UGH, things you have spent money on but not really used

[DawnM]

As I am purging my house I am sickened by the things I spent $$$ on but didn't actually use.

 

I can try to sell some, although I would prefer not to ship them 

 

Kitchen gadgets and supplies
Creative Memories albums and supplies

Pampered Chef items (although these were mostly garage sale or thrift store)

 

The most I can hope for is to find someone who can truly use them and enjoy them.

 

But just UGH.

[Twigs]

My list is endless ...

[Carol in Cal.]

You probably learned something from each one.

And now you can let it go.

[historically accurate]

It's amazing what you find when you start purging - things that you just had to have, and never ever used...

 

Curriculum

Toys (especially those educational toys that the kids ignored)

Hobby supplies

Craft supplies

Kitchen gadgets

 

Dawn, do you have a local consignment shop? That's where I take all the kind of stuff you have on your list. Yeah, they take 50% off the sale price, but I just have to drop that stuff off. I've recently sent a cake pop maker, some doll my kids were given and never played with, a little camping grill, a birthday girl tiara (really where did that come from!?!), etc and then just pick up the money in a month or so.

[SKL]

• Clothes that a friend convinced me I needed.  :P
• Workbooks for my kids.  And kiddy books.  "So many books, so little time."
• Super duper healthy food that tastes awful.
• Prescriptions I was afraid to take once I filled them.
• Memberships to places that I didn't have time to visit.

 

[mommyoffive]

It overwhelms me.  

 

All the money spent is so wasteful and sad.   And the amount of $$ from gifts the kids have gotten.  Clothes they never wore.  Sick.

[DawnM]

It's amazing what you find when you start purging - things that you just had to have, and never ever used...

 

Curriculum

Toys (especially those educational toys that the kids ignored)

Hobby supplies

Craft supplies

Kitchen gadgets

 

Dawn, do you have a local consignment shop? That's where I take all the kind of stuff you have on your list. Yeah, they take 50% off the sale price, but I just have to drop that stuff off. I've recently sent a cake pop maker, some doll my kids were given and never played with, a little camping grill, a birthday girl tiara (really where did that come from!?!), etc and then just pick up the money in a month or so.

 

We do have a homeschool curriculum consignment shop.  I took stuff there last year and I have a stack to take this year of

Apologia Science and Teaching Textbooks.

 

I don't know about another type nearby other than clothing and my friend told me they ONLY take clothing within the last 12 months of purchase (style).  Crazy.  She said they can tell by the tags or something.  I didn't even know that was possible.

 

We do have two local mission organizations (their US offices are local) and I will donate some there and hope that the right people get it and use it and love it.

Edited April 10, 2017 by DawnM

[Granny_Weatherwax]

I don't have a lot of stuff that I spent money on but I wish I would have done a bit more thinking on buying a Quarter Horse for my DD and then having 5 years of stable payments. I really wish I had that money back. It would have helped with college tuition payments.

[DawnM]

I don't have a lot of stuff that I spent money on but I wish I would have done a bit more thinking on buying a Quarter Horse for my DD and then having 5 years of stable payments. I really wish I had that money back. It would have helped with college tuition payments.

 

 

I hear you!  I have never had a horse, but when I listen to my friends with horses they had to board and the costs involved!  Yowza!

[kiana]

Yeah there's a lot of stuff.

 

I made a new rule (based on a friend's rule) that for every $5 an item costs that I see and suddenly want I have to leave it on my amazon wishlist for 1 day before purchasing it. So if I see a $150 item I have to wait a month to decide if I'm really going to use it. This has helped a lot with curbing impulse purchases that end up not getting used. 

[fairfarmhand]

I hear you! I have never had a horse, but when I listen to my friends with horses they had to board and the costs involved! Yowza!

We have 3 horses we're currently trying to sell. The big girls rode them consistently for about 2.5 years and then lost interest for various reasons. It took a year and a half for my dh and I to decide that the interest was gone and wasn't coming back.

 

We keep telling ourselves that that time for horses was good for the kids gave them good memories and now it's time to let another kid have that fun.

 

Helps that was didn't have to pay boarding feed and we kept them on the farm.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[prairiewindmomma]

I think it's important to feel the emotion of over-owning so that you don't buy unneeded things post-purge.

 

I donated a number of things, and feel thrilled that I could furnish someone else's house, iykwim.  Local refugee settlement centers, domestic abuse shelters, and foster care transition organizations are all places I'm happy to donate to.

[Carol in Cal.]

I feel good about overbuying on homeschooling materials.  It's kind of like market research.  You're trying to find the best fit.  You do your best to figure it out in advance, but sometimes you just have to buy things and see where you end up.

 

And books, I tend not to regret buying books; but I'm also reasonably good at letting go of them.  There are a lot of Little Free Libraries around, and I take a few books to a local one almost every week.  Slowly but surely I'm lightening my load.

