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Pretty much all of us at some point have bought something we didn't really need. An expensive cold press juicer, a set of shake weights, or a cardboard cutout of Dave Ramsey. Looking at you, Graham Stephan, why is that in your house and why did I feel the need to touch the top of Dave's head? I still don't know. But some people take it to another level. A while back, Reddit user ShadowKloop21 posted this question. What's the dumbest thing you've seen someone spend their money on?
And the responses ranged from weird to sad to hilarious. So in today's video, I'm gonna go through some of the best and weirdest answers to see just how dumb these purchases actually are. And at the end, I'm gonna give you my smart spender plan so you never make a weird, dumb purchase ever again. - You spent over $1,000 last year on waffles alone.
But you know what's not weird and dumb? Hitting those like and subscribe buttons. And while you're at it, go ahead and share this video with your friend who has a $2,000 citrus juicer collecting dust on top of the fridge, right next to their cardboard cutout of Dave Ramsey. Still looking at you, Graham. It's weird, man.
It's not weird unless you make it weird. Okay, let's get to it. Here are some of the best answers to the question, "What's the dumbest thing you've seen someone spend their money on?" "When I drink too much, drunk me will go online and purchase an absurd amount of googly eyes." "Are you okay?" "That was rhetorical. You're not okay." I'm fine. Next up, weddings. Somewhere along the line, we seem to have forgotten what the true purpose of the day is.
I agree. Now there's nothing wrong with spending a lot of money on a wedding if you do it with cash, but when you go into debt for it and you're trying to impress people and throwing them a party to celebrate you, that's just weird. I think we've gone way overboard with weddings. It's time to put a kibosh on it. Head to the courthouse, have a fun reception, but let's be reasonable here. Designer baby clothes and hard-sold baby Air Jordans. It's not a flex to have a fancy baby. No one's impressed, okay? It's still pooping itself.
You pooped in your pants. I pooped my pants. Next comment: I spent $40 on one of those amusement park booths where you had to throw darts at balloons. For some reason, I picked out this really ugly seven-foot-tall frog stuffed animal. It's in the corner of my closet and still scares me when I'm half awake in the morning. I'm trying to picture-- because y'all, I'm close to seven feet. You sure about that? So I'm trying to picture me as a stuffed frog. Just
Just sitting in the closet. That is frightening. I would have given that to Goodwill like 14 days ago. Next comment. My friend told me of a nurse who bought a handbag for $7,000. I'm not a financial expert, but I do not advise buying a $7,000 purse. I don't know what I would even put in a $7,000 purse. Like chapstick? I'm not angry at designer bags. Hear me say that. If you are like loaded with money...
That's like a Tuesday for you. I'm really rich. Next comment. My buddy bought fake money off eBay to flex on Snapchat. My eyes are bleeding just looking at that comment. Like what woman is like, did
Did you see his snap? He has so much fake money. I say that as a guy who has fake money in the studio. I've never used it to flex, though. I have real money. That's more impressive. Their first vehicle. 18-year-olds getting loans of $20,000 on their first car boggles my mind. This one I wholeheartedly agree with. And while it's fun to throw the 18-year-olds under the bus, because I do agree, if you're new to driving, you should not be driving a nicer car than me.
I think it's just rude, frankly. But you know what? Anyone that's going 20 grand into debt for a car is doing it wrong. So...
Let's not throw them under the bus. Let's throw everyone under the bus who's taken on car loans for cars they can't afford. Next comment, gambling machines. I work in a bar room. I don't know what that is. People will play these machines for 12 plus hours and never win. Then they win 700 bucks the next night and they think they're on top. It's insane. They look like zombies sitting there in a trance. Once had to unplug the machine on a patron who would not leave for closing.
Kept saying, "Five more minutes." This one went from funny to sad real quick. This person clearly has a gambling addiction. Gambling is one of the hardest things that I think people are facing today, especially sports betting, gambling apps. It's easier than ever to just get the dopamine rush while draining your bank account and feeling that anxiety. So avoid these at all costs. Next comment, "I bought a $700 litter box.
I'm sure many people would think it's dumb, but my cats and I love it. It's amazing. Sounds like you have personal experience with the litter box. Are you using the litter box? I think I honestly would. If I paid $700 for a toilet for my cats, I might be like, what's all the fuss about? Let's give this a go. That's disgusting. Next up, maybe the cotton candy machine I'm about to go buy. That one actually I'm intrigued by. I got to actually search cotton candy.
Cotton candy machine. Like how much are these? What's the guess on how much these things cost? My guess is like a hundred bucks. Amazon, $58.99, 2,000 reviews. That means at least 2,000 people have bought this exact machine from Amazon. That is insane. I'd say for 50 bucks, making your own cotton candy, I'm not mad about that. I'm happy for you. Go for it if it's in the budget. Next up, I bought a cassette tape two weeks ago.
