Author Topic: What's your dumbest mistake?  (Read 41218 times)

DadJokes

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Re: What's your dumbest mistake?
« Reply #100 on: June 30, 2020, 09:31:58 AM »
Did almost the same thing about 10 years ago except it was a motorcycle I was riding home around midnight, and I called my dad when it "broke down" on the side of the road. At least it was only a 15 minutes trip for him and we didn't have to lift a motorcycle into the bed of his truck.  In my defense it had no fuel gauge, but I still felt quite dumb.
Do you know about a motorcycle fuel reserve knob? Even my vintage Vespas have them.

Re: stereos. Back in the 1990s we had that problem and you could buy stereos that would slide out of the dash and had a carrying handle. Some people had cases for their radios. We would take them into stores and restaurants with us. Then detachable stereo faces were invented.

Newer motorcycles frequently don't have them, though they should have a gaslight if they don't use the reserve system.

At 18-years old, I was riding a Harley Sportster through eastern New Mexico one evening. I had half a tank when I went through one town. I figured that would be plenty to get to the next town. It was before the days of widespread GPS, and I was unfamiliar with the area, so I didn't even know the rough mileage. My gaslight came on when I was still 40 miles from the next town. I ended up slowing down to ~45 mph and hugging the gas tank to reduce wind resistance to get every mile I could on that deserted highway. Thankfully, I made it. It turned out to be about 90 miles between towns.

New Mexico is not the place to wait until your gaslight is on to start looking for gas stations.

Just Joe

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Re: What's your dumbest mistake?
« Reply #101 on: June 30, 2020, 11:49:10 AM »
That was a close one! The first time I drove out west the distances were an important education.

FindingFI

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Re: What's your dumbest mistake?
« Reply #102 on: June 30, 2020, 12:02:43 PM »
Did almost the same thing about 10 years ago except it was a motorcycle I was riding home around midnight, and I called my dad when it "broke down" on the side of the road. At least it was only a 15 minutes trip for him and we didn't have to lift a motorcycle into the bed of his truck.  In my defense it had no fuel gauge, but I still felt quite dumb.
Do you know about a motorcycle fuel reserve knob? Even my vintage Vespas have them.

Re: stereos. Back in the 1990s we had that problem and you could buy stereos that would slide out of the dash and had a carrying handle. Some people had cases for their radios. We would take them into stores and restaurants with us. Then detachable stereo faces were invented.

Newer motorcycles frequently don't have them, though they should have a gaslight if they don't use the reserve system.

At 18-years old, I was riding a Harley Sportster through eastern New Mexico one evening. I had half a tank when I went through one town. I figured that would be plenty to get to the next town. It was before the days of widespread GPS, and I was unfamiliar with the area, so I didn't even know the rough mileage. My gaslight came on when I was still 40 miles from the next town. I ended up slowing down to ~45 mph and hugging the gas tank to reduce wind resistance to get every mile I could on that deserted highway. Thankfully, I made it. It turned out to be about 90 miles between towns.

New Mexico is not the place to wait until your gaslight is on to start looking for gas stations.

Before I thought I had broken down, I turned to reserve and got another 2 or 3 miles before is sputtered to a stop again. Never relied on the reserve again after that. It was such a short distance that I assumed something was broken.
« Last Edit: June 30, 2020, 12:04:37 PM by FindingFI »

DadJokes

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Re: What's your dumbest mistake?
« Reply #103 on: June 30, 2020, 12:07:11 PM »
Did almost the same thing about 10 years ago except it was a motorcycle I was riding home around midnight, and I called my dad when it "broke down" on the side of the road. At least it was only a 15 minutes trip for him and we didn't have to lift a motorcycle into the bed of his truck.  In my defense it had no fuel gauge, but I still felt quite dumb.
Do you know about a motorcycle fuel reserve knob? Even my vintage Vespas have them.

Re: stereos. Back in the 1990s we had that problem and you could buy stereos that would slide out of the dash and had a carrying handle. Some people had cases for their radios. We would take them into stores and restaurants with us. Then detachable stereo faces were invented.

Newer motorcycles frequently don't have them, though they should have a gaslight if they don't use the reserve system.

At 18-years old, I was riding a Harley Sportster through eastern New Mexico one evening. I had half a tank when I went through one town. I figured that would be plenty to get to the next town. It was before the days of widespread GPS, and I was unfamiliar with the area, so I didn't even know the rough mileage. My gaslight came on when I was still 40 miles from the next town. I ended up slowing down to ~45 mph and hugging the gas tank to reduce wind resistance to get every mile I could on that deserted highway. Thankfully, I made it. It turned out to be about 90 miles between towns.

New Mexico is not the place to wait until your gaslight is on to start looking for gas stations.

Before I thought I had broken down, I turned to reserve and got another 2 or 3 miles before is sputtered to a stop again. Never relied on the reserve again after that. It was such a short distance that I assumed something was broken.

Only 2-3 miles with the reserve tank? That's lame.

FindingFI

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Re: What's your dumbest mistake?
« Reply #104 on: June 30, 2020, 12:12:27 PM »
Did almost the same thing about 10 years ago except it was a motorcycle I was riding home around midnight, and I called my dad when it "broke down" on the side of the road. At least it was only a 15 minutes trip for him and we didn't have to lift a motorcycle into the bed of his truck.  In my defense it had no fuel gauge, but I still felt quite dumb.
Do you know about a motorcycle fuel reserve knob? Even my vintage Vespas have them.

Re: stereos. Back in the 1990s we had that problem and you could buy stereos that would slide out of the dash and had a carrying handle. Some people had cases for their radios. We would take them into stores and restaurants with us. Then detachable stereo faces were invented.

Newer motorcycles frequently don't have them, though they should have a gaslight if they don't use the reserve system.

At 18-years old, I was riding a Harley Sportster through eastern New Mexico one evening. I had half a tank when I went through one town. I figured that would be plenty to get to the next town. It was before the days of widespread GPS, and I was unfamiliar with the area, so I didn't even know the rough mileage. My gaslight came on when I was still 40 miles from the next town. I ended up slowing down to ~45 mph and hugging the gas tank to reduce wind resistance to get every mile I could on that deserted highway. Thankfully, I made it. It turned out to be about 90 miles between towns.

New Mexico is not the place to wait until your gaslight is on to start looking for gas stations.

Before I thought I had broken down, I turned to reserve and got another 2 or 3 miles before is sputtered to a stop again. Never relied on the reserve again after that. It was such a short distance that I assumed something was broken.

