I could have been rich! Biggest financial mistakes

[rememberitalltoowell]

And how you come to terms with them?

I turned down a really well paid role for something else that didn't turn out as planned, and could only find much lower paying roles afterwards. When I work out what that decision cost me over the course of my career, we're talking hundreds of thousands!

Offered a job I wanted and a funded PhD in the same week. Accepted the PhD even though I had my doubts- should have listened to my heart rather than asking friends, because if you ask your friends, "should i accept [sensible-sounding job] or do [not-sensible PhD]?" they will all tell you to do the PhD as they assume that's following your heart, whereas my heart was saying "take the job!"

Quite similar here

Lots of frittering I now have to make up for, fast

Also know a lot of older colleagues who sold off London flats when they moved out in once shitty areas that subsequently went through the roof..

It happens. Try to turn your mind to the present and future

I didn’t let DH buy £500 of bitcoin 12 years ago when we had very little spare cash. Apparently be worth around £70k now. Whoops!

you can’t patent an idea
apple would have been working on it

DH sold his house to buy with me, mortgage wasn't huge but felt to much at the time to keep on so sold it for zero profit. Should have kept and rented out to students then sold. Still wouldn't be rich but would be a little more comfortable.

I let my husband run all our financial affairs, for years, believing that he was a sensible, steady Eddie type. I had previously been in debt and felt sick about it and was glad to hand it all over to him. He did nothing other than reconcile our cheque books.

I had an inheritance young and we just spent dribs and drabs and lived a life beyond our earnings, until it was all gone.

We bought a fixer-upper and I overspent on the renovation. The cost of buying the house plus what we spent doing it up comes to more than the house is now worth.

I’ve been very, very foolish in my time but, several years ago, I wised up, grasped the nettle and got on top of everything. We can’t get back what is gone but we’re in ok shape and I feel in control. I am very transparent with my kids (young adults) about everything to do with money so that they can learn. They’re doing brilliantly.

I didn't mean to put 'abusing' bitcoin here 🤦 no idea how this typo occured. No wonder MNHQ put it straight into hidden for review. I did wonder what I could possibly have done on such an innocent subject.

I obviously mean purchasing. So yeah, work that autocorrect out because I can't!

I almost bought £50 of bitcoin in 2010.

Isn’t the value of Docklands flats really tumbling as there is a surplus and the additional problems with leaseholds?

You clearly weren't around in the tech boom of the early 2000s when the patent wars were going on and it was the whole west with mobile phone company's spending billions on acquiring and fighting patent battles. The best example is the defence of the 1 click buying patent Amazon held for 18 years.

As I said it was more complex than just a concept, it was a description of the process of achieving that result using software and hardware interacting in a specific way.

A multimillionaire who could phone a private jet company to get us out of there!

I have to say, my biggest regret isn't financial but with my health.

I've got a permanent neurological involuntary movement disorder called tardive dyskinesia that was caused by an off label antipsychotic, prescribed for severe insomnia and anxiety after a head injury.

If someone offered me £10m and a huge house, I would say no if if meant I could be in rude health again.

Health is most definitely wealth 🙏 💯

That because of a lazy workshy husband with champagne tastes and less than beer money I took work profit sharing as cash instead of company shares. I have less than 1,000 shares because I put my foot down one year when I could have got about 20,000 and maybe more and I would be pretty comfortable.

I wish I had saved money that I inherited and 2 occasions being made redundant. All 3 a total combined of 35k over 15 years but no I spent it all

Woulda, coulda, shoulda- it doesn't help to dwell- just remeber your regret when another opportunity comes along.

I do regret being bloody-minded about not relocating about 25 years ago when husband was offered a great job but we had a perfect friendship group. Have since discovered true friends make time for each other.

Oh God, loads. My father managed to lose virtually all of our generational family wealth through a series of madcap schemes. DH and I failed to sell shares when they were worth £60,000, they became worthless very soon afterwards. DH narrowly missed out on a multi-million £ city partnership because he took an ethical stance about a facet of the company at the time (always v proud of him for it).

I didn't buy a house for £65,000 in 2003 that I definitely should have - it was about £150,000 cheaper than it should have been, and exactly what/where I needed at the time. I was just a bit rubbish and slow, and obviously it was snapped up. It's worth around £600,000 now, I drive past it sometimes

I just don't care about any of it. We're exceptionally lucky to live as we do, and I'm blessed beyond belief in so many ways.

Got fed up of the UK in mid 2000’s so sold house, furniture, cars and emigrated abroad. Lost everything and came back after two years with a suitcase each and about £500. Homeless, not even a plate or fork, or bedding to our name. Family put us up a few months (very grateful) which was a nightmare in itself.

NEVER should have sold house but thought renting it out would be a pain. Arrogantly decided we’d never come back.

Still renting almost 20 years later. Had to move 9 times in that time. No security, plenty of arsehole landlords. We will have to rent until we die.

If we’d kept our house we’d have long paid off mortgage and it is worth about £800k now. So not rich but secure with something to leave to DC and definitely more disposable cash over the years as rent has always been very high. I remember feeling absolutely physically sick when interest rates went really low shortly after we got back and we were paying 4 times what our mortgage would have been in a much shittier, smaller house.

Biggest regret of my life and I will pay for it for the rest of it literally!

My biggest financial mistake was sticking with the boyfriend who, when I excitedly said that some new flats were being built - village location opposite medieval church, surrounded by churchyard, ancient pond, brilliant transport links, fantastic view for miles over scheduled prehistoric monuments (so no building over them) and it would take us just two paydays to come up with the full deposit, as the price of the nicest 2 bed flat with the best view was £30,000 direct from the builders - snorted at me that I could forget about it, as he wasn't going to settle for anything less than the standard of accommodation he already had (his parents' 1930s detached 4 bed with driveway, garage, massive garden, huge attic, etc, I could go whistle as new builds were disgusting and nobody wanted to live in them.

We split up a year later, just as house (and rental) prices exploded.

Worked out alright for him in the end, as he stayed living at his parents, moved the next few girlfriends in, eventually persuaded one of them to have two kids and to buy him a house that met his standards roughly 14 years later.

Erm
Me too

Bought £60 of Bitcoin in my early 20's to spend on substances to take to a festival - I was so stressed buying the Bitcoin because I barely knew what I was doing that I didn't go through with buying the substances. I've lost the bit of paper I wrote my codes on and the USB stick I had the 'wallet' on too. Prob would be a decent few thousand pounds now. To be honest I never really think about it , and when I do, I frame it as £60 lost.

I have a DD and barely drink now let alone get up to dodgy shenanigans like that! Money is undoubtedly a lubricant for life, but life without money is very much still worth living if you know where the real wealth lies ❤

Reframe it… hopefully you’ve got some good memories from those holidays?

My dad suggested I buy some Bitcoin back in 2009. I didn't listen. Mind you. I recently asked him about it and he didn't buy any either.

My parents did the same, they could have bought a flat for less than £30k, I think it was £23k in the early 90s ....but didn't....that was a massive regret

I once had a nightmare that I got statistics on what I've spend money on. Like £££ on chocolate, £££ on clothes I mever wore etc.

Anyway, I understand the urge to calculate but in reality you have no idea if you would still be there and what would have happened