What everyday item have you NEVER EVER purchased?

[BlueHouse]

I recently realized that at the ripe old age of 52, I have never ever purchased a set of dishes.  I have had 3 or 4 different sets -- all really beautiful.  But all were given to me as hand-me-downs. 

I'm considering purchasing a set from costco because I like their bowls better than soup bowls (which is what my set has) but I just can't bring myself to do it.

[OtherJen]

I've never bought a dishwasher. We don't have one.

[wenchsenior]

Microwave. We had a little cheap one for about 5 years back in the 90s (which someone gave us). Never have had access to one since.

Also, I've never purchased a smartphone, though our carrier is making my ancient flip phone obsolete next year, so I guess that will change. :sigh:

[deborah]

Television

[knot12gossip]

Microwave. We had a little cheap one for about 5 years back in the 90s (which someone gave us). Never have had access to one since.

Also, I've never purchased a smartphone, though our carrier is making my ancient flip phone obsolete next year, so I guess that will change. :sigh:

Who is your cell phone carrier?

[wenchsenior]

Microwave. We had a little cheap one for about 5 years back in the 90s (which someone gave us). Never have had access to one since.

Also, I've never purchased a smartphone, though our carrier is making my ancient flip phone obsolete next year, so I guess that will change. :sigh:

Who is your cell phone carrier?

AT&T

[Morning Glory]

I don't recall purchasing a toilet bowl brush until about a month ago. We always just used the one that came with the house. Finally it started shedding bristles after living in this house seven years and I thought it would be bad for the septic tank so we replaced it.

[Bloop Bloop]

Cigarettes

Lottery ticket

[Zikoris]

Alcohol. I've been in liquor stores maybe two or three times with other people, and they feel absolutely alien to me. They're so huge and have so many different things! Like, how does anyone ever decide what to get? I don't even know where I would start if someone asked me to buy alcohol for them.

Also cars. I would so end up buying the worst lemon in the lot.

Most makeup and beauty goods as well. I don't know what most of the stuff even does, let alone what would be the right colours for me, and I'd 100% look like a clown if I tried to put it on.

Fabric softener. I don't actually know what it does.

[Sailor Sam]

Birth control.

Actually, come to think of it, I’ve never purchase medical care of any kind.

[ixtap]

Fabric softener. I don't actually know what it does.

It makes your clothes stinky and your towels less absorbent. If you are line drying, it will also prevent the towels from turning into terry cloth boards.

[MrThatsDifferent]

A house.

[PDXTabs]

A television, all were cast offs from friends and family.

[Tass]

A couch. I think I'm on my... sixth free living room seating. I'm even opposed to dumpster diving for bedbug-vulnerable items - these were all from individuals.

[Travis]

I recently realized that at the ripe old age of 52, I have never ever purchased a set of dishes.  I have had 3 or 4 different sets -- all really beautiful.  But all were given to me as hand-me-downs. 

I'm considering purchasing a set from costco because I like their bowls better than soup bowls (which is what my set has) but I just can't bring myself to do it.

Wedding gift + college leftovers = household dishes for the last 20 years.  At most we've purchased two pans and a couple spatulas. We were gifted two sets of dishes, and I dragged the second one around with us for 15 years until we decided to re-gift to a friend's kid about to go to college.

[BussoV6]

A tie.

I have some suits but only 1 donated tie.

[Sugaree]

I recently realized that at the ripe old age of 52, I have never ever purchased a set of dishes.  I have had 3 or 4 different sets -- all really beautiful.  But all were given to me as hand-me-downs. 

I'm considering purchasing a set from costco because I like their bowls better than soup bowls (which is what my set has) but I just can't bring myself to do it.

Wedding gift + college leftovers = household dishes for the last 20 years.  At most we've purchased two pans and a couple spatulas. We were gifted two sets of dishes, and I dragged the second one around with us for 15 years until we decided to re-gift to a friend's kid about to go to college.

