How much money have you lost?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I bought a box of crackers and a can of flying insect killer earlier today, then, instead of putting the package in my car, I went to the bowling alley a few steps away (one of my favorite chill-out places…formerly, anyway). I swear I didn’t put the bag down for more than a few minutes, but when I picked it up again, the crackers were gone. The alley operator, of course, knew nothing about it.

(Honestly, who the freak steals a $3.50 box of soda crackers? Do kids get that bad a case of the munchies?)

I really shouldn’t get too choked up about this, though…inasmuch as this was nearly the same spot where my $109 bicycle mysteriously vanished a few years back, and of course everyone in the entire area with the perception and situational awareness of a blind drunkard.

But even that was chump change compared to the over $720 in unemployment benefits. I had to return to the state government because I neglected to comply a little Staffing Partners’ regulation for a time. Y’know, the one where you have to call three times a week to get told that, nope, they still don’t got no jobs. I’ll start a pit thread on staffing agencies in the future…lord knows they deserve it…but suffice to say that thank heavens I landed a job not long afterward, or else I might still be too stunned to type this.

Well, at least that was a one-time hit. Not unlike my experience with really, really bad, uh, adult entertainment (two lies for the price of one!) I’ve thrown away more pornography than most people will ever own. Hey, if I’m paying $20, I expect to at least SEE EVERYTHING, for crying out loud! Don’t even get me started on “adult games”, the majority of which wouldn’t give a Catholic high school senior a hard-on. Part of the problem is that it’s a complete shot in the dark…how do you find the good stuff? I mean, am I just going to walk up to the clerk at Tower Records and ask, hey, what titles do you have where the panties come off before intimate contact?

But by far the biggest money pit for me is, ironically, probably the greatest source of fun in my life…video games. Particularly the Neo Geo systems (yes, I got both). Yep, in addition to being scandalously undersupported and almost impossible to find, the systems and games were expensive as hell. What makes me particularly agitated is that the only reason I got them in the first place was because the Super NES was such a colossal disappointment…it hit it big just when Mortal Kombat hysteria reached a fever pitch (as opposed to know, where there are roughly five non-gamers who even remember what it is), with predictable results. The Super NES itself was, for the most part, little more than another drain on my wallet, vanishing faster than a federal budget surplus the instant the Playstation burst onto the scene. Of the thousands I’ve spent on this lifelong obsession, I’d say half of it was well-spent, and that’s being generous.

What else…$25 parking ticket the one time John Law actually was keeping tabs on things…$20 for a sturdy-looking pair of sandals that completely fell apart after three months…$40 or so for sundry replacement parts for cars about 100 miles from the junkyard…about $400 for six months of parking for my AT&T job (too lazy to work out the parking meter)…EVERYTHING I’ve ever gambled away (okay, it’s about ten bucks, but I’m still kinda ticked off about it)…and a few odds and ends here and there.

I’m sure my parents could relate, too, inasmuch as they invested $50,000 into a friend’s sushi business (not including what they spent there as customers) only to watch it break the sound barrier going into the tank. (Tax deductions softened the blow, but not much.)

So how about it? How much have you blown, and how did you cope? (Me, I always remind myself that at least I never got into the dotcom boondoggle. Hoo boy, was THAT a catastrophe waiting to happen…)

2

About $150K when the .com bubble went bust.

3

I actually haven’t lost much money. I just wanted to say that, dude, you need a beer, or vacation… or something. Just breathe…

4

I lost $80,000 in one day a few weeks ago.

Few days later I made like $119,000 though, so it evens out in the long run.

5

If you get CourtTV or Starz, check out this relatively new crime reality show called Caught. Setups and hidden cameras are the modus operandi.

Tonight’s show had them set up a table of food on the sidewalk in NYC, clearly labled “FILM CREW ONLY”. The table had a few sandwhich plates (turkey and green jello), cinnamon rolls with mayonaise for frosting, coffee cake with ketchup, etc etc etc… People continously stole from the table, and got pissed when the “free food” tasted shitty. They all took freely from the water jug as well, especially after stealing the salt covered fruit.

The bit ended when some guy grabbed as much as he could carry, then a group of kids came by and took everything else, including the water jug.
Usually the show depicts graver crimes, like people breaking into cars to steal the digital camera on the dashboard, or stealing bikes chained up with chandelier parts.

6

Lost about $40,000 on the whole .com thing. Made most of it back since by investing in evil (tobacco, drugs, opressive regimes).

