Gransnet forums

Chat

Regrets I have a few….

(21 Posts)
Usedtobeblonde Wed 08-Jul-26 21:02:47

I have given away 10’s and 10’s of thousands of £’s and wish I hadn’t.
Do you have similar regrets?

Cossy Wed 08-Jul-26 21:05:55

Yes, similar to yours!

However, I take the view that though I wish I hadn’t, I did and I have to live with it and move on.

Oreo Wed 08-Jul-26 21:12:13

Not money regrets, but yes haven’t we all got a few?

Oreo Wed 08-Jul-26 21:12:57

Presumably you mean you wish you hadn’t given money to relatives?

FriedGreenTomatoes2 Wed 08-Jul-26 21:15:46

Financially yes uttb.

In 2007 I was still very impulsive and in my hubris managed to convince myself and Himself that All Would Be Well and we would be fine and dandy.

It wasn’t and we weren’t.

I even ignored a gypsy’s warning much to my eternal shame.

We lost £60k here in Málaga.
My poor husband.

He’d worked so hard for that money. We hadn’t (still not) inherited any money. I remember him saying “All those hours and hard work. I might as well have put that money in a grate and set a match to it. I wish I’d never touched Spain with a bluddy barge pole”.

It was very hard, financially and as a couple to get over that for a long time….

We did, eventually.
What doesn’t kill you and all that.

Usedtobeblonde Wed 08-Jul-26 21:30:59

Yes to family who have taken it all for granted.
I wish I had made them stand on their own feet and become responsible for their own lifestyle,, but too late now and I live with the consequences and regrets.

Grandmadinosaur Wed 08-Jul-26 22:07:44

Yes I regret not travelling more in my younger,single days. Went straight from school in to a job and that was it. It never entered my head to try working abroad. Maybe I should try a Gap year now.

Nannyd0g Thu 09-Jul-26 07:59:09

I don't really have regrets as such, I've done stupid things but haven't we all. I've given thousands to my kids who don't have the same attitude to savings as I do (so consequently never have any spare money!) but now I refuse to give them anything unless it's to help them out for circumstances beyond their control.
If anything has been what I'd consider proper regret, it's that I didn't spend enough time with my mum and dad before they passed. Everything else was a mostly considered decision by me at the time rightly or wrongly, and it's all part of my life experiences - I think I've made more right decisions as I've got older though!

Sunshinegirls Thu 09-Jul-26 08:15:57

I think everyone has regrets and what ifs but I like this quote
'Do not judge yesterday's decisions on today's circumstances' especially if you want to sleep well at night let it go.

Doodledog Thu 09-Jul-26 08:21:49

I wish I had pushed through and passed a driving test. I took several, but didn't pass. It didn't matter when I was working, as I was in a city, so just went out after work, but now I'm retired and living in the sticks, it's really inconvenient.

Padstow13 Thu 09-Jul-26 08:22:48

Looking back over a lifetime is fairly useless but compulsive at the same time.

Why? Because it's the failures and regrets that force themselves to the front no matter how you try to push them away.

Sunshinegirls Thu 09-Jul-26 08:29:35

I do like a quote here's another one

Don't cry over the past, it's gone.

Don't stress about the future, it hasn't arrived.

Live in the present and make it beautiful.

Not easy I know but something to think about.

argymargy Thu 09-Jul-26 08:32:33

No regrets; they are the most pointless things. Lessons learned, however - absolutely! Our failures and struggles make us just as much (or more) as our successes. Celebrate life in all its colours.

Sarnia Thu 09-Jul-26 08:49:43

Yes, usedtobeblonde Money in my case too.
I sold my house in 2019 and as I was moving in with my youngest daughter and her family I felt I did not need such a large amount of money sat in the bank. I have 5 children and all of them could benefit from receiving any money I planned to leave them at that time instead of when I die. I gave away a six figure sum. I had enough in the bank and I was still working, albeit part-time. Within 6 months, Covid arrived. As I was over 70 I was unable to go to work on the hospital ward and when Covid lasted so long I was advised to retire. I now have just State Pension and ever decreasing savings. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Franbern Thu 09-Jul-26 08:56:11

I have always felt that the words IF ONLY.....are the two saddest words in English.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but what is the point of that hindsight?
Whereas, it would be easy to think of actions, etc we regret taking in our past, those actions did lead us into other paths and they probably have turned out pretty well.

FriedGreenTomatoes2 Thu 09-Jul-26 08:58:31

I agree argymargy my financial disaster changed my hedonistic approach to life. I stopped immediately being Mrs La La.

It was a harsh lesson but one I took and now I’m much more measured in life in general.

Ziplok Thu 09-Jul-26 08:59:24

Aren’t you eligible for an NHS pension, too, Sarnia?

TheWeirdoAgain60 Thu 09-Jul-26 09:03:20

I regret never becoming a Barrister, which is what I wanted to do. But while I'd work mightily hard for the 5-7 + years courses to get my degree, going through various routes - Academic, .Vocational and Work-Based, etc., I've never been the university type!

NotSpaghetti Thu 09-Jul-26 09:09:52

I try to remember that we made the best choices at the time

We an only operate with the info and knowledge we have at any given point.
Be kind to yourself. You didn't deliberately make things worse!

JamesandJon33 Thu 09-Jul-26 09:49:16

It’s not a regret for it never came my way. But now in my eighties I regret not having a thumping great love affair.

ferry23 Thu 09-Jul-26 10:31:25

I'm sure many of us know that old saying .....

....."If ifs and buts were pots and pans, we'd all be tinkers".

And ain't that the truth.