Only 2-3 miles with the reserve tank? That's lame.

Lame indeed. I still suspect that there was something wrong with the reserve system, possible that the petcock was installed incorrectly and the my 2-3 miles came from whatever was in the petcock rather than the fuel tank itself. Never did confirm, just filled the tank often after that.
« Last Edit: June 30, 2020, 12:15:43 PM by FindingFI »

Just Joe

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Re: What's your dumbest mistake?
« Reply #105 on: June 30, 2020, 04:06:39 PM »
Maybe you had a bunch of rust and sediment in the tank clogging the reserve. Or that motorcycle had a dastardly previous owner that modified the valve eliminating the reserve feature. I've seen both.

Michael in ABQ

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Re: What's your dumbest mistake?
« Reply #106 on: July 02, 2020, 11:47:53 AM »
Did almost the same thing about 10 years ago except it was a motorcycle I was riding home around midnight, and I called my dad when it "broke down" on the side of the road. At least it was only a 15 minutes trip for him and we didn't have to lift a motorcycle into the bed of his truck.  In my defense it had no fuel gauge, but I still felt quite dumb.
Do you know about a motorcycle fuel reserve knob? Even my vintage Vespas have them.

Re: stereos. Back in the 1990s we had that problem and you could buy stereos that would slide out of the dash and had a carrying handle. Some people had cases for their radios. We would take them into stores and restaurants with us. Then detachable stereo faces were invented.

Newer motorcycles frequently don't have them, though they should have a gaslight if they don't use the reserve system.

At 18-years old, I was riding a Harley Sportster through eastern New Mexico one evening. I had half a tank when I went through one town. I figured that would be plenty to get to the next town. It was before the days of widespread GPS, and I was unfamiliar with the area, so I didn't even know the rough mileage. My gaslight came on when I was still 40 miles from the next town. I ended up slowing down to ~45 mph and hugging the gas tank to reduce wind resistance to get every mile I could on that deserted highway. Thankfully, I made it. It turned out to be about 90 miles between towns.

New Mexico is not the place to wait until your gaslight is on to start looking for gas stations.

This is true. Outside of cities and towns there is basically nothing. Even on the freeway it's generally about 50 miles between cities with nothing in between but desert (or grasslands in eastern New Mexico). Not like some parts of the country where you'll have houses and farms, etc.

iris lily

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Re: What's your dumbest mistake?
« Reply #107 on: July 04, 2020, 11:18:38 AM »
Leaving retirement money on the table, about $10,000.

It was a pension from an old job decades ago. I did not pay attention to the specifics of this pension. But it started paying out at age 55 and I didn’t claim it because in my mind I thought surely I had to be older, or else it was there  building up for me later, or something.

But no. It started paying out and if I didn’t take it I lost it.
Dumb dumb dumb.

Chris@TTL

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Re: What's your dumbest mistake?
« Reply #108 on: July 05, 2020, 10:29:46 AM »
But no. It started paying out and if I didn’t take it I lost it.
Dumb dumb dumb.

Ouch. Did you just need to sign a doc and say "yes, I'll take it"?

Hopefully, in the grand scheme, 10k will have had little impact. But, might depend on how long ago this was :)

iris lily

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Re: What's your dumbest mistake?
« Reply #109 on: July 05, 2020, 11:47:49 AM »
But no. It started paying out and if I didn’t take it I lost it.
Dumb dumb dumb.

Ouch. Did you just need to sign a doc and say "yes, I'll take it"?

Hopefully, in the grand scheme, 10k will have had little impact. But, might depend on how long ago this was :)
pretty much yep just file to get it.

Fortunately the $10,000 is a drop in the bucket.


Kashmani

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Re: What's your dumbest mistake?
« Reply #110 on: July 06, 2020, 11:33:29 AM »
Graduate school. Had a perfectly serviceable engineering degree and got talked into a masters. Hated it but, having no real-world experience had become basically unemployable. Switched careers into law which tacked on another three years. During those five years total, saw friends who got jobs out of undergrad buy houses (this was in the early 2000s, before prices went crazy), fix them up on evenings and weekends, sell them for more, and then buy their "family" house before I had even graduated.

Total opportunity cost: $500,000, consisting of:

- five years' lost salary @$50,000/yr: $250,000
- Tuition: $50,000
- Loss of housing appreciation: $200,000 (this is in Canada, where prices never reset post-2008).

I finally reached the financial crossover point two years ago, at age 39. However, that was after two decades of very long hours; first in school and then in practice. Subtract those hours and I am still a good five years away.

Don't get me wrong. I like my current job and I am financially stable. But the numbers are what they are.

My half-million dollar error in judgment.

imadandylion

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Re: What's your dumbest mistake?
« Reply #111 on: July 08, 2020, 11:41:53 AM »
^My biggest mistake also involves higher education, but it was more the subject matter of the degree and less about schooling itself. I wish I chose something else. It does have 'transferable skills' but annoyingly I also didn't realize I didn't want to do this into perpetuity until recently. So all in all, I do regard it as a waste of time and money, honestly. Definitely not worth the dramatic tuition increases - higher cost and same low quality of education. Also, knowing what I know now I would've gone to an international university instead, it would've been more affordable!

Also, I regret the consumerist spending in my college years - my roommate and I would have a habit of going shopping for fun because we literally had nothing better to do. I didn't get into tons of debt but I wish I spent my time working on something else instead of shopping, and of course, the money would've been better served on something like investments.

Monerexia

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Re: What's your dumbest mistake?
« Reply #112 on: July 11, 2020, 11:07:01 PM »
Loaning my niece $2500 for the vet when she called me crying and begging that her dog had been hit by a vehicle a month ago. She is 20, has never worked, has no driver license, lost her social security card, etc. Dog was dead less than eight hours after i made the payment. She has not contacted me since. Her father has proven so toxic and hateful since that I have blocked him from texting and have plans to never speak to him again. No respect, no gratitude.

Taran Wanderer

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Re: What's your dumbest mistake?
« Reply #113 on: July 12, 2020, 01:19:38 PM »
I haven't made too many big mistakes.  This has helped our family become very well off financially through a reasonably good savings rate and a long series of good, steady decisions.  I probably made a mistake by not taking more risks.  And no matter how much we travel, we should spend less money on stuff and spend it to travel more.

Chris@TTL

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Re: What's your dumbest mistake?
« Reply #114 on: July 12, 2020, 03:27:05 PM »
...  And no matter how much we travel, we should spend less money on stuff and spend it to travel more.

