https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Thu, 23 Apr 2026 06:23:00 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/expensive-mistakes#post-2830748 Tue, 26 Jun 2018 14:22:01 +0000 Caly 2830748@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Yeaaa...the winter our twins were born, we (more DH) skipped winterizing our boat. A new engine cost us approx. 6k. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/expensive-mistakes#post-2830747 Tue, 26 Jun 2018 14:21:39 +0000 codeitall 2830747@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I contributed to my Dependent Care FSA... then switched jobs. Turns out that I could only reimburse with that FSA through the end date of my coverage of that plan, not the whole year. What a nice little gotcha.</p> <p>Then my son had cavities on his front teeth because he got milk before bed every night and we weren't good about teeth brushing. We not only had to pay for $200 caps, but $300 for anesthesia... </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/expensive-mistakes#post-2830743 Tue, 26 Jun 2018 14:11:09 +0000 farawayyama 2830743@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I just discovered one. I found a first edition of a well known and controversial children's book. I thought it was pretty cool and put it in storage since we are between places. Pulled it out to find a corner is now damaged. Discovered undamaged copies of the first edition of this book (which it was) go for thousands of dollars. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/expensive-mistakes#post-2830568 Mon, 25 Jun 2018 20:31:23 +0000 avivoca 2830568@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I took my then three-year-old to the emergency room because I thought she had appendicitis. She had a fever, was holding her stomach, and screaming in pain. $1600 later, it turned out that she had a small stomach virus and a giant gas bubble that showed up on x-ray. I finally paid that bill off last week. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/expensive-mistakes#post-2830567 Mon, 25 Jun 2018 20:25:15 +0000 JCCovi 2830567@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I once carried duplicate car insurance policies for 2 years. I don’t know how I signed up for 2 different policies but they both billed annually and whenever I saw a charge it was like ‘ok’. Thankfully I was able to get one of them refunded for 12 months by proving I’d been double insured. Not hugely expensive because we carry the minimum required by law, but still.</p> <p>I’ve also messed up flight bookings 100 different ways (wrong day, wrong time, wrong airport, wrong month) but thankfully I was always able to make it work out. The wrong month was the worst, but it snowed and the flight I thought I was on got cancelled anyway. I drove. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/expensive-mistakes#post-2830560 Mon, 25 Jun 2018 19:06:08 +0000 erinbaderin 2830560@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I had just started a new job, and had to book a business trip. Our trip booking software was super complicated and it took me forever to figure it out, but I finally got it all booked. Then right before I was supposed to leave the course I was going for got cancelled. On the software was a button that said “cancel trip” so I clicked it, thought “finally something easy!” and didn’t think any more about it until I got an email a week later saying “since you didn’t check in for your hotel you’re being charged for the first night”. Turns out the “cancel trip” button doesn’t actually cancel your trip and I (well, my employer) had to pay for a flight, a rental car, and a hotel that didn’t get used. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/expensive-mistakes#post-2830552 Mon, 25 Jun 2018 15:24:53 +0000 Sams Mom 2830552@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>When my husband and I were first dating, I borrowed his small SUV to pick up my pushmower I had loaned to a friend because I had a small 2 door car. I loaded it up and pointed the handle back towards the hatch. Stopped at a stop sign and when I hit the gas, it rolled back and the handle went straight through the back glass. </p> <p>It wasn't super expensive in the grand scheme of things, but when you're making $7.75 an hour, everything is expensive. I called him bawling and said I would get it fixed, then I called my mom &amp; dad bawling begging them to help me take care of it. My parents ended up paying the couple hundred dollars for it (my dad is a body man and has industry discounts thankfully). The worst part was I knew better than to load it like that, but my friend's kid was annoying the crap out of me asking a million questions and I was trying to get it loaded up and out of there ASAP. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/expensive-mistakes#post-2830551 Mon, 25 Jun 2018 15:17:11 +0000 farawayyama 2830551@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>DH and I lived in different countries the use before we married - I was in Japan and he was in the USA. I booked a return non-transferable/non-refundable transpacific flight. I didn't bother with insurance since I had international health insurance through my employer and travelled carry-on only. The week of the flight I got the single worst ear infection of my life. The airline was great, rescheduling me at no cost even though they weren't obligated. The infection was so bad that I was still grounded for the new flight and I ran out of time to fly with when I needed to be back at work. I ended up cancelling, forfeiting the money and then rebooking two months later at a much higher price.