I have a bad habit of buying fresh vegetables and then never cooking them. I also have a closet full of clothes that don't fit me (but used to) that will one day. I've been saying this for three years.

I know there's more but these are my main unused purchases.

-- Anonymous, June 15, 2000

Answers

I bought a book on PERL recently. Tee-hee, don't know what I was thinking. I loves me some technology and all, but I am no programmer. It looks good on my bookshelf though.

-- Anonymous, June 15, 2000

I was tricked by an infomercial! I just HAD to have Quik-N-Brite. The stuff does work, but come on, 4 extra large tubs of cleaning paste? Oh, dang, gotta run, the Bissel Steam Machine infomercial is on!

-- Anonymous, June 16, 2000

ditto on the fresh vegetables - it's the thought that counts. Many. many, assorted household cleaners...

-- Anonymous, June 16, 2000

cubby, what about your frog noise machine?

I buy lots of candles and never, ever use them. We don't have matches or lighters in the house, and I don't really like using them anyway, and it would mean both going out and buying some matches or a lighter AND forcing my husband to light the candles every time I wanted to burn them. Plus he worries that I'm going to knock them over and burn the house down, so that's pretty much a no go.

-- Anonymous, June 16, 2000

Lipstick. I buy new lipsticks because, you know, the colors look pretty and I think I should change my look every now and then. Then the new ones pile up in the bathroom and I keep using the same one I've been using for a year. And then I go back to the cosmetics counter, and see the new colors for the season...*sigh*

-- Anonymous, June 16, 2000

Produce, craft supplies, jewelry, baby barrettes, and kitchen gadgets.

-- Anonymous, June 16, 2000

Word on the vegetables. Also on craft supplies (the only way not to purchase them is to avoid all craft sections and craft stores entirely, and no way in hell is that gonna happen).

Occasionally I am guilty of buying books that I then never get around to reading.

Do pet toys count? I often buy cat and ferret toys that are disdained, and thus not "used," by the animals for whom I purchased them.

-- Anonymous, June 17, 2000

Cleaning supplies! :-)

-- Anonymous, June 17, 2000

Do you guys have one of those discount grocery outlets? Or a 99" store? Everything is so inviting, cheap and seemingly useful. Yet when I get to the check out and find I have accumulated $20 worth of stuff and then get it home, I realize I really didn't need any of it. I hate when that happens...

-- Anonymous, June 17, 2000

Put me in a drug store and I will buy just about anything. Right now I have a package of self-heating moisture masks and some body scrub from yesterday's trip to Walgreens. I really have very little interest in either. I am a fool for a drug store.

-- Anonymous, June 19, 2000

I'm a sucker for beauty/ bath products, too. And I am ashamed to admit that I actually purchased cellesene more than once! (No it doesn't work; but I guess I did "use" it all. Hope springs eternal.)

-- Anonymous, June 20, 2000

I also buy but never cook fresh vegetables. And I used to be a major beauty product junkie, but I've eased off over the last six months due to a shortage of storage space. I've got a massive crate full of body moisturisers ... it's crazy.

I buy books like they're going out of fashion. I need shares in Amazon.co.uk.

-- Anonymous, June 20, 2000

Put me down as being a "fool for a drugstore" too. There's a big one, Hy & Zel's, not far from where I work and it has groceries in it too. The last trip there was $89. Mind you, I got some groceries and a 29 million litre jug of liquide Tide, but the rest of it probably wasn't strictly necessary. I love me some Hy & Zel's.

-- Anonymous, June 20, 2000

I buy anything that is remotely related to dieting or weight loss. I have hypsosis tapes, diet supplements, diet books, diet cookbooks, a little used gym membership and an Ab-Roller. Stop the insanity!

-- Anonymous, June 20, 2000

Cripes, probably 80% of everything I've ever bought on eBay. I guess I needed ten tiny retractable dog leashes (my four-year-old's hand is just a *smidge* too big to fit the handle) for the future, when I'll presumably have much smaller hands and ten tiny dogs who'll all need to pee at the same time. I'm also a sucker for the dollar store, but tend to quickly discard my purchases when I realize they smell funny. I should just stand outside and let my cash float away in the breeze - - it would cut down on the waste cluttering up landfills.

-- Anonymous, June 21, 2000

I just bought a leather mini skirt. I will never ever have a chance to wear it, but it was on sale, and SO cute, and SO not me, I just had to have it. Ah well, maybe I'll shock my boyfriend and wear it next time we go to the movies!

-- Anonymous, June 25, 2000

Blank journals. I always wuss out, because my handwriting sucks and I feel intimidated about making sure the content is worthy of the book itself. So I have probably 10 or so laying about.

When I do get over my "I'm not worthy" attitude, I write in them for about a week then forget to ever do it again. I journalled faithfully (at least one 8.5 X 11" notebook page a night) for years, so I don't know why I can't get back into the habit.

Maybe I spill everything online to friends instead and that removes the urge to repeat myself.

I rarely tell the same story twice, even if someone hasn't heard it before.

-- Anonymous, July 17, 2000

I've tried writing in journals also. Especially if I'm pissed off at my husband. Then weeks later, I will go back and read what I wrote (if I can even read my handwriting) and realize how lame it all sounds.

I buy cleaning supplies that I never use. With all the stuff that I have, you'd think my house was immaculate.

-- Anonymous, March 30, 2001

Amen, Shelly. I buy art supplies I never (hardly) use, and with all that stuff I should be famous by now. :-) Just like with all my office supplies, I should be a millionaire tycoon by now.

-- Anonymous, March 30, 2001

I buy cosmetics and never use them - my friends love coming over my place cause it's like going to Sephora to them. I hate clutter, so I end up giving away everything.

-- Anonymