Here's the irony: It doesn't seem to matter whether you make the big bucks or if you're just scraping by. Anyone can be horrible with their home finances, from the guy wearing full-body Gucci to the kid making minimum wage and paying $800 a month on a truck payment.
One thing all these big spenders have in common is the tendency to give off a telltale sign that screams, "I am terrible with money!" Here are a few stories from bystanders who witnessed a friend, family member or a guy across the room savagely wasting their funds.
Don't forget to check the comment section below the article for more interesting stories!
#1 Next She’ll Buy A Mansion Because Her Rent Is Due
My old roommate was terrible with money. She couldn’t afford her car payment so she went out and got a brand new car. That way, she wouldn’t have to make a payment for another month. I’m not kidding! I have no idea how she got approved for the loan.
#2 The Cat Probably Created The Budget
She cried to me that she couldn’t pay her rent and even skipped meals so that her cats could eat. The next weekend, she charged $1,000 on cosplay items because “they're an investment!" Also, she buys small bags of $20 designer coffee.
#3 Maybe Buy Some Common Sense?
My friends always ask me what they should buy because they have a little bit left over from their paycheck. I always tell them to SAVE IT! Fun money is fine, but if you don’t even know what you want to waste your money on and it’s just burning a hole in your pocket, just freaking save it.
#4 Thirty Thousand Dollars Later, Still Great At Video Games
I have a friend who was recently working a low wage job (he was a car mechanic of some kind). He has a juvie record and has never been responsible for anything in his life. He recently inherited about $30,000 and decided to buy a new truck and a new gaming computer. He also packed up his stuff and moved from Texas to Colorado in hopes of opening his own dispensary. Within three weeks, he was broke and moved back to Texas, but had to borrow money in his first week back, just to be able to eat.
#5 Water Where Your Groceries Should Be
My friend filled up his giant swimming pool then was unable to pay the water bill, resulting in his water being shut off for months. He had to use the pool for his water needs; as in, flushing the toilet, cooking, drinking, etc. The health department caught wind of it and had his kids taken.
He then went around the neighborhood knocking on doors asking for money to pay his water bill so he could get his kids back. Soon, everything he owned was getting repossessed. Rent-a-Center came out with his giant TV and living room suite. Comcast cut off his cable. At that point, he was knocking on doors for money to pay for his electricity bill, too. He got so desperate he'd sneak onto some neighbors' porches at night and plug extension cords into their porch outlets.
#6 One Soldier, Two Expensive Rides
When I was a lieutenant, I had a soldier receive a $40,000 bonus. He told me he spent the money wisely and was super proud. Asked what his purchases were and he said he bought a Mustang and an F150.
#7 When You Realize The Down Payment Isn't All
One of my friend's brothers joined the army and he bought an Acura RSX with like, $4,000 down on it. He spent another $6,000 on "accessories" like a carbon fiber hood with the clips to take it off, a big carbon fiber wing on the back, a new intake, etc. Well, my friends and I were in the garage hanging out one day while the brother was under the car doing something, and a tow truck rolled up in his driveway. A guy got out, handed the brother some papers, and repossessed his car right there. He hadn't made a single payment in like, six months. Instead, he bought flashy parts for his car. We all laughed at him for weeks.
#8 Polly Want A Payment Plan?
When I was a kid, my dad attempted to finance a parrot. My parents couldn’t afford for us to eat much more than peanut butter for lunch, but my dad attempted to finance a bird (he was not approved for the loan).
#9 Bad Tenant
My dad has rental properties and one time the guy couldn't pay rent. My dad was willing to work with him. First, he gave him a 30-day notice. He was able to catch up on some past rent, so we gave him an extension, thinking he could keep it up. Unfortunately, after a couple more weeks, he fell back into the same bad habits and his situation failed to improve.
#10 Why, How Much Stuff Have You Bought?
On our first date:
Him: "I know that my profile says I wouldn't date someone in considerable debt but I'm actually $8,000 in debt."
Me: "What did you buy? Do you have tuition debt to pay or something?"
Him: "Nah, just stuff."
He didn't drive, go to university or have medical bills. He just lived at home, doing nothing.
#11 The Me Shed That Ruined Their House
My friend and her fiance are saving money to buy a place together. The friend always works her butt off and she is also very frugal. Her fiance? Not so much. He recently bought a plot of land and a trailer to without telling her. She found out when she saw the massive withdrawal in their joint bank account.
