Time to Fess Up Your Spending Sins

How many times have you found yourself inside a store, not knowing exactly why you went there, and before you knew it, you were headed home with a bag full of purchases (“But it was on sale!”) and a much lighter wallet? For many of us, those impulse buys lead to guilt and regret a short time later.

Now there’s a new way to relieve your guilt. A website, www.spendster.org, was created by the National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE) for visitors to see others’ shopping faux pas and share their own on video.

For the generation that was brought up on YouTube and other social media sites that celebrate videotaped confessions of outrageous behavior, Spendster’s the perfect forum for shopping mea culpas. Nearly everyone has something stuffed in the back of a closet, the attic or the basement that they “just had to have,” for reasons now forgotten.

A sampling of current videos on the site features a woman fighting a 10-year Diet Coke addiction and a woman whose spouse collects $1,000 bicycles. (He’s got 8 in the garage). Another shopper bemoans her attraction to “tacky stuff” like a faux leopard hat with tassel ($10) and a pink stuffed animal from Wal-Mart ($15).

One man questions why he spends $150 a year on newspapers he doesn’t read. A woman wonders how much money she’d have now if she’d invested it instead of buying the Super Deluxe Steamer. Other stupid purchases included a fancy coffee-maker, an electric can opener, an electric putting system, DVDs (still sitting on the shelf unopened) and a set of golf clubs owned by someone who doesn’t play golf.

NEFE’s not trying to make you feel bad. Trust me, we’ve all been there. They’re just trying to help make you more aware of how much years of bad purchasing choices can cost you.

Thinking back on my own stupid choices, I must admit to a variety of clothing and shoes that haven’t really gotten much mileage. But I’m working on that. So you may just spot me raking leaves this weekend in my Tartan red plaid leotards, my “rain cape” and the pointy cowboy boots.

What about you? What’s your all-time worst, most money-wasting purchase?

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