What was something that you bought that was a waste of money?

Either it didn't live up to its hype and work as advertised or you realized that it wasn't worth the price after you bought it or you realized that after the thrill of shopping that you didn't need it.

Buyers remorse anyone?

hummm, let's see a while back hubby saw an info-commercial about some hair remover, not sure of the name as it was years ago...

Well I got it, tried it (IT STUNK SO BAD) and it didn't work! I think we paid like $30 for it, after I tried it I threw it away, it was the worst thing I've bought from an info-mercial.

Swiffer Carpet Flick

I thought it would be great to clean under the dining room table after my kids eat (they seem to make an amazing ammount of crumbs) The thing works ok, but i never use it :laugh:

The best thing it is for, is to let my kids "vacumm" with it :bang:

Well this one's easy to answer. It was that Tony Little Gazelle exercise thing I bought I think like two years ago. It was around $100.00 dollars plus tax at Walmart . I remember I had a burning desire to possess one... until I got it and set it up. Dang what a waste of money. I hated that thing. Still kicking myself over that one......... :D

I bought the swiffer sweeper/vac it works great but just keep forgetting I have it and so it has only been used once or twice but I am going to start using it so that it does not turn into a waste of money.........

Cookie dough from my son's fundraiser. $12.50-14.50 for 2.5 to 3 pounds of dough. It was supposed to be in tubs, but came preportioned (4 doz cookies per box). I found cookie dough in a 5 lb tub at sams for $6.98. I always try to support the schools by buying something, and I know that the prices are upped to make money for the school, but inflating the price this much I think was ridiculous.

That rice stuff you do in the microwave (uncle bens I think )
Got it free after coupon and it wasn't worth it.
Yuck

Some blue, frozen, disgusting frozen "treats". LOL. They were on special and with a coupon.... but after one bite, nobody ate them.

Can't think of anything lately...but I must confess, I want a Gazelle! What didn't you like about it? I keep thinking it would be great because my knees are so bad, it seems like it would be little stress on them. I did Curves for awhile, but I couldn't do about 1/2 the equipment because of knee pain. We ride our bikes when the weather is good, but I was thinking the Gazelle would work.....no???

I bought that stuff for cold sores, I think it's called Abreva. Didn't work like the advertisements said it would. Total waste of money.

A coffee mug that is suppose to cool a sip at a time so you don't scald your mouth. Cool concept, but it doesn't give you a really big sip. Too expensive for what it does. Nice cup, but not worth the money.

Lots of things.. during my unfrugal days. Here is a small sample of items being stored in my basement. (purchased last year)
- Ice scream maker $125
- sprouter $250
- dehydrator $260
- knitting machine $150
- Juicer $300
- bread machine $200
- air popcorn maker $45

geez.... what a waste

PS Love my swiffer. I use it ALL the time on my wood floor... keeps them gleaming.

Well, I have to admit it (and I know you sewers are going to be very angry with me after all the help you tried to give) but mine is a sewing machine. I didn't actually buy it, but it was given to me, brand new, as a Christmas gift a few years ago. I had to have it. I still can't figure the darn thing out.

Originally posted by Jellybeanz
Well this one's easy to answer. It was that Tony Little Gazelle exercise thing I bought I think like two years ago. It was around $100.00 dollars plus tax at Walmart . I remember I had a burning desire to possess one... until I got it and set it up. Dang what a waste of money. I hated that thing. Still kicking myself over that one......... :D

Glad to know I'm not the only one with that piece of equipment. The thing doesn't feel very sturdy does it? I used it for a couple of days and then stopped. I've read some reviews on it since then and it really isn't a very good piece of equipment for what you pay for it.

Let's see what else:

The swiffer mop or whatever it is. It doesn't seem to get my floors very clean. But I'm making due until I move back home. For twenty bucks, I expected a lot more out of a mop. I do like the dust mop they make that's supposed to replace your broom though.

I bought one of those sandwhich toasters, waste of money. It didn't toast the bread thoroughly and the center of the sandwich didn't get warm enough. That was a $10 clearence item.

I'm sure there are many other things that I'm not remembering.

