Welcome sweet friends! In this blog post, we are going to be talking about 12 things and experiences that we have spent money on in the past that now we kind of look back and say, “WHY did we do that?” These are things we probably would never buy or do again.
We just hope this post is helpful in making you stop and think if you’re considering buying some of these items. We’ll give you real-life examples of what we do now instead of what we used to do.
We’re also going to share a one-pot cozy comfy meal that you can make right on the stove with items you probably have in your home – a winner all the way around.
So sit back, relax, and let’s get right to these money-wasting items!
1. Designer Name Items
The first thing is buying an item because it was a DESIGNER NAME. What we have learned (and won’t do again) is to buy an item because it is a STATUS SYMBOL.
I’m going to tell you about a purse and wallet Paul bought me quite a while ago. I still have it – I had picked it out, and once he gave it to me (I think it was a Christmas or birthday present years ago), I think I used it maybe once or twice.
Now, I held onto it – it is a good bag, it’s leather – but I’m going to tell you right now, I bought it because of the NAME. I don’t want to disparage any brands, but I would NEVER do that again. I would never buy something just because of the label!
The bag is lovely to look at – there was nothing wrong with it, but honestly, I didn’t like the way it felt. It was super stiff to me, the wallet was stiff. All in all, I just didn’t like it!
So what do I do instead? I now pick up these adorable little bags that are exactly what I want. I pay a couple of dollars for them at thrift sales and tag sales!
2. New Release Books
I have done this in the past (again, this was years ago), but my favorite author would come out with a book, or maybe it was a brand new cookbook that people had been talking about – “YOU HAD TO GET IT!”
I love to read, I love books, but I will NOT pay upwards of $25 for a book that, if I put on reserve at the library, I can look at for FREE!
Or, if it’s a book that I know I want to keep in my library here at home (and I do not have a very big library), I would wait to find it used and in very good condition, and probably pay less than a quarter of the price that a new release book would cost me.
That is something we have done in the past, and I’ll tell you right now, I will NEVER do that again!
3. Cheap Rechargeable Tools
Paul here: I had a project a few years ago where I wanted to redo our outside patio deck, which is wooden boards, and I needed a driver that I could use to screw the deck boards together. So I bought a rechargeable drill. I found one from a brand-name company that used to have good products, and I figured it was a good deal.
Guess what? The battery died! To replace the battery on this device, it was almost 75% of the cost of the entire kit! It was ridiculous – it was like $85 for a new battery!
So now it’s good for around the house if I’m hanging a picture or need to drill a little hole here or there, but not for an all-day event. I should have gone out and bought a quality tool. That’s something I’m never going to buy again – a cheap cordless drill.
4. Buying Flowers From a Florist
Now, I know we support small businesses, and I understand that, but I have to say honestly, places like Trader Joe’s and even your local grocery store have beautiful fresh flowers at a QUARTER of the price of what you would pay at a full-blown florist!
I recently received two beautiful bouquets – one was tulips and eucalyptus my niece gave me for my birthday (absolutely STUNNING from Trader Joe’s), and the other was a bouquet Paul gave me from Stop & Shop. Both of these lasted wonderfully and were stunning. I couldn’t have asked for more!
So when it comes to buying flowers, check out your local Trader Joe’s or your local food store.
5. Expensive Restaurants
Something we used to do that was a TOTAL waste of money: we used to dine out at expensive restaurants. I’m talking high price, small portions – WHY? Because they were the “in” place to go, or they supposedly had wonderful food. But it was NOT worth what we were paying for it!
So you would come out of a restaurant like that scratching your head saying, “That was SO not worth it!”
Now it has gotten so bad with us that we don’t even like to eat out anywhere. You can make a better meal at home, or maybe at a little mom-and-pop restaurant or diner – that’s where the good food is! That’s where the great prices are! It doesn’t have to be fancy to be good.
6. Multiple Streaming Services
After we ditched cable, there were so many streaming services available that we got caught up in the “Disney+ is offering this price” and “Hulu is offering this price” and Netflix and Amazon Prime… We actually were like, “WHAT are we doing? This is NOT worth the money!”
All these channels that you pay for – the movies they are showing, you can get COMPLETELY FREE! You don’t need multiple subscriptions!
