whats the most money you've ever wasted?

[Dugald_McCraw]

I put down a £320 deposit on a flat.  Becasue I'm a student and couldn't find a gaurantor I lost it. Contract says non-refundable, I probably won't get it back. It kind of hurts.  Damn my impulses! 

Anyone  burned money away foolishly like that?

[Cerys]

I spent £350 on a second-hand word processor.  One of these -



When I powered it up I found out why they were selling - the screen display was all askew.  I'd bought it from my work line manager so I didn't want to make a fuss - I just opened the case and fiddled with it until it straightened out.  Which was fine for a few days until it went off on one again.  I kept opening it and rejigging, opening it and rejigging - until I got fed up, found a second-hand PC in a nearby charity place for twenty quid, and sat banging my head against the wall over the fact that (a) I hadn't gone there first, and (b) I'd been a gullible tit.

[Buelligan]

I gave away my inheritance because I was sorry for someone.  I never hear from them.  Ouch.

[biggytitbo]

I spent £1500 on ill fated attempt to beat the 365 blackjack casino.

[BlodwynPig]

€5.50 for this guys Greatest Hits

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gM5WTvRAPQA

[lazarou]

A good few hundred on a boatload of retro computing crap on eBay during one of my manic sprees, most of which I barely touched. It'd be worse, but I know better than to trust myself anywhere near a credit card. I remember justifying buying Japanese Saturn imports by telling myself I'd learn Japanese in time for xmas. Jesus Christ.

Glad I got the amiga though, that was kind of nifty.

[Artemis]

Gave my friend about £1,300 when I was a student so that she'd keep it safe for me while I was abroad, giving me something to return home to. While I was away, the bank closed her overdraft facility, shortly after she'd paid my money into her account, thereby paying it off. Ergo, the money was swallowed by the bank. Never did see that again. Bollocks.

[homesickalien]

about 1500 quid.  Took a flight to economically booming Australia to get work...any work pretty much which I thought would be easy.

Got fired from first tomato picking job as I'm colour blind and couldn't tell the difference between red tomatoes and red with slight green coloured tomatoes

waited 2 weeks for next job

Did shit pear picking work earning about 50 quid a day for 12 hours of knackering work in the hot sun being paid by the bucket (the aussie minimum wage is 9 quid an hour which adds to the shitness - I also PAID 50 quid to get that job through an agency as I was desperate)

After 6 weeks of that I was promised a job in Sydney (which again cost ME 50 quid) but turned out it was only 3 days a week with 6am starts

Decided to fuck it all off and come home after 3 months (some good times don't get me wrong but waiting and searching for jobs and the actual work when I got it was rubbish)

[Old Nehamkin]

^ Are you a John Steinbeck character?

[Icehaven]

In one go - around £100 on booze that I don't remember drinking.
Over a period of time - Several grand on an uncompleted MA (a lot more if you count the accompanying overdraft)

[homesickalien]

^ Are you a John Steinbeck character?

no, but I felt like shooting the main farmer by the end of it

- they used to drive a big group of us backpackers on a pick up truck to various remote fields far from a water supply and one time no one had any water for like 2 hours and they wouldnt drive us back to get any - working hard in 37'c!

theres news stories of backpackers dying doing fruitpicking in oz - it can be so shit (tho if you pick an easy fruit and get paid by the hour not so bad)

[Pseudopath]

Gave my friend about £1,300 when I was a student so that she'd keep it safe for me while I was abroad, giving me something to return home to. While I was away, the bank closed her overdraft facility, shortly after she'd paid my money into her account, thereby paying it off. Ergo, the money was swallowed by the bank. Never did see that again. Bollocks.

Ah...the old 'cancelled overdraft' hustle. Classic!

[Stone Cold Jane Austen]

£15.

When I was about 10, I saved up my pocket money to buy a pair of football boots I liked the look of. I used to get between 20p and 50p a week, and maybe a little extra if I helped my brother with his paper round. It took what felt like forever to finally scrape together the £15 needed for purchase and as soon as I'd hit my target I rushed to the local sports shop to purchase my dream boots.

I tried on a pair in my usual size but they felt a bit too tight so I asked to try a pair the next size up, only, they were out of stock. I was so distraught about not being able to get the boots I desired that very day, I impulsively purchased the pair that were too tight.

Long story short, I only wore them once. After an hours kick around in them I was hobbling around like James Caan in Misery. It was agony. After going months without any sweet treats or Beanos, all I was left with was a pair of mint condition Mitres and pain.

A couple of years later my mum sold them in a car boot sale and gave me a 'cut' of a measly quid. I spent that pound on a second hand tape recorder, took it home and the bastard thing didn't work.

