I would have to say that this is one of my biggest regrets,and the cause of most of my stress. I think that hiding it from my family makes it even worse. In college you just don't have much money,and I am learning that credit cards does not = cash!

maybe some. more like "did I really need to buy this thing?" we are not well to do so it is not like I went on big spending sprees. I suppose there are times I regret buying certain items. here comes the garage sale, at least I will get a little bit back.

This is one of my biggest regrets, shopping is my biggest extravagance. I'm one of those people that spends, spends, spends and want to enjoy, enjoy, enjoy but don't think about how its going to hurt my balance later. I'm trying a lot harder to spend less and invest more in my savings as you never know when that rainy day will come.

Never had all that much to spend in the first place. But if I did, I know I would have frittered a lot of it away.

I have this under control now,but it can ruin you if you are not careful.If I had been smarter in my 20's,I would be doing real well now.

Once in a while I tend to spend too much money on things, but it isn't very often. My wife tends to be the spender in the family, but even at that, it's usually (note, I say usually) for something we need. I probably do overbuy in terms of quality to some extent when it comes to things like cars or furniture, but then again, it's usually better to pay up front for something good rather than save a couple of bucks and pay for it through the nose later. As far as being wise with my finances, my two basic rules of thumb are, A. Never pay interest on anything if you can avoid it, and B., don't buy it in the first place if you can't afford it (i.e., pay cash outright, or put it on a credit card but pay the card off in its entirety when it's due). Believe me, except for the mortgage on a house (at least in my case), you can do it and you can save money to boot. Lest anyone think that I'm a rich guy, I'm not. I made a really decent salary when I was in the government, but now am living off of my retirement income (which does not include stock dividends - the dividends for a year on amount of stock I own wouldn't pay for even one month's mortgage on my house). Anyway, prudence in spending doesn't mean that you have to deny yourself much of anything. I might suggest making two lists - the I needa list and the I wanna list. Concentrate on getting the things you need before getting the things you just want. I'm still working on my wife on that...

Guilty as charged! At least when I was younger. Some things take a little longer to learn. For some people anyway.

To be American is to live in debt, unless you are the one percent of us that are independently wealthy....truely rich. I have 20 years of working left and I dont have a single stock or piece of property to my name. It is scary...very scary. I usually choose not to think about it and hope that true disposable income is there after your children are gone.

It depends whether if it was necessary or not. My uncle spent a hec of a lot of money because he wanted to become a pilot and he had to pay to get flying lessons. It was a very big gamble and he had to borrow money. But in the end, it payed off big time and he gets a healthy income. Plus it isn't regretful if you've spent a lot of money on something necessary like an operation or medical fees or paying for your education. But it is a big five star regret if you have spent that money on drugs, cigarettes, alcohol ie stuff that will eventually kill you if you are not careful. It is a really big shame if you have spent it on gambling. You are in all this debt for doing something stupid. This makes you look foolish and it is doubly worse when people won't have a lot of sympathy for you because you gambled it away or spent it on smokes or drugs. It is a five star regret when you buy things you don't need just because it was on sale or it looks good. What's the point in buying something that looks good if it has no practical value? Ways to save money include - going on a budget and planning what you will spend your money on, avoid using credit cards if necessary, if you don't need it, don't buy it, avoid buying lunch or takeaways because that slowly eats away at your money plus it is expensive, you don't have to buy the most expensive clothing to look good, avoid getting into debt, be willing to catch public transport to save money for fuel, be economical and wise with your power and water usage, instead of going to the movie cinemas and buying food there, rent a video at home which is a lot cheaper. The list goes on.

No because when I spend too much on something, I really don't think about it. Besides, I'm financially secure anyway.

Well, college did drain much of my money away, but it was necessary. Just gotta keep that in mind when I pay the bills . . . .

I can honestly say that this is a big disappointment or regret of mine. Sometimes it takes our entire life to figure out that living within your means is not a bad thing. Impulse buying and buying stuff that later ends up in your next garage sale is not wise. If I could give anyone advise about their finances I would say avoid credit card debt (credit cards make spending money that you do not have way too easy). Living week to week, in bondage to money is not a fun way to live. Paying 21% interest on a credit card on items that broke years ago is a lose/lose senario. Do whatever you can to get out of debt and enjoy people, not STUFF!