How can you get free movies? Well, if you have a Roku player, Roku channel has HUNDREDS of TV shows that are completely free! Just search “free movies” on your Roku or Fire Stick player, and you will get hundreds of movies, hundreds of sitcoms, hundreds of talk shows, cooking shows – it is AMAZING what’s available for free!
So just because you ditched cable, don’t get caught up in the mindset that “I need EVERY streaming channel that’s out there so I can watch them all!”
7. Extended Warranties
Another thing you want to look out for is extended warranties. When you buy something and they offer you an extended warranty for a price, you’ve got to read the fine print! Because a lot of times, the extended warranty is not through the manufacturer but a third-party company. So you want to make sure you read ALL the fine print!
I’m going to tell you what happened: I bought a new car at the dealer, and they said, “Did you want a tire and rim warranty?” I said, “Gee, tire and rim warranty – that sounds like a great deal!” It wasn’t very much, but I didn’t read the fine print. I thought the dealer was giving me this warranty – it WASN’T! It was a third-party company.
To get the warranty on a tire or a broken rim from a pothole, I would have to:
- Show them proof that I rotated the tires every 3,000 miles
- Show proof that I kept the tire pressure at the EXACT pressure they wanted
- Mail the tire and/or rim back to this warranty company (who I don’t even know where they are!)
Could you imagine bringing a tire into the post office? It just turned out to be a waste of money! I spent money on something that I could never possibly use!
Check your credit cards – when you buy something with a credit card, your credit card might even give you an additional year warranty on everything you’re purchasing, from a TV to an appliance. And check your manufacturer’s warranty – a lot of times that covers you more than enough.
Just keep an eye on these extended warranties and these third-party replacement programs. People want to sell you EVERYTHING!
8. Treadmill
You know I’m going to say it – a TREADMILL! We bought a used treadmill years ago, set it up in our home, and I think I used it probably a week.
Not that I didn’t want to be active, not that I didn’t want to get healthy and do what’s right – I HATED walking indoors! I love to walk outside! Paul and I get outside (weather permitting) and walk our local bike trail. It’s scenic, it’s beautiful – it’s perfect!
That treadmill sat and took up half of a room upstairs for many, many months. I would NEVER do that again! I know now I am NOT an indoor exercise kind of person. We ended up giving it away to someone (which was a blessing), but that was a total waste of money for us.
9. Expensive Makeup
Something I used to do was buy EXPENSIVE makeup. I used to love a certain brand that began with a “C” that you could only buy in department stores way back when, and it always came with wonderful free samples and little pouches that were so cute.
One day I woke up and realized how much I was paying for that makeup! There had to be a cheaper way to do this – still get quality products but not pay those hefty prices.
If you have sensitive skin, allergies, and you HAVE to use a certain product, then by all means do so. But again, I was doing it because, well, everybody else was using this brand as well.
I’ll tell you right now, CVS is my best friend when it comes to buying makeup! Here are a few items I use now that I think are quality products for a QUARTER of what I used to pay:
- Aveeno Positively Radiant – it works wonderfully, has SPF, even smells really good
- John Frieda Frizz-Ease products for my curly hair (they’re a little more expensive, but I have very curly hair)
- Suave Max Hold hairspray – one of the best I’ve ever found at literally $5 a bottle (or less)
- CoverGirl Lash Blast mascara – works well and washes off with soap and water
- CoverGirl & Olay Simply Ageless to cover up dark spots as I get older
This is not a sponsored post, by the way!
10. Small Appliances We Never Used
One was a gift from our son – it was an electric fondue pot. I was SO into fondue at one point! I can’t tell you the last time I used this. I was like, “Oh, instead of making it on the stove in a pan, they have this electric fondue maker!” I don’t think we used it TWICE!
Be cautious about those small appliances that are going to “revolutionize your world.” Think about if it’s something that you’re going to use on a regular basis.
Like our air fryer – we LOVE our air fryer! We love our toaster. Paul loves his coffee maker. Things like that we use all the time. But these specialty ones like the electric fondue pot can cost you money, and it’s something that you would never buy again or really shouldn’t have bought in the first place.
11. Wet Jet Mop
This is something that we thought would really help us around the house, and it didn’t. I don’t want to say brand names, but it is a wet jet mop (that’s what I’ll say).