[Epicurean]

Blue Apron. I thought it'd make cooking easier, but we didn't like the style of food and things rotted in my fridge before we could make them.

 

One of those laser hair removal devices. It actually began to work on the places I used it, but it took forever to do just one leg and it was so painful. I wimped out and it's sitting in a drawer somewhere.

[Anne in CA]

I hear you!  I have never had a horse, but when I listen to my friends with horses they had to board and the costs involved!  Yowza!

I always joke that Money Burning is a cheaper hobby than horses.

[Carol in Cal.]

Blue Apron. I thought it'd make cooking easier, but we didn't like the style of food and things rotted in my fridge before we could make them.

 

 

OMGosh, my CSA.  So much rotted food.  So much pricey garbage.  Love the idea but dang.  Far too many mealy stored apples in the early spring, far too little salad stuff, far too much heavy duty cook these to death greens, and the icing on the cake was that they would take a big long break from Thanksgiving to mid-January, and another one around Easter time, so just when I would think, well, at least I will have plenty of fresh stuff for the holiday potlucks and entertaining, boom, the deliveries would stop.  Ugh.

[historically accurate]

Yeah there's a lot of stuff.

 

I made a new rule (based on a friend's rule) that for every $5 an item costs that I see and suddenly want I have to leave it on my amazon wishlist for 1 day before purchasing it. So if I see a $150 item I have to wait a month to decide if I'm really going to use it. This has helped a lot with curbing impulse purchases that end up not getting used. 

 

I like that rule - I should really implement that rule. 

[Guest]

Yes, ugh, when we quit homeschooling and I was getting rid of stuff, I was so full of guilt for all the cute, fun stuff we never used.

[2_girls_mommy]

I am not an overspender. I only buy what I need, and I usually make do with things when I should spend a little on something new. Every once in awhile I have bought clothes that I haven't worn because they were a great deal, but then I got home and didn't have something to match or something. I get mad at myself when that happens as it isn't a good deal if it doesn't get used, lol .

 

But dh, oh my goodness. Borderline hoarder on some things, lol. We cleaned out the garage together one day, and I about died at some of his junk. We are working on a better system of budgeting to make sure that doesn't happen anymore. 

[mathnerd]

I just have to look into my pantry and fridge to see enough unopened packages of high quality food that I compulsively buy and never use because I am in a cooking rut and cannot really think of ways of using stuff that I have great plans for when I shop :( Most of them are past expiry date as well. Who knew that I had 3 bags of unopened organic raisins (one of them is over 5 years old!) in my pantry?

[heartlikealion]

Really tall heels I've never worn

 

scrapbooking supplies I keep saying I'll use

 

dh's copy of P90X

 

a pair of wide leg jeans with tags (supposedly coming back in style lol)

 

We are pack rats that are trying to mend our ways. We stopped ourselves from buying Easter baskets for the kids this year. Didn't know if dd could carry hers in the egg hunt but we had one with a short enough handle. We reuse those and the bunny just fills them.

[kiana]

I just have to look into my pantry and fridge to see enough unopened packages of high quality food that I compulsively buy and never use because I am in a cooking rut and cannot really think of ways of using stuff that I have great plans for when I shop :( Most of them are past expiry date as well. Who knew that I had 3 bags of unopened organic raisins (one of them is over 5 years old!) in my pantry?

 

Those are probably still fine though, even if they're dried, just soak them in warm water for a while and they'll plump up again. Unless they're actively moldy. 

[Raifta]

Well I'll take all your Creative Memories and scrapbooking supplies!

 

But I hear you.  We have lots of electronics stuff that DH buys that never gets used - he bought a GoPro brand new a year and a half ago and it sat untouched until he 'traded' it away to a friend for a video card (of which we already have probably 10).

 

His Oculus Rift - he bought not only the first two versions that weren't really for commercial use but then bought the commercial one when it came out.  And used none of them.

 

His Bitcoin miner which ended up costing more to run than it gained in Bitcoin.  Also, his investment in Bitcoin.  

 

I have some yarn that is waiting for a project but I have been very very good for a year now and have only bought two skeins destined for a specific project and have been using up all the skeins lying about the house (to be fair, there's quite a few but also many were given to me so my financial outlay is not that much).

 

We have lots of books but we're actually good about reading them and then evaluating if we are keeping them and we have been mostly getting them from the library.

 

Games - I have a problem with games.  I love games.  I want my family to love games.  I want them to play games.  They do not want to play games.  Yet I keep on buying them.  Granted I am buying most of them used but we still have way too many.

[Carol in Cal.]

I buy too much yarn.  There, I said it.

