This week, a viral Reddit thread asked users, "What are some dumb purchases you've made?"
The thread quickly blew up, as thousands of internet strangers came together to confess the most useless, embarrassing, and ridiculous things they've ever spent their money on.
Here are some of the funniest responses:
1. "Bought $50 worth of Beanie Babies because I thought they’d be worth something."
2. "My partner went out to buy vegetables for dinner and came home with a kayak. He forgot the vegetables and the kayak has never been used."
3. "Decided to go to grad school five years after graduating, for no other reason than 'I have no clue what to do with my life.'"
4. "When I was 17 I had unknowingly saved up $2,000 from work — I chose to spend this on a double neck guitar."
5. "I traded a rather rare volume into a local used book store because I had two of them. Then went back to the bookstore a month later and excitedly bought MY OWN BOOK BACK because it was rare and I didn’t think I owned it. I was wrong."
6. "Bought a onesie for my Great Dane. Don’t know why I bought it but I think he liked it."
7. "A house in 2007...it's still not worth as much as we paid for it."
8. "Spent over $100 or more buying clothes for my avatar on a virtual reality game when I could've spent it on...you know, actual clothes."
9. "I’ve bought a lot of 'how to' kits/books. Like how to knit, how to do calligraphy, how to paint, how to write poetry, etc. Have I learned how to do a single one of those things? No, no I have not."
10. "Getting home drunk and spending $15 on the Animal Crossing app. This has happened three times."
11. "A lifetime Megavideo subscription. The company was shut down shortly afterwards for copyright infringement."
12. "An ex broke up with me. She was the first person I dated and didn’t really know how to navigate the breakup so I bought her a really thoughtful gift for her birthday a month later. What a waste of money and time looking back on it."
13. "$75 in plants only to let them die because I forgot about them."
14. "A shitty mall katana...while I was on a date, no less. It was a first date. There was not a second."
15. "When I was high off pain meds after my ACL surgery, I was on Amazon and saw a typewriter that I really wanted. Ordered it — and it was a picture of a typewriter on a notebook. I’m still mad about that, lol."
16. "Four hundred dollar fish tank lighting. I wasn't a good enough carpenter to build the hood to mount it. It sits in the basement as a monument to my idiocy."
17. "I bought a faceless doll to scare people. Turns out I was the most scared one."
18. "I was high and ordered a five-pound bag of peach rings."
19. "I bought a rare exotic cucumber from a guy who said it would give me good luck."
20. "I used to buy Starbucks and/or lunch for several coworkers multiple times a week. I was in an incredible amount of debt."
And finally...
21. "This kills me every time I remember it and it’s honestly made me into the extreme money saver I am today. When I was younger, my family visited Niagara Falls. I had $50 (which is A LOT for a kid with no job) and was excited to buy some souvenirs. I spent it all on key chains, I only got like six of them which made it to $50. They were all of the same place, too. It’s not like they were from different cities. I wasted all the money I owned on FREAKING KEYCHAINS. Who even uses those?? It haunts me to this day."
Alright, your turn: What's the purchase you regret most? 'Fess up in the comments, please.
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.