A Boomer and GenXer Walk into a Bar
Wit and wisdom, some smart assery, and a Mother and Daughter questioning “Are we even related?”
A Boomer and GenXer Walk into a Bar
Questionable Buying Choices... and Regrets Unfold S1:E9
Ever find yourself questioning why you bought that third snowmobile or subscribed to a magazine you never read? Join us for a laugh-filled escapade into the world of regrettable purchases with the dynamic mother-daughter duo, Bobbi Joy and Jane.
From sunken boats to an impressive 74-pair sunglasses collection, we swap stories on spending habits that some might find laughably extravagant. Bobbi Joy and Jane invite you to laugh at the absurdity of it all, and maybe even reflect on your own spending habits.
email: boomerandgenxer@gmail.com
I have to have good toilet paper, my toothpaste has to be Crest and I can only drink Coca-Cola. I can't drink that off-brand crap, something that you buy that other people would go. Oh, my God, that is so dumb. My God, why is she spending this?
Speaker 2:money on this, you start saying the same thing that you said, just a little bit ago. Go ahead, because I'm going to come at you gonna come out and come at you.
Speaker 1:Welcome everybody to today's show. A boomer and a gen xer walk into a bar coming to you from the rabbit hole studio where you, as a listener, will experience some wit and wisdom, some smart assery and a mother daughter questioning. Are we even related? What? My name is Bobbi Joy, and my co-host is my mom, jane, and for the next few minutes about 20, 25 minutes we're here to entertain you.
Speaker 2:Yes, that's right and entertaining it will be. Yes, it will be, Because we've already had arguments about this.
Speaker 1:Not even five minutes into talking about it.
Speaker 2:It was 30 seconds. It was, and we were into it already it was what is the topic?
Speaker 1:What is the topic?
Speaker 2:The topic today is stupid purchases. All right Is that right it is. So what I think is stupid you may not, and what you think I may not. So we'll see where this lands, shall we? We shall, all right. Well, I just wanted to go in and tell you just real quickly that, looking on the web, one of the biggest money wasters and biggest regrets and stupid purchases timeshares. Oh, that makes sense, cause you can't get out of those stupid things.
Speaker 1:Well, right and you can use them One weekend in, like October or November, when no one Wants to go.
Speaker 2:I don't know of anybody who actually. Okay, I know one person, but usually they can't even get the times that they want and they go. We haven't been in our timeshare for 15 years. What, yeah? And you're still paying for it? Yep, oh man, I will tell you back in the day, back in the day when I was younger, almost got hoodwinked into one of those and we, I said no, we're not doing that.
Speaker 1:I got up and left, yeah, so thank goodness that happened but anyway, I mean they suckery in, they say hey, come enjoy a free vacation.
Speaker 2:We'll give you a free stereo and you get two nights day at the hilton.
Speaker 1:Yeah, just come listen to our presentation.
Speaker 2:Yeah no, no, that would be a hard, no, a double hard no, all right.
Speaker 1:So let's have you start today, mom. Let's say give us some stupid purchases that you think are just absolutely not worth it, or you just can't believe that. I regret that. I probably regret, okay, yeah.
Speaker 2:So the only thing I can think of are we talking big purchases or small purchases, any size? Okay, so I hope this triggered can think of are we talking big purchases or small purchases, any size? So I hope this triggered a lot of our listeners. I hope they're going oh man, I had this purchase, or you know, this was really stupid on our part.
Speaker 1:Well, once we start listing stuff off, it might start triggering people. We'll see.
Speaker 2:But I will say that the most expensive stupid purchase I made was I bought a 1936 ford roadster car. I remember that and that it was a show car and it was beautiful. Oh, it was beautiful I mean 350 chevy small block and a you know posy rear end and had hydraulic or not hydraulic but solenoid system for you know opening the doors and all that business. It was all lit up. It was, it was a sharp look at. It was nice it had the gangster rag top on it. Yep, it was.
Speaker 1:It was a show car and tell us how, tell us how it was driving down the highway, though it?
Speaker 2:was not good because of the fact that it was a show car. Every time something would hit it like a rock or anything, the whole thing had to go in, be stripped down, you know, because you get those starbursts in the paint. The whole thing had to be stripped down. It cost me a fortune and I rarely got to drive it because of that. And it was, but it was a sharp car. I mean, it got a lot of looks at the car shows and stuff, but that was probably the biggest one that I regretted uh making okay, what about? What's your?
Speaker 1:biggest one that I personally um paid for yeah, or I'm still paying for um college. This might I was gonna say this might trigger you, but yes, college, it's not triggering me at all. College, I will tell you I have been the biggest money waster I've ever seen in my entire life. Because you can't sit there and tell me that in four years of college you would learn more than you would four years on the job that you're trying to do.
