Road Trips in College: The Dumbest Purchases I’ve Ever Made
September 3, 2008 by Miranda Marquit
Filed under Finance
What’s your dumbest purchase? Over at Gather Little by Little, there is a challenge out to share our stories. We all have those idiotic purchases (most of them idiotic because of the mere fact that we put them on credit cards).
Myself included.
Road warrior and the credit cards
By the time I graduated college, I had two credit cards. And both of them were very nearly maxed out. Mainly due to the fact that I love, love, love to travel. So, in 
college, every summer was filled with road trips. Spring break was a road trip. Twice a semester there was a reason to make the 2 1/2 hour drive to Las Vegas.
And I regularly put all of the expenses associated with these trips (gas, lodging, food, shopping, entrance fees, etc.) on my credit cards. It always seemed that just as I started paying my credit cards down, another fun opportunity arose that put the balance back up there.
The absolute dumbest purchase? Actually made by my mom. I went backcountry camping with a friend, and the car’s tire hit a rock and went flat 40 miles from nowhere in the Utah desert. We tried to drive on it, but it soon got stuck in a muddy stream that crossed the “road.” After walking nearly to the next town (did I mention it was 40 miles?), we called a tow truck and discovered that the bill would probably be in excess of $400. I was exceptionally humiliated as I called my mom and begged for her credit card info so that I could have my car towed and the tire replaced.
I did eventually pay her back.
Do you have a story of a dumb purchase?
image credit: sxc.hu
FINANCIALLY maybe it was a bad choice, but didn’t it make you feel better getting out in the world to see what was out there? :)
LOL. Sure did. Although I probably should have worked more and relied on the credit cards less…
Hmm…the dumbest purchase I ever made…wow, only one?! LOL.
I guess I’d have to go with a used car I bought from a private owner back in 06. I desperately needed a vehicle, and my “desperation” led to buying what I thought was a good deal but what turned into one trip to the shop after another. While the car did last for over a year, the hassle that came with it wasn’t worth it. I should have definitely waited a little longer, saved a bit more money, and bought something in better shape.
Yikes. That’s rough. And what’s worse is that you have to keep putting money into to get it fixed.
A timeshare – Although I like the idea of timeshares, we could have saved thousands if we had purchased from the resell market instead of being drawn in by the sales pitch. Never buy a major purchase without sleeping on it first no matter how the salesman pressures you. The more pressure you feel, the more reasons you have to walk away.
Thanks for sharing, Jamie! I especially like your point that the more pressure the salesman puts on you, the better off you are to walk away and reconsider.