“From Savings to Snafus: 69 Cost-Cutting Decisions That Went Horribly Wrong!”
Well…. That morning we are awoken by loud banging at our door. My husband jumped out of bed in a splash. There was water POURING out of our garage. It flooded the garage, our bedroom, bathroom and closet. We just moved in a month ago, so we still had a bunch of boxes of stuff in the closet. The closet is huge. It’s like a long room.
Long story short, there were tens of thousands in damages. The warranty company wasn’t going to pay at first because the guy fixed it on the side, not reporting the job to the company. But after my parents got through with them, they paid for all repairs, damage and then some.
Not me, but my father in law. Bought a $600K house with cash. Didn’t want to “waste” $300 on a home inspection before closing. After closing, they found out the house was full of termites from top to bottom. Ended up having to tear down the whole house and build new on the plot.
I am an electronics hobbyist. I’ve had some frugal successes such as building a quadcopter out of PVC (frame cost was about $0.25) but I have also wasted a *lot* of time trying to save money. Here’s some tips:
* Unless it’s an expensive through-hole part it’s not worth desoldering *unless* you’re just trying to practice desoldering. Worth it: Relays, big switches, speakers (‘cuz they’re easy), and rotary encoders.
* The only thing worth buying in bulk are passive components like resistors and capacitors and things that are so cheap it would be stupid to buy just one like buzzers (1 for $3 or 20 for $5). Everything else will sit in a drawer forever while rapidly becoming obsolete. Example: I have four laser diodes because I thought, ” why get one for a dollar when I can get five for five dollars?” Hehe
* You don’t need a ready stock of every size/kind of wire in every color. Ugh, why did I buy like 10 spools of 22awg in 10 different colors when all I really needed was red, black, and ?
* Tools are different: Why did I buy that “As seen on TV” wire stripper for $10 (which i knew would eventually break) when I could have bought the $25 one that will last forever? Get good tools that will last!
Was attending a Con and decided to save money by staying at a motel a mile away instead of at the hotel the was at. Turns out the motel was on the other side of a 6 lane highway that had no pedestrian crosswalks (I don’t drive) Ended up having to sprint across said highway like a lunatic in order to get there and back.
>He continued to be frugal and work until he couldnt so that his wife and 2 kids would live good lives.
then
>I don’t know the details, but I heard that his wife ended up remarrying her personal trainer not long after. I’m sure they are enjoying his hard earned money, basically none of which he enjoyed.
And *I’m* pretty sure they are using his hard earned money to raise the children he left behind. Jesus, what would you have her do? Remain single and depressed forever? NOT spend the money he left her? Did you give a single thought to what it must be like for a wife to watch her husband, the father of her two children slowly die over 3 years?
I once moved out to Oregon to get away from Tennessee. I lived with my brother for a few months before I had realized I made a terrible mistake. So all the flights back were quite a bit more expensive than a bus ticket. So I get on a greyhound for four days. The difference I saved from riding the bus I ended up spending on food.
While the bus ride was hell, looking back I did enjoy it!
I would say any time I’ve bought the “cheap” product thinking I was getting a good deal. Then it breaks, and you have to replace it. Buying slightly more expensive quality products that last is frugal.
Not a huge backfire but I was down bad on Valentine’s Day trying to find a place to take my gf for dinner. Spent probably 2 hours sifting through menus til I found something I could afford. When we got the check I learned that they hadn’t updated their online menu in years and dinner ended up being more expensive than over half the places I looked at.
Tried to replace iPhone battery, ended up ruining it and had to get a new phone.
When I rocked up to a family gathering with bandages to the balls of my feet.
“Eet,” they said as they sat me down, “it’s time we held an intervention. You do realise hospital bills, time off work etc. will end up costing you more than a pair of runners?”
So I bought a new pair. I still have to be forced to buy new trainers every once in a while. Old habits are hard to break I guess?