Ah... I'm right there with you.

I know there are bigger problems with the pandemic than my minor complaints, but damn the coronavirus for this. Can't wait to get "back in the saddle".

Just Joe

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Re: What's your dumbest mistake?
« Reply #115 on: July 14, 2020, 08:53:55 AM »
Loaning my niece $2500 for the vet when she called me crying and begging that her dog had been hit by a vehicle a month ago. She is 20, has never worked, has no driver license, lost her social security card, etc. Dog was dead less than eight hours after i made the payment. She has not contacted me since. Her father has proven so toxic and hateful since that I have blocked him from texting and have plans to never speak to him again. No respect, no gratitude.

Ahh family... Ain't they just the best?

At this point it seems like everyone's family is at least a little messy. Certainly no Norman Rockwell paintings of our family. 

Monerexia

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Re: What's your dumbest mistake?
« Reply #116 on: July 14, 2020, 10:46:59 AM »
Loaning my niece $2500 for the vet when she called me crying and begging that her dog had been hit by a vehicle a month ago. She is 20, has never worked, has no driver license, lost her social security card, etc. Dog was dead less than eight hours after i made the payment. She has not contacted me since. Her father has proven so toxic and hateful since that I have blocked him from texting and have plans to never speak to him again. No respect, no gratitude.

Ahh family... Ain't they just the best?

At this point it seems like everyone's family is at least a little messy. Certainly no Norman Rockwell paintings of our family.

Yes I knew better--this is taking up so much more bandwidth than $2500 deserves. I have tried to reframe it but the betrayal is just so heavy and thick. I don't respond well to betrayal haha

Dave1442397

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Re: What's your dumbest mistake?
« Reply #117 on: July 14, 2020, 01:59:46 PM »
Loaning my niece $2500 for the vet when she called me crying and begging that her dog had been hit by a vehicle a month ago. She is 20, has never worked, has no driver license, lost her social security card, etc. Dog was dead less than eight hours after i made the payment. She has not contacted me since. Her father has proven so toxic and hateful since that I have blocked him from texting and have plans to never speak to him again. No respect, no gratitude.

Ahh family... Ain't they just the best?

At this point it seems like everyone's family is at least a little messy. Certainly no Norman Rockwell paintings of our family.

Yes I knew better--this is taking up so much more bandwidth than $2500 deserves. I have tried to reframe it but the betrayal is just so heavy and thick. I don't respond well to betrayal haha

If you amortize $2500 over the rest of your life, it's probably a cheap price to pay. You know you'll never lose another penny to them, even if they had the gall to ask for more.

Monerexia

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Re: What's your dumbest mistake?
« Reply #118 on: July 14, 2020, 08:01:25 PM »
Loaning my niece $2500 for the vet when she called me crying and begging that her dog had been hit by a vehicle a month ago. She is 20, has never worked, has no driver license, lost her social security card, etc. Dog was dead less than eight hours after i made the payment. She has not contacted me since. Her father has proven so toxic and hateful since that I have blocked him from texting and have plans to never speak to him again. No respect, no gratitude.

Ahh family... Ain't they just the best?

At this point it seems like everyone's family is at least a little messy. Certainly no Norman Rockwell paintings of our family.

Yes I knew better--this is taking up so much more bandwidth than $2500 deserves. I have tried to reframe it but the betrayal is just so heavy and thick. I don't respond well to betrayal haha

If you amortize $2500 over the rest of your life, it's probably a cheap price to pay. You know you'll never lose another penny to them, even if they had the gall to ask for more.

Yes i go back and forth. The price of freedom $2500 or--small claims, get the judgment on both mother and daughter based on text message promise to pay and hire collection agency or make it a hobby to ping once/month and garnish haha.

mountain mustache

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Re: What's your dumbest mistake?
« Reply #119 on: July 14, 2020, 08:34:46 PM »
listening to orthopedic surgeons who basically guaranteed me that my injuries would be better if I let them fix them surgically. Two surgeries and 25k later, I am in more pain and poorer than before the surgeries. I have learned so much through the process that I wouldn't trade, but seriously...I could have a downpayment for a house at this point with that money, and less pain!

bloodaxe

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Re: What's your dumbest mistake?
« Reply #120 on: July 15, 2020, 07:42:11 AM »
listening to orthopedic surgeons who basically guaranteed me that my injuries would be better if I let them fix them surgically. Two surgeries and 25k later, I am in more pain and poorer than before the surgeries. I have learned so much through the process that I wouldn't trade, but seriously...I could have a downpayment for a house at this point with that money, and less pain!

Have you considered speaking to a malpractice attorney?

mountain mustache

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Re: What's your dumbest mistake?
« Reply #121 on: July 15, 2020, 09:06:19 AM »
listening to orthopedic surgeons who basically guaranteed me that my injuries would be better if I let them fix them surgically. Two surgeries and 25k later, I am in more pain and poorer than before the surgeries. I have learned so much through the process that I wouldn't trade, but seriously...I could have a downpayment for a house at this point with that money, and less pain!

Have you considered speaking to a malpractice attorney?

I'm not sure this would warrant that. Surgeons will almost always recommend surgery because that is what they do...they informed me of the risks, although they did not inform me that I could end up worse than before, because really....they had no way of knowing! I really don't think it's their fault, my surgeries were done very well. My body just did not react to them in the way that was predicted. I don't know, I take a lot of personal responsibility for making the choice, I was never forced into it. I just thought it was the answer, and surgeons were willing to say that it *probably* would be as well.

TheGrimSqueaker

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Re: What's your dumbest mistake?
« Reply #122 on: July 15, 2020, 12:07:32 PM »
listening to orthopedic surgeons who basically guaranteed me that my injuries would be better if I let them fix them surgically. Two surgeries and 25k later, I am in more pain and poorer than before the surgeries. I have learned so much through the process that I wouldn't trade, but seriously...I could have a downpayment for a house at this point with that money, and less pain!

Have you considered speaking to a malpractice attorney?

I'm not sure this would warrant that. Surgeons will almost always recommend surgery because that is what they do...they informed me of the risks, although they did not inform me that I could end up worse than before, because really....they had no way of knowing! I really don't think it's their fault, my surgeries were done very well. My body just did not react to them in the way that was predicted. I don't know, I take a lot of personal responsibility for making the choice, I was never forced into it. I just thought it was the answer, and surgeons were willing to say that it *probably* would be as well.