I don't even have a way to play cassettes, but I still bought it. Nostalgia comes for us all. And I don't know what environment you were in. Like, was this like an indie band that was selling their album on cassette to be ironic and trendy? I have no idea. Or did you walk into like a Tower Records that was still open in Sheboygan and they still had the cassette tapes laying around? I don't know, but maybe you can return it to the store you bought it from?
or find an old boom box and just go to town. Loving that tape roll sound. That's vintage, baby. - Vintage, so adorable. - Next up, me buying $3,000 in niche cryptocurrency years ago that is now worth 1/10 of the value because of the hype and my brother's recommendations. He, however, put $60,000 in and it's a huge point of stress for him now. You think? He put $60,000 into the machine and he got $6,000 out.
This is a bad investment and I would stop listening to your brother. And it's one reason I tell people to stay away from crypto. I'm not mad at people who like to put some money in crypto, but you're not going to get rich quick. In fact, you're going to go broke even quicker. All right, trigger warning for this next comment. It's very unsettling. Here it is. Professional photo shoot of an adult man posing in similar ways to baby pictures. Swaddled, crying, age bored with personality traits, etc.,
Etc. is all we needed to hear. I don't know where it goes from there. I don't want to know. This is beyond like a waste of money. This person is not okay. They should be kept away from all children and all adults, in fact. Right to jail. Right away. Next up, a four-year college degree from an out-of-state, unaccredited, for-profit college. Sounds like someone went to University of Phoenix. But really, I don't know why you would go to an unaccredited college. I mean, you want to go for the accredited college.
because you want that credit. You know what I'm saying? Hmm. That's an interesting way of putting... That makes sense. There's heartbreak all over the place when it comes to higher education today. So make the right choice when it comes to college. And if that's community college down the road, if that's an in-state school that you can pay cash for, do it that way. Because student loans are never worth it and it's only hurting people out there as the student loan payments have come back. So make smart choices. Next up...
I spent money on the app Pocket Frogs about $20. It was to get better frogs. I feel like that's the only reason you would spend money on Pocket Frogs. Just get real frogs because it's somehow less strange than buying digital frogs. And lastly, I saw a guy spend $44 billion on Twitter. Okay, as much as I want to make fun of Elon for doing this, he also still has...
44 billion to spare. So I think he's still doing better than all of us as much as we want to make fun of him for making that purchase. So you do you, Elon. But I still won't call it X. It's a stupid name. I don't care.
All right, that was entertaining to say the least. And some of the things on that list are objectively stupid. However, just because someone else thinks it's stupid doesn't mean it is. All right, it's easy to judge when you hear someone spend a huge dollar amount on something that you would never spend money on. But it all comes down to ratios. Think about it. If you make half a million and you spend 7,000 on a purse, that's a little over 1% of your income. That's like someone who makes 40 grand spending 500 bucks on something.
So if it's in the budget and you can afford it in cash, it's okay to have some fun with money. Enjoy. As long as you're investing for the future, you've got an emergency fund, you're out of debt, it's okay to have some stuff. Now, even if your idea of fun means dropping some coin on something ridiculous like a Paul Hollywood Funko Pop or some digital frogs, you do you. But if you want to be a smart spender, check this out. I've got a handy little plan I came up with to help you make smart purchases. It's an acrostic that spells the word smart. We love
We love a good acrostic. So the S stands for self-awareness. Will this add value to my life? Think deeply and really answer that question and make sure you can answer with a resounding yes. If you can, move on to the M for motive.
Am I buying this for the right reason? Are there outside forces, pressures? Do I have boundary issues? Is this an emotional retail therapy purchase? We gotta buy with the right motive. If we can say yes, we're buying with the right motive, move on to the A for affordability. Can I buy this in full, in cash? Can I actually afford it in full today? If you can say yes, move on to the R for research. Is this the best option, retailer, and price? Don't shop impulsively, shop with some intentionality. Take your time with it.
And lastly, T for timing is now the time to buy it. Think about opportunity cost. All right. If you got a vacation coming up, but you also want to save in that retirement account, you got to make some hard choices here. Maybe you need to put something on hold.
So the process is simple. If you can answer these five questions with a yes, then you can purchase with confidence instead of impulse and regret. And if you want to know more about smart spending and how to avoid consumerism and marketing gimmicks and financial traps out there, be sure to check out my new book called Breaking Free from Broke, The Ultimate Guide to More Money and Less Stress. I have a whole chapter on spending and self-control where I unpack this at length.
You can get your copy with the link in the description below. Shut up and take my money! And let me know in the comments if you've made a dumb purchase that should be added to this list. I want to hear about it below. As always, make sure to subscribe to the channel, like this video, and share it with all of your friends who need an intervention for their digital frog collection. It's out of hand. It's an addiction. Okay, we have an amphibian addiction on our hands. Thanks for watching. We'll see you next time.
