The WORST Purchases I've Made in My 20s (So Far) -

I’m only halfway through my 20s, but WOW have I spent money on some dumb sh*t.

I wish that there had been someone there to be like “Hey, friend. You sure you want to spend $900 on DoorDash in the month of February?”.

Yep. True story.

So below are the worst purchases that I made in my 20s, and what I wish I could do differently.

Diets

I’ve spent an astronomical amount of money on different diets and diet foods.

Now I have shifted my focus away from diets, micromanaging my weight and constantly researching the newest fad diets.

Four women of all different body types standing together smiling and laughing with the caption "love your body"

My life completely changed when I discovered intuitive eating, but my wallet also changed.

I save so much more money by not buying those special (and often quite disgusting) fad diet foods.

My Car

Last year I bought a car after Esther (my tried and true 2002 Ford Taurus) finally bit the dust.

Honestly, I was just so unprepared for the process.

The hopping from dealership to dealership gave me so much anxiety, and by the end of Day 1, I was just done.

So right as the dealership was closing, I decided to buy the last car we saw that day.

With all the anxiety (and honestly lack of experience) I missed some major red flags.

Thankfully the car wasn’t insanely expensive, but now I have a small little Chevy Cruise that doesn’t even have cruise control (oh the irony) and would not be my first choice knowing what I know now.

It was definitely a learning experience, and next time I car shop I will know what to look for. But for now, I’m stuck with a car that just doesn’t work for me.

Our First Apartment

When I got my first job after my undergrad, my partner and I realized we needed to move, and fast.

The area we moved to was nice, but it was the first apartment we were renting together that presented issues.

Similarly to the car situation, I just didn’t know what to look for, what questions to ask, and how to spot the red flags.

Woman on laptop sitting on top of moving boxes

The apartment complex looked so nice and it was SO cheap!! What could possibly go wrong??

Unfortunately, after signing the lease and moving in, we realized there was a lot wrong about the apartment.

It was way smaller than our lifestyle allowed (500 sq ft), there was no dishwasher, and no central AC.

Now, I’m someone who HATES doing dishes and my partner HATES being hot.

So had we really thought about it, we would have quickly realized that the $600/month price tag wasn’t worth being miserable for a year.

Luckily, this was also a learning experience and we never made the same mistake again.

Now we love our apartment and got a bang for our buck!

DoorDash

Now let me preface this by saying I love DoorDash. We pay $10/month for free delivery, and it is so nice to just get delivery on a Friday night sometimes.

Now that we budget.

Before budgeting however, and in the midst of a really hectic time in my life, I found myself ordering DoorDash sometimes 2-3 times A DAY.

When I looked back at my spending when I finally started budgeting, I realized that over the course of one month I had spent almost $900 on DoorDash.

Nine. Hundred. Dollars.

Look, there’s no judgement here. I wish I could afford to spend $900/month on DoorDash, but that’s just not my reality.

And the worst part is that I know there were so many times I ordered it for convenience, not because I was really enjoying the food I was eating.

Now I save my DoorDash orders for when I’m really craving something (usually Butter Chicken from our local Indian restaurant). I enjoy it so much more, and so does my budget.

EveryPlate

Yet more money I have spent on food that I regret. Except this time, we barely even ATE the food.

My partner and I thought it was a great idea to get a food delivery service that provided the recipes and ingredients for 5 meals a week.

Since we both are busy and don’t really like to cook, it seemed like a good idea in theory.

This wouldn’t be a dumb purchase for everyone, but it was a waste of money for us because we more often than not would waste the food.

Also, the packaging for these services are EXTREMELY wasteful. Overall, we ended up cancelling it after a month and honestly that was a month too long.

Annual iPhone Upgrades

I definitely fell into the trap of early upgrades through Amazon. I was in the habit of getting a new iPhone every year.

picture of iphone taken from above with a white screen. Coffee and a laptop in the corner on the desk.

I LOVE my iPhone. I’m a huge Apple fan, but I realized this year that I didn’t need to keep upgrading my phones just because I COULD.

The only issue I ever had with my iPhone was battery life.

So now, I use a battery case and it’s still good as new!

Now, I’ve had my iPhone for almost 3 years and I don’t have any issues with it.

On top of that, I finally stopped paying $40-50/month for my iPhone loan. Now I own the phone outright, and it’s one less expense I have to worry about.

These were all great learning experiences, so I don’t regret any of them. But now that I know better, I won’t make the same mistakes again.

All in All

Do I regret these purchases?

Kinda.

I’m thankful for the lessons they taught me, but I wasted so much money.

Now that I’m more focused on spending money on the things I truly love, I give myself more time to think through purchases.

Hopefully, I won’t make as many awful purchases for the rest of my 20’s.

But knowing me, I’ll see you back here for a Part 2.