 

None of you are as bad as a guy I used to know.  He had a thing for trucks and sports cars, could not decide which one he wanted.  So he went back and forth.  He would drive his truck into a car dealership, trade it in for a sports car, and come out super happy.  Then in like a year he would miss the function of the truck and go trade it in for a truck.  New each time.  He lost money hand over fist that way.  He had a fantastic sound system that he loaned me for a party.  I admired it, it had cost him $1200 and he offered to trade it to me for some little thing, I forget what it even was but it was worth maybe $200.  I felt like I would be a bad friend if I said yes, but I should have.  Because that was in 1983, and I have never had as good of a system as that one was.  Plus he probably traded it to someone more unscrupulous for, like a wheelbarrow or something.

Edited April 10, 2017 by Carol in Cal.

[Guest]

Dawn, I have felt for a long time that I spent half my time and half my money getting stuff that I am now spending half my time and half my money getting rid of.  It's depressing.

 

The two biggest complete wastes of money have been unused memberships.  

 

[BarbecueMom]

Clothes that aren't tshirts, jeans, and hoodies. I don't know why I make an attempt every couple years at grown-up clothes, because I never wear them unless (rare) occasion forces me to. I could seriously live on five t-shirts, two pairs of jeans, a pair each of athletic shorts and sweatpants, two tank tops, three hoodies, socks and underwear. And my dual purpose wedding/funeral getup. I'm not sure I even wore a coat this winter!

 

Yes, appearance wise, I'm 34 going on 16. This isn't changing any time soon so I should quit spending money like it is.

 

DH is way worse about barely-used purchases. He goes all out on something (gardening, exercise equipment, triathlon gear, etc.) then abandons it, either to health issues or waning interest (or both).

[heartlikealion]

Clothes that aren't tshirts, jeans, and hoodies. I don't know why I make an attempt every couple years at grown-up clothes, because I never wear them unless (rare) occasion forces me to. I could seriously live on five t-shirts, two pairs of jeans, a pair each of athletic shorts and sweatpants, two tank tops, three hoodies, socks and underwear. And my dual purpose wedding/funeral getup. I'm not sure I even wore a coat this winter!

 

Yes, appearance wise, I'm 34 going on 16. This isn't changing any time soon so I should quit spending money like it is.

 

DH is way worse about barely-used purchases. He goes all out on something (gardening, exercise equipment, triathlon gear, etc.) then abandons it, either to health issues or waning interest (or both).

 

:laugh:

 

I'm 34, too. I debate about getting an Easter dress/outfit because I'll probably only wear it for Mass. I have one dress in my closet I wore like probably 4 different Easters (to different churches LOL). Last year I was so sick of seeing myself in the same outfit that I bought a yellow cardigan and wore dress pants with it. I only wore it once. I have the same few tops I rotate over and over for church so I'm about to cave and get a few more "grown up" clothes. Most days I wear jeans and t-shirts.

 

[mlktwins]

Dawn, I have felt for a long time that I spent half my time and half my money getting stuff that I am now spending half my time and half my money getting rid of.  It's depressing.

 

I'm am reading this thread from the bottom up :-).  I feel the same way and I am being so careful what I bring into the house.  Also, DH and I both had full sets of house stuff before we married so that is some of the problem. 

[Garga]

I'm 44. The four of us live in a 1300 sq ft house. I've been married for 25 years.

 

It took about 23 years, but we have finally hit the point where we have everything we need. Everything. I see little doo-dads in the store and think, "I'll buy that!" And then realize I already have something equivalent at home.

 

And if I don't have something equivalent, all I do is think of my small house and try to picture where it would go. Nowhere. There is nowhere for it to go. The house is filled.

 

In the past I could have joined in this thread and talked about all the junk in the house, but now, I've decluttered fit down to just what we need/want and I feel no desire to bring anything else in. I look at all the lovely stuff in the stores and am finally happy to leave it there.

 

I still have some things to declutter from the basement and garage, but those are things that were well-used and are completely worn out and should be taken away, but are too heavy for me to lift alone and DH has neck problems. I really need to hire someone young and strong to help me get this stuff away.

Edited April 10, 2017 by Garga

[mlktwins]

Creative Memories albums and supplies

 

 

I would take this stuff too -- LOL.  I won't tell what I've spent on CM stuff (digital stuff too) over the past 12 years that hasn't been used.  I AM NOT GIVING UP HOPE though :-).  I haven't bought anything new for a long time though.  I also have a lot of cross-stitch stuff, but that doesn't take up too much room.  I also collect camera gear, but I just want one more lens and I think I'm done for a while.

[TX Native]

An Omega Juicer. Great and exciting for about a month. Then I was sick of scrubbing, chopping, washing the equipment and cutting boards, giving up a massive of counter space, and finding new and creative ways to use up the pulp. So very time consuming. It is sitting back in the furthest corner of our least used cabinet.

[Another Lynn]

Instant pot. Because of the hive, of course. 😂