Speaker 2:I don't disagree with you and you know I came on the job that you're trying to do. I don't disagree with you and you know I came from the energy business. Yes, and I am a big advocate for going to technical schools. Two-year skills oh, that's different. Trade schools, that's different. I am a big advocate for that.
Speaker 2:When you talk about going and getting a four-year, six-year degrees, uh, unless you're a doctor they're not making the money that these skills, uh guys, are because or men and women because of the fact that they're in such demand and they make some hellish money, yeah, and so I have always been a big advocate for that. So you're saying that your biggest regret was paying for college?
Speaker 1:yeah, because you're still paying for it, unless you're a doctor or a lawyer or you know something that you actually learn that specific specialty. I mean you can walk on to any job and in four years you could have more experience at that job than you ever would. Go into a four-year college and then coming into the the career field right and then also, and because I have a couple of degrees, you you know that I went to college, yep, I went to college with you.
Speaker 2:Oh, yeah, you went to some classes with me because I got mine late in life.
Speaker 1:Yes, right.
Speaker 2:So? But why would we force students to get have electives Right? Why are we forcing them to pay for electives? And you know I could. I guess this is just something I could go on and on about and we're not going to do that today. But you know, colleges, they certainly have the alumni to pay for the sports and the stadiums and all that. And here's these kids still struggling, trying to buy books, and it's just it's crazy.
Speaker 1:It's one of the biggest money-making businesses in the United States at this point.
Speaker 2:I mean it's a business dr domain is with us today and we told him that we're going to drag him into this conversation? He just shakes his head no, but I know this topic is something that he would disagree with us on, won't you, dr domain?
Speaker 3:the college part, yeah, oh well. No, I think it has its place.
Speaker 2:There's certain degrees that make sense yeah, like a physician, you know, I don't yeah, it doesn't necessarily need to be, but something like that you know something that's a little higher level. Of course. You know even your own doctors and physicians and brain surgeons, somebody, somebody, uh, and landed last in class and they still passed, yes. So, dr domain, we're going to ask you just real quick what was your biggest regret or biggest money making regret that you've ever had?
Speaker 3:had, so it has to be the large purchase large purchase for now. I I bought a a 76 roundabout um glass drawn boat and it was an inboard outboard and I took it out on the lake and the outboard the outboard part of it that's attached to the hull fell off and it sunk. It went right to the bottom of the lake. I never knew a boat could sink that fast. That was it. I didn't get a chance to name it.
Speaker 3:That was probably part of the issue. I didn't name it and that was bad luck.
Speaker 1:That's horrible. That's horrible.
Speaker 3:I'm so sorry to hear that didn't even get a ski behind it. Okay, that is so horrible.
Speaker 1:Just this first time it's gone I know we shouldn't be we shouldn't be laughing. Well, hopefully he can laugh about it now.
Speaker 2:Oh my, can you laugh about it now I'm past it, but I think a lot, a lot of the purchases now are smaller. Yeah, so, um, that was, that was definitely a bad, bad deal on your part, and I really am sorry, because that's a lot of money to spend.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, and have it sink to the bottom of the lake.
Speaker 2:Just to take it out.
Speaker 1:Once it's gone, it's gone, okay.
Speaker 2:We're not laughing at you, Dr Domain. We're laughing at the situation. We're laughing at the situation itself, and it really is a tragic situation, so I apologize for the laugh.
Speaker 3:I've had time to heal You've had time to heal.
Speaker 2:Well, thank God, we'll be sending him back to therapy now. Oh, I'm telling you, oh, my gosh, that's so funny.
Speaker 1:Okay, so let's talk about some like either smaller purchases or purchases that other people make that we think are stupid.
Speaker 2:Okay, so I looked this up, like I said on the web. Okay, Boats was in the top five.
Speaker 1:Well, yeah, you can only use them. What? Three months out of the year, if you're lucky up here. I mean, I don't know how many. Snowmobiles was on there, even though people love snowmobiles in the areas where you get snow and they have been instrumental a lot of times when people have been snowed, in things like that, as have boats when you have floods, right.
Speaker 2:But I mean like I just I could never justify the price If you can't use it more than a few times a year. Yeah, I say, let her go, yeah, so yeah, those were a couple of big ones.
Speaker 1:I would say electric vehicles, and I'm not talking bicycles. No, I know what you're talking about. I'm talking cars.
Speaker 2:And you know how I feel about electric vehicles.