#12 You'll Never Pay That Student Loan From The Beach
She makes $300 a night as a bartender. To treat herself, she goes on an all-inclusive vacation every couple of months. She finished nursing school one and a half years ago and still hasn't written her licensing exam, yet she complains that she's going to be paying off student loans forever.
Girl, you could've paid off all those loans a year ago with the money you're making. Not to mention, you live at home and all your major expenses are paid for. It's weird really. It's almost like people want to be stuck at the bottom.
#13 A New Car Is Different When You're Way Old
My very well-off grandfather tells me that I should buy a new car every time I see him. He leases my grandma's car so he gets a new one every two years. He can't wrap his head around why I'd want to continue to drive my nine-year-old Civic around. It's paid for, taxes and insurance are cheap, and it's great on gas. Why would I want to take on a car payment again with higher taxes and insurance? I'm going to drive that thing until it implodes on itself. Unless gramps is willing to cut a check... He laughs when I suggest that though, go figure.
#14 Keep Repeating, 'Not My Circus...'
I know someone like that constantly complains about money, but then also wants to leave work early (and complains through all of her shifts instead of, you know...working). She calls in sick all the time and barhops almost every night. Her money woes are entirely her own making. I actually know several people like this. A part of me wants to tell them exactly what they're doing wrong and how to fix it, but the other part is like, calm down, it's not your circus or your monkeys. Their bad decisions don't really affect me, except for when they call out and make us short for the day. It's okay though; that issue will sort itself out when they eventually get fired.
#15 When Eye Shadow Outranks Antibiotics
I once knew a waitress who complained about never being able to afford anything. "Oh my gosh, I can't afford my college textbooks," she'd say before buying tickets to a cruise in Mexico. "My doctor's visit was $30, I hate America," she'd say before buying $80 eyeshadow.
#16 Your Present Will Be Getting To Sit On This Sofa
My friend's financial advice to me:
"If you're gonna buy a sofa for $6,000, only pay $2,000 and get the other $4,000 on finance. That means you can get more stuff. It's what I did."
"Don't get me anything for my Christmas, because I won't be able to get you anything, I'm so broke, I can't spare even $10."
Just for the record, I didn't spend $6,000 on a sofa as he did.
#17 Great Sleeves But No Coat
He has lots of nicely done tattoos but complains about not having enough money for basic necessities.
#18 What's This Work Thing You Speak Of?
One day, he's like, "I'm so broke." Another day, he's like, "Do you want to pick up this shift for overtime?" He's just trapping himself into a terrible cycle.
#19 Why The Son's A Saver
She's making well into six figures but regularly has to borrow $200 from her children to make it to the next payday.
#20 You'd Think Gucci Would Be A Great Tipper
I’m a waiter at a nice restaurant. A couple of gentlemen came in and one was wearing literally all Gucci clothing. Gucci hat, Gucci shirt, Gucci belt, Gucci pants, Gucci shoes. They all got separate checks and none of them tipped.
#21 Nothing Like 800 Percent Interest
Rent to own places like Rent-A-Center or Aaron's. If you like spending $2,400 over two years for something that cost $300, be my guest.
#22 Why Tell The Trash Can To Keep The Change?
I work at a billiard hall and we have a slew of regular customers. This one kid would play, get beat and then be forced to pay for the table. He would throw the coin change into the garbage every time. For example, if the bill is $3.20, he'd toss $0.80 into the trash. If he got beat again, he'd throw more money into the trash.
Just to be clear, he got beat a lot.
#23 The Income-Debt Equation
I work for non-profit and we aim to help working-class families and full-time students (i.e. people with very little money to survive). Very often, my friends will ask me if I can get them an appointment. I ask them how much they make a year before taxes, or I'll asses their average income with four-weeks-worth at that time.
When I suggest making some lifestyle changes, my friends will try and tell me, "You don't know how much money it costs to have kids," or "You have no idea how hard it is to pay a mortgage," or "You don't know what it's like having to pay for bills and college at the same time." I do, I promise; because I literally assess people's finances every single day.
They're the ones who don't have a basic understanding of income management. I give them the cold, hard truth: "If your home costs too much, get a smaller home. If your car costs too much, get a cheaper car. If it's hard to pay for college, maybe it isn't your time to be going right now." Some people just refuse to make appropriate lifestyle changes.
