3 Things I Wish I Never Bought [Money Wasting Stories]

I recently spoke about wasting £707.49 on a Gacha game, but that came at a time when I could afford it.

Life hasn’t always been so generous.

Quite to the contrary, I grew up dirt poor and struggled in the system for just under two decades before finally escaping the rat race at 36 years old.

Extreme frugal living was one of the most impactful habits that contributed to my escape.

I couldn’t afford to make these financial mistakes, and the first one cost me a large portion of my savings.

Wasting Money!… On a Ford Focus TDCi Turbo

I have nothing against Ford. In fact, after this experience, I purchased another Ford: the Ford KA in the picture above.

Let me set the scene:

There I am, a twenty-something, still driving around in my first beat-up but reliable tiny car.

Then, I had a great opportunity to buy a cool black Ford Focus TCDi from a friend.

‘Yeah’, I thought.

‘It’s time to get something with a little more VROOM’, and this car was it.

I purchased the car and loved it (at first).

Putting my foot down on the accelerator produced a reaction my budget car could only dream about.

And for a while, it was pretty awesome.

What I paid in fuel was made up for in performance, and I was happy.

That was until one day, within the first 6 months of ownership, when the car began to labour instead of zooming off upon request.

I took it to a mechanic, who explained that there was a slab of engine on top of the actual engine, called a Turbo and that this “Turbo-Engine” had decided to retire without notice.

It had decided that speed was no longer a priority and wanted to pursue other interests, such as pointlessly hugging the main engine for 24 hours a day.

The mechanic inspected the car on several occasions. Each time, releasing the patient back into my care until finally telling me:

1. He would need to remove the Turbo
2. It might not necessarily fix the problem, and
3. It would cost the same as purchasing another second-hand car.

Needless to say, I gave up on the Ford Focus TCDi and purchased a new, small, basic car.

Something without a Turbo:

I lost thousands of pounds to a Turbo that was fun at first, but filed for early retirement 6 months after taking the job.

A key question to ask about any new car, especially when on a budget, is: Can I see and work on the entire engine?

In the following years, I purchased a few books, watched a few videos, and learned what I could about my car.

And it has saved me nearly as much money as I lost on that Turbo!

Wasting Money!… On a Sony E-Reader

There was a time when MP3 players were lifestyle-changing devices.

If you’re old enough to remember, when MP3 Players first arrived, they were revolutionary because they allowed you to listen to music while moving—like when jogging, playing basketball, or riding a bike.

Before MP3 Players, there were CD Players, and before that, Cassette Players; however, neither was great for exercising.

Early MP3 players had limited onboard memory, which was a significant problem. This meant that you could only listen to a few songs on rotation.

What’s all that got to do with a Sony E-Reader?

Well, similar to MP3 Players, early E-Readers were extremely limited; they weren’t the finished product that the Kindle is today.

Early E-Readers were pixelated, grey-scaled, and it was a challenge getting E-Books onto the damned things!

Of course, I purchased my first E-Reader just before they sorted everything out.

The result?

I have a lovely paperweight with a soft faux leather case sitting in a drawer somewhere, never to be used again.

For the same money, I could have bought Andy Dufresne a new library.

The moral of the story is that sometimes it’s best to wait before buying a fancy new tech toy.

Forget the ‘paper-like’ screen stuff, the ‘store 100 books’ hype, and the ’20 hours reading time’. Ignore it all and wait.

It’s likely to get a lot better and a lot cheaper real soon!

Related: Life in the 80s

Wasting Money!… On Watches

I love wristwatches.

My obsession is with the notion of time, one of the simplest yet most profound laws of reality.

It has led me to buy a bunch of watches that I don’t really need.

Don’t get me wrong—I only own a dozen or so, and none of them are extremely expensive.

Yet, over the years, I’ve spent hundreds of pounds on watches destined to sit in drawers, never to be worn.

The most peculiar thing happens when I see a cool-looking watch; I want to buy it. But once I have it, it loses its charm almost instantly!

Since we’re here, I may as well share my two favourites:

1. The Fossil FS5512 is my most elegant watch, and I wear it the most, and
2. The Casio GW-M5610U, which is the granddaddy of all the Casios

If you’ve got a story about a money mistake, please feel free to share it in the comments below.

I hope you enjoyed reading some of mine.

Until next time!

Copyright: oldcynic.com
I have previously published 2 of these stories ©