People Share Unfathomable, Dumb, And Expensive Mistakes They've Seen Others Make

Mistakes. Sometimes, they’re benign, like in your math homework where you did something wrong in the solution but still got the right answer anyway. Sometimes, they’re not so grave, but at least you have learned something, like when you took a wrong turn on the way home, but now you know which paths not to take. However, unfortunately for some of us, mistakes are life-changing, and they might ruin your life in the end. In the Reddit thread by Ordinary-Ad5763, netizens shared the stories of their peers who had made some wrong decisions in life that were painfully expensive. From huge opportunity costs to spending a lot of money in one go, the stories you will read will make you feel pain and regret like the subjects themselves! How about we take a look at some non-regretted expensive stuff next? More info: Reddit

#1

Image source: TheBarenJark, Hansjörg Keller My brother ran for public office without having an agenda. He had no leadership qualifications, background in position, or support from anyone in the community. His took out a 10K personal loan to finance his political run and held one fundraiser where most of the attendees were family and couldn't vote for him. He lost badly, coming in last behind four other candidates. It took him years to pay back the loan and refill his savings, which he completely drained to pay for signage and flyers. Saddest of all, the printer misspelled his name on both items, so any remnant is a harsh reminder of how badly things went.

#2

Falling into the Qanon hole and isolating themselves from everyone they loved. Source: Argy_Bar

#3

Image source: kukukele, Jakob Owens Friend worked hard to gain the credentials to advance his career to his goals. It took four months for him to get busted having an affair with a subordinate and he lost all he worked for and ended up losing his license.

#4

Image source: HelmutMelmoth, Taylor Flowe My high school philosophy teacher cheated on his wife with my classmate. His daughter was in the year below us. She transferred schools out of embarrassment when her dad finally left the family to pursue a relationship with the 18-year old. Yuck.

#5

Family friend quit their government job after 23 years, 2 years before qualifying for a pension. They did it just because they wanted a change. They withdrew their pension contributions and bought a investment property at the absolute worst time. Now they are jobless and struggling to keep up with the overhead. Everyone advised against it and they still did it. Source: Briickhouse

#6

Image source: UserUsingUsed, Sven D A buddy that live with me for a while got a car he couldn’t afford because he was obsessed with image. Stopped making payments, tried to part out the car and report as stolen since he had the bright idea that would bring more money than just giving it back to the bank. Then got into check fraud, which landed him in jail. Been in and out of the system ever since, from stories I hear.

#7

Image source: vchaz, Bethany Beck Single mother of 3 living in poverty. Gave her parents her $6000 tax refund to hold onto because she didn't want her abusive ex to convince her to split it with him. Parents spent it all in weeks.

#8

Image source: AgathaWoosmoss, Towfiqu barbhuiya Friend retired with a full pension 15 years ago. At the time he kept bragging about how he was starting a business with some random guy he knew. He legit said, "He's the idea guy. I have the savings and the good credit score." Took out a huge loan, bought a bunch of expensive equipment. Shocker: business folded within 6 months, "partner" vanished with all the equipment. And now this guy, who should be enjoying his golden years, will be working retail until he drops.

#9

Image source: marshall_chaka, Andrea Piacquadio Taking out unfathomable loans for their business on top of taking out unfathomable loans out for a wedding.

#10

Image source: VanishXZone, Zhanhui Li One of my students was offered a 95% scholarship to Juilliard. They turned it down because they felt a 95% scholarship was a slap to the face, and instead decided not to go to school. Last I heard they weren’t playing, and were working minimum wage, but talking about how good they used to be.

#11

Image source: Amandarmoo, Andrik Langfield Watching them become less themselves because of the person they are with.

#12

I have two: 1. Took a loan out to go on a European vacation. 2. Took a loan out to pay for rent. Now this one is bad because it wasn’t because they needed a place to live, it’s that they wanted a really nice place to live and they have a so called “ certain standard of living”. They could have afforded a nice small house here to rent but instead she wanted a gigantic house in a wealthier neighborhood to rent. It’s the same person. Source: BETAMIC

#13

Image source: baka2k10, Miguel Ausejo My wife just had a c-section, and was complaining about a pain in her leg but never got it checked out. Two weeks later; Blood Clot. October 13th will mark my third year without her.

#14

Image source: pinkleaf8, Olivia Bauso Let go of a girl close to their wedding because of his idea of what a wife should be like. Lives in deep regret now as she married his friend & they’re really happy whilst he has never found anyone else.

#15

Image source: NoMore414, CDC A good friend of mine threw away 15 years of military service because he didn’t want to take the COVID vaccine. 5 years from retirement and incredible healthcare for his wife and children all gone. He joined a religion recently and decided he wanted to get a religious exemption which was denied so he opted for an administrative discharge. The fool…

#16

Image source: itzahckrhet, Markus Spiske Having a 3rd kid, when you can barely afford the first two in order to "save" the marriage.

#17

Image source: Enough-Ad3818 One of my best friends walked out on his wife and two kids because a girl at the gym and him were having a relationship. As it actually turned out, she was just being friendly and chatting to him. No relationship, no mutual decision to be together, nothing. He misunderstood polite friendliness for flirting, and destroyed his own family for it.

#18

I watched my friend throw an engineering career with Boeing away because he decided to smoke a bowl to celebrate getting the job. It was a military contract. Source: Peakomegaflare

#19

Image source: Jasper_Beardly_, Alesia Kozik Dump all of their savings ($30k or so) into random crypto at the height of the market. They were trying to get more money to put towards a house but lost a majority of it when things crashed. When their significant other found out they left.

#20

I don't know what changed him exactly, but he started calling himself an alpha male, and questioning any activity, clothing choice, type of car, career path, drink, etc as alpha or not. He bulked up and got large muscles but also still carries a beer gut. He tries to have his shirt off whenever possible, but it doesn't work for his body type. The constant seeking for assurances that something is alpha or not got tiring, or being told something someone was doing is beta behavior when I didn't have any interest or care made me stop hanging out. Of course, he now calls me a beta for not being alpha enough to hang out with him. Source: SteamDecked