When all you have is a hammer, the whole world looks like a nail. The same, evidently, applies to scalpels.

Just Joe

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Re: What's your dumbest mistake?
« Reply #123 on: July 16, 2020, 08:30:16 AM »
Loaning my niece $2500 for the vet when she called me crying and begging that her dog had been hit by a vehicle a month ago. She is 20, has never worked, has no driver license, lost her social security card, etc. Dog was dead less than eight hours after i made the payment. She has not contacted me since. Her father has proven so toxic and hateful since that I have blocked him from texting and have plans to never speak to him again. No respect, no gratitude.

Ahh family... Ain't they just the best?

At this point it seems like everyone's family is at least a little messy. Certainly no Norman Rockwell paintings of our family.

Yes I knew better--this is taking up so much more bandwidth than $2500 deserves. I have tried to reframe it but the betrayal is just so heavy and thick. I don't respond well to betrayal haha

If you respond well to betrayal then you'd make a good character in a novel! Best to edge difficult, ungrateful people out of your life. Perhaps relegate them to the periphery when you feel your most generous. Who has the energy to put up with difficult people on a regular basis?
« Last Edit: July 16, 2020, 08:33:49 AM by Just Joe »

Monerexia

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Re: What's your dumbest mistake?
« Reply #124 on: July 16, 2020, 12:58:54 PM »
Loaning my niece $2500 for the vet when she called me crying and begging that her dog had been hit by a vehicle a month ago. She is 20, has never worked, has no driver license, lost her social security card, etc. Dog was dead less than eight hours after i made the payment. She has not contacted me since. Her father has proven so toxic and hateful since that I have blocked him from texting and have plans to never speak to him again. No respect, no gratitude.

Ahh family... Ain't they just the best?

At this point it seems like everyone's family is at least a little messy. Certainly no Norman Rockwell paintings of our family.

Yes I knew better--this is taking up so much more bandwidth than $2500 deserves. I have tried to reframe it but the betrayal is just so heavy and thick. I don't respond well to betrayal haha

If you respond well to betrayal then you'd make a good character in a novel! Best to edge difficult, ungrateful people out of your life. Perhaps relegate them to the periphery when you feel your most generous. Who has the energy to put up with difficult people on a regular basis?

Yes and I'm kind of trapped between them and my sister, who is a chronic "helper" despite all the abuse. For decades I have watched her race around town and fly to other states taking care of the deficit economic units who have become a such a burden on others. She has an "unconditional love" for family and they just flog and use her--my view is yes, they are family, but they can only get so much mileage out of 20-40 year old karma--I am done with them--as soon as get the emotional mess out of my system that is...

TheGrimSqueaker

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Re: What's your dumbest mistake?
« Reply #125 on: July 16, 2020, 01:26:49 PM »
Loaning my niece $2500 for the vet when she called me crying and begging that her dog had been hit by a vehicle a month ago. She is 20, has never worked, has no driver license, lost her social security card, etc. Dog was dead less than eight hours after i made the payment. She has not contacted me since. Her father has proven so toxic and hateful since that I have blocked him from texting and have plans to never speak to him again. No respect, no gratitude.

Ahh family... Ain't they just the best?

At this point it seems like everyone's family is at least a little messy. Certainly no Norman Rockwell paintings of our family.

Yes I knew better--this is taking up so much more bandwidth than $2500 deserves. I have tried to reframe it but the betrayal is just so heavy and thick. I don't respond well to betrayal haha

If you respond well to betrayal then you'd make a good character in a novel! Best to edge difficult, ungrateful people out of your life. Perhaps relegate them to the periphery when you feel your most generous. Who has the energy to put up with difficult people on a regular basis?

Yes and I'm kind of trapped between them and my sister, who is a chronic "helper" despite all the abuse. For decades I have watched her race around town and fly to other states taking care of the deficit economic units who have become a such a burden on others. She has an "unconditional love" for family and they just flog and use her--my view is yes, they are family, but they can only get so much mileage out of 20-40 year old karma--I am done with them--as soon as get the emotional mess out of my system that is...

In my twenties I was just such a helper. I got it out of my system in my 30s when my dear friend and guitar teacher informed me that I was perpetuating the problem. I gradually came to understand that if I kept wiping butt, people would continue to treat me like toilet paper. The way to not be treated like toilet paper was to dial way down on the butt-wiping.

Unconditional love is really only appropriate for tiny babies. As children grow, we develop expectations of them proportionate to their development level. When someone consistently treats us poorly, it only stings because our expectations are being violated. Sometimes it's because the expectations themselves are unreasonable. Most of the time the other person is completely aware of what's needed or wanted from them, but doesn't want to do it. In your family's case I think it's the latter.

Monerexia

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Re: What's your dumbest mistake?
« Reply #126 on: July 16, 2020, 03:51:19 PM »
Loaning my niece $2500 for the vet when she called me crying and begging that her dog had been hit by a vehicle a month ago. She is 20, has never worked, has no driver license, lost her social security card, etc. Dog was dead less than eight hours after i made the payment. She has not contacted me since. Her father has proven so toxic and hateful since that I have blocked him from texting and have plans to never speak to him again. No respect, no gratitude.

Ahh family... Ain't they just the best?

At this point it seems like everyone's family is at least a little messy. Certainly no Norman Rockwell paintings of our family.

Yes I knew better--this is taking up so much more bandwidth than $2500 deserves. I have tried to reframe it but the betrayal is just so heavy and thick. I don't respond well to betrayal haha

If you respond well to betrayal then you'd make a good character in a novel! Best to edge difficult, ungrateful people out of your life. Perhaps relegate them to the periphery when you feel your most generous. Who has the energy to put up with difficult people on a regular basis?

Yes and I'm kind of trapped between them and my sister, who is a chronic "helper" despite all the abuse. For decades I have watched her race around town and fly to other states taking care of the deficit economic units who have become a such a burden on others. She has an "unconditional love" for family and they just flog and use her--my view is yes, they are family, but they can only get so much mileage out of 20-40 year old karma--I am done with them--as soon as get the emotional mess out of my system that is...

In my twenties I was just such a helper. I got it out of my system in my 30s when my dear friend and guitar teacher informed me that I was perpetuating the problem. I gradually came to understand that if I kept wiping butt, people would continue to treat me like toilet paper. The way to not be treated like toilet paper was to dial way down on the butt-wiping.

Unconditional love is really only appropriate for tiny babies. As children grow, we develop expectations of them proportionate to their development level. When someone consistently treats us poorly, it only stings because our expectations are being violated. Sometimes it's because the expectations themselves are unreasonable. Most of the time the other person is completely aware of what's needed or wanted from them, but doesn't want to do it. In your family's case I think it's the latter.

Yes for sure. I mean resistant to paying $50/month, which is $1.67/day, .84 cents/day for each of them--willing to burn down all the good will in a relationship and betray your family for .84 cents/day? I mean who even are these people, right?

TheGrimSqueaker

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Re: What's your dumbest mistake?
« Reply #127 on: July 16, 2020, 04:16:13 PM »
Loaning my niece $2500 for the vet when she called me crying and begging that her dog had been hit by a vehicle a month ago. She is 20, has never worked, has no driver license, lost her social security card, etc. Dog was dead less than eight hours after i made the payment. She has not contacted me since. Her father has proven so toxic and hateful since that I have blocked him from texting and have plans to never speak to him again. No respect, no gratitude.

Ahh family... Ain't they just the best?

At this point it seems like everyone's family is at least a little messy. Certainly no Norman Rockwell paintings of our family.

Yes I knew better--this is taking up so much more bandwidth than $2500 deserves. I have tried to reframe it but the betrayal is just so heavy and thick. I don't respond well to betrayal haha

If you respond well to betrayal then you'd make a good character in a novel! Best to edge difficult, ungrateful people out of your life. Perhaps relegate them to the periphery when you feel your most generous. Who has the energy to put up with difficult people on a regular basis?

Yes and I'm kind of trapped between them and my sister, who is a chronic "helper" despite all the abuse. For decades I have watched her race around town and fly to other states taking care of the deficit economic units who have become a such a burden on others. She has an "unconditional love" for family and they just flog and use her--my view is yes, they are family, but they can only get so much mileage out of 20-40 year old karma--I am done with them--as soon as get the emotional mess out of my system that is...

In my twenties I was just such a helper. I got it out of my system in my 30s when my dear friend and guitar teacher informed me that I was perpetuating the problem. I gradually came to understand that if I kept wiping butt, people would continue to treat me like toilet paper. The way to not be treated like toilet paper was to dial way down on the butt-wiping.

Unconditional love is really only appropriate for tiny babies. As children grow, we develop expectations of them proportionate to their development level. When someone consistently treats us poorly, it only stings because our expectations are being violated. Sometimes it's because the expectations themselves are unreasonable. Most of the time the other person is completely aware of what's needed or wanted from them, but doesn't want to do it. In your family's case I think it's the latter.

Yes for sure. I mean resistant to paying $50/month, which is $1.67/day, .84 cents/day for each of them--willing to burn down all the good will in a relationship and betray your family for .84 cents/day? I mean who even are these people, right?

It's more than I'm willing to spend on vices and that goes for most of us on this board. Yet to them it might seem like such a trivial amount that you could easily be bullied into overlooking it and continuing to interact with them. The dividing line for me these days is whether the same behavior would be tolerable from a stranger.

moof

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Re: What's your dumbest mistake?
« Reply #128 on: July 21, 2020, 09:38:13 PM »
Loaning my niece $2500 for the vet when she called me crying and begging that her dog had been hit by a vehicle a month ago. She is 20, has never worked, has no driver license, lost her social security card, etc. Dog was dead less than eight hours after i made the payment. She has not contacted me since. Her father has proven so toxic and hateful since that I have blocked him from texting and have plans to never speak to him again. No respect, no gratitude.
I learned pretty early on to never loan money to family.  Give it or don’t, never loan it.  Most loans turn into gifts with nothing but baggage and pain given in return.

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Re: What's your dumbest mistake?
« Reply #129 on: July 21, 2020, 09:54:16 PM »
Loaning my niece $2500 for the vet when she called me crying and begging that her dog had been hit by a vehicle a month ago. She is 20, has never worked, has no driver license, lost her social security card, etc. Dog was dead less than eight hours after i made the payment. She has not contacted me since. Her father has proven so toxic and hateful since that I have blocked him from texting and have plans to never speak to him again. No respect, no gratitude.
I learned pretty early on to never loan money to family.  Give it or don’t, never loan it.  Most loans turn into gifts with nothing but baggage and pain given in return.

Ha yep that might be the perfect way to put it. The pressure to do it was intense, but I will definitely know better next time--it was completely unfair to her, my niece is in no position to pay back $2500, she doesn't even know what $2500 means--even I get overwhelmed with tasks at work and catch myself avoiding and delaying--I can't even imagine what it would be for her staring this down--I'm expecting the ghost and avoidance treatment.

anni

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Re: What's your dumbest mistake?
« Reply #130 on: July 23, 2020, 01:45:51 PM »
I've got the kind of dumb mistake OP was after - a few years back, I bought the wrong plane ticket. I, huddled over a laptop in a foreign country planning a meticulous itinerary to get home, didn't realize the date selected had changed while I was shopping around Google Flights for tickets.

I bought a flight from Spain to the Netherlands that was departing a week after I would be back in the US. Luckily it only cost me about 80 euros to fix, but that was painful enough at the time that years later I still remember the amount... 🤦‍♀️ On this same trip I'd gotten my flight from the US to Sweden for less than $300 with WOW Air, rest in peace.

dignam

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Re: What's your dumbest mistake?
« Reply #131 on: August 11, 2020, 08:33:48 AM »
One day I was getting to work, and my boss pulled up to ask me a question.  I had a system, where I'd turn off the car with my right hand, click the seatbelt, open the door with my left hand and lock it with my left hand.  Get out, close the car.

He interrupted me in the middle of this.

I got out of the car and locked it, but left the car running.
My husband had literally just taken off on an airplane with the spare key.

Boss called AAA.  Boy they broke in pretty quickly.

Did that on a cold night. Left the engine running while I purchased carry out food. Came out, realized my stupid mistake. Fortunately it was an older car and very easy to break into without breaking anything. Did a repeat performance on a weekend sightseeing tour. Easier to give a passenger a spare key for the day. My excuse is that I was very sleep deprived during that period (military).

We don't have enough time for all the stupid stuff I've done over the years. ;) Mostly minor but sometimes I had to repeat a mistake before getting wiser.

I’ve gotten pretty good at breaking into the vehicles I’ve owned, I can lock the keys in my car and be in within 10 seconds, if I’m outside my house and need to open the car for something but don’t have the keys I always break in rather than walk back in the house to get them, it’s faster, lol
Not me, but someone I'm married to who will remain nameless ;-) once managed to lock the keys in the car three times in the space of an hour and a half.  Needed the assistance of our AAA equivalent on all three occasions.  The guy who helped told her that he'd never seen anything like it in over 40 years on the job!  I don't think I've ever seen my wife as embarrassed as she was that day.

Yep, that’s kind of how it started for me too.  I locked my keys in once, had the tow truck driver open it (saw how fucking easy he made it look), and vowed never to have to call them again, and the next time I locked them in I went inside a random business office nearby and asked if I could borrow a metal ruler, they said sure and two minutes later got the locks open.  With a bit of practice it takes only seconds.

Makes one wonder why even lock the car.   I started leaving it unlocked and it doesn’t bother me
1) unless you want a stained car seat and $0.38 in change ...  Not much of value inside.
2) hopefully if some thief does decide to have a look they’ll note the unlocked door versus smashing the window
3) $5000 car often parked next to $30,000+ cars... don’t have to be the fastest runner to not get eaten by the bear and all

That's kind of how I see it.  I don't keep anything of value in my car, and it's only worth about $6k.  Only gets locked if I leave my backpack or something in it.

Funny story, while living in an apartment with my friend, he left his car unlocked one night.  There was a rash of car break ins that week, and he came out one morning to find all his spare change gone...but the thieves left him some assorted candy in the cup holders lol.  How thoughtful!

Same apartment: I came out one morning to a pile of puke next to my driver's side door THAT I STEPPED IN WHILE WEARING FLIP FLOPS, and an empty beer bottle in my back seat.  Last time I left the top down (Jeep Wrangler).  Granted it was in a locked garage...
« Last Edit: August 11, 2020, 08:36:54 AM by dignam »

I'm a red panda

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Re: What's your dumbest mistake?
« Reply #132 on: August 11, 2020, 11:57:48 AM »
I didn't proof the return address card on my wedding RSVPS, someone else in my family did. They were missing a number, so the address was wrong. We hand wrote them on 200 invites rather than reorder.

ExitViaTheCashRamp

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Re: What's your dumbest mistake?
« Reply #133 on: August 12, 2020, 05:36:53 AM »
Before kids, quite a lot of our house went unused. So during the winter, I thought we could save money by only heating the kitchen & computer room (which is next to the kitchen and has no door). Occasional trips to the toilet were chilly but this would save money and given the poor insulation of our Victorian home -- will mean a lot less greenhouse gas used to heat it. The bed was heated by a electric blanket.

 So my big idea was to turn off the hot water entirely (i.e. no central heating), turn the oven on and open it's door. This worked well, both the kitchen and computer room was nice and warm in January. For about a week... then the oven died. Who knew it was not designed to run for 16 hours a day, every day ?

TheFrenchCat

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Re: What's your dumbest mistake?
« Reply #134 on: August 12, 2020, 07:04:29 AM »
Before kids, quite a lot of our house went unused. So during the winter, I thought we could save money by only heating the kitchen & computer room (which is next to the kitchen and has no door). Occasional trips to the toilet were chilly but this would save money and given the poor insulation of our Victorian home -- will mean a lot less greenhouse gas used to heat it. The bed was heated by a electric blanket.

 So my big idea was to turn off the hot water entirely (i.e. no central heating), turn the oven on and open it's door. This worked well, both the kitchen and computer room was nice and warm in January. For about a week... then the oven died. Who knew it was not designed to run for 16 hours a day, every day ?
I'd say you got lucky.  I'm surprised your pipes didn't freeze.

stoaX

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Re: What's your dumbest mistake?
« Reply #135 on: August 12, 2020, 02:13:44 PM »
I have made 2 or 3 moves involving the buying and selling of houses that were truly unnecessary.  I'm sure the realtor commissions and other moving and closing costs for those 3 moves total to over $100k.

ChpBstrd

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Re: What's your dumbest mistake?
« Reply #136 on: September 01, 2020, 09:29:58 PM »
1) Buying and eventually selling a house i didn't like, twice. Doing this always costs $20k each time.

2) I once lost a few thousand dollars buying put options on Netflix around 2011 or 2012. My rationale was that their content sucked (it did at the time) and the networks, HBO, etc. who were withholding content from Netflix would surely launch streaming services within a couple of months. Instead, years went by with no significant competition and Netflix invested in creating some of the best content anywhere. I went short the best performing FANG stock of the last 20 years. :)

3) I also bought puts on gold (GLD) in about 2011 or 2012. My reasoning was that the price was rising even as there was no inflation in sight. It was an expensive lesson on why gold has nothing, zero, zilch to do with inflation.

4) Investing too conservatively all my life, and letting the doom-news dictate my macro view. Even when I was several years from any possible retirement, I kept large amounts of cash and bonds and various small speculations, but was afraid to go all in on the S&P or Nasdaq as a young person should. I'd be a millionaire now had I only been willing to take the chance on a fraction of the money I must take the chance on now. I need to find a way to chill and "let it ride".

5) Generally taking the easy and low risk path through life, avoiding hard work or the possibility of anything going wrong, etc. Sticking with jobs that were going nowhere instead of looking for / seizing riskier opportunities. Trying to find work I wanted to do, which paid poorly, instead of work that could have retired me in 10 years. Now I wish I had put the pedal to the metal and taken some chances. I know several people who stepped out of their comfort zone and suddenly started making six figures in their 30's, but that seemed too hard for me. Well, guess what, working another 20 years is hard too.

-----

Yet overall I've made mostly good decisions where it counts. I never started smoking, never got a DUI or even a serious wreck, never tried several addictive substances that were offered to me at various points, never got in trouble with the law, backed down from a couple of fistfights, never made payments on a car in my whole life, managed to avoid divorce so far, avoided losing money on several cons, and took good care of my teeth. It's impossible to play a perfect game, so maybe I'm lucky most of my dumbest moves have been financial - I'm a good saver so I recover well from these goofs.

talltexan

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Re: What's your dumbest mistake?
« Reply #137 on: September 03, 2020, 09:26:37 AM »
1) Buying and eventually selling a house i didn't like, twice. Doing this always costs $20k each time.

2) I once lost a few thousand dollars buying put options on Netflix around 2011 or 2012. My rationale was that their content sucked (it did at the time) and the networks, HBO, etc. who were withholding content from Netflix would surely launch streaming services within a couple of months. Instead, years went by with no significant competition and Netflix invested in creating some of the best content anywhere. I went short the best performing FANG stock of the last 20 years. :)

3) I also bought puts on gold (GLD) in about 2011 or 2012. My reasoning was that the price was rising even as there was no inflation in sight. It was an expensive lesson on why gold has nothing, zero, zilch to do with inflation.

