2026 19:22

I'd regret not having at least another 30 years to live.

jollygreenpea · 04/04/2026 19:30

The regrets I would have is for future things, rather than past.

I would regret not seeing dc and nephews getting married, seeing how their lives turned out. Also not becoming a grandmother.

The life I have lived so far I wouldn't regret, more money would have been nice but..

susiedaisy1912 · 04/04/2026 19:33

My only regret is that I stayed married for so long to my exh. Other than that I’m quite happy with all that I’ve done so far.

Snowie99 · 04/04/2026 19:33

Only that I hadn’t retired earlier

ifonly4 · 04/04/2026 20:04

Nothing, other than the fact I keep meaning to put a list together of accounts I have and details of bills that are just in my name, just so it'd be a bit easier to sort things out (bearing in mind so many things are online these days, so no paper trail).

SquadGoals75 · 04/04/2026 20:09

I’d regret staying in the same area where I was brought up, and getting into a career I hate but I’m trapped in. I regret getting married but I’m happily divorced now and very happy I had my DC.

HoppityBun · 04/04/2026 20:48

Yes. Lots. I’m not ready. I’ve only just started.

Owwasme · 04/04/2026 20:51

Yes. I'd regret not speaking up for the past 4 years about how miserable I am. It'd be a shame to die knowing my last few years could've been better.

hyggetyggedotorg · 04/04/2026 20:54

I’d regret not seeing any of my children married or moved out. I’d regret not living to see grandchildren or retiring.

In terms of regretting things in my past, no I wouldn’t. I’ve made mistakes, some huge, but they all go to make me who I am today.

didntlikeanyofthesuggestions · 04/04/2026 20:55

Not eating all my Easter eggs. Plus I've just done a big shop. I'll make sure I wear nice underwear though.

TheChosenTwo · 04/04/2026 21:02

I’d regret missing out on things in the future like a pp, not seeing my dc settled and happy or meeting any grandchildren, not having any more holidays to places I still want to visit and that we are planning once the youngest is older and we can do more holidays on our own 😂
but I don’t like the idea of historic regrets because I’m quite a positive person overall and like to think bad decisions from my past have all taught me something and shaped who I am today.

op did you not take dc abroad or camping etc because you genuinely couldn’t afford it or were you actually just being a frugal saver? We do save but it’s not really been at the expense of living for the day, we’ve prioritised family holidays, spending on really good food, spending money making our house lovely etc because we have to live our life every day not just for those weeks of the year we go on holiday. It’s one thing entirely if you couldn’t have afforded it with budgeting and I don’t think you should regret that - debt for holidays is barmy to me. But if you’ve not holidayed in order to squirrel money away then I do see that as a waste!

Renter2026 · 04/04/2026 21:04

Stocking up on toilet rolls

abracadabra1980 · 04/04/2026 21:07

Yes, loads. Not trusting my gut being the main one.

smallglassbottle · 04/04/2026 21:08

I'd regret inflicting this shitty life on my children.

Whenthemorningcomes · 04/04/2026 21:09

Regretting things done or not done in the past - no, not at all. That’s quite a nice realisation, so thanks for that 😊

I think most people would regret the lack of a future, but I don’t think that’s what you meant.

TheChosenTwo · 04/04/2026 21:11

smallglassbottle · 04/04/2026 21:08

I'd regret inflicting this shitty life on my children.

As in the state of the world or your life circumstances at the moment?

Lurkingandlearning · 04/04/2026 21:13

Do you mean regrets in addition to the ones I have every single day already?

ReignOfError · 04/04/2026 21:17

I would be sad that I wouldn’t see my granddaughters grow up - a realistic proposition for the youngest anyway, given she is 7 and I’m 70 - but that’s not really a regret.

I think it’d be the small things: that I won’t see another summer or Christmas, or one or two favourite places, or (more importantly) have a chance to laugh with some loved ones who are a distance away.

EmeraldRoulette · 04/04/2026 21:17

I still find it hard to let go of not having the career I wanted to have.

I still think there are ways I could've handled that better - so I spent decades taking medication for depression and anxiety, there are moments where I'm surprised I managed to achieve what I did, but I think maybe I should have looked harder into how I could manage a career, maybe be taking different medication, stronger medication - particularly paying less attention to parental health problems because all that energy could have gone into a career

And I think a good career is worth having
It's not just the money

My late father got a lot of joy from his career and I didn't really see how but I now realised I wasn't really well enough to see it

Sorry that was probably longer than you wanted to hear me waffling about regrets @TeaAndSymumthy 😂

Original poster
TeaAndSymumthy · 04/04/2026 21:20

TheChosenTwo · 04/04/2026 21:02

I’d regret missing out on things in the future like a pp, not seeing my dc settled and happy or meeting any grandchildren, not having any more holidays to places I still want to visit and that we are planning once the youngest is older and we can do more holidays on our own 😂
but I don’t like the idea of historic regrets because I’m quite a positive person overall and like to think bad decisions from my past have all taught me something and shaped who I am today.

op did you not take dc abroad or camping etc because you genuinely couldn’t afford it or were you actually just being a frugal saver? We do save but it’s not really been at the expense of living for the day, we’ve prioritised family holidays, spending on really good food, spending money making our house lovely etc because we have to live our life every day not just for those weeks of the year we go on holiday. It’s one thing entirely if you couldn’t have afforded it with budgeting and I don’t think you should regret that - debt for holidays is barmy to me. But if you’ve not holidayed in order to squirrel money away then I do see that as a waste!

It’s a bit of both. If we saved some money each month we would probably could just about get a camping trip in some point. But we often find ourselves living up to the pound every month

OP posts:
financialcareerstuff · 04/04/2026 21:28

It’s strange. I’m not at all suicidal but in many ways, I’d be relieved and just fine if I found out I was dying tomorrow. Partly, I have had a lovely, rich life already. But mostly at 48, I’m just so bloody knackered with perimenopause, the idea of being able to do nothing for infinity sounds wonderful.

Marylou2 · 04/04/2026 21:29

I'd regret not being there for my daughter but from just a personal point of view I'd be quite relieved.