Things You Bought That You Never Used

[jeffrey]

We all have good intentions when we buy certain things and then end up never using them. I was talking to a friend this weekend who bought a ton of exercise equipment (treadmill, stationary bike, weights, etc) because he figured that ti would save him money over a gym membership, but has never used them because he can't motivate himself to work out at home.

What things have you purchased that you ended up almost never using?

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Here's a small one: A large lamb or sheep shaped chocolate mold. I only spent $3 on it at Goodwill, but I've never used in it about 6 years. Well, except when I tried using one side of it as a cake pan two weeks ago. It worked, but I thought it made an ugly lamb. But then, I've seen quite a few ugly chocolate lambs out there. I guess it is a traditional mold design. It is a nuisance because my kitchen is very small and this thing takes up too much space. I probably should have ebayed it before Easter.

[zetta]

A mandolin slicer for the kitchen. I was convinced I would use it to slice up all kinds of veggies. I tried it once and found it to be more difficult to use than I expected. Unfortunately I'm still not making as many veggie dishes as I ought to be, either!

[Kirbycruiser]

a boat! My DH has spent way too much money and time on that thing. We havn't taken it out in a whole year.

[DebbieL]

Ditto on the exercise equipment. I'll use it for a couple weeks, then it becomes a dust collector. I jog for exercise - cheap and easy.

I'm still mad at myself for buying a membership in one of those direct buy clubs (where you shop from the manufacturers catalogues instead of paying store prices). I spent a fortune on that membership (it was hard sales tactics - and they caught me in a moment of weakness). I never once used the membership. It would have been worth it maybe if you were furnishing a home or redoing your cabinets, etc. I never got anything.

[JanH]

Oh wow, I've got too many to mention. I've had exercise equipment, too. And kitchen gadgets. Some decorative stuff. How to books. A piece or two of furniture. Most have left the premises though.

[shengmei]

Some exercise weights.

Some small kitcher gadgets, for example, a potsticker press.

[PrincessPerky]

Here's a small one: A large lamb or sheep shaped chocolate mold. I only spent $3 on it at Goodwill, but I've never used in it about 6 years. Well, except when I tried using one side of it as a cake pan two weeks ago. It worked, but I thought it made an ugly lamb. But then, I've seen quite a few ugly chocolate lambs out there. I guess it is a traditional mold design. It is a nuisance because my kitchen is very small and this thing takes up too much space. I probably should have ebayed it before Easter.

Good grief, give it away fast!!!

Takes me a while to buy something if I am not planning on breaking it out and playing with it as soon as I get home. but we do have some 'shelving stuff' more supports than wood, or brackets than space, or whatnot, I hate that, and I keep trying to figure out how to 'use it up' but it happens to be my husbands domain, so not really possible.

No he on the other hand has boxes of toys never opened, just wanted to say he had them I guess....

[disneysteve]

I second the mandolin slicer. We do a lot of cooking and mostly vegetarian, so I figured it would save time in the kitchen. Not a chance. We both much prefer using a good quality knife. In fact, we bought a good chef knife about 8 years ago and just last year bought a 2nd one because DW and I always needed it at the same time when we were preparing meals.

Decorative cake pans - My wife used to do a lot of cake decorating, both for us and sold cakes to friends and family. So I would pick up the Wilton pans when I saw them at yard sales for a dollar or two, since they are $10 or so new. Many of them never got used because she just never needed that character or shape.

[FrugalPixie]

In our house, very few items are bought new. This means that should we have an item that is purchased and never used, we can, in theory, recoup our losses on the item by selling it on a garage sale site or Craig's List.

Right now, the only thing I can think of that I've purchased and not used is my Curves membership. I'm in a 12 month contract, paying $32 per month. I have not been in two months!

[pearlieq]

A mandolin slicer for the kitchen. I was convinced I would use it to slice up all kinds of veggies. I tried it once and found it to be more difficult to use than I expected.

Me too! I have this stupid $40 Pampered Chef mandolin that I couldn't get the hang of and never tried to use again.

[Homebody]

My husband bought me some sort of scrapbook paper cutter thingee that I have never used, didn't want and still wonder why he brought it home.

[tinapbeana]

I second the mandolin slicer. We do a lot of cooking and mostly vegetarian, so I figured it would save time in the kitchen. Not a chance. We both much prefer using a good quality knife. In fact, we bought a good chef knife about 8 years ago and just last year bought a 2nd one because DW and I always needed it at the same time when we were preparing meals.

i guess mine would have to be junky knives. see one we liked, hoped it would be better than what we had, and wind up being sorely disappointed time after time. we finally gave almost all of them to goodwill and spent stupid money to get a set of 3 Henkel knives for prep work. LOVE THEM!!! makes cooking much more enjoyable, therefore more likely to happen, so i guess it did save us money in the long run.

[kateochang]

Unfortunately, I have to say that a few apparels that I bought I still have not wear them because there's no reason to wear it in any occassion. So I'm still waiting for the day where I can wear them...

[scfr]

Some cookbooks and a couple craft items. I will sometimes buy things based on what I think I SHOULD be doing (learing to cook something or other from scratch or making cute handmade gifts) and then they go unused because I don't really have the desire to do them. I'm getting better about this (I'll stop and ask myself "Am I really going to do this?") but there's definitely still room for improvement.