#24 Maybe She Left The Phone At The Hotel
My wife's friend is on every public assistance out there. Food stamps, housing assistance, and Medicaid. Yesterday, she was complaining on Facebook about dropping her iPhone 8 while at the waterpark.
#25 Pocket Change To Pay The Rent
I used to be a resident manager in an apartment complex, collecting rents and reporting stuff being broken, etc. This guy was always paying his rent in change. One time, I received $1.37 in coins, toward his rent. He always had a sob story, too.
I mean, I sympathize; I understand it's tough, right. It's no problem, I cut him some slack but also keep records of his payments. I expect them to eventually follow through.
Come the Fourth of July—I saw him with a huge box of fireworks, walking out into the streets to play. Sure, I applauded him for spending time with his kids and making them happy. But priorities, man.
#26 The Truck That Cost More Than, Well, Everything
An old friend of mine had a truck payment of $625 a month, plus a 22% interest rate. He only made $10 an hour.
#27 The Rent Went To Vegas And Stayed There
The other day, my roommate claimed he couldn’t pay the rent yet because there was a hold on his account (supposedly due to a large deposit from work getting flagged as suspicious). At that time, he was literally packing for a road trip to Vegas for a wedding. He also regularly takes $40 Ubers because the subway commute to his art studio takes “too long.” And he wonders why he's late with his rent every month...
#28 One Man PS4 Pawn Shop
A friend of mine works two part-time jobs and lives alone. His phone and internet got shut off, and he has no money for food. One day, he offered to sell me his PS4 for cheap so he could make rent. I bought it from him for more than he was asking for so he could have some money for food (an extra $20 or $30, not a lot). The next week, he cames by with a new Nintendo DS, and the week after that, a Nintendo Switch. We all just blankly stared at him.
#29 Nothing's More Valuable Just Because The Gas Station Sells It
They eat out every day of the week and always grab a snack at the gas station. Also, they have at least five different streaming subscriptions and buy a new video game every month. Like, a newly-released, $70 video game.
#30 My Dad Did Me Cold But I Got Even
When I was 16 years old, my uncle who was dying from cancer gave me his car. My dad then proceeded to sell the car behind my back for $3,000. I only had a permit at the time and wasn't driving that much, so my dad said it'd be stupid for him to make monthly payments on a car I'd barely use. I actually agree with his reasoning, but I still don't like that he didn't tell me first before he sold it.
My parents needed to use the $3,000 to pay that year's taxes because my dad spent almost all of his money on new electronics. I was alright with that because I was only 16 and didn't need $3,000 for anything at the time. My dad was supposed to pay me back over time, but he never did. He continued to buy more gadgets for himself and didn't make an attempt to set aside anything for me.
Now I'm 25, still living with my parents, and I would've started paying rent about a year ago, but my mom decided she would delay making me pay for a while to make up for the $3,000 my dad never gave me back. I'd be paying $200 a month otherwise (which is still rather cheap), so this gave me 15 more months to freeload off of them. I'm ultimately satisfied with the deal, but bitter that my dad couldn't be bothered to do the decent thing and pay back his own son.
#31 I'm Broke Unless Today Is The 4th Of July
My brother-in-law could fill up this whole page! A couple of bankruptcies, multiple car repossessions, the works. He almost went to jail for falling behind on his child support (about $8,000), and he was crying on my wife's shoulder about how broke he was. He then went on to tell her about the $400 worth of fireworks he just bought for the kids. My wife just finally stopped worrying about him because she figured out that he will never grow up. His life is a "wash-rinse-repeat cycle" that he brings upon himself.
#32 In Oz, They Gamble For Very Small Prizes
There's this thing in New Zealand called Bonus Bonds. New Zealanders collectively have about $3 billion in these things. It pays out around 2% per annum (around the same as inflation) but gives it unevenly, in prizes. Non-prizewinners—which is almost everyone—get nothing. Each dollar bond has between a one in 20,000 and a one in 40,000 chance of winning anything; even a $20 prize. Their odds of winning over $1 million are worse than the national lottery odds. When someone tells me that they have many thousands of dollars "invested" in Bonus Bonds, I know that they are terrible with money.
#33 Bad News About That Beamer
A co-worker of mine bought a BMW she couldn't afford and was bragging about having an "exotic" car. So I said, "You know that was built in South Carolina, right?" She replied, "Nuh uh, BMWs are from Europe!" Later, she found out the truth and was mad at me for two weeks.