I didn't buy it but my Dad bought one of those George Foreman Rosteries (spelling?). Well that thing doesn't work very well at all, it's like there's two phases of the cooking not done and burnt. We also got my mother the new Foreman grill with the removable grill plates and she doesn't like it. She went back to her old foreman grill.

Originally posted by mermaid59
Can't think of anything lately...but I must confess, I want a Gazelle! What didn't you like about it? I keep thinking it would be great because my knees are so bad, it seems like it would be little stress on them. I did Curves for awhile, but I couldn't do about 1/2 the equipment because of knee pain. We ride our bikes when the weather is good, but I was thinking the Gazelle would work.....no???

Well lets see.. it was very very flimsy ( someone else posted after me and said the same thing lol). It looks so easy and smooth when you see them using it on tv and it wasn't like that at all to me!

It was boring too, and pretty ineffective I think. It was just honestly a great big disappointment.

I got it because I normally used a treadmill and loved it, but decided to sell it because of my foot was giving me problems. Wish I still had that thing, my foot is better now! lol

Originally posted by mermaid59
Can't think of anything lately...but I must confess, I want a Gazelle! What didn't you like about it? I keep thinking it would be great because my knees are so bad, it seems like it would be little stress on them. I did Curves for awhile, but I couldn't do about 1/2 the equipment because of knee pain. We ride our bikes when the weather is good, but I was thinking the Gazelle would work.....no???

Well lets see.. it was very very flimsy ( someone else posted after me and said the same thing lol). It looks so easy and smooth when you see them using it on tv and it wasn't like that at all to me!

It was boring too, and pretty ineffective I think. It was just honestly a great big disappointment.

I got it because I normally used a treadmill and loved it, but decided to sell it because of my foot was giving me problems. Wish I still had that thing, my foot is better now! lol

Mr Clean long handled floor shower scrubber thingy. I use it, but the pads are flimsy and of course I hate paying for the replacements. I wrap a scrubby rag on it instead lol The handle slides down in use too.

Tylenol liquid cherry blast flavor. I normally buy store brand chewables but couldnt find the type my youngest needed so we got this stuff.
He hated the flavor and 'returned' it right back everywhere. Never to be considered again. Cherry blast indeed. lol

Oh, and I have a sewing machine we bought new some 16 years ago, something like that. DH swore Id never use it, he's pretty much right. One day I will use it. I think.

Lessons learned :angel2:

A used station wagon. Had to have it for some reason. Right after first child was born was in the shop more than my driveway and the back seat windows didn't go down:confused: For some reason this model only had front and far windows that opened, not bad if you don't live in South Floirda wher it gets way too hot and don't even ask WHY i bought a car with no AC!!!! Stupid, Stupid, Stupid!

As for swifter I got mine for free and don't buy the pads anymore I cut up some old towels and use them. Alittle furinture polish and my wood floors shine. My pads are washable and reuseable.

Laurie in Bradenton

Right after Christmas, I bought one of those One-Sweep brooms. It was like $9.99, it was supposed to be so great. The only thing it works half way decent on is the carpet and I use the vacum for that....

It got put in the basement for sweeping down there......

This was yeeeeearssss ago, but during one of my "I think I'll be crafty" episodes, I bought a bow-maker off an infomercial. Never did make a bow, gave it away years later and still have to put up with dh's teasing to this day. :whirly:

cans of smoothie mixes. i was tired of the yogurt going bad in the fridge when we got tired of making them that way so i found smoothie mixes in cans. not very yummy. they taste like liquid slim fast.

Last week, my 8-year-old niece spent a day and night with me. I took her ice skating since she'd never been before, and I wanted to do something special with her. I paid $20.50 for admission and skate rental for the two of us. I had to hold her up the entire time. She tired after only an hour. I love to skate, but it wasn't all that fun for me. She didn't look like she had a very good time (she was concentrating really hard), but she says she did. So, on one hand, I feel like I wasted my money. On the other, I think it was a good purchase. We made a memory.

I bought a Gazelle last month because I was tired of paying $42/month for a gym membership where I really only used the treadmill and occasionally the weights. I have loved my Gazelle so far! I read reviews before I bought it, and most of them were good. I feel like I'm getting a decent workout, I've figured out how to make it work different muscle groups, and I enjoy it. I set it up in front of the TV in my bedroom, and I just pop in a DVD and go. I have the $100 version of the Gazelle, and I don't think it feels flimsy. Maybe they've improved on them, though, based on earlier consumer complaints.

