What terrible financial decisions have you witnessed your family, friends, or coworkers make?

[reecejackox]

Someone I worked with was on a low income but bought his lunch every day.

 

[RamblingMad]

Someone I worked with was on a low income but bought his lunch every day.

I wouldn’t say that’s terrible. Going out to eat is roughly $10 a day for 20 days a month. That’s $200 a month.

I see folks go bankrupt every 7 years.

 

[NannyBeBe]

Running up a lot of credit card debt

 

[CdnCarrie]

My former coworker told me that no one ever pays off a mortgage and would buy breakfast and lunch daily. She retired with a mortgage at 68.

Ex-inlaw borrowed money from everyone. Then won $10 grand at the casino and bought a big screen tv instead of paying anyone back.
She would also gamble on her money and then phone asking for bus fare money to get to work Sunday night.

 

[mefordis]

Borrowed 5k and never paid me back.

 

[mrodgers]

My former coworker told me that no one ever pays off a mortgage and would buy breakfast and lunch daily. She retired with a mortgage at 68.

I will more than likely have a mortgage at 68. I don't plan on living in a falling down mobile home the rest of my life and I can't start saving for a house until I'm 50.

 

[VandVsmama]

Bought one of those stupid Gerber Life policies for their kid when kid was born. Kid is now 12, soon to be 13, and the parents think that the $25,000 they'll get when kid turns 18 will be enough to pay for 4 years of college. Sometimes, you can't fix stupid.

Same individuals don't invest any money in a 401k, 403b, or IRA plan. And when they want to buy a new car, they refinance their house to get cash out to use to buy the new car.

 

[DLgal]

My husband bought a whole life insurance policy when he was 21. It was $100/month for a payout of like $200,000. I wanted to smack him when I realized what he'd done. We canceled it a few years later.

 

[RamblingMad]

Same individuals don't invest any money in a 401k, 403b, or IRA plan. And when they want to buy a new car, they refinance their house to get cash out to use to buy the new car.

I expect to see a lot of this next year. My home is up 25% over last year. I saw a ton of this borrowing before the last crisis.

 

[amcnj]

I guess a too common one is people not contributing enough to work savings plans to at least get the company match.

 

[mrodgers]

I expect to see a lot of this next year. My home is up 25% over last year. I saw a ton of this borrowing before the last crisis.

The more the merrier. I'll be in the market for a house about when I expect the crash to happen.

 

[DLgal]

The more the merrier. I'll be in the market for a house about when I expect the crash to happen.

LOL. Same! We are on a 5 year plan at this point.

 

[china mom]

Ooooh, so many train wrecks in my life, where to start.....

Not guarding your credit score. I'm not talking about those who end up in dire straights through n fault of thier own (medical, job loss) I am talking about those who pay bills late or over extend themselves out of poor discipline.

do you realize how much more you will pay over the life of a loan compared to someone with good credit?

Next: paying credit card interest.

 

[RamblingMad]

Ooooh, so many train wrecks in my life, where to start.....

Not guarding your credit score. I'm not talking about those who end up in dire straights through n fault of thier own (medical, job loss) I am talking about those who pay bills late or over extend themselves out of poor discipline.

do you realize how much more you will pay over the life of a loan compared to someone with good credit?

Next: paying credit card interest.

I think this makes a lot of sense for this demographic. Disney is not cheap. I can see people getting over their heads with the cost.

 

[TexanMinnie]

When I was married, we used to charge all of our vacations. Now that I'm divorced I will never do that again! If I don't have the money saved up to pay cash for my vacation, I simply will not go. Plain and simple. I don't have any credit card debt anymore and want to keep it that way. LOL

 

[luvnwdwgal]

My brother has always thought he was too good to hold down a real job. That’s what his wives were for. He’s on #3 now. He did have his own small business doing signs. He really should have just done that on the side. Anyway he thought he’d screw the government and have people pay cash and only claim 30% of what he made. Needless to say when he ended up having to retire at 60 due to his hands shaking so bad he only got the minimum social security, $600 a month. Plus he ran into health issues and ended up spending almost all the cash he had in his basement. He has no retirement at all. His wife doesn’t really make that much either. She’s a real piece of work herself. He’s always whining about not having any money. I certainly don’t feel sorry for him at all. He’s always been a jerk and the way I see it, he got what he deserves.

 

[kdonnel]

I watched the neighbor quit his job before getting a new one. As much as I disliked my current job, I did not quit until I had a new one.

 

[Meglen]

When I was married, we used to charge all of our vacations. Now that I'm divorced I will never do that again! If I don't have the money saved up to pay cash for my vacation, I simply will not go. Plain and simple. I don't have any credit card debt anymore and want to keep it that way. LOL

I mean using a CC isnt a bad idea to rakc up points you jsut need the cash to pay it off that month. Grats on getting outta debt!

 

[usnuzuloose]

Lets say I am totally broke........

 

[mylilnikita]

Well me. I met my then husband who didn’t have anything. I learned why later, because he could literally have money in his hand and buy the dumbest crap ever.
So I met him, I was crazy good with keeping up with my bills, but got caught up in helping him with his bills and he wasn’t helping and I went bankrupt. We divorced and he still had nothing, he remarried and only has stuff because of his current wife.
My ex was a hard worker, but money would go through his hands like water.