#34 Too Many Menus Syndrome
A guy at my work can barely stay afloat. It's tough because he's the sole provider of his wife and kid. His wife eventually got a job, but their situation is still bad They're always complaining about bills, even though they eat out MULTIPLE TIMES A DAY.
#35 Talk About A Hog
My brother-in-law can't afford therapy for my eight-year-old nephew's neurological and learning disorders, but he can buy a motorcycle to add to his "collection." He just bought an RV, but now my sister can't pay for her certification classes for her teaching career. I hate this man.
#36 New Furniture For A Few
My sister-in-law keeps going around to different furniture stores to finance her furniture. My nine-year-old niece even said to me, “I bet soon they’re goning to stop letting us get furniture.”
#37 Don't Give Her No Hand Me Down Cars
When our dad passed away, my sister received about $75,000 and two vehicles that still needed to be paid off. The pay-off amounts for the two vehicles were $3,000 and $6,000. Instead of doing what she should have done, she gave them back to the dealer and then bought two different vehicles for about $60,000, a new widescreen TV and carpet installation for her house.
She gave me $5,000 and I made that last for 11 months. She blew through hers in about five weeks. Now, she is almost disabled. She had to move three times due to her husband refusing to work and threatening to kick my butt when I called him out on that. Nowadays, she's on government assistance for the kids and she's always broke.
#38 Poor Interpretation Of The Rich Dad Book
I had a friend who bought himself a copy of Rich Dad, Poor Dad and he was so excited about how it was going to make him wealthy beyond his wildest dreams. He even bought a second copy so he could read it on the bus while coming to visit me. As he left, he sold me the second copy so he could have money to catch the bus home. I kept it on my shelf for years without reading it, because I felt like there was a valuable financial lesson in the way it arrived.
#39 A Burner Might Have Been The Best Option
A guy I worked with rushed out on his lunch break on launch day and blew nearly a grand on an iPhone X. Not three hours later at the end of the day, he was asking to borrow $20 for fuel so he could get home.
#40 Letting The ATM Tell You How To Spend
She uses her bank balance rather than an actual budget to determine whether she can "afford" something.
#41 So Many Roommates, So Little Money
Whenever I see someone I tell them, "If you need to feel better about yourself, ask me about my roommates."
Let's start with Couple #1: The guy quits his full-time job so he can go to school. He tells me it'll be fine because his dad's a vet and he'll get a loan that'll pay for it all. I ask him if he's sure because he's going to a trade school and he says, "Of course." He's halfway through his program and was just told that the government won't approve his loan. The girl has a part-time job and honestly, I don't know when she works because mostly I just see her in her room sitting on her butt. They occupy the master bedroom. Since both my boyfriend and I are alright with money, I suggest that we switch rooms. She throws a tantrum. It doesn't happen. The couple continues to order in food almost every night. They are now applying for food stamps.
Couple #2: The guy works and plays video games. He does not like to be disturbed from his 16-hour video game binge, so instead of going grocery shopping and saving money by making food, he orders in food. He buys every new game when it comes out. The girl overdrafts her bank account every single month because she buys stupid stuff and refuses to check her balances. She makes plenty of money, but refuses to live within her means. She also orders out for every meal. She thinks I'm a witch because my credit score is above 700.
#42 I'm Bad With Money, These Stores Are Worse
I had so much credit card and medical debt that I needed to use store credit cards and fast food gift cards to make to the next payday. The paycheck would come, and I would pay what I could towards credit cards. However, now I can't afford food or gas until the next payday. The cycle continues... Finally, I declared bankruptcy in January, and I'm slowly climbing out of that hole. It feels good to finally be able to breathe and not freak out every time the bills arrive. Stores still try to get me to open a credit card, and I simply tell them no. My credit is shot thanks to the bankruptcy, and I don't need that in my life anymore. If I can't afford it right now, I don't need it!
#43 The Crummy Tip Was The Tip-Off
“Oh no, bring me the tab, I got it.” Tips 3% on a massive tab. He tried to pick up a tab he couldn’t afford to tip on, in front of his friends, to appear more financially effaceable.
#44 The Lottery Never Strikes Twice
He always talked about the scratcher he hit for $1,500 three years ago while playing the lottery multiple times a week.
#45 Procrastinating Until You're In The Dark
Not checking your account balance because you're afraid of what you'll see. Waiting to pay utility bills until you get the shut-off notice or after they're shut off. My parents used to do this a lot.