I thought that was kind of the point of wedding gifts, to set you up with household basics.  I still have some of the dishes that I got from my first wedding (ex's family was really big on traditional crap like that), but I don't use them.  For every day use, I prefer the Corelle dishes that were in my house when I moved in (grandparent's house...I didn't just commandeer some random house).  I do very occasionally use the good china, though if I'm hosting a bunch of people I prefer the set my grandparents got free for buying an air conditioner back in the 60s (I found an extra 8 place settings of it for like $20 at a thrift store awhile back).  Come to think of it, there are lots of things that I've never purchased, or never purchased new. 

[TheFrenchCat]

Television

Same. We don't have one.

[yakamashii]

Dish towels, hand towels, bed sheets, and condoms.

[Imma]

Fabric softener. I don't actually know what it does.

It makes your clothes stinky and your towels less absorbent. If you are line drying, it will also prevent the towels from turning into terry cloth boards.

I have never bought fabric softener and had never used it until a bottle of it came as a freebie with my grocery delivery. Out of curiousity I tried it and I have absolutely not noticed any kind of difference at all.

I have also never purchased a dryer, I always line dry, and my towels certainly don't feel like boards! If yours do, you're doing line drying wrong. That only happens if you let the towels dry really slowly with absolutely no movement at all. Like in a humid bathroom in fall or something. I dry outside even in winter, my grandma always taught me that if the pavement is dry, clothes will dry. And it's true.

[Sibley]

Birth control.

Actually, come to think of it, I’ve never purchase medical care of any kind.

Condoms don't count?

[Sailor Sam]

Birth control.

Actually, come to think of it, I’ve never purchase medical care of any kind.

Condoms don't count?

I was including condoms in birth control. I don't recall ever buying any. If I talked about buy some on the forum, and then forgot, well...hoisted on my own petard!

[simonsez]

Television - hand me down
Microwave - don't have one
Toaster - hand me down
Coffee - non-drinker
Sofa(s) - hand me down(s)

[Catbert]

Lottery tickets or gambling of any kind.  When I was growing up (1950s and 60s) gambling was universally thought of as sinful or at least risque.  Bingo was okay, but only if you were Catholic?  There's a reason Las Vegas use to be called Sin City and even now has a tag line of "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas".  Some how in the 80s all the sigma of gambling was washed away because of "free money for the schools".  It's still too boring for me.

[bbqbonelesswing]

I've never bought a TV or cable. Any that I've used have belonged to a roommate or given secondhand.

[Bucksandreds]

I’m not mustachian enough. The best things I could come up with are cocaine, prostitutes, and recreational vehicles.

[ixtap]

I’m not mustachian enough. The best things I could come up with are cocaine, prostitutes, and recreational vehicles.

2 out of three even on your list.

[parkerk]

Fabric softener. I don't actually know what it does.

This is a good thing to never have purchased.  It's totally unnecessary, bad for your clothes, bad for the environment ...  It's also apparently one of the things "millennials are killing" because we don't buy it, to which I say it deserves to die. 

Mine is kitchen towels.  I ended up with a bunch of hand-me-downs when I moved out and I still have them almost 20 years later.  It drives my family crazy that I've never replaced them. They're a little dingy, sure, but they still work fine so why buy new ones? 

[expatartist]

A car. A microwave. A TV. An air conditioner. No plans to buy any, either.

[Samuel]

Coffee maker.

Had 2 different hand me downs but then I gave up coffee around age 30. Ended up with an Aeropress from a gift exchange in case of cranky guests.

[Luke Warm]

a prostitute

[facepalm]

a prostitute

If you live in an area where that is an everyday item . . . . .


Mine: eggs.

[Hula Hoop]

A car.  I had a car briefly in my early 20s but it was a cast off from a family member.

[moof]

A suit.
An SUV.

[Bucksandreds]

I’m not mustachian enough. The best things I could come up with are cocaine, prostitutes, and recreational vehicles.

2 out of three even on your list.