4) Investing too conservatively all my life, and letting the doom-news dictate my macro view. Even when I was several years from any possible retirement, I kept large amounts of cash and bonds and various small speculations, but was afraid to go all in on the S&P or Nasdaq as a young person should. I'd be a millionaire now had I only been willing to take the chance on a fraction of the money I must take the chance on now. I need to find a way to chill and "let it ride".

5) Generally taking the easy and low risk path through life, avoiding hard work or the possibility of anything going wrong, etc. Sticking with jobs that were going nowhere instead of looking for / seizing riskier opportunities. Trying to find work I wanted to do, which paid poorly, instead of work that could have retired me in 10 years. Now I wish I had put the pedal to the metal and taken some chances. I know several people who stepped out of their comfort zone and suddenly started making six figures in their 30's, but that seemed too hard for me. Well, guess what, working another 20 years is hard too.

-----

Yet overall I've made mostly good decisions where it counts. I never started smoking, never got a DUI or even a serious wreck, never tried several addictive substances that were offered to me at various points, never got in trouble with the law, backed down from a couple of fistfights, never made payments on a car in my whole life, managed to avoid divorce so far, avoided losing money on several cons, and took good care of my teeth. It's impossible to play a perfect game, so maybe I'm lucky most of my dumbest moves have been financial - I'm a good saver so I recover well from these goofs.

@ChpBstrd , based on #'s 2-4, how would you recommend a younger mustachian handle his/her investments today?

ChpBstrd

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Re: What's your dumbest mistake?
« Reply #138 on: September 04, 2020, 01:34:07 PM »
1) Buying and eventually selling a house i didn't like, twice. Doing this always costs $20k each time.

2) I once lost a few thousand dollars buying put options on Netflix around 2011 or 2012. My rationale was that their content sucked (it did at the time) and the networks, HBO, etc. who were withholding content from Netflix would surely launch streaming services within a couple of months. Instead, years went by with no significant competition and Netflix invested in creating some of the best content anywhere. I went short the best performing FANG stock of the last 20 years. :)

3) I also bought puts on gold (GLD) in about 2011 or 2012. My reasoning was that the price was rising even as there was no inflation in sight. It was an expensive lesson on why gold has nothing, zero, zilch to do with inflation.

4) Investing too conservatively all my life, and letting the doom-news dictate my macro view. Even when I was several years from any possible retirement, I kept large amounts of cash and bonds and various small speculations, but was afraid to go all in on the S&P or Nasdaq as a young person should. I'd be a millionaire now had I only been willing to take the chance on a fraction of the money I must take the chance on now. I need to find a way to chill and "let it ride".

5) Generally taking the easy and low risk path through life, avoiding hard work or the possibility of anything going wrong, etc. Sticking with jobs that were going nowhere instead of looking for / seizing riskier opportunities. Trying to find work I wanted to do, which paid poorly, instead of work that could have retired me in 10 years. Now I wish I had put the pedal to the metal and taken some chances. I know several people who stepped out of their comfort zone and suddenly started making six figures in their 30's, but that seemed too hard for me. Well, guess what, working another 20 years is hard too.

-----

Yet overall I've made mostly good decisions where it counts. I never started smoking, never got a DUI or even a serious wreck, never tried several addictive substances that were offered to me at various points, never got in trouble with the law, backed down from a couple of fistfights, never made payments on a car in my whole life, managed to avoid divorce so far, avoided losing money on several cons, and took good care of my teeth. It's impossible to play a perfect game, so maybe I'm lucky most of my dumbest moves have been financial - I'm a good saver so I recover well from these goofs.

@ChpBstrd , based on #'s 2-4, how would you recommend a younger mustachian handle his/her investments today?

The operator is the least reliable part of any investment plan - even if that plan is to buy and hold.

First, recognize the role that alternating anxiety and self-confidence can have on investment decision-making. As you receive various media/social media messages, you will alternate between these dangerous emotions.

Second, do not think of investment money in terms of the number of months/years labor required to produce it. I "lost" over $20k on paper yesterday, but if I thought of that as "6 more months until retirement" I might panic sell. Hell, in March I "lost" 3 years of hard work within a matter of weeks, but we see how that turned out.

Third, never-never-never read Seeking Alpha or get your investing ideas from people anywhere else on the internet. Either buy the indexes or buy the makers of products you or your employer are enthusiastic about.

talltexan

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Re: What's your dumbest mistake?
« Reply #139 on: September 12, 2020, 07:45:37 AM »
Thank you!

For trading individual stocks, I have a theory that we tend to "notice" stocks when there's news about them, and that hype means they're probably already over-valued. (this supports your "seeking alpha" advice).

I've been looking for other patterns that can get me examining a stock when it's unprompted by these things, for example all of the single letter stocks, or trading on my kids' initials.

I suppose I'd be richer if my daughter were named "Amazon".

Just Joe

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Re: What's your dumbest mistake?
« Reply #140 on: October 20, 2020, 10:48:15 AM »
Back in 2006-2008 I read Seeking Alpha for while on EVs and the information being shared was just wrong from an engineering standpoint. It took a while to realize it. Quit that site and never looked back.

GuitarStv

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Re: What's your dumbest mistake?
« Reply #141 on: October 20, 2020, 05:31:48 PM »
As a teenager I got drunk with some friends.  The details are a little fuzzy, but I ended up hanging on to the roof of one guys dad's firebird while it was driven at highway speeds down a highway.  Even though it was the summer, it was extremely cold in the wind.  In my defence, I did ask the people in the car to roll down the windows and hold tight onto my arms for safety.  Not in my defence, I have no idea if the guy driving was also drunk.

Sometimes I look back and am surprised that I ever made it to adulthood.

Steeze

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Re: What's your dumbest mistake?
« Reply #142 on: October 20, 2020, 08:06:07 PM »
As a teenager I got drunk with some friends.  The details are a little fuzzy, but I ended up hanging on to the roof of one guys dad's firebird while it was driven at highway speeds down a highway.  Even though it was the summer, it was extremely cold in the wind.  In my defence, I did ask the people in the car to roll down the windows and hold tight onto my arms for safety.  Not in my defence, I have no idea if the guy driving was also drunk.

Sometimes I look back and am surprised that I ever made it to adulthood.

