What Do We Regret Spending Money On?

There’s nothing like an impulse buy to bring you instant joy, then saddle you with months of guilt and regret. On What We Said, hosts Jaci Marie and Chelsey Jade asked listeners to share their biggest spending regrets, and the responses were, let’s just say, disturbingly relatable.

Next time you’re about to make a big purchase, maybe consider this list before hitting “buy now.” (Though if you’re anything like us, you’ll acknowledge it might not be a great idea… and buy it anyway. No judgment.)

1. Fashion

Oh, clothes. How we love you. And yet, how often we realize we didn’t need you after all. 

One listener admits that she regrets every article of clothing she bought after giving birth.

Chelsey vehemently agreed: “Both postpartum experiences, I’ve had a couple days where I’m sitting on the couch all day breastfeeding, holding my baby, and I’m like, ‘Now, what am I supposed to wear next week when I go back to work? Who am I now, really?’ And I buy way too much stuff. I have to return half of it. If I can.”

Jaci added, “I’ve hated how stuff has fit still. I don’t want to discourage anyone, but I did feel like that. It just takes a long time.”

Another WWS listener described an extremely relatable dressing room dilemma: “Tops that I think are cute in the moment but then I never end up wearing them because I don’t feel confident in them. Like, okay, they’re cute on someone else but not me.”

Chelsey explained why finding the perfect top is so challenging “Your bust size really comes into play, your arms, what part of your torso you like, do you like your stomach, do you like your arms—there’s so much to be exposed and so much to hide.”

2. Life Milestones

Another WWS fan said she regretted spending $80,000 on following her boyfriend to an out-of-state university. Yikes.

“College debt, we can’t even get into it because it’s a whole other conversation, but I can’t believe how you are so young when you decide to do that. Then it’s just, like, ‘I owe $100,000 now and I don’t even know if this is what I want to do.’”

One listener said, “I loved my wedding, but one year later I just think about all of the fun travel we could have done with $30-35,000 over the past year.”

For this one, Jaci and Chelsey had some advice: “Do you know what will make you just regret spending money? Doing that game where you’re like, ‘What could I have bought with that money?’ You kind of just have to own it. Just be like, ‘That money is gone and that’s what I chose to do with it,’ because the second you start being like, ‘Oh my gosh I had that much money and that’s what I did?’ That’s when you start to feel just mad at yourself.”

3. Tech and Online Purchases

“Literally anytime I DoorDash,” one listener confessed. “It’s always way more money and so bad when it gets to me.”

Jaci and Chelsey were in total agreement when it came to delivery regret. “I have had it up to here with the fees!” Jaci proclaimed. “They are insane, and I swear it’s gone up recently. And then you get it and it’s really not that good half the time because it’s been sitting in someone’s car.” 

Grocery delivery is even worse, according to Chelsey:“Every item is more money. You’re putting an apple in your cart and it’s more money on Instacart than it would have been if you were just at the grocery store. So every single item is more money. Then you have to pay the fee and literally it goes from being like $30 to I swear $100.”

Technology makes fools of us all, the WWS ladies discovered. One listener said they spent $800 on an electric scooter for her commute, and then two days later COVID lockdown began and she’s worked from home ever since. Another said that they regretted buying a walking pad that they saw on TikTok. “Absolutely ruined my knees because I used it without footwear, was expensive, and nowhere near as fun as I thought it would be. Impossible to use while working.”

Other tech regrets included rarely-used small kitchen appliances like Instant Pots and air fryers.

Don’t Obsess Over Regret

Though we all make those less-than-wise purchases from time to time, Jaci and Chelsey assure you that “it’s all going to work out.” Their financial philosophy? “Spend on what you love. Spend on what makes you happy.”

Now, if you’ll excuse me, it’s time to pull the trigger on that WWS bathrobe I’ve been eyeing…

For more candid conversations like this one, check out What We Said.