My Biggest Money Regret aka the $1200 Jeans Story

Let me start off by saying that I have A LOT of money regrets, and I have documented most of them already.  Things like spending money on cars that I couldn’t afford, trips that were outside of my budget, or not making a budget for that matter. This is particular story, however, really hits a nerve to this day. It’s also one that I’ve mentioned on the site quite a few times.

When I was younger, and possibly dumber, I spent a lot of money on clothes. I love clothes. I had a steady paycheck, was making way more than most of my friends, and had no regard for money or the concept of frugality. On one particular Thursday, a few friends and I drove an hour to one the biggest malls in Ontario. I was on a mission to buy jeans. But not just any type of jeans, I wanted these particular name brand ones. We wandered through various stores and finally found them.

How much were they, you ask? $475 plus tax. Yes, I know how ridiculous it is for a personal finance blogger to have spent $500 plus on a pair of jeans. Now imagine how much worse it is for that blogger to have bought two pairs and some overpriced tank tops.

My total invoice from that store was $1290. I can still remember it to this day.

The reason I remember is that when I got home, I decided to take the tags of all the items, just in case someone (my parents) saw the bill and had a heart attack.

A few days later, my mother decided to go through our closets to clean out and donate any neglected or worn out articles of clothing. Lo and behold she finds my brand new jeans, and after looking them over and noticing the various amounts of rips and holes, decides that they needed to be donated.

You read that right, she donated $1200+ worth of brand new jeans.  I was extremely upset but I couldn’t say anything because she didn’t know how much they were worth. All she kept saying was that the jeans were ripped and she had never seen me wear them before.

I learned this lesson at one of the lowest times of my spending habits. It taught me that just because a name brand item seems valuable to me, doesn’t mean it is to everyone else. I try to keep that in mind everything I find myself wanting something out of my budget.  I hope whoever ended up with those jeans realizes how valuable they were since they weren’t going to protect anyone from the elements.

Its sad to think about what I could have done with that money, but I am happy to note that I will gladly talk anyone out of buying expensive jeans. Because at the end of the day, Salvation Army and Goodwill doesn’t care whether you spent $30 or $300, they will still sell them for $4.95 or less.

Have you made any purchases that you regret?