Speaker 1:And we're going to do a whole other episode on that, a whole other show about that, but I think that is the biggest money wasting oh, unless you've got a gas powered, diesel powered generator in your back you're gonna be screwed right, so that's a different show.
Speaker 1:That's a different show and I did look this up too, and I happen to use uh reddit, because I'm on reddit a lot, and the number one thing there that everybody was talking about was this woman who. Well, there's two things. One was this woman who paid $40 a month for a subscription to a service so she could remote start her car.
Speaker 2:Yeah, let that sink in. I heard crickets there for a minute.
Speaker 1:Okay, $40 a month so you can remote start your car there for a minute.
Speaker 2:Okay, um, forty dollars a month so you can remote start your car. The reason that I didn't say anything is because I looked things up on the web and one of the top things on in that respect was unused subscription services, so people who subscribe to things and never use them. Now I will tell you I've been guilty of that especially. Yeah, I've paid for a lot of online services that I really and truly have not used.
Speaker 1:And the second one that was on there was a lady who had paid quite a few hundred dollars for professional hair and makeup to go to a Drake concert and her concert ticket cost $1,200 by itself.
Speaker 3:Just in that off chance that he might scan that crowd and see her and be like oh that's my soulmate right there.
Speaker 1:Like are you kidding me? First of all, $1,200 for a concert ticket, I know.
Speaker 2:I don't think so. That's crazy, yeah.
Speaker 1:And then you're just sweating and you're with other people and you got your hair and makeup. Just did and no yeah.
Speaker 2:I mean, if you got a buttload of money, then spend it, however you want to, but a lot of people don't have $1,200.
Speaker 1:That's with the whole list. I mean, if you want to buy this crap, go ahead. I'm going to side-eye you if you tell me about it, right.
Speaker 2:So another one that I saw was extended warranties.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, they're worthless Like on cars, on appliances, on tools.
Speaker 2:I have been guilty, very guilty of that. I have bought extended warranties, like even at Walmart.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I was going to say Walmart.
Speaker 2:They'll go do you want the extended warranty? And I go yeah, how much is it? $4.96. Yeah, go ahead. Well, when the time comes and the piece of equipment breaks I don't have any idea where I bought it, where the receipt is, where the warranty is- and what I'm supposed to do.
Speaker 1:Well, and the bad thing is, you can't just take it back to Walmart.
Speaker 2:No, no, you're supposed to go through the warranty company Exactly Now. One thing that I will say has been advantageous and I think you especially have found this to be is a home warranty.
Speaker 1:Oh, absolutely.
Speaker 2:And I have one on this home, we have one on the Georgia house also, and they definitely are expensive.
Speaker 1:Oh, it saved my butt though that first year.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you had a lot of stuff happen on your home.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean my entire furnace went out and had to be replaced.
Speaker 2:And then you had a refrigerator or something go out too, didn't you? Oh, I thought your refrigerator went out.
Speaker 1:No, that was just the derecho, took everything out.
Speaker 2:So another one, and I don't mean to cut you off, but unnecessary insurance policies. I do not carry life insurance. I don't either and the reason I don't is because I have enough money for you kids to pay for my funeral, right? Unless you decide to, you know, throw my body in the dumpster and then just go out and go out to eat it we'll find the neighbor we don't like and just toss it over the fence but I do not carry life insurance.
Speaker 1:I of course have health insurance and um I only carry life insurance through my work only because they have a policy on me and our company was really good about providing and you could buy up, of course right you know, but they, they, they were really good about that, but I just do not pay for life insurance.
Speaker 2:It's just something that that I just oh, here's one.
Speaker 1:You'll remember beanie babies. What about them? You remember that craze. Yeah, people were buying them like crazy. Oh man, and they're going. Oh, we're gonna make millions. Remember, remember that divorce case where the husband and wife had to go to court and to find custody of the beanie babies in front of the judge because they were going to be worth millions.
Speaker 2:And now look at you, yeah look at you now look at you yeah um, so I, other than that I don't think I really have anything that I've spent money on. That's ridiculous, do you think?
Speaker 1:um, yeah, so one of my ones is diamonds. Oh, and here's why. Yeah, in this day and age, you can get diamonds, quote unquote that are made in a lab. Okay, yeah, the diamonds that everybody wants and everybody cherishes and everybody you know. You have to have that diamond engagement ring that costs more than your house if you really love her Bull. Okay, first of all, those diamonds are not ethically sourced.
Speaker 2:Okay, they're literal blood diamonds, that is true.
Speaker 1:Number two you're going to worry about a diamond on your hand rather than a house payment. Okay, that's just stupid to me, Absolutely stupid.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I agree with that. And to go along with that, and I've always said this, big weddings, oh yes.
