Stupid mistakes that cost you money

[midjd]

This evening I accidentally knocked the end of my computer charger (the end that plugs into the computer) into a dish of salsa without paying attention. The other end was plugged into the wall. After a few minutes I noticed that the salsa was bubbling. The charger was sparking... it was actually pretty cool. But it is toast now.

In case anyone was wondering how much it costs to replace a 6yo Macbook charger - 79 freaking bucks! (I did find it for $50ish on Buy.com).

DH thinks it's hilarious, but it just KILLS me to spend that much money on something that was completely preventable. I hate breaking things.

What are some stupid things you've done that have cost you money? Share your stories and make me feel better.

[whoisjohngalt]

Do you REALLY want to know??? OK.....I vacuumed a wet oatmeal with our fairly new, pretty expensive vacuum cleaner. My DH was traveling for a few days, by the time he got home and looked at it - there was mold growing inside. I am not going to tell you how much the replacement part was.....

[swamp]

I jumped into the river with my cell phone in my pocket.
I clipped the fence with my side mirror while backing out of the babysitters driveway.

[resolution]

I think my most idiotic was procrastinating on dental work long enough to turn a crown into a root canal - not sure how much that cost.
Another winner was mindlessly trusting a green turn arrow and not being alert for oncoming traffic - $500 insurance deductable and higher premiums for three years.
DH blew up our cast iron furnace by turning it on with no water in the boiler. That one was $5000

Hope this makes you feel better.

[susanb]

Last year I had a dripping faucet under my sink that I ignored for too long. What would have been a $50 repair turned into a $250 repair because we had to replace the wood.

Also, I didn't get my break pads changed in a timely fashion, so I had to replace the rotars as well as the breaks. It cost a lot, but I don't remember how much.

At least your mistake was less foreseeable.

[midjd]

You guys are awesome!

DH's recent moment was wearing ill-fitting boots and ending up with a neuroma that required surgery to correct. About $2k and counting. Maybe that's why he's getting such glee from this...

[quince]

I bought 3 of the same model of phone in one year because I lost one and broke the other by dropping it repeatedly.

I've put ballpoint pens through the washer and drier twice. Not great for the clothes.

I washed my husband's phone. Happily, the clothes where fine.

[Deleted]

One day I went out bicycling with my cell phone and iPod in a small pouch that I didn't close very well. I was walking the bike across the street and they both fell out. Traffic was heading towards me and my instinct was to get my body and my bike out of the road. I watched helplessly as- yes, both the iPod and the cell phone got run over in turn. About $500 there.

DH has a pair of hearing aids that cost us $5K 8 years ago. Twice this year he's misplaced them, most recently a week ago. At least with the new job I found that they were 80% covered by insurance so felt a little better. He found them the day he returned from the audiologists, but before he'd committed to buying a new pair. Phew. ;D

[suesinfl]

Too many to count, so I can't remember specific details.

[resolution]

My frequent flyer stupid tax is forgetting to get my parking ticket validated for free when I attend a meeting downtown. The dollar amount is low but it is more painful every time I do it.

[Tennesseer]

Old, cracked, rubber-back bathroom rugs. I use them in the garage for animal bedding. I threw the old rugs into the washing machine and all the loose rubber pieces gummed up the motor somehow. New motor needed.

Several months later, I had to wash them again. But I washed them outside with a hose. They weren't drying fast enough (late afternoon) so I put them in the dryer. The loose rubber pieces gummed up the dryer. Had to have someone come in to clean all the rubber pieces out.

Bought new rugs, and now wash (cold water) early enough in the day to air dry.

[Deleted]

I broke the windshield on my car once by transporting a metal deck chair from my former home that my ex said I could have. Evidently, I made a pressure point.

That $150 chair cost me $100 deductible. Since it was used, I don't think I broke even.

[Tiny]

I had alot of clutter on my kitchen table - I was selling vintage/antique glassware on eBay. I had some of it in boxes some loose on the table. The stuff in boxes wasn't wrapped in any way - just kinda layered into the box(es) so I could move the stuff/keep it together. I live alone and work full time. The glassware was safe like this for many many many weeks. And then a friend was over and we were looking for a place to sit and eat some take out food (the dinning room was also buried in eBay/garage sale stuff)... so before I could say anything she pulled a box off the kitchen table - to put it on the floor so we could sit at the table but the box was heavier than she expected -- and she took out 4 wine glasses on the table (smashed to the floor) and also took out all the glassware in the box when she dropped the box in response to the glasses falling. I estimated in my head about $300 worth of antique glassware gone forever. I don't blame my friend... she was attempting to help... stacking up the glassware in a box without protection and the lined up scores of glasses on the table was NOT a good idea. Although my 3 cats managed to not disturb any of the glass - even though they'd walk across the table and glassware to get to a window ledge...

