“From Savings to Snafus: 69 Cost-Cutting Decisions That Went Horribly Wrong!”
Total time on the phone: 45 minutes.
. A few years ago I used about every liquid dollar I had to buy my first place, a fixer-upper.
I thought I was going to save a ton by using the handyman from my last apartment building as my “contractor” for real work (demo, electrical, plumbing)
That bought me six more weeks of not being able to move in and $8,000 just to undo the work he did.
Young people, do not be dumb like me. Home improvements can wait until you can actually afford a licensed individual/team to do the work.
Not really backfired, but got less than optimal results buying the generic chunk of Parmesan cheese. I don’t use it often, but shave it on the occasional pasta dish or salad. It took forever to use it up. When I needed a new chunk, I decided to splurge on one that was more mid-range price, and what a difference! When this is gone, I might actually buy the expensive one. I use a few cents worth of cheese each time, so it’s not really that much more money, and the taste is MUCH better.
You need to read “die broke”
Frugality is great, but enjoying life before you die is greater still.
I drink a lot of pop/soda. I buy it in 2 liter bottles because it’s the cheapest. But I live in California where I have to pay 10 cents a bottle for California Redemption Value. I collect two huge plastic bags worth of empty bottles and then take them to a recycling center to get my refund. It’s crowded, dirty, smelly, and noisy. Usually I get at least a 5 dollar bill. This past time I only got $4.75. At that moment I reevaluated my life and decided it was no longer worth my time and effort.
While planning my trip to Korea I spent 50+ hours figuring out the cheapest combinations of flights, which ended up saving three people going $30 each. Probably wasn’t worth the time.
About a month after my husband and I brought our dream home, we noticed the we had a leak. Called home warranty, they came out and it was discovered one of the pipes was plastic and a staple had gone through it. The staple rusted and fell out, leaving a hole. It was supposed to be a medium repair: cut out dry way to get to pipe, replace pipe and then repair drywall.
The guy who came out said paying in check for the call was fine, but we had to pay in cash for the actual job. Okay, no big deal. He fixed it, we paid. All was good.
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