We all love to treat ourselves sometimes, and we absolutely should. It’s one thing to be responsible most of the time, only spending money when we need to, finding the best deals, only buying your kiddos new clothes for a season or two and eating from drive-thrus.

There’s never anything wrong with eating a nice meal out or buying yourself a pair of shoes you really want, et al, either, though I know some of us really agonize over those decisions.

Which is why these moments, when people decided to treat themselves and then regretted it, have to be particularly tough.

17. That’s why I exercise.

Ate decadently to reward myself for exercising, completely undermining my efforts to get in shape.

16. A life without Ben & Jerry’s? Tragic.

I just passed my exams in university, so decided to treat myself to some Ben & Jerry’s.

I woke up covered in hives, vomiting, and burning up. Apparently I had an unknown allergy.

It was the worst week of my life.

15. It’s one of those slippery slopes.

Bought a telescope. But then I needed a camera to take pics.

Then I needed a camera and smaller scope to guide it.

Then I needed a better, more expensive mount.

Then I needed ANOTHER camera to help setup the more expensive mount.

Then I needed cases and storage for this stuff. And another camera. And a star tracker.

Then all of a sudden I have thousands in gear that I’ve used exactly never because it’s freezing and cloudy most of the good viewing season anyways.

14. At least it all worked out in the end.

I bought a pair of quad roller skates on a whim. Meaning that I did no research — turns out there is quite a bit of intricacy with skates.

I had purchased a pair meant for speed, meant for indoor rinks. My intended use was for outdoor skating. This resulted in falling on my ass a million times outside and having zero control on my newly paved road. After buying softer wheels meant for outdoors, wow it’s a huge difference.

I should have done some research and saved myself a good chunk of money. I regret the spur-of-the-moment purchase, but I am glad that I got the skates and new wheels!

13. Too many problems.

I bought a laptop from Razer. Worst decision ever. Already had to send it back to them once. Now it’s just out of warranty and having more problems. Never again.

12. Cruises are overrated.

Thought “I’ve never been on a cruise. I want to go on a cruise now.”

Booked a 2 week Caribbean cruise, in a suite, with the wife. Who, on arrival, decided she didn’t like me anymore and spent 2 weeks avoiding me, so I spent 2 weeks on my own on this bloody ship.

We’re divorced now.

11. We’ve gotta learn somehow.

Bought a BMW 135i when I already had a perfectly good Nissan 350Z that was paid off. I was young and dumb and had just started making serious money for the first time in my life, so when I looked at that monthly payment I said “this is fine, I can totally make this”, not taking into account all of the other bills that can suddenly crop up.

One of the worst decisions I ever made, easily.

10. Not so grate.

A pair of Louboutins.

Not comfortable. The sole wears away incredibly quickly.

Heels easily get scraped on grates (I lived somewhere with lots of grates).

9. I hate calling to cancel.

Getting the Sirus XM deal ($30/6mo) for my car since when I do drive, its cross state, and then forgetting to cancel/threaten to cancel, so I got charged 120 for the next 6 months

8. They sounded like fun.

Bought a pair of used snowmobiles for 2000 dollars. Had them for two years. First year we both got the flu the 1 week the snowmobile trails where open so never used them. 2nd year my wife was pregnant so we decided to sell them.

Ends up 1 no longer wants to start and the other one runs but now has issues. Ended up selling them for 500 dollars. Never once used them besides unloading them from the trailer when we bought them.

7. Those flashing lights will get ya.

Went to Vegas and spent more money than I had intended.

Had a blast but flash forward a month later I had nothing to pay my car payment and in Florida if you are late one month they can repo your car. They did.

6. There’s always a cost.

All you can eat sushi bar.

Did the math on how much sushi I had to eat to save money from just buying the rolls individually.

I hit my goal, but at what cost.

I was trying not to throw up for the whole drive home, and spent the rest of the day in bed clutching my stomach and rethinking my life.

5. Your friends will come back.

I spent around £300 on all the Talisman boardgames and a further £200 on a custom made box to keep them all in.

Largely due to Covid, I’ve played them once.

4. Womp-womp.

Bought a PS3 when it came out and had to return it to pay rent.

3. Welcome to the community boat.

Pretty much everything I impulse bought while unemployed during quarantine.

2. It’s the pool room now.

I once bought a good quality regulation pool table (8′ x 44″) with all the accessories for about $4,000.

But after moving to a new location, I regretted the purchase because there was no room for it (other than to give up the dining room and replace the dining room chandelier with a billiards light fixture).

1. Know when you need help.

I struggled with binge eating disorder for the entirety of my teenage years and the shame and guilt and disgust that came after a binge is something I would just ignore and convinced myself to not see as problematic because I was “treating myself”.
Some of my worst (that I can remember):

  • wo Jimmy John’s sandwiches (and cookies and chips), a giant bowl of leftover spaghetti, entire box of baked ravioli, two bottles of sparkling grape juice
  • Entire loaf of Italian bread with butter, half a tub of ice cream, party size bag of salt & vinegar chips, 2 boxes of macaroni and cheese
  • 3 overstuffed, large takeout boxes of buffet food washed down with too much Dr. Pepper
  • Party size bag of corn chips, whole jar of Tostitos queso blanco, box of Swiss Rolls, 3 Monster energy drinks, 2 blocks of dry ramen with the seasoning on them.

The regret that followed was usually in the form of throwing up because I was so full, having bruised my stomach making it difficult to move, and obviously, feeling like shit overall.
Luckily I am on a medication now for BED and have gone to therapy, so my binges are very few and far between. Those I listed were all from ages 13-19, and I’m 22 now and healthier than I have ever been. I don’t drink sugary drinks or eat any processed foods, rarely get takeout, and have significantly increased my fruit/vegetable intake. The best part is that I can stick to normal portion sizes. Even the thought of the way I constantly caved and stuffed myself before is disturbing to me now, and I could never imagine doing it again. I really wonder how many years I took off my life by eating like that.

Don’t treat yourself with lots of food multiple days of the week.. Find professional help instead.

I feel so sorry for these people – I wish there was a way to fix it.

If something like this has happened to you, tell us your own sad tale in the comments.