Q: What was your worst financial decision?

A: In February 2008, my girlfriends and I decided to go to the Gardens Mall in West Palm Beach, Florida to buy some clothes with the money I’d gotten at my sweet sixteen party the week before. We were crunched for time because one of our mothers could only pick us at the mall two hours after dropping us off. This didn’t leave us a big choice of stores. Nevertheless, we ended up at Nordstrom. I spent $500 (50% of my sweet sixteen money) on four pairs of boots: Guess, Mee Too, Coach, and Stuart Weitzman. Four years later, three of the pairs are sitting unused somewhere in my closet; the fourth I lost somewhere in Florida.

Q: What was your worst financial decision?

A: I bought a $500 Louis Vuitton Initials Damier Azur Belt for my brother’s wedding. During the toast, someone bumped the table and soda and wine spilled. The belt is milky white, and it got stained from the Coke and wine. It was ruined the first day I wore it. I took it to the store to exchange it for a different one or to see if they had any tips to clean it but it was hopeless. I should have bought a different color or a cheaper belt; now the belt is just laying in my closet.

Q: What was your worst financial decision?

A: I went to a salon on 8^th Avenue in Brooklyn, specifically to get a $45 hot oil hair treatment. Basically, the heated oil penetrates the hair shaft, conditioning and moisturizing it.  When I arrived an employee told me I had to wash my hair first, so I went ahead and let them wash my hair.  When I was done the same employee said, “You know the wash costs $10, right?” I felt like I was tricked into it but at this point I had no choice but to pay. In the end I was unhappy with this experience because I paid more than I expected and the treatment did not work.

Q: What was your worst financial decision?

A: In 1972, in Brooklyn, I spent $2000 on a used Mercury Marquis, without doing any research; nor did I inspect the vehicle. Within a week of driving the car off the lot, all the tires deflated. A few days after I got them changed, they deflated again. Turns out the wheels had no rims—I had no idea—and there were additional mechanical problems. The repairs cost me almost as much as the car itself.

Q: What was your worst financial decision?

A: Earlier this year, I bought the NBA League Pass, an online sports package that allows you to watch pro basketball for only $25. Being an avid New York Knicks fan, I promptly bought the package that would let me watch games on my computer. Because I lived without a TV in my dorm room at the City College of New York, I thought this was a good investment. But after I bought the package and opened it on my computer to watch the Knicks, the window informed me that I wouldn’t be able to watch the games because they were blacked out. Madison Square Garden, which owns the Knicks, was demanding a larger share of the profits from Time Warner Cable, and the two companies were stalemated. My purchase was pointless. Worse, once the bill came, I was charged $100 instead of the $25 the website proudly proclaimed. Turns out I didn’t read the fine print about the “four  easy payments of…” No games. No refund.

Joshua Wiggins, 20
Q: What is your worst financial decision?

A: After an intense argument with my girlfriend 5 days before our one year anniversary; I decided to ask for her forgiveness by buying her a white gold and diamond bracelet. It cost me $1500–all my savings. The day of our anniversary came, and I went to her house to surprise her, and as I presented her with my amazing gift, she told me that she couldn’t take arguing anymore and wanted to break up. The worst part is that I cannot even return the bracelet back to the jewelry store. I am broke and broken-hearted.

Q: What was your worst financial decision?

A: In Spring 2011, I spent over $300 on New Era MLB “black nasty” baseball caps. I bought about 25 caps from Lids on 34^th street. After a couple of months they went out of style. I ended up giving them away to my cousins,: now I wear the vintage caps.

Q: What was your worst financial decision?

A: In February 2012, I booked a $450 flight on Jet Blue to the Dominican Republic. Since I don’t have a job I asked my mother to buy it for me and I would pay her back when I get my financial aid check. However, in March I found out that my TAP check was sent to Long Island University instead of Baruch College. This completely ruined my plan of going on my trip during spring break. After fixing the situation with the financial aid assistants, I was told that my check would arrive in 4-6 weeks. Even at this point I’m not sure if I will be getting the full $2,000 aid money.

Q: What was your worst financial decision?

A: In November 2011, I’d been working as a salesman at the American Eagle store on Times Square, saving my money for a period of time, and I thought to myself, Why not try to increase the amount of money I have? So I decided to invest $1000 through the Chase investment team at the Chase bank on 23^rd Street and Sixth Avenue. I was told that they would pick out a good investment for me. They picked BankLink. Two weeks after investing $1000 my stock was on the decline. After feeling I had lost enough money, I withdrew the rest. In under a month, I went from having $1000 to having $725.

Q: What was your worst financial decision?

A: Back in February, I purchased a pair of $145 Ray-Ban Aviators from Sunglass Hut in the Roosevelt Field Mall, Garden City.  Bad decision. First, I wear glasses, and second,  I don’t own contacts, so it was a pointless purchase. I thought about returning them but three days after I bought them, they fell out of my carrying case, and now have a large scratch on the left lens, so I can’t even sell them.