I’ve probably spent over $1000 on electronics that looked cool but ended up not getting nearly as much use as their price warrented (MD player, various computer add-ons).

Probably a few hundred on computer software that almost never got played.

7

About $1000 to replace my laptop when it fell off the roof of my car.

8

I lost nearly $3000.00 helping out some (former) friends.

I know, I know, never a lender nor borrower be, but like a schmuck I did it anyway.

He’d been out of work nearly six months, but she had recently gotten a promotion and payraise so they were making it, just. Three kids between them and she finds out she’s pregnant, they’re renting a house from his mother who decides the perfect shower gift for the new baby is eviction. In November. They needed to buy, nowhere affordable to rent that has space for a family of six, but had nothing for a down payment or closing costs. I watched/listened to them go thru six weeks of financial woes trying to come up with a plan, it was looking like they were going to need to stay in a family shelter for at least a month just to come up with enough money to get properly hosed for not having enough to put down.

I had just re-financed my home, beginning some major renovations, so I had it. It was Christmastime, I didn’t have room to put them up but couldn’t stand to see them homeless, so I offered them a loan. They tearfully accepted and we got them settled into their own home two days before Christmas and a month before she delivered.

That April, come tax return season, I was given a $500.00 check, with promises of regular payments to come. That was 3 years ago and of course there hasn’t been a dime since.

Bit of an expensive lesson, one that I should have known, DID know but went against all my better judgement and did it anyway. I don’t miss the friendship, per se, I was the one to cool it off since that awkward “hey, you owe me money” topic kept getting in the way. I like to think that I helped the kids, at least, it helps to think that anyway.

9

In the course of 2003 I lost about £3,500 gambling. I’m better now. (I mean, I still gamble, but I’m better at it :wink: )

10

OPM about 700k last month.
my own - the dotcom thing was ugly, approaching 100k. Divorce probably similar amount. Still recovering from both.
Oh well. Money is not real anyway. Not in the way say lima beans are real

11

Your definition of “lost” is mighty broad. It seems to include lost, stolen, unwisely spent, regretted, or never earned in the first place. By those standards, I’ve lost millions by not investing in Microsoft in 1985, and several thousand dollars this year by selling Apple too early. But meh, you have to strike a balance between spending unwisely and controlling expenditures so tightly that you spend more time and effort thinking about it than the money is actually worth. Then again, I’m single and gainfully employed, so I don’t have to squeeze every penny.

There’re only a few things that I really regret having spent money on – one was to have a chimney sweep install a rain deflector on my chimney for $300.00. It turns out I could have bought a nearly identical item for $30.00 at Home Depot and it attaches easily with four screws. I felt kind of reamed over that deal. But who knew?

12

About five bucks US for a bottle of cheap sparkling wine this NYE. Left it on the subway.

Hey, you asked.

13

I’m taking a bath the last two days on the market. I’ve got decades to make it up, I know, but it sucks buying one day and having the stock go down 5% in two days.

14

In 1989 I spent about $12,000 building a figure 8 race car. As happens in that type of racing, I was involved in a fairly spectacular accident. Despite the fact my car was painted a very bright yellow with flourescent pink and blue trim, some guy claimed he didn’t see my car at the X. The car was completely totalled, the engine block broke in two, the rear end housing was even bent. I was able to salvage maybe a grand worth of parts from the car, the rest was crushed for scrap metal.

15

Try getting the ones with 3 X’s instead of 1 :smiley:

16

10,000 shares of Enron, and now I learn that we can only take a maximum $3000 loss this year. Is that right?

17

Fortunately, I still have my little tiny violin. Saddest song ever. I can almost feel your pain.

18

About 300k in realestate during my divorce. I also lost a 300K commission do to a lazy governement official who erroneously deeemed the company I worked for at the time as not finacially capable of perfoming a contract. A phone call would have cleared it up.

19

I lost a $20 dollar bill when I was 11 or so. I was biking to the local fries and burger shack and when I realised it was gone I burst into tears. I spent a good 20 min. trying to figure out how I was going to explain it to my mom (she is um…crazy-no seriously) but she took it very well and gave me another $20.

20

I lost about $3000 in 1993 when I helped a friend go in on a so-called get-rich-quick scheme. He talked me into it and it sounded so easy. My better sense of caution, the voice of my conscience telling me that this was a big scam, somehow evaded me at that time.