Speaker 1:What are you doing? Yeah, elaborate weddings.
Speaker 2:What are you doing? You know, $25,000 to $50,000 to $100,000, if not more, you know, depending on how rich your family is, I guess to do the wedding for you.
Speaker 1:But the thing is— my wedding cost $800.
Speaker 2:I know you had a pretty simple wedding at the park.
Speaker 1:I did it was great.
Speaker 3:There wasn't anything wrong with it?
Speaker 2:but you know, the thing is is people spend more time worrying and being bridezillas about a wedding and who's going to be there and how much money they're going to spend on your gift and all of that crap, instead of worrying about how you and your spouse will be communicating, how you'll be raising your children, what kind of religious beliefs that you have, what kind of political beliefs do you have, how are you going to argue and will you both be up and forward with it? As opposed to calling names, there's a lot of things that go into a marriage. Obviously.
Speaker 1:I've certainly failed in in quite so she knows what she's talking about.
Speaker 2:Trust me okay, but you live and learn, right, right and uh, there's just so much the those resources could go to.
Speaker 1:You know everything from a small honeymoon afterwards, and then you know you. You have life to come back to right. Okay, you have car payments now. Have you moved in together? Are you getting a house? You know? Are you planning on children?
Speaker 2:let's start saving for that, for debt, immediately, when you could use that money from the wedding now. That's just how I feel personally. Dr uh domain, how do you feel about it? About weddings yeah about you know spending elaborate weddings.
Speaker 3:Oh, a buttload of money on. Yeah, I think.
Speaker 2:I think it's, or diamonds you know he's looking at me because he knows I I am squarely in the camp of bobby you're in bobby's camp on the diamonds yeah, okay well that's good to know.
Speaker 3:He looks at me with this weird look because he knows that my last couple were big. I think for some reason, society has put so much value on them. Yeah, I think there's more important things.
Speaker 2:I agree To be focused on, yeah, important things, I agree. I agree with you focused on yeah, so do you have any smaller uh purchase items that?
Speaker 3:you think are, you know, silly purchases? Oh yeah, overpriced drinks I mean but, it's a matter. It's a matter of convenience, you go in and you yeah, and you find that, oh, there's something really easy to get and I regret it every time I do too prepackaged prepared food, like sydney, my, my youngest daughter.
Speaker 1:She gets those hard-boiled eggs in the little box at the gas station, what they're pre-hard-boiled, they're pre-peeled, ready to eat and I'm like, are you kidding me right now? Like you just saved 20 minutes, but you just spent four dollars on two eggs.
Speaker 2:Oh, my goodness, go ahead, dr domain. I know you want to say no.
Speaker 3:I think that, like the coffee, shops are overrated yeah, overpriced.
Speaker 2:I don't even drink coffee, so I think they're ridiculous, you know I can't make my rent or I can't, you know, uh, buy food. But man, you're standing in line at starbucks putting eight dollars on a on a cup of coffee right and if you can afford it, go ahead.
Speaker 2:Yeah. If you don't ever bit or complain about, um, you know, ever having to not be able to pay a bill, right, or get something for your kids or whatever it is, knock yourself out right, I'm all for that. Just you know, make yourself comfortable. Get what you want in this life, you know, and buy whatever you want. You earn the money, um, but when you have those habits and then you can't make your house payment, can't make my car payment, yeah that's a totally different story on social networking and it's like shut up.
Speaker 2:You know, we saw you standing in line.
Speaker 1:You know, at the starbucks order don't play you at the restaurant ordering all this stuff.
Speaker 3:So anyway, there's certain things I would spend money on like what like real butter I grew up on margarine, margarine didn't know any different yeah, and then I'm like that's one thing. I'm going to get is real butter, Yep and then fake syrup. I don't do that anymore either. Oh yeah.
Speaker 2:You know, he turned me on to real maple syrup. Oh yeah, and that stuff is how do I want to say it? Completely different. It's marketed completely black marketed also because it's not even it can say real maple syrup on it and it's really not right. So he turned me on to that and some companies that are legit and what a difference. But I'm with him on the butter because I grew up on oleo margarine so on that note.
Speaker 1:So what are some things that that you will spend money on that other people might just think, oh my god, what is this woman doing? Like there there's a cheaper way, or why are you buying this or that is completely unnecessary? I can't think of anything else you know, I cannot think of anything.
Speaker 2:Option before we started I can't think of anything off top my head okay, I can think of things for you like what so audience.
