A Brief History of Impulse Buys by Sarah Raplee McDermed

Have you ever made an impulse purchase? Like a mug with a pithy saying that resonated with you that had you smiling all the way home? Did you come across the heavy, oversized and underused cup months later gathering dust at the back of the cupboard?

Unfortunately, I have done something like this more than once.

A couple of months ago, my husband and I stopped in at a charming boutique with a coffee bar. The coffee was excellent, so much so that we bought  a special pour over drip pot just like the one the barista used. And 100 filters, and coffee beans. And we found two perfect mugs as well! We had so much fun, and we enjoyed several pots of wonderful pour-over drip coffee in the days that followed. 

But...we discovered we were too busy to enjoy the coffee making ritual on a regular basis. We rarely...okay, NEVER use it any more. Luckily, we love the mugs (normal-sized). My DH visited schools wearing a Smokey Bear costume when he was a firefighter years ago. The cat on my mug is the spitting image of our cat, Neko.

Over ten years ago, my husband decided he wanted to learn to speak Russian in order to communicate with a prospective customer. 

While cleaning out the home office closet the other day, I came across the complete course he ordered in the unopened box - including CDs and MP3 files. SIGH.

Then there's the rabbit watering pan sitting on my kitchen counter... 

We live on an acreage in the country. Unfortunately the last few years our road has been used as a dumping ground for unwanted bunnies bought on impulse for Easter. (The kind thing to do is to turn them over to a humane society or rabbit rescue group.) 

(PLEASE, don't buy pets on an impulse. Do your research and think things through.)

We've had a hot, dry summer. During the final heat wave, we put out water for the birds. While on a trip to the feed store, we bought a stainless steel water pan for the poor bunnies. The next day it rained and the weather cooled off. 

We could return the pan, but why bother? These bunnies will most likely get eaten over the winter (some are already gone), but there will probably be a new crop of Impulse Bunnies next summer.

What have you bought on impulse and regretted later?