Buying our first house (not DC area). It was a HUGE money pit.

I’m 35 and have no retirement savings and DH controls the $$ (I am terrible with money so he took things over and then...yeah) so none going toward my 401(k) right now. We have two kids in daycare and a too-big mortgage for a too-big house.

Basically I regret everything financially.

buying an "ïnvestment"property!

Moving to Southeast Michigan, where my career got completely destroyed by the lost decade of 2001-2011.

Sold a row house in DC for a $40K loss. It would easily be worth $600K more now. Oh well - only bad financial decision and we sold our next house for $670K more than we paid for it.

Marrying my ExDH. That man could spend money faster than I could make it.

Trying to hang onto our house after he left. I should have cut my loses and sold immediately. Instead I thought I could handle it on my own and ended up with a mountain of debt plus the money I lost on the sale (around 10k).

Kept my TSP investments in the G fund for the first 2.5 years of my Fed career. Whoops

Getting married. Then, doubling down on that by becoming a parent. I haven't saved a dime since and the debt just piles up.

Marrying DH, whose saving and spending habits are opposite of mine.

Buying into the nonsense that renting is throwing money away and everyone should buy a home no matter what. Bought a home at the top of the market, spent thousands upon thousands on maintenance, outgrew it during the crash, held onto it for several more years in the hopes it would recover, went through several lackluster tenants, and finally cut my losses. Would have been better off keeping that money under my mattress or wiping my butt with it instead of spending $$$ on toilet paper.

Shopping at costco ... ah maybe not, but I do buy a lot of cool stuff there.

I regret not ever spending the money to travel outside of the country. There are so many places that I've wanted to see, it would have been fun to do that when I was younger.

I can still go now, of course, but it won't be quite the same as it would have been in my 20's.

After my divorce, I was in a rough spot and couldn’t save. I was breaking even. I had a major health crisis that limited my ability to work for about 6 mos. I was still employed, but often on unpaid medical leave. I didn’t have AFLAC so I started using credit cards to pay for groceries, gas in the car, basic kids’ clothing. I paid the minimums and when possible shifted balances to other cards. This worked for several months and I was almost out of the hole when my mom said she would pay off a few cards if I closed the accounts. I did. Somehow, that messed with my credit score. I’m still seeing the effects.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Becoming a teacher. It's a job I really love but it isn't conducive to having kids. Ah, the irony!

In that case, it will save you money in the long run.

Too late. I already have a 14 yr old. I'll be damned if I let him study education in college!

Anonymous wrote:Becoming a teacher. It's a job I really love but it isn't conducive to having kids. Ah, the irony!

In that case, it will save you money in the long run.