‘What’s the most expensive bargain you’ve ever had?’ – 16 false economies
A Reddit user named u/CliffyGiro took to the r/AskUK forum with this question –
What’s the most expensive bargain you’ve ever had?
They added –
“Last year during a family holiday. The waiter offered to make a child’s portion of steak and chips for my son. When it arrived it was the kind of portion size I’d have expected to pay £15 or more for.
Anyway the waiter only took €3.00 for it.
Since then he asks for steak and chips all the time.
That €3.00 has really cost me big.”
A lot of people made the same comment (Guess which one), but we’ve picked our favourites from the hundreds available.
1.
GrodyWetButt
Via Pixabay
2.
I got a fantastic smoker for 50% off, grabbed it for £800.
Now all my bbq events set me back £400 in meat …
LondonCollector
3.
I got a cheap shitty £15 sewing machine when I was a teenager, I dread to think how much sewing has cost me in the 20 years since then. Worth it though. All my clothes have pockets.
I_AM_THE_LIZARD_QUEEN
4.
We spent about £25k buying a van and converting it into a campervan in 2020/2021. It was a brilliant lockdown project, and we love it. But to date we’ve stayed about 110 nights in it which makes it currently more expensive per night than staying in very nice hotels…
PuzzleheadedLow4687
5.
I got some chickens, which means loads of delicious free eggs… But I spent £1,000 on the coop and run!
pumpkin–dumplin
6.
Started brewing beer to save money. Most of it gets nabbed by friends, and there’s always more kit to buy.
canibalbarca
7.
Upstairs-hedgehog575
Via Pixabay
8.
Decided to save money by making coffee at home, now I’m knee deep in the hobby with hundreds worth of gear and rare coffees that are getting increasingly expensive… Also, worryingly, the £3.5k coffee grinder no longer sounds as ludicrous as it once did.
ICantFindFree
9.
I bought a horse who was, unbeknown to me, in foal. My surprise free foal arrived several months later and ended up costing me £7000 in vets fee’s in the first 3 months of her life.
Smith_s2
10.
Not me but my OHBuying a relatively cheap bike to cycle to and from work. Saves money on transport and also means he cancels his gym membership. Yays.
18 months later: 2 more bikes, countless services and part replacements, clothing and accessories, bike computer, strava summit subscription, god knows how much spent on gels and snacks it’s suddenly not a cheap hobby.
Horseybot3000
11.
I once got a ‘free’ loaf of sourdough. Got lost turning a 20 min drive into an hour long sightseeing trip of unfamiliar neighbourhoods. Did the same for the return journey (but nicer neighbourhoods). Bread was good though.
Total-Inflation-7898
12.
Free holiday to visit family in America. First day there a brown recluse spider welcomed me with a bite. Astronomical medical bills.
Parade2thegrave
13.
My husband decided buying a £3 slice of cake once a week from the local tea room was a rip off and instead he would just bake us an entire cake every weekend. Five weeks/cakes later, he’s only had one turn out. On the upside, he’s only spent about £30 in ingredients and ruined three evenings because his personal happiness is now tied to his cake success.
Motosam15
14.
For me it’s been the cat. She’s a little shit that keeps getting in fights, making me miss work AND pay the vet.
MapOfIllHealth
15.
Efficient-Loquat399
Via Unsplash
16.
Everything I drive MILES to pick up off Facebook bloody marketplace!
vedekatria
Realkevinnash59 had this tale of a generous gift that wasn’t the bargain it seemed.
“I was asked if I wanted to attend a festival and said “no it’s too expensive” so my friend generously bought me a 5 day ticket to attend.
I then had to buy camping equipment, organize transport there and back, as well as buying appropriate clothes/shoes/extras.
I brought what I thought was enough booze/food until I found out you could only drink those in camp, not at the actual festival itself, drinks at the festival were £6 for 500ml of 4% beer or cider, and any wine/spirits etc were mental and food was at least a tenner if you wanted to not still be hungry after eating.
As well as a few illegal extras I brought, and ciggies to smoke them with, the “gift” cost me close to £700 – and it rained the whole time (download 2016)
Oh, and the most common expensive ‘bargain’ was having children.
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The award for the most impractical super-bargain goes to this 44lb chunk of cheese