</p> <p>Another time I used too much conditioner so the floor of the shower became slippery. I slipped right through the door! Looking back, I am amazed I wasn't severely cut! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/expensive-mistakes#post-2830542 Mon, 25 Jun 2018 14:34:35 +0000 kayla0416 2830542@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>This is so stupid, I hate to even admit it... We recently started potty training our 2 year old and in the process, we flushed many many baby wipes down the toilet. Huge clog and $500 to a plumber later, my husband and I feel like idiots. It's one of those things where you know you're not supposed to do it, but you do anyway thinking, "what could really happen?" Take it from me - don't flush wipes.</p> <p>ETA - we haven't admitted this to ANYONE we know in real life lol. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/expensive-mistakes#post-2830538 Mon, 25 Jun 2018 14:24:25 +0000 hellobeeboston 2830538@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@DesertDreams88: just recently we needed to have a huge tree that fell in our yard chopped up and taken away. I quoted 3 companies. I *THOUGHT I contacted the cheapest and had them do the work....... You guessed it, I contacted the most expensive, didn't realize until the work was done. DOH! It was $450 more :( </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/expensive-mistakes#post-2830505 Mon, 25 Jun 2018 12:06:37 +0000 snowjewelz 2830505@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I think the past 2 tickets I've gotten the last decade were all no turn on red ones. 1 was because I forgot I wasn't local anymore, and the other I didn't come to a full stop.</p> <p>Not a mistake, but I wish I didn't waste my parent's money going to private college! With what I do now I feel like I would've been fine going to a state school. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/expensive-mistakes#post-2830500 Mon, 25 Jun 2018 11:41:22 +0000 Truth Bombs 2830500@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@youboots: Yeah we were also dumb to sell our starter house. The thought of owning two homes stressed me out at the time, but looking back we would have made a killing by holding on to it. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/expensive-mistakes#post-2830472 Mon, 25 Jun 2018 08:50:34 +0000 youboots 2830472@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Kicking out our renters to sell our starter house to my inlaws in a low market. I would not be surprised if we have lost out on 100k equity. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/expensive-mistakes#post-2830430 Sun, 24 Jun 2018 21:58:36 +0000 jhd 2830430@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>When we first moved into our house a guy came by looking for odd jobs then gave us this sad story and DH paid him cash before the job was done with the promise that he’d be back the next day to finish up. He never came back to finish the job. Apparently he was scamming a lot of people in our area and was later arrested! </p> <p>I’m sure there are more but that’s the one that comes to mind first. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/expensive-mistakes#post-2830412 Sun, 24 Jun 2018 18:56:22 +0000 maddyz 2830412@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I have definitely booked flights for the wrong day before. One time I got to the gate a day early, the gate staff was shocked I made it that far (checked bag and all) they let me on the plane. But another time I needed to buy a new ticket. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/expensive-mistakes#post-2830408 Sun, 24 Jun 2018 14:57:50 +0000 SweetiePie 2830408@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I lost my 5-figure engagement ring. 😩 I posted here about it back when it happened. Still makes me sick to my stomach and I regularly pray that it’ll turn up! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/expensive-mistakes#post-2830404 Sun, 24 Jun 2018 13:20:35 +0000 pachamama 2830404@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>He also had a traffic infraction (let's leave it at that...) that went to collections and cost him hundreds...and hundreds on his credit score.</p> <p>Don't beat yourself up too bad. Especially about the airplane thing. Those companies are ruthlessly unforgiving! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/expensive-mistakes#post-2830403 Sun, 24 Jun 2018 13:15:05 +0000 pachamama 2830403@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My husband went to a very expensive private university because he wanted to play on their football team. Well, his dad lost his job and therefore couldn't help pay for school, he quit the football team...and he ended up majorkng in Psychology.<br /> $103,000 and 13 years later, he's still paying for that expensive mistake. (He sells food for a big purveyor, never using that Psych degree) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/expensive-mistakes#post-2830401 Sun, 24 Jun 2018 13:09:06 +0000 Becky 2830401@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Going to grad school out of state. Very expensive mistake. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/expensive-mistakes#post-2830400 Sun, 24 Jun 2018 12:38:13 +0000 Foodnerd81 2830400@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I once booked a plane ticket to the wrong destination for a business trip, but luckily I realized my mistake pretty early and the correct flight was cheaper, even with the change fee. But still. </p> <p>However, I have a friend who not only booked a flight to Cleveland instead of Cincinnati, she actually took the flight and didn't realize her mistake until she landed in the wrong city. She had to rent a car and drive. And she is actually a very smart person- she's a doctor!- just really bad at geography. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/expensive-mistakes#post-2830399 Sun, 24 Jun 2018 12:36:19 +0000 petitenoisette 2830399@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Ugh I feel you, I hate making financial mistakes especially bc I pride myself on being very financially responsible. </p> <p>Last week we were unexpectedly away for my MIL’s funeral and we overdrafted our account (we don’t keep much extra cash in checking) and I forgot to pay our water bill so there’s a fee for that. Then my DH got a ticket for his inspection sticker being expired - he has work he needs done to pass inspection and just hasn’t had an opportunity to do it yet. </p> <p>Probably the biggest mistake Ive made was giving my mom a check to pay a (less than $100) credit card bill when I was en route to studying abroad and not checking up with her. She never sent the check (which is typical for her) and by the time I came home it was in collections. That mistake nagged me for 7 years but thankfully didn’t have any real consequences in the end. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/expensive-mistakes#post-2830397 Sun, 24 Jun 2018 12:25:26 +0000 Sams Mom 2830397@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I drilled a hole in the wrong spot at work... In an industrial diamond carbide blank that costs $1,500. 🙈 </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/expensive-mistakes#post-2830392 Sun, 24 Jun 2018 11:14:05 +0000 LAZB 2830392@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I’ve done the same thing booking the wrong flight, and I’ve done it multiple times 🤦‍♀️ </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/expensive-mistakes#post-2830390 Sun, 24 Jun 2018 10:38:20 +0000 Jennibenni 2830390@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I’m sure I have others but the one that comes to mind is the one time I used Priceline for a hotel, I ended up booking a crappy days inn next to a jail for 150% of the room rate if I’d booked directly. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/expensive-mistakes#post-2830386 Sun, 24 Jun 2018 10:11:17 +0000 annem1990 2830386@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I booked a non-refundable hotel room (3 nights!) in the wrong city once. So we were out like $600 and still had to pay for the hotel in the correct city. So maddening!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/expensive-mistakes#post-2830378 Sun, 24 Jun 2018 08:58:55 +0000 Mrs. Tiger 2830378@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I cracked the glass on a microscope stage at work on Thursday! Also the microscope was bought in 1996 so I don't have a clue how I'm going to get it replaced, vendor wasn't responsive when I asked.. it was such a dumb mistake, I put something too hot to handle (sample just came out of a 200C oven) right on the room temp glass :( </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/expensive-mistakes#post-2830374 Sun, 24 Jun 2018 08:11:53 +0000 misolee 2830374@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Right after I had my second and I was in the newborn haze, I managed to buckle all my kids in the car and then backed straight out of my garage as the garage door was going up. My husband had changed out the lightbulb of the garage door and it seemed brighter making me think that the door was fully open. Thankfully the car had very minimal damage (can’t really see anything) bc it was a brand new minivan. But the garage door had come off it’s hinges and bent outward. We had to replace the whole door. It was also a brand new house that we moved into about a year prior. </p> <p>My husband said it was my birthday, anniversary, push present for the whole year 😬 </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/expensive-mistakes#post-2830370 Sun, 24 Jun 2018 07:12:17 +0000 muffinsmuffins 2830370@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Mine are similar to yours! I booked a train home from a conference at 6 am instead of 6 pm so that was $150+. Also a week ago I got caught with my bumper halfway into another lane at a red light that I thought I had enough room to get into the lane fully, a psycho guy hit our car possibly on purpose (he was screaming at us to move and then hit) and we are going through insurance...thankfully just the deductible but it’s $500 and I really wish I wouldn’t have turned and just stayed where I was! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/expensive-mistakes#post-2830369 Sun, 24 Jun 2018 07:04:57 +0000 nana87 2830369@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>A couple years ago, I claimed on our taxes that I’d put money into my IRA account but I had actually forgotten to do so... that was a big mistake! :shocked: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/expensive-mistakes#post-2830361 Sun, 24 Jun 2018 00:47:55 +0000 808love 2830361@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Ok picture a rude teenager, crunched up in the front seat of a car with feet up on dashboard, toes on windshield while texting etc. Then, when moving to return to sitting upright position, this teenager exerts their weight on the windshield to try to scoot upright. The windshield cracks with the weight of the pressure...big time. Now, imagine it is not a teen that did this, but an adult woman. Yep. So embarrassing. #justsoyoudontfeelbadanymore #youarenotalone </p>