As a result, I've never saved up for anything else in my life. I hate money.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

My acquaintance, a friend of a friend, ended up spending £4000 on lapdancers in Poland. After much, much angst, he got about £2500 back, leaving him with only the small amount of £1500 spent on lapdancers in Poland.

If you're wondering then yes, he is a fucking idiot.

-----

The most amount of money I've wasted...hmmm...I'm fairly careful on purchases over £100. Yet the amount of purchases sub-£100 I've wasted are almost too multiple to fathom. I think I should learn something from this.

[Small Man Big Horse]

When I was 19 I bought a photocopier for £350, as I'd produced a cult film fanzine with friends and thought it would lead to my big break in the world of journalism. The first issue sold a grand total of zero copies, and we never produced a second.

I also bought an Amiga 4000, as I'd loved the brand previously, and thought it would be the next big thing in computing. It wasn't. In fact I don't think even one single game was made specifically for the machine. I can't remember how much it cost, but I'm sure it was a few hundred, and was an even bigger waste of money than the photocopier.

[v00n]

45,000 of negative equity.

[Inaniloquent]

Saved and paid, in chunks, near on £2000 for a trip to Hong Kong, but it was with a martial arts group and was ultimately led by the teachers, one of which was a bit mad. I assumed there'd be an itinerary of locations and activities, but aside from a handful of visits to their mates' schools (and two short visits to important schools), the rest was mosying around town looking for beer and brothels (far too much discussion of that for this feminist's liking). By the end I'd rebelled and stopped going anywhere with the main group, in an effort to see some of the country, but the locations I chose weren't that great and I was too nervous to go too far up and down the country without any guidance. I came home feeling I'd barely seen a thing and was really very angry that the trip had been arranged at all.

[Tokyo Sexwhale]

Gave my friend about £1,300 when I was a student so that she'd keep it safe for me while I was abroad, giving me something to return home to. While I was away, the bank closed her overdraft facility, shortly after she'd paid my money into her account, thereby paying it off. Ergo, the money was swallowed by the bank. Never did see that again. Bollocks.

Well you didn't waste the money - it was stolen from you.  By your "friend". 

[BlodwynPig]

My acquaintance, a friend of a friend, ended up spending £4000 on lapdancers in Poland. After much, much angst, he got about £2500 back, leaving him with only the small amount of £1500 spent on lapdancers in Poland.

If you're wondering then yes, he is a fucking idiot.

-----

I am curious, how did he get £2500 back? Ask nicely?

[BlodwynPig]

Before finding the "real" site, I spent 50quid signing up for membership of the Chris Marris and Peter Cock website "Coked and Boomed"...nowt but hassle thereafter until I found this free version.

[The Roofdog]

I am curious, how did he get £2500 back? Ask nicely?

Yes I was wondering the same thing. Did he get medieval on their asses?

[doppelkorn]

Polish lap-dancing establishments have a notoriously nebulous concept of value. Therefore they were happy to refund him the £2,500 pounds as it's "just money, man".

[EOLAN]

I gave a girl I met on one date €800 to help her out with her rent difficulties.

It was reasonably clear she didn't dig me too much, and I was not overly keen on her either physically or personality wise.

And it wasn't even that good a sob story as she kept quitting jobs after a couple of weeks and spending money til it was gone.

[Replies From View]

I am curious, how did he get £2500 back? Ask nicely?

You just need to be good at guessing which cracks are rarely visited, and hope the notes are still in them when you next visit.

[Ginyard]

Maybe you have to fish them back out with your butt cheeks.

[biggytitbo]

Shoulders arranged for some fucking nutters he knows to go and smash the place up, put one of the nonces head in a vice, make him squeal a bit.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

As far as I remember, the guy tried to make out like they'd tricked him, so the police turned them over, and because the establishment was dodgy as fuck they gave some of the money back. Whether a cut of that was taken by the police in order for them to continue robbing utterly idiotic tourists, I wouldn't care to say.

He was one lucky guy. According to my friend he was so drunk he just kept flashing one credit card after another.

[garbed_attic]

I lost a few hundred pounds pay envelope on a train... and that was just the train fare! /satirez

I hope if anyone did get their mitts on it, they spent it on something I would approve of, like puppets or chocolate.

[The Roofdog]

Walking to work about a month ago this guy stopped me and said he'd been mugged and could I loan him train fare. He was wearing a suit, very well spoken and said he was a psychiatrist who did work for the Samaritans; I knew they had an office around there so that checked out. We exchanged numbers and I gave him a tenner. Haven't heard from him and he isn't picking up the phone. I'm not bothered about the money, just the fact that I fell for it. Makes me feel like a ruddy idiot.

[Buelligan]

I had a similar thing when I lived in London.  I just felt sorry for someone who would sell their honour so cheaply.