Your dumbest financial mistakes

[Williss2]

Before nursing school, and maybe even after getting those nice nursing checks, what were some of the dumbest purchases made. Big or small. I have heard some good financial advice on this site. But people learn from our mistakes too. Most of my dumb mistakes came from being young. As a teen my boyfriend (now husband) and I took his last paycheck from gettting fired and went to six flags. Spent the whole check, not knowing the next time we would have money. Once graduating, we ate out at least 4 times a week until someone on this site made me aware as to how much I was actually spending(Family of 4). I thought nursing school would be a bad investment when I racked up loans not knowing if I was gonna pass. But it was probably the best investment.

My best friend bought a current year STANDARD suzuki forenza for over twenty grand right out of nursing school. It immediately depreciated and she ended up in an upside down situation when trying to trade it in the next year.

[grandmawrinkle]

Getting married.

I married someone, we combined finances, I became a nurse, and now he doesn't want to work and thinks that I should support him since I bring home "the big bucks."

I have never been more broke in my life. And I am running myself ragged trying to keep up.

Whoa.....girlfriend! I know all about husbands that aren't perfect (have had two, still married to one that I love very much) but that is not cool. Can you say divorce?

[KJStarling]

Without a doubt marrying my ex!

[MAISY, RN-ER, BSN, RN]

I don't care about my credit report, I don't plan on buying anything major in the next 7 years. I already have a house and will never again get a car loan. I also rarely use credit cards, I have 2 that work just fine for me.

Why worry about my credit report when I don't plan on obtaining a mortgage or car loan.

Never say, "never". What is it they say about God laughing at our plans?

Also noted you are in Florida, if the timeshare you own is by the beach you will always be able to rent it. If Disney area, at least 700 if 2 bedroom or more and nice. FYI Florida has over 1 million properties for sale due to the economy, many are foreclosures and short sales. Your state is hurting....don't become part of the problem.

Sell it, rent it, gift it or pay it....letting a paid off property go into foreclosure over a maitenance fee is ridiculous! You have other alternatives, just use them.

As for not caring about your credit report; employers use it as part of the hiring process. Unless you own the facility in which you work, you never know when you will be looking for another job. Taking care of business shows fiscal responsibility.

M

[NICUQueen]

I, too, am one who bought a timeshare, straight out of nursing school. Used it one time, tried to sell it a couple times, finally ended up giving it back to the company, along with some money. I am so glad to be rid of it, but a major lesson learned...do not buy a timeshare!

[SomedayIWillBe]

Getting a new car when the one I had was just fine.

[debi49]

Quitting a job without having another one lined up.

[anon695]

Dumbest financial mistakes I ever made:

1. Went to a prestigious 4-year liberal arts college and got a BA in English right after high school. I ended up with $12K in debt (graduated in 2001), no real job skills, and 4 years wasted when I could have been working/earning or better yet, in nursing school the first time around! It sucked up all the money I earned from my part-time jobs as well.

2. Ploughed about $30K into a Pharmaceutical stock and didn't sell the shares when they were worth $80K about 2 years later. One morning I woke up and found the stock worth $7/share because one of the clinical trials failed. I lost over half my initial investment. Oops.

[Flying ICU RN]

Dumbest financial mistakes I ever made:

1. Went to a prestigious 4-year liberal arts college and got a BA in English right after high school. I ended up with $12K in debt (graduated in 2001), no real job skills, and 4 years wasted.

Nope, not wasted.

Bad return on investment maybe, but certainly not wasted.

That BA in English Lit, educated you.

[FutureRN19]

Lending my friend money. Didn't get any back, the friend or money. lol

[leenak]

I estimate my return on investment for my school tuition to be 20,000% to date.

I look at it as more of an emotional investment than a financial investment :) Financially, its a horrible decision for me, emotionally, I think it will be the greatest investment.

[OCNRN63, RN]

I don't care about my credit report, I don't plan on buying anything major in the next 7 years. I already have a house and will never again get a car loan. I also rarely use credit cards, I have 2 that work just fine for me.

Why worry about my credit report when I don't plan on obtaining a mortgage or car loan.

Because you never know when you will need credit, for starters. You may not plan on making a major purchase, but that doesn't mean life won't throw you a curveball and force you to.

[lifelearningrn, BSN, RN]

Yup, bought a timeshare in 1998, dumbest mistake I ever made. I tried to sell it, impossible. I paid it off and am letting go into foreclosure for the maintenance fees. So what? I already own my house and car.

I'm curious why you would pay it off and THEN let it go into foreclosure? You might has well as throw that money into a fire. I think letting it go into forclosure NOW is a worse mistake than actually buying the timeshare.

As someone mentioned, gift it or sell it. If you gift it, you may be able to at least claim in as a deduction. Also- it won't hurt your credit. I'm sure there is someone out there that would love to have a timeshare they only have to pay maintenance fees for!

Having said that though, what a RACKET those fees are. Everyone who owns these times shares pay monthly fees... it can't possibly cost that much to maintain these condos.. whoever profits from these must be rolling in the dough.