c/adulting-fail-stories

Hot take: The "ignore your credit score" advice I got in 2019 was dead wrong

My buddy Dave told me to stop checking my credit score because it would "lower it every time you peek." I believed him for 6 months and skipped two card payments because I thought the stress wasn't worth it. When I finally looked in March 2020, my score had dropped 84 points and I got denied for a $1,800 car repair loan. He meant well but that advice messed up my whole budgeting for the next year. Has anyone else gotten financial tips from friends that backfired this bad, or am I the only one who fell for it?

My accountant's blunt question about my "treat yourself" habit

Last Tuesday during tax prep, my accountant looked over my coffee shop receipts and asked, "Do you know what $4,700 a year could be doing instead?" that hit me way harder than any lecture from my mom ever did. I sat there adding up all those $6 lattes and $12 lunches and realized I'd been using small purchases to cope with a job I hate. Has anyone else had a professional casually point out a spending pattern that made you rethink your whole setup?

Comparing meal prep Sunday vs nightly cooking, one clearly wins

So I finally tested meal prepping every Sunday against cooking fresh each night, and the difference blew my mind. I spent about $85 in Portland for a week of prepped meals versus $130 cooking nightly, plus I saved roughly 7 hours total. The prepped stuff tasted fine but honestly I missed the ritual of cooking after work, it relaxed me. Has anyone else found that the cheaper or faster option just isn't worth losing that daily routine?

Warning: my buddy's 401k comment made me check my own retirement account

Got coffee with my old roommate Dave last week, and he casually mentioned he's been putting 12% of every paycheck into his 401k since he was 22. I laughed it off, then went home and looked at mine. Turns out I've contributed a grand total of $340 over 6 years, and my employer match was sitting there untouched the whole time because I never signed up for the full amount. He showed me his app balance on his phone, and it was over $48k while I had basically nothing. I felt like a complete idiot, and now I'm trying to figure out how to catch up without eating ramen every night. Has anyone else had that gut punch moment where a friend casually revealed their adulting game and you realized you were sleeping on something super basic?

Overheard a guy at the coffee shop say he’d been paying $40 a month for a storage unit holding his ex’s stuff for 3 years

He said he finally checked it and it was just a box of old magazines and a broken lamp. Has anyone else held onto something way too long out of guilt or laziness?

Spent 3 hours looking for my car keys that were in my hand the whole time

I was running late for a dentist appointment in Portland last Tuesday and spent a solid 3 hours tearing my apartment apart for my car keys. I checked every pocket, the laundry basket, under the couch cushions, even the fridge because why not at that point. Turns out they were literally in my hand the whole time while I was searching. I was holding them while I opened drawers and moved pillows and just could not register that feeling. The worst part is I do this kind of thing like once a month and it never gets less embarrassing. Has anyone else ever lost something that was physically touching them?

I forgot to pay my internet bill for 4 months straight

Just discovered I had autopay set to a closed debit card and Comcast never even sent me a warning. Got hit with a $320 reconnect fee yesterday because I missed 4 months of bills completely.

Vent: Overheard my neighbor telling her kid I'm "the weird one" on the block

I was bringing in my trash cans last Tuesday, and I heard my neighbor Linda say to her little girl, "Don't stare at the weird lady." That's me. The weird lady. I'm just quiet, keep to myself, and my lawn isn't perfect. But hearing it out loud made me realize I spend way too much energy trying not to be a bother or stand out. Anybody else get hit with a random comment that made you rethink how you come off to other people?

Spent 4 hours trying to fix a toilet that just needed the handle jiggled harder

I moved into this apartment back in March and the upstairs toilet kept running randomly. I watched like 8 YouTube videos, took the whole tank apart, replaced the flapper and the fill valve for like $25 total. After all that it still ran. Turns out the handle was just a little loose and the chain was catching on the side. I spent a whole Saturday on something that took 15 seconds to fix once I actually looked at it right. Has anyone else gone way too deep on a simple home fix like this?

I finally stopped buying cheap trash bags after a disaster last week

Went with the store brand 13 gallon bags to save $2 and the bottom blew out on my way to the curb. Had to sweep up coffee grounds and cat litter off the driveway in the rain. Anyone else learn this lesson the hard way or am I just slow?

Debate: Should you warn a coworker about a bad supervisor or stay out of it?

At my last job in a warehouse outside Denver, I had a supervisor who would yell at people for tiny mistakes like putting a box on the wrong pallet. One day I saw this new guy, Tim, make a small error and get chewed out for 10 minutes. I pulled him aside later and told him to watch his back around that supervisor. But then another coworker said I should have kept quiet because now Tim would be paranoid and maybe quit too soon. My side says he deserved a heads up so he could prepare or look for another job. The other side says meddling just makes people anxious and ruins their own experience. What do you all think, would you tell someone about a bad boss or let them figure it out on their own?