Inspired by Jackass and the like - somewhere there is video of us climbing out of the windows of the car, climbing over the roof and into another window, also at 40+ MPH. Also rolling down the windows, opening the door and "skitching" out the side of the car - holding onto the "oh-shit-handle" and the door and skiing down the road on your shoes. Also some 'ghost ride' your whip moments in there. Definitely way too many Designated Drunk Driver nights too. "How did we get home last night? - Bro, you drove us all home. - Shit, I don't even remember leaving"

I can remember turning 25 and thinking it must be really hard to die, didn't even try not to. I think that realization is what motivated me to start planning way into the future. I never really considered living until 30 let alone 100 ! Once I hit 30 I knew for sure I was in it for the long haul.

dignam

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Re: What's your dumbest mistake?
« Reply #143 on: October 21, 2020, 07:36:31 AM »
Not my dumbest, but surely dumb.  My friends and I would pull each other in plastic sleds behind a Jeep after fresh snowfalls.  We were "smart" in that we did it in a new subdivision that did not yet have residents so the streets were empty.  When it was my turn to drive, I decided to do a drift around a corner to whip him around really fast.  I misjudged and he was going about 30 mph right over the curb, into a giant snowbank that launched him like a ramp.  The last thing I saw was him in the air flailing ass over tea kettle, then he disappeared through a poof of snow.  He wasn't moving when I walked up to him, but he started laughing when I approached, to my relief.

WhiteTrashCash

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Re: What's your dumbest mistake?
« Reply #144 on: October 21, 2020, 07:45:20 AM »
I bought a rifle instead of investing with Google during their IPO. My reasoning at the time was that investing was gambling and besides Google was a search engine, so there was no way it could make money. I remembered the Dot Com Bust and assumed that would be the fate of all tech companies. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Just Joe

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Re: What's your dumbest mistake?
« Reply #145 on: October 21, 2020, 08:42:22 AM »
Oh - are we telling stupid teenager stories? Stand back, here we go...

Nah. None of my stories are very impressive after all these years. ;)
Lucky none of us died. We wouldn't have even died doing something cool.

Our kids are those stupid ages and we worry about them. 

ChpBstrd

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Re: What's your dumbest mistake?
« Reply #146 on: October 21, 2020, 09:32:13 AM »
I can remember turning 25 and thinking it must be really hard to die, didn't even try not to.

This quote summarizes the lives of so many people who grew up in the past 40 years.

Of course we're all disoriented now that dying is as easy as sitting down for dinner in a restaurant, or deciding to take a flight somewhere. The obese 60 year olds packing into my local Texas Roadhouse are arguably doing something on par with their reckless teenage shenanigans. Like the teens climbing over the roof of a moving car, they cannot incorporate experiences they've never had into a decision model. If you've never known someone who died in an accident, caught COVID, got a STI, lost all their money market timing, became an addict, or had these experiences yourself, it is very hard to expend effort avoiding these outcomes. 

314159

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Re: What's your dumbest mistake?
« Reply #147 on: October 21, 2020, 08:25:47 PM »
I've got the kind of dumb mistake OP was after - a few years back, I bought the wrong plane ticket. I, huddled over a laptop in a foreign country planning a meticulous itinerary to get home, didn't realize the date selected had changed while I was shopping around Google Flights for tickets.

I bought a flight from Spain to the Netherlands that was departing a week after I would be back in the US. Luckily it only cost me about 80 euros to fix, but that was painful enough at the time that years later I still remember the amount... 🤦‍♀️ On this same trip I'd gotten my flight from the US to Sweden for less than $300 with WOW Air, rest in peace.

Indeed, rest in peace WOW Air! I never paid less than $300, but once I paid $365 for a transatlantic flight. Another time I took a $664 round trip flight. It was Chicago-Keflavik-Berlin, and the plane for the first leg arrived late, so I got a free 23 hour stopover in Iceland where WOW paid for my meals and hotel—AND they had to pay me 600€ because they got me Berlin late. In retrospect, maybe this sort of thing was why they folded...

Anyway, we were discussing stupid mistakes! It's not my dumbest mistake but my highest ratio of feeling bad about wasting money to actual monetary cost was early in the summer, when I ordered about $30 of stuff online but sent it to the wrong address that was saved in the online store system. When I realized my mistake about a day or two later, it was too late to fix, and I felt so stupid my afternoon was ruined. It helps to know I'm not the only one:

[snip] Stupid mistakes? hmm... I put my name in a 'drawing' at a fair I attened when I was 22. Got a call, "Oh, you won! But you have to pay $200 to collect your prize!" Stupid me, I PAID IT! Gaa! And ended up with NOTHING, since, surprise! It was a scam!

Other mistakes I've made are mistakenly having things shipped to an old address because I didn't double check the shipping information on a online order. Of course, whoever got my package made off with it, and since the company hadn't made a mistake I was out the money.

talltexan

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Re: What's your dumbest mistake?
« Reply #148 on: October 27, 2020, 07:12:02 AM »
When I was 28, I finished my Ph.D., transitioned (with my wife) to a new area and new job. I think about the increase in lifestyle spending that went along with that, and wish I could have a do-over. It was 2008, and stocks were about to become hell-a-cheap, but we were spending bank on a new car, travel, and a bigger, more expensive house than what we needed. Part of what made the house so expensive was the school district, but we moved after only five years with our daughter aged 22 months, never getting any direct benefit from those high quality schools.

freedomfightergal

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Re: What's your dumbest mistake?
« Reply #149 on: February 07, 2021, 02:05:20 PM »
My biggest mistake was getting married & not getting a pre-nup or post cup when we moved to the US, for HIS career (was originally a 3 year contract).  My visa status at the time prevented me from working, which was fine as we had two babies.  Fast forward a few years & his alcoholism becomes intolerable and I filed for divorce.  The US court will not let me return to my home country Australia with my kids, because it is considered depriving the kids of a father.  I can work now but my job choices are shite.  No offense to the good people of the US, but I really hate this country.  Extortionate Healthcare system, terrible working conditions, terrible work/life balance, crime, shootings & now epic Covid Pandemic failure.  I miss Australia terribly & am depressed I'm prevented from returning (I've spent a small fortune on attorneys trying).  And here is the real total kicker..  my ex-husband is not American he is also Australian, he just loves his career in the US & refuses to let us go back.  He is also refusing to pay for our kids college expenses (even though it's in our agreement) and these would be nil or cheap in Australia.   

SO yeah biggest mistake ever to move to the US



 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!