“From Savings to Snafus: 69 Cost-Cutting Decisions That Went Horribly Wrong!”
I’ll never drive from NJ to FL and back again to save money vs flying. I’ve done it a number of times, but at this point I’d rather just fly and be there in a few hours.
Gardening. Nothing grew and we spent more on supplies and seeds than the produce would have cost. We lost a lot of time that we would have gotten back if we just didn’t garden. My mom got a spider bite from gardening that not only cost money to treat but caused an infection and a lot of pain and suffering because the wound had to be dressed at least twice daily by another person because it was a large wound that was infected and it took weeks to fully heal.
Not to mention gardening usually involves getting way more of one crop than you will ever use.
We could have just bought the produce at the farmers market, spent less and not have had to gone through the trouble of gardening.
No more gardening. This is something to do as a hobby because you like it not to save money.
I was cutting dog treats in half with chicken shears. Went to cut raw chicken one day and realised I’d blunted them on the dog treats. Not a total fail as I can use a knife for the chicken and they still cut the treats well but still, not great.
I bought an umbrella from the dollar tree and it broke within 30 seconds of me opening it due to wind
I once avoided charging my electric car during peak hours when it was low on miles. I ran out of charge going to pick up my daughter that resulted in a larger tow charge than having charged it during peak hours. Will never make that mistake again.
Buying a house that didn’t check all the boxes. I really should have stretched the budget a bit more. The timing would have been perfect (pre-covid).
Now I’m “stuck” in a house I hate with a fantastically low mortgage.
Buying second hand pants online. Second hand dresses online? Yes sure , because the size is more forgiving. Jeans? No way. They either fit or they don’t. I keep forgetting that I need to try pants before buying. I have waster two or three pants. I could have bought a new one with that wasted money
I will NEVER buy generic Nyquil. It’s a rancid, gag inducing nightmare flavor.
A dedicated tutor for my child. For the last two years, my daughter Fatima used to go to a private tuition center, run by a lady (at her home) in our neighborhood to have some help with her homework and test preparations. There she sat with about twenty other children and was taught/coached by that single respective tutor.
I’d admit it bugged me for several reasons like “she has to go to someone’s home for 2 hours daily” or “how helpful this tutoring actually is”. Things like that.
But I sucked it up considering this was better than nothing.
Since Fatima moved to third grade this year, she actively started complaining that her Madam does not give proper attention towards her or other kids. She just tells them to complete their school assignments and gets busy with her house chores or even better … take a nap.
I could see it was not working anymore. So about four months ago, I visited a few schools nearby and asked around to find a female teacher who could come to my home and assist my daughter with her school assignments. I talked with dozens of them in the span of a week and fortunately found one.
Though her fee is like 5 times of what I used to pay before, I am convinced. She is well educated and adequate for the job.
She comes to my home and teaches my daughter for two hours daily. We don’t have to take our daughter to tuition center and back. Fatima can have all the attention in the world she thinks she needs. And best of all, I see improvement in her grades.
She is happy, I don’t hear complaints now.
I am one contented father.
When you start doing anything that aligns with something you’d see on /r/Frugal_Jerk. For instance, lentil bread may be cheap, but seriously? Lentil bread?
Yeah, I’m not much of a Bible-beater or anything, but this parable (Luke 12:16-20) hits a little too close to home.
> A rich man had some land that produced abundantly. And he thought to himself, “What should I do? I don’t have space to store all my crops.” Then he said, “Here’s what I’ll do. I’ll replace my barns with larger ones, and then I’ll store all my grain. And then I can finally say to myself, ‘you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry!'” But God said to him, “You fool. This very night your life will be taken from you.”.
