Things We Will Always Regret Buying

 

Look around. All that clutter used to be money. All that money used to be time…

How many of us have purchased something and brought it home, only to immediately regret it? Then the item just sits there and every time we look at it, we feel really guilty thinking about the money, the space, and the time we wasted purchasing this item.

Buyer’s remorse is so common and most of us have experienced it.

For example — furniture that doesn’t fit. Buying the wrong furniture is a big, and often very expensive, mistake to make. There are so many reasons why furniture might not “fit” in your home. It might not fit because you didn’t take careful measurements before you purchased that item. You may not have stopped to think about how that thing was going to look in the space when paired with the rest of things that you own. Maybe you went outside your personal style or your comfort zone because you heard that something was really trendy, but then you started to regret it.

You can help prevent buyer’s remorse when purchasing furniture by thinking carefully about the practicality of that item and how it’s going to fit in your home and taking careful measurements before you buy that item.

If the pain of maintaining something outweighs the joy of owning it, you’re going to regret that purchase. Such is the case with high maintenance items. If something says “hand wash only”, it may be an instant ‘no’ for you. Do yourself a favor and be realistic about what you are and are not willing to do before you make a purchase that requires a lot of upkeep.

I cannot tell you how many times I’ve bought uncomfortable shoes. I knew that they were uncomfortable before I left the store but I told myself they were going get comfortable once I get them worn in. Guess what? Those shoes were never comfortable. If shoes don’t feel comfortable in the store, it’s probably not going to be worth the expense and the pain that you’re going to go through trying to wear those shoes if they ever get worn in.

Have you ever bought clothes that were a size or two too small but you told yourself that they were going to look amazing on you because you were going to lose ten pounds or five pounds (guilty!)? Maybe you didn’t feel comfortable in a particular piece of clothing because it was outside of your normal style but you felt like trying something new. If so, you have fallen victim to the fantasy self.

The fantasy self is an aspirational or idealized image of the you that you want to be. But when you buy fantasy self clothing, you are almost always going to regret it because you aren’t shopping for your real authentic self.

See How To Declutter your Fantasy Self

Some items cause friction in a relationship between you and someone else in your household. These are called contentious items. Sometimes your mate or partners don’t see eye to eye on some items. It’s often big ticket items like cars or a new home. Part of being in a relationship is compromise and if one party or the other feels like they got screwed over or your financial future is in danger because of a purchase, it’s not exactly a winning scenario.

If something is causing more anxiety and stress than it has potential benefits, it better to just walk away and find something that you can come together and agree on.

Impulse buys happen on the spur of the moment — anytime you make an unplanned purchase. You see something that you didn’t know you needed until you spotted that one thing. But once you see it, you just have to have it. This happens to everyone.

One of the great things about minimalism is it helps you be more intentional about almost every aspect of your life — from how you spend your time to how you spend your money. If we can raise our awareness of this topic, we can reduce the chances of making one of these “buyers remorse” purchases in the future.