We used it for a little while – it streaked the floors TERRIBLY, the batteries ended up leaking in the thing – it was a NIGHTMARE! We tossed it. We would NEVER buy it again!
We stick to good old-fashioned warm, sudsy water with a little vinegar maybe, and just mop our floors like normal. It was a total fail! We went back to the old-fashioned ways of washing our floors.
12. DVDs
This is something I still have to be careful of today. We barely watch DVDs anymore because of all the free streaming content that’s available now.
We still have quite a collection of DVDs, and we watch them, honestly, less and less. So I have to be careful if we see a favorite movie in the thrift store that we don’t pick it up and bring it home anymore.
13. Full-Price Movie Tickets
Paying full price to see a movie in a theater – movie tickets are upwards of about $20 here in New York! We used to do it way back in the day. I would NEVER do it now – total waste of money, not worth it to us!
We do go to see an occasional $5 movie on a Tuesday night in our area, but to put out $40 for Paul and me to see a movie on a Saturday night? To us, NOT worth it! It’s not an option, that’s not something we would spend money on.
So we hope these ideas just get your wheels rolling, maybe make you hesitate, stop, and think before you make that next purchase. Is it something you need? Is it something you’re going to use for a long period of time? Are you buying it just because it’s a status symbol? Are you buying it because somebody else is telling you it’s a good deal?
We need to just stop and think before we take our hard-earned money and hand it over to someone else!
Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe
Now let’s make a wonderful creamy chicken noodle soup using chicken that Paul went out in 20° weather yesterday and barbecued! Here in New York, when we say “barbecue,” we mean grill – like to go outside, get the gas grill going, and cook our food outside on a grill.
I had a whole chicken in the freezer. He cooked it up, it was delicious, and now we’re taking some leftovers and turning it into a hearty, one-pot, economical meal!
Here’s what you’ll need:
- 1 cup of milk
- 1/4 cup of flour
- 8 cups of chicken stock
- 2-3 cups of egg noodles or some kind of small pasta
- About 1 cup of diced potatoes
- About 1 cup of carrots
- 1 cup of celery
- Half an onion, diced
- 2 cloves of garlic
- About 2 cups of cut-up cooked chicken
- Seasonings: rosemary, peppercorn, Italian herb seasoning
First, clean and chop the veggies into bite-sized pieces. Melt a tablespoon of butter in the pot and add all those vegetables. Give them a turn to coat those beautiful vegetables with the butter, and crush the two cloves of garlic right in as well. Let this cook for about 5 minutes.
After sautéing for 5 minutes over medium heat while stirring, add 1/4 cup of flour and all the seasonings. Take the rosemary and crush it between your hands to release some of the flavor, and add some freshly ground black pepper. Lower the heat and cook on low for about 2 minutes, stirring pretty much all the time (we don’t want it to burn).
Once the flour has cooked, carefully add the 8 cups of chicken stock. Gently stir and glaze the pan as you’re stirring the bottom. Carefully add your diced potatoes. Over medium heat, bring this to a boil and let it boil for 3 minutes.
After boiling for 3 minutes, lower to medium-low heat, partially cover, and let it cook for 20 minutes, giving it a stir every once in a while.
After simmering for 20 minutes, add your chicken, your one cup of milk (or you could use half and half if you want it a little creamier), and about two cups of egg noodles. Give this a mix, put it back up to medium, and let it cook for another 10-12 minutes to make sure those noodles are tender.
This is more like a chicken and noodle stew, but there is still so much broth! I like to take just a little bit of Parmesan cheese and put that on top.
That soup was SO GOOD! Our son had a big bowl of it, and then he asked me today, “Is there any left?” and I brought him some for work. That’s how much he loved it!
Was it Paul approved? It was DEFINITELY Paul approved! “I’m not a big soup eater,” says Paul, “but this ate almost as a stew – it was just hearty, warm, it was delicious, and it was easy to make! The hardest part was chopping veggies because everything came together in one pot. Really good stuff!”
Question of the Day!
What is something that YOU spent money on that you look back now and say, “Wow, was that a TOTAL waste of my money?” And it’s something you wouldn’t do again?
Please share that with us down below in the comment section because that will not only encourage us but our readers as well!
We thank you so much for spending this time with us! We ask you to be well, we ask you to be safe, and above all, we wish you BLESSINGS! Until next time, MAY GOD GREATLY BLESS YOU!