I’m hoping it was the recreational vehicle that you haven’t purchased😂

[fixie]

lottery ticket
surplus Egyptian military 7.62 x 39mm rifle ammo
Nutella
codpiece
fanny pack
contact lenses
air freshener
tampons
ben-wa balls

[AMandM]

lottery ticket
surplus Egyptian military 7.62 x 39mm rifle ammo
Nutella
codpiece
fanny pack
contact lenses
air freshener
tampons
ben-wa balls

If these are everyday items, you have interesting days!

[Bucksandreds]

lottery ticket
surplus Egyptian military 7.62 x 39mm rifle ammo
Nutella
codpiece
fanny pack
contact lenses
air freshener
tampons
ben-wa balls

If these are everyday items, you have interesting days!

Come on! Whom amongst us hasn’t purchased a cod piece? I’m wearing one now.

[Morning Glory]

lottery ticket
surplus Egyptian military 7.62 x 39mm rifle ammo
Nutella
codpiece
fanny pack
contact lenses
air freshener
tampons
ben-wa balls

If these are everyday items, you have interesting days!

Come on! Whom amongst us hasn’t purchased a cod piece? I’m wearing one now.

I got accidentally sent ben wa balls in a package of toilet paper that I ordered online from Target once. They were inside the tube in the sealed package. Someone in the factory was up to something...

[Edwards]

Coffee
Alcohol
Cigarettes

[Morning Glory]

It is possible that I have never purchased cigarettes. I can't remember. I used to occasionally smoke one at the bar when that was the normal thing to do, but I can't remember ever buying any. I am thankful that I never became addicted.

[MyAlterEgoIsTaller]

Newspaper subscription
Trash collection
Cable
Toaster
Car wash
Christmas tree - neither real nor fake

[BeanCounter]

Life insurance
Cell phone- always had free phones or hand me downs from friends and relatives when they upgrade.

[MrTurtle]

Guns.  The one my father bought me for my 10th birthday still works perfectly.  Though, I lost interest in skeet shooting really fast when I had to pay for my own ammunition and clay targets. 

Pens.  They just come into my life as small gifts/promotional items from companies.  I get pens for free more frequently than I run out of ink in them.  The one time I have to buy a pen, I will get ripped off because I have no idea how much they cost.

Insecticide.  I control ants using borax, flies using vinegar, and roaches by occasionally asking them nicely to leave.  I do not kill spiders.  As for controlling the insects that want to eat the plants around my house, the spiders, wasps and other natural predators do a fine job of that, as long as you don't murder them.

[knot12gossip]

Lawn mower. I've never bought one.

[Tass]

Coffee and cable are also good ones I can claim, though I did buy nice coffee beans as a gift once. Unfortunately I have paid for a car wash, but immediately decided it was $7 wasted and now I just drive a dirty car.

[mrmoonymartian]

TV
tablet/e-reader
dishwasher
surfboard
cigarettes
illicit drugs
sat nav
reversing camera
automatic gearbox
aerial drone
smart speakers
media streaming service
BBQ
fitness tracker
smartwatch
clothes dryer
coffee machine
blender/food processor
slow/pressure cooker
VR goggles
electric blanket
pets/pet stuff
baby stuff/child support
pool/pool stuff
4x4 or fishing stuff
food delivery subscription
leaf blower
car wash
credit card
tithes
lawn/yard service
massage service
guns n ammo

[SpaceCow]

Never purchased any sort of soda/pop. I still remember the time I accidentally drank some of my dad's diet Pepsi when I was 6 years old at an Arby's.

[HPstache]

I have never purchased an Apple product.  I won an iPod like 10 years ago at a company xmas party, but that's about it for Apple in my life.

Also napkins and fabric softener.

[HPstache]

I have also never brought my vehicle to a mechanic to fix something.  I have brought vehicles to the dealership for airbag recalls and such,  and of course I've had windshields, alignments and new tire installs performed by professionals, but besides that I have always fixed / maintained my vehicles for myself.  I have no idea what it's like to drop off a vehicle to get a timing belt or water pump replaced for example... it would feel very strange.