Speaker 1:A lot of you don't know this, but my mother. I wouldn't call it obsessive, but it's a little about an obsessive collection of certain things okay, goodness so one of them is sunglasses. Okay, you have one face. How many pairs of sunglasses do you need?
Speaker 2:I am down to 74 pairs 74 pairs of sunglasses.
Speaker 1:I got rid of a buttload of sunglasses, because you guys were on me all the time.
Speaker 2:I like sunglasses and I like nice sunglasses, boots.
Speaker 1:Oh, my goodness.
Speaker 2:What's wrong?
Speaker 1:with having nice boots. I didn't say not nice boots.
Speaker 3:How many pairs do you need?
Speaker 1:though I mean really Really Okay.
Speaker 2:So there's two.
Speaker 1:That's two things. We won't put too much of it out there yet, Okay.
Speaker 2:I will say that sometimes and I'm not as bad as most people I know as it relates to pickleball equipment, but I'm willing to spend on pickleball equipment because I do play, yeah, and that is sports, yeah, and I, but I know a lot of people who spend thousands and thousands of dollars on pickleball, paddles and you know, just kind of have the right one for the wind velocity today, and is it hot or cold today, or is it?
Speaker 2:you know, whatever it is, what? What way am I facing in this particular and I have a few.
Speaker 1:I have just a few, um, but they're simple ones, okay, um, my ketchup has to be heinz, okay, okay, I'm not I like crap I like hunts ketchup. Um, my toothpaste has to be crest. Mine does too, absolutely I, I just yeah, I'm with you on that one. Um, I have to have decent toilet paper. My toothpaste has to be Crest. Mine does too, absolutely. I just ugh.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I'm with you on that one. I have to have decent toilet paper. I don't really care about toilet paper as long as it's not single-ply, I know.
Speaker 2:Trust me as long as it's not single-ply, I really don't care.
Speaker 1:But I mean, I'm not talking like the most expensive, but it's got to be good toilet paper.
Speaker 2:Well, don't care, but I mean I'm not talking like the most expensive, but it's got to be good toilet paper.
Speaker 1:Well, I'm not going to cut myself short on. Did you have a problem with this as a child? That you're harboring some ill feelings about this? I think I had too many uh finger slips through the paper in order to feel comfortable that's so disgusting you know, and then like um soda. So I'm a soda drinker. I drink coca-Cola. I don't drink off-brand soda. You drink Mountain Dew? No, that's Modesty.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, okay Wrong daughter.
Speaker 1:That's her sister, yep.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I don't drink pop, as you know that I don't drink sodas or pop. I haven't for over 20 years.
Speaker 1:But I that Slow your roll there, hooker.
Speaker 2:Here's the deal, okay. So oh, I'm worried about what my pets are eating, and I want them to be healthy?
Speaker 1:Well, my dog eats cat poop.
Speaker 2:Okay, I've seen what your kids and what you shove into your faces.
Speaker 3:Okay, oh, but I'm worried about the dog.
Speaker 2:I don't want him to have a heart attack. My dog licks his own butt and gets into the garbage.
Speaker 1:Well, let me tell you about a waste of money, because my freaking dog has got two brain cells and one's always on vacation, so I was hoping the good dog food might help, but it did not. Yeah, it doesn't.
Speaker 2:It doesn't help at all.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, let's have some listeners. You, you know if they want to write in about yeah, or maybe they just have this discussion with their family. Yeah, I mean, we don't want any hard feelings, trust me, because this, could, this, could. I seen the darts that mom was shooting at me when when I asked her the the question about what she spent money on that was ridiculous but you have to admit, bobby, I am not a spendthrift.
Speaker 2:I mean, I'm a big saver, and you know that. And then when I do buy, I buy big, but I'm I'm not a spendthrift so I need a pair of sunglasses.
Speaker 1:How about 53?
Speaker 2:okay, all right well, I will say that's probably about all we've got today. I hope that did trigger you and I hope it did make you think about some of the things that you've made purchases on, and maybe it'll make a change I don't know, it changes me sometimes on what my purchases will be. But we appreciate you all joining us here at the Rabbit Hole Studio. Be sure to follow us. We look forward to spending more time with you each week. Please like us. We look forward to spending more time with you each week. Please like us. If you have positive feedback, please contact us. Or if you've got a topic that you want us to talk about. We've got a few of those that just came in and we'll be adding those to our list. And we've talked about hate mail before. We're just not interested, Nope. So we don't want that. But if you've got other information or topic, send us a note at boomerandjenexer at gmailcom and you know we'll see you next time. I'm Jane Burt and I'm Bobbi Joy and you're stuck with us. Peace out Later.