TIL my landlord in Chicago charged me $75 for a 'cleaning fee' I never agreed to

I moved out of an apartment in Wicker Park two months ago. The lease said nothing about a cleaning fee, but they took it out of my deposit anyway. Should I have fought it or just accept that landlords always win?

TIL about the time my landlord fixed a leaky pipe with duct tape and a prayer

Walked into my bathroom last April to find water dripping through the ceiling, and when I called him he said 'just put a bucket under it, I'll get to it in a few weeks' - has anyone else dealt with a landlord who treats repairs like they're optional?

Forgot my own birthday dinner reservation at a fancy place in Denver

I booked a table at this steakhouse in LoDo 3 weeks ahead for my 30th, then totally spaced on the date and went to a buddy's house for pizza. The restaurant charged me a $75 no-show fee per person. Has anyone else just blanked on something that important?

That one Wednesday where literally everything went right for once

I had a day last month where I woke up before my alarm, found $20 in my jacket, and the bus was actually early. Then my boss told me I got the weekend off after I'd been dreading asking for it. Has anyone else had a day so good you were just waiting for the other shoe to drop?

Vent: Tried meal prepping like my coworker vs my own chaotic method

My coworker Sarah brought these perfect little containers every Monday with grilled chicken, rice, and broccoli all portioned out. I spent $60 on matching glass containers and spent 4 hours last Sunday cooking everything. By Wednesday I was so bored of eating the same thing I ordered pizza and let the rest rot in the fridge. My normal method is just throwing random leftovers together or grabbing stuff from the deli counter at Kroger near my apartment. Sure it costs more per day maybe $12-15 versus $4 but at least I actually eat it. Has anyone else tried that whole batch cooking thing and just given up after a few days or am I the only one who cant stick with it?

Spent 45 minutes assembling a bookshelf only to realize the back panel goes on first

I bought a cheap particle board bookshelf from the hardware store on Main Street last Saturday and dove right in without reading the instructions. After getting all the shelves and sides perfectly aligned, I found the flimsy cardboard backing was supposed to slide into a groove I'd already covered up. Does anyone else just wing it with furniture assembly and end up paying for it later?

Found out my renters insurance doesn't cover mold damage the hard way after a pipe burst in my bathroom last Saturday

I was just reading through my policy after the plumber left and saw it in black and white. Mold remediation is excluded unless it's from a 'covered peril' and even then there's a cap at $500. The quote to fix the drywall and subfloor in my tiny apartment came in at $1,800. Has anyone else gotten burned by some random exclusion like this?

Forgot to pay my electric bill for 3 months straight

I moved to Austin back in February and set up autopay with my bank, but it glitched out and I never noticed till my power got shut off last Tuesday during a 100 degree heat wave. My apartment turned into a sauna, my fridge defrosted and ruined $80 worth of groceries, and I had to crash at my buddy's place for two nights while I waited for them to turn it back on. Has anyone else had autopay fail on them and totally miss the warnings?

Just realized my 'emergency fund' was actually my 'I forgot about that subscription' fund

That $200 'all-in-one' cleaning gadget was a total money pit

I bought this handheld steam cleaner thing online for $200 last spring. Thought it would replace half my cleaning tools and save time. After three uses the nozzle cracked, and the attachments were basically useless on anything but tile grout. Anyone else bought one of those multifunction gadgets that just collects dust?

Dropped $150 on a fancy umbrella that broke on the third use

I bought this expensive automatic open-and-close umbrella from a shop downtown because I was tired of cheap ones flipping inside out. It snapped in half during a normal wind gust on my walk to the bus stop, and I just stood there holding the handle. Has anyone actually found a decent umbrella that lasts more than a season without costing a fortune?

Spent 6 months trying to open a jar of pickles before my roommate showed me the trick

So I lived alone for like half a year and every time I wanted pickles I'd just... not eat pickles because I couldn't get the lid off. I tried hot water, rubber bands, banging it on the counter. Finally my roommate moved in and she just gave it one twist and popped it open. She said "you have to tap the side of the lid with a spoon first to break the seal." I felt so dumb. Has anyone else had one of those really obvious life skill things that just never clicked for you?

My buddy called me out for ignoring my car's oil change light for 2 months straight

I used to think that light was just a suggestion, not an emergency. After my oil turned into sludge and cost me $1,200 in engine repairs at my own shop in Phoenix, I finally listen to it now. Has anyone else ignored a warning light way too long and paid the price?

My fridge died overnight and I lost $200 worth of groceries

Opened the fridge last Tuesday morning to grab milk and it was warm, everything smelled awful. Had to toss all my meal prep plus that expensive grass-fed beef I got on sale. Anyone else ever have an appliance just quit without warning like that?