How's that for an expensive bit of stupidity?

[Tiny]

Not really something that broke - but just an expensive adventure... The Forest Preserve District sold off old Picnic tables for $15 each. I bought 4 but then had to rent a trailer to get them, coordinate with my nephew to use his Expedition to pull the trailer and to help little ole me get the picnic tables loaded and then to 'deliver' the picnic tables to family members in the wee hours of the morning as a 'surprise'. The trailer rental was kinda expensive - and we almost lost a table on a bumpy patch of expressway (in the morning fog no less). But it was worth it. I love my branded CFPD picnic table even if it is basically toxic waste. I'm kinda glad that didn't turn out bad... just more expensive than I thought.

[Peace Of Mind]

This evening I accidentally knocked the end of my computer charger (the end that plugs into the computer) into a dish of salsa without paying attention. The other end was plugged into the wall. After a few minutes I noticed that the salsa was bubbling. The charger was sparking...

OMG LMAO!!!! Best. Post. Ever!! Now I want to try that. ;D

I can't think of anything but I'm sure there are a few - but not near as hilarious as yours.

[Cheesy FL-Vol]

Dec 6, 2012 0:55:28 GMT -5 Peace Of Mind said:

This evening I accidentally knocked the end of my computer charger (the end that plugs into the computer) into a dish of salsa without paying attention. The other end was plugged into the wall. After a few minutes I noticed that the salsa was bubbling. The charger was sparking...

OMG LMAO!!!! Best. Post. Ever!! Now I want to try that. ;D

I can't think of anything but I'm sure there are a few - but not near as hilarious as yours.

Only a few?

[wvugurl26]

Scraped the car up on a column in the entrance to a Philly hotel. That one was really stupid because I wouldn't have been back around to the entrance except the valet wrongly told me you had to physically check out.

Buying more tickets than necessary for the Orange Bowl.

[jeffreymo]

I always procrastinate when booking travel. Our honeymoon package probably cost an additional $4-500 because I put it off for so long.

I'm taking 2 day trip next weekend. If I would have booked the hotel Monday it would've cost me $196, but I didn't and the price rose to $318 on Tuesday.

[sheilaincali]

Welcome to my world:

DH for some reason had the glass globe of a new light fixture on the island counter. He was standing on the counter installing a different light fixture and dropped his screw driver and it landed on and smashed the other fixtures globe.

DS has spilled water on his laptop - twice in the past year requiring a new keyboard each time.

DH threw my ipod touch in his lunchbox with an open can of soda- spilled the soda and ruined the ipod touch.

DH ignored my warnings that he had an oil leak in an old pick up he had. Seized the engine and we ended up selling it for scrap (was a pretty old truck)

Took DH to his first auction many years ago. He was bidding on stain glass windows- 4 choices, he could buy all at 4 times the money or one at his bid price. He misunderstood and when the auctioneer asked how many he wanted he was like "All of them duh" thinking it was all four for his $50 bid. It was 4 x $50 so $200.

[alabamagal]

I have 3 teen drivers in my house. I always expect a few fender benders from them. But one day I was backing my truck out the driveway (we can have up to 5 cars in our parking area) and backed into my DS new to him car. Damaged the fender and front tire (which was worn out anyway). Took it to body shop and it was $800 to replace the front panel, and ~$100 for new front tires (which were about to be replaced anyway).

I did not report it as an accident since we have $1000 deductible, and I know if you do damage to someone else's car my insurance would pay, but not sure if that counts if you hit one of your own vehicles. Anyway did not want to report it and have my already high car insurance (with 3 teen drivers) go up any more.

The worst part was telling my DS that I hit his new-to-him car.

[thyme4change]

But it is toast now.

Sounds more like hot sauce to me.

[ontrack]

I hit the mirror of a rental car pulling out of a parking garage. We had to reattach it with duct tape to make it home to where we had picked up the car. Of course I hadn't bought the additional insurance because it's usually a waste of money. Luckily at the time my insurance deductible was only $250.

