Of My 1000+ Purchases so Far In Life, I only Regret These 2

10 valuable lessons learned from burning my wallet

73% of US shoppers regret up to 15 items they’ve purchased.

Lapping up clearance sales and rocking $10 Decathlon tees, I thought I was immune to buyer regret.

But even my minimalist self fell prey to ostentation.

I went the extravagant mile for 2 (massive) purchases — post the initial high, they left me with squirmish regret and second thoughts.

Burning a hole in my pocket also taught me 10 crucial money lessons.

I want to share the same with you — hope you learn from my mistakes and make wiser buying decisions.

My Black High-Maintenence Beauty

Tired of the same old XUV500 used car listings everywhere, I almost gave up my hunt.

The moment I shot for one last try, someone posted a black Tucson ad.

Love at first sight.

The next morning, I traveled 30+ km to see it — as I test-drove the gorgeous beast, I couldn’t hide my delight.

After a quick engine & document check, we negotiated the price and shook hands.

Cleaning out my liquid fund, taking an advance salary loan, and borrowing from a friend, I cobbled up the cash.

Adding in oil & coolant changes, repainting, polishing, and ceramic coating — the total price came out to 15 lakh INR or around $20,000.

It took me 6 pay cuts to repay the salary advance loan.

The cozy plush leather interiors. The female attention and male envy as I raced it around. The orgasmic night cruises blasting Skeler.

As all that faded, it's now a pair of golden handcuffs.

Terrible mileage. Hefty insurance. Frequent shampoo washes. Parking rent. Costly accessories. Plus, a low resale value — thanks to how rare Tucsons are in India.

Your 5 Valuable Takeaways From This:

• Before making a huge purchase, think if it’s necessary — or driven by FOMO or the urge to impress the Joneses. My trusty old Eon gets the job done.
• Think of the maintenance cost in terms of time, money, and effort — my Tucson burns $1500+ yearly for petrol+servicing+insurance.
• Never take a loan to purchase a liability — or a depreciating asset.
• If you can’t buy it twice, you can’t buy it once — even if I broke all my investments, I couldn’t have bought the Tucson twice.
• Be aware of the depreciation — how valuable would your purchase be if you wish to sell it years later?

Turning My Forearm Into Permanent Art Work

Back when I was deep in the rabbit hole of “looksmaxing,” I got my first tattoo.

The $150 Ouroboros signified infinity and the cyclical nature of life.

It gave me such a high that all I could dream, hallucinate, and google about was tattoos.

Less than a year in, I took the plunge of getting the other side of the same forearm inked — with a massive Poseidon tattoo.

Taking 6+ hours, this beautiful piece robbed me of $600.

While people gushed over the Poseidon tattoo, they also remarked on the space between the two tattoos.

As this got to my head, I shelled another $600 to stitch them into a full forearm sleeve.

To my surprise, my tattoo addiction soon died — and the eyeballs my forearm attracted felt annoying.

Daily sunscreen. Covering it up for interviews. Judgemental glances. Unfit for the police, army, and most government jobs. Being stereotyped wrong.

I’ve paid a hefty price for this magnificent work of art.

Your 5 Valuable Takeaways From This:

• Be it a tattoo, steroids, or plastic surgery, be ultra-careful when going for something that permanently changes your body and/or life.
• What’s the non-financial cost? Be it opportunity restrictions, mental health, societal judgment, etc.
• Moods don’t last; meaning does — don’t base permanent decisions upon a temporary whim, mood, or fancy.
• Think, rethink, and triple-think the decision — also account for the cost (mental and financial) to reverse it.
• Be wary of purchases with recurring costs — be it a sprawling mansion that chugs $100k per month or subtle auto-pay subscriptions on your credit card.

Final Words

There’s no point regretting your past purchases.

Because you can’t reverse father time’s hands. Instead, learn from such purchases — and don’t repeat them.

I realized I despise high-maintenance luxury — and am a core minimalist who values function over vanity.

But most people never learn — blowing up their paychecks and stacking sky-high credit card debt.

Don’t be most people.

Take control of your buying decisions — or your purchases will control your life.

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