Right now my gym membership is a waste of money. It would be a good investment if I actually went. It's a really nice gym, tons of equipment, classes, and free babysitting.

OT here....but does the Gazelle have a guarantee? And where do you find the 100.00 one.....? I've only seen them on infommercials.

Originally posted by mermaid59
OT here....but does the Gazelle have a guarantee? And where do you find the 100.00 one.....? I've only seen them on infommercials.

I got mine at Super Walmart. :)

Nads, hair removal stuff, ick.

the swiffer floor cleaner.

ummmm

Mermaid, I bought my Gazelle at Academy Sports and Outdoors. I asked about their return policy before I purchased it. The boy who was helping me said that as long as I keep my receipt, I can return it after 2 days or 2 years. I find the 2 years part a little hard to believe, but I did like knowing that if I hated it after a few uses, I could bring it back.

My DH was out of town the evening I bought it. I managed to get it into the house by myself (the box is big and heavy for me), and I even put it together all by myself! I am not mechanically inclined. I couldn't even put together a simple little chair from Ikea without help, but the gazelle went together with no problem. It took me 2 hours (once again, not mechanically inclined!), but I did it! I was very proud of myself, and it totally surprised my DH.

BJ's makes its own brand of swiffer dusters and we tried them because they were so much cheaper...and now i know why...they suck (excuse the term).

i returned them though and got a full refund.

I spent $60 on an Emjoi hair removal system. It's supposed to remove hair by pulling it out at the roots.

It works for the most part, but sometimes it breaks the hair before pulling it out. And it hurts so badly, that I have to use it sparingly... so it takes a couple days to cover an entire area. And I'm not yet brave enough to try it on the tender spots (underarms.)

The jury's still out on this purchase.

Eggstractor. It doesn't work as it says. If you can't peel it easily by hand, neither can eggstractor. Waste of $$$

btw... for all those who want a Dyson vacuum, I saw the purple ones at Big Lots for $300 (reconditioned) but no, I don't want one.

We DO NOT have enough time for ALL of my stupid purchases. So, I will list the most irritating one. We bought one of those really cool, really expensive wagons from the fair one year. We paid $600 for this thing and have used it MAYBE 6 or 7 times in 18 months. What idiots. Our kids are 11, 7 and almost 5, how much use could this thing get? Grrrrrr........:bang:

my stair stepper....and the $4,000.00 swingset for the kids, they abrely play on it!!!!! grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

A pasta maker - complete waste of money - what was I thinking.

I don't buy from infomercials anymore. I have never been happy with anything I purchased after seeing it on an infomercial. I got a little "grill" (sort of), it was called the "Express 101"
on TV, it looked amazing, they cooked chicken breasts, omelets, stuffed burritos, muffins, cinnamon rolls, in this thing! When I got it, ($39.95 plus $9.95 shipping!) it was SO TINY! It has two little half-moon shaped wells on each side. Each of the little wells will hold the equivelent of ONE EGG! If you made an "omelet" you would have to use two eggs, and pour half in each side. The stuffed burritos they made on TV must have been about 2 x 3 inches, maybe the size of a deck of cards, or smaller. I could not even sell this thing in my last garage sale for $3.00! I still have it. I used it one time. Not really worth $50!

The toilet bowl brush with the little disposable pad thingies. It's absolute crap. Unless you're skilled in fencing, you'll never get the pad to clean under the rim. I went back to the old fashioned toilet bowl brush and powdered cleanser.

I don't care for my swiffer, either, but I'm sure I'll use it more if we move into a place with hardwood floors.

Originally posted by Jellybeanz
Well this one's easy to answer. It was that Tony Little Gazelle exercise thing I bought I think like two years ago. It was around $100.00 dollars plus tax at Walmart . I remember I had a burning desire to possess one... until I got it and set it up. Dang what a waste of money. I hated that thing. Still kicking myself over that one......... :D

:confused: To each his own I guess....