[thyme4change]

I have too many to count - but one I remember vividly was my roommate in college got this awesome copper bottom fry pan for Christmas. I took it out and put it on the stove, but turned on the wrong burner, so her new pan was empty and on the heat, while I thought I was cooking bacon in a different pan. It was beyond repair, and I had to buy her a new one. It was $75 - which was a shit-ton of money to a broke college student in 1990. She was pissed. In fact, after that semester, she moved out and I had to get a new roommate. I doubt it was because of the pan - but that certainly didn't make her love me.

[sheilaincali]

My dad's former business partner at one of the companies was a complete moron. We basically forced him into retirement earlier this year and bought him out.

He bought a new truck and drove it to a jobsite. Decided he just had to use the bobcat and promptly backed the bobcat into his brand new pick up.
He decided to demo a building we were tearing down himself rather than hire a company to do it. Quote from the company to do it was like $5,000. We figure he spent close to $25,000 on the stuff he damaged while tearing down the building.
Same guy decided that the large chunk of concrete he wanted to relocate wasn't too heavy for the loader (it was). He dropped said chuck on concrete half on the cab of the loader and half on the front end of the truck. Damaged them both significantly.

He would frequently lose the keys to equipment so he decided to just leave them in. Teenage hoodlums broke in and used the forklift (that he had borrowed from a friend and left the key in) to drive through the doors to the outside and then use the forklift to smash into two trucks, completely ripping the engine block off of one of them. Damaged the forklift so bad they tore the forks off of it (and those puppies and welded on there pretty damn securely).
They also jumped in the pick up that he left the keys in and use it to go bowling in the warehouse. They lined up about $10,000 worth of 55 gallon drums of cure and drove into it with the pick up in an attempt to knock them over.

Yeah- I could go on but you get the picture. The guy just got dumber with each passing year and we are all (even his son in law that still works for us) happy and relieved to see him retired.

[Regis]

A few weeks ago we were having new granite countertops installed and the old countertops had already been taken off. My wife and I had a load of dishes in the dishwasher that we wanted to get clean. Turned it on. Garbage disposal had already been disconnected (unknown to us) so when the water started to pump out, it blew out the top of the garbage disposal, soaked the cabinet under the sink and ran down the wall into the basement.

Had to replace some ceiling tiles in the basement. Hoping we don't notice mold on the drywall. We haven't seen it yet.

[CarolinaKat]

I dropped my less than one week old cellphone in the pacific ocean

[Deleted]

I put my Iphone in icecream blizzard from McDonalds. I was in my car, picked up my phone, looked at it, then put it down in the cup holder I usually put it in. I had the oreo blizzard I had just gotten from McDonalds a few minutes ago in that same cup holder Luckily the phone still worked but I was cleaning dried up ice cream off the phone for a while.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

Technically it's not my money, it's my PIs. I was taking apart one of the pumps for the HPLC machine in order to figure out what was wrong with it and troubleshoot. As I was putting it back together the tubing snapped off inside the outlet check valve, getting out I damaged the check valve.

$250 to replace a teeny tiny little piece of metal and plastic.

[wvugurl26]

Dec 6, 2012 9:51:35 GMT -5 CarolinaKat said:

I dropped my less than one week old cellphone in the pacific ocean

I forgot about tossing my three month old cell phone into my then boyfriend's jack and coke. He asked for my cell phone and I tossed it across the room to him. At that moment he turned his head to talk to his mom who was chewing him out for not saying please when he asked for my phone. It landed right in his drink.

I didn't have insurance and with US Cellular you needed a phone programmed for their network. Of course I hadn't got insurance on the new phone. I waltzed into the store expecting to pay big bucks. Whoever did my new contract three months before didn't do it correctly and they said I was eligible for a new phone. I said thats great and picked out a new phone with insurance this time!

I guess it only cost me $100 or so for the new phone but it could have been much more expensive.

[midjd]

Apparently I've angered the computer gods...

This morning I got an email from our party-planning committee. It included a link to one of those "Elf Yourself" videos. I didn't realize that my volume was up and the music scared the crap out of me. I jerked my arm and knocked my laptop off the docking port.

Couldn't get it reconnected, so called the IT people and found out I'd snapped off a teeny plastic thing that holds the computer to the docking station. They are ordering a new piece.

At least I don't have to pay for this one, I guess! Still annoying. I hate not having dual monitors! :*(