I have regrets as well. How's that saying go? Life is hard, but it's really hard when you're stupid? Yea, I think that's me. I'm stupid. I make mistakes everyday. I just try adapt and move on. I think that's all we can really ask from ourselves.

I also think forgiveness and humility are important as well.

My only advice is to try not to dwell on it. You can only control you.


I hope that makes sense.

 

Well the older we get, the more we’ve lived and with living come some regrets. But in the end you’re best living in the now and preparing for the future. Only remember the good things and the lessons you’ve learned from the bad things.

When it comes to money, you just have to focus on preparing for the future as best you can, living within your own budget. Don’t worry about the past and just focus on savings or paying debt while covering your living expenses now (and at least a few months ahead is if you can). If budget allows for future toy purchases, then you can freely buy those things that you want without regret because you’ve already allowed for them in your budget.

As far as money spent, well you can either sell some things to recoup some funds but you’ll never get back all your money spent (unless you luck out and have that rare piece that commands a premium, maybe a bit more). So sort out what you want to keep, what you feel you might as well keep (they bring you joy and aren’t really worth much or don’t take up needed space, etc.) and things you can or want to sell. If in the end there’s nothing to sell and you’re at peace with where you’re at, you can move on and keep focus on how to best live your live now and in the future.

 

Thanks, I definitely budget more now, then I did as a kid living in my parents house without bills.
And you also hit another thing, that the things I bought that I don't actually want anymore don't have much value.

Like buying season box sets of dvds, that you can now get the complete series for 1/5 the price of the dvds.   

 

I think financial regret is probably the most common once you reach a certain point in your adult life. As you said... when we're younger financial responsibility really isn't a big deal when you're living at home and some parents (speaking generally, I can't comment on your parents personally) don't care to try to teach that to their children. Seeing as you recognize that and have created a proper "adult" budget I think you're on the right road.

As for the regret of items purchased... I think this is pretty common too. There's probably always going to be something you look at and go "damn, why did I buy this?" or "damn, that's now soooo much cheaper than when I originally bought it." There's really no fix for that unless you refrain from making personal purchases, but if it brought you joy at one point there's nothing you should regret. Just because you don't want it now doesn't mean you didn't want it and didn't enjoy having it at one point. I can relate to this as I bought the LotR extended edition trilogy boxset on blu-ray when Best Buy had a sale for it at around $80 at tax time about five or six years ago (I think)... literally a month later the Wal-Mart I was a manager at got in a huge LotR display (I think because The Hobbit movie was out or something) and were selling the same boxset for, get this bullshit, $35.     I regreted my Best Buy purchase for a bit, but I still very much enjoyed the boxset so I came to the realization that considering the retail price for that set at the time was something like $120 there was no way I could have ever known or planned for Wal-Mart to sell it so damned cheap. So, really as long as you got some enjoyment from the stuff you bought I don't think you should regret it.

Now, if you're a shopaholic and actively bought things you didn't want or need just because you needed to buy something... well that's some tough shit to break and I say that as a guy who actually had that problem. Lots of money down the drain just because I needed that "psychological fix" of making a new purchase. The first step is recognizing the problem and the second step is setting up limitations for yourself. Monthly spending caps and a few grounds rules for my collection (like no character doubles, no troop builders, etc.) have helped me curve that.

 

I love shopping, but not spending  . I know what you mean about the LotR. It's how I feel EVERY TIME I feel the need to preorder a TF from BBTS or wherever, just to find it $50 less at ollies/marshalls a few months later  .

 

I've been doing that A LOT with transformers. I buy one and then a week later regret it. I've bought and returned SO many figures the past year.

 

I had to cut down what I bought. It started by narrowing down to Roddys, then to only red Roddys, then only designs that are based on g1 Hot Rod/Rodimus. I occasionally pick up other characters, very rarely.

 

I know how you feel, but at the end of the day nobody's perfect.

My inbox is open if you need a friend.

 

Everyone has regrets. What matters is being able to overcome that regret, and making sure that you don't repeat the occasions that caused you that regret - both of them sound difficult, but if you're smart enough, brave enough and maybe lucky enough you should be okay.

For myself, I wish I'd been a better student (so that I had better opportunities) and I wish I'd been a better son to my late mother. I wish I could change those very much; on a few dark days I wish I was dead and/or was never born at all.

But I am not alone. I have people who will help me as much as they can. That reduces the pain in my soul, even if it can't remove it.

Suffering and regret will always be part of life. Sometimes I can understand why people commit suicide. But we do our best as long as we can. That's all I can say.

 

Ohh yes, enough to probably crack the psyche of the sane.

 

All the time...I’m full of regrets. I make bad decisions and do stupid shit all the time and struggle with who I am constantly.

Usually it’s fine to suffer in silence, but once it starts spilling over to effect others is when it really bothers me...and then sometimes it really is too late.

 

I always dwell on past mistakes. I made some really bad choices when I was in my teens and twenties and really torpedoed any chance I might have had at a rewarding career. Now I'm in my mid-40s and I don't have the time to try to fix things. I have bills to pay, and all of my time is taken up working to pay them.

I cope by trying to make my wife's life better. Every time I can do something nice for her, I feel like I've made up for a tiny portion of my mistakes. If I hadn't screwed up my life back then, I might have never met her, and who would be taking care of her now?

It's not easy, I fight against getting depressed all the time. Staying busy with work helps, as does taking responsibility for my own actions and not blaming other people for my mistakes. But I understand what you're talking about.

 

I have many MAJOR life regrets to go with the plethora of little ones. The people that know how grim my situation was are amazed that I still had/have a smile on my face. [Insert cartoon of dog drinking coffee assuring himself that everything is fine as the world around him is in flames.] I guess I have a positive disposition.

Edit: I've been thinking about my collecting too recently. I enjoy it but it is getting expensive and the newer official MPs haven't been up to par. Ironically I'm also thinking about getting my first "real" camera. A major investment in this hobby that I enjoy. It could be another financial regret...

 

The thing is that money, you can get it gain, time, you can not.

 

Yeah, gee, I wonder where a good number of those went...what a mystery  

 

Autobot_Burnout has been helping me narrow down my collection over the years. I sold I half my collection to MoreLandPrime about 6 - 7 years ago  . Seriously, thank goodness for this forum, I'm way too nervous to sell big money items on ebay.

 

That's not entirely true.. by all natural law I should have been dead two decades ago from kidney disease and it's associated symptoms. But the wondrous medical technology of man and several thousand dollars has changed that.

 

As someone who also enjoys photography, I can only suggest to find one used on facebook marketplace. There are many people who buy fancy ones to get into photography only to find out they can't handle the camera or never have time for it. You might luck out finding a relatively new one for a decent price.

 

That's a great idea! I'll give it a go.