I have one of these that we bought in March of last year. We didn't utilize it much until October and I started in earnest using it daily (well, 6 days a week) for 45 minutes to an hour. To date I've lost 48 pounds and I attribute about 3/4's of my success to my gazelle and the butt kickin' workout video. I do watch what I eat but I do not go hungry by any means. Oh, and I'm 46 ;)

a pair of leather jodpur boots from a catalogue, they are uncomfortable inside the sole, soIgave them to a shoe collecting recycle bin.

My husband just bought 3 heads of lettuce from Costco, and he is going out of town for a week. I am going to return them tomorrow.
Total impulse buy!

I spent 50.00 today at the ER. I stepped in glass and it sliced my pinky toe almost off my foot. I guess 50.00 is cheap and for health, but, it still goes in the waste category. I should have been more careful!!:reindeer:

Originally posted by i.m.cheap
it was called the "Express 101"
on TV, it looked amazing, they cooked chicken breasts, omelets, stuffed burritos, muffins, cinnamon rolls, in this thing!

darn, and i wanted one of those too!

Ours would have to be our nautalus system. It is a $400. hanger.:(

Mine would be EVERY FREAKING TOY THE CHILDREN GOT FOR CHRISTMAS! They have soooo many toys to start with, even AFTER giving toys away so "santa" could bring more! And they barely play with half of them, and the ones they do play with, they do not take care of. You should see their room! It looks like a tornado not only went through it, but then a giant troll, (like in Harry Potter) came through and stepped on everything! I have talk to all grandparents, next year they will NOT get so much crap! (To be honest, I only bought them one toy each, actually, I bought them each roller skates and the pads, Santa only brought then about 5 gifts each, which I bought, I bought them both 4 new outfits and one new pair of shoes..... but the 137 other presents came from Grandparents! And I am NOT KIDDING ABOUT THE NUMBER!)

The most stupid purchase I ever made was the Igia Insta-Cover foundation stuff. Its on an infomercial, for a boat load of money, luckily I got it at a salvage store which sold stuff from Costco. At any rate, it didnt work. didnt even cover freckles or pimples, much less veins or tattoos. Shhesh.

Megan

Another item I bought in my 'let's buy anything we want days' - The Turbo Cooker

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00005Q5GM/104-4424005-4420734?v=glance&n=284507

Dumb de dumb dumb ! What a waste. It was so complicated to time things. forgetaboutit

Most recent would be the little ride-on motorised quad bike I bought for my youngest child for her birthday. I paid $60 for it, and she refuses to get on and ride it. It is only a small one, so the older kids cannot even use it... total and complete waste of money.... I was really disappointed, because I honestly thought she would love riding it around... :(

Other ridiculous purchases from several years back - a donut maker, mini cappuccino machine, treadmill, hair removal kit, and lots of toys for the kids that they were never really into.... What a total waste of money....

:mad:

went to wallmart and bought a cheap display phone during christmas, didnt work right and the sound wouldnt go loud enough, back ground noises, phone cord wires loose inside, brought it back 2 days later

I got a sewing machine for Christmas and yeah still in the closet going to waste if I had the receipt I would return it.

An epilator. Ouch ouch ouch!!

mini-stepper. Haven't used it but twice and now it's collecting dust with the rest of the "I've got to have it" exercise equipment.

I hate to say this b/c the whole point is to be frugal but store brand copies of big name products. IE shampoo's, conditioner's and lotions. Its very rare that I can find a store brand knock off that works almost as well as the brand name product does. I always get sucked in by the price comparison then the scents. #!?@(*^@$!#@ marketing! LOL But now I have lots of 'handsoap' for future uses LOL.

The toilet bowl brush with the little disposable pad thingies. It's absolute crap. Unless you're skilled in fencing, you'll never get the pad to clean under the rim. I went back to the old fashioned toilet bowl brush and powdered cleanser.

I don't care for my swiffer, either, but I'm sure I'll use it more if we move into a place with hardwood floors.
I bought one, and it fits under the rim really great, i am so glad to get rid of my old brush and the kids love using it, the refills are not that expensive, plus not just having a brush hang around makes me fill better also, I bought that cascade complet thinking that it would save money nope I like my cheap stuff better works better also, I just bought some dishwasher soap from the $1.00 store I am going to see how it works, has any one bought stuff from a $1.00 store and if so what do you think about it, I found out that their freezer bags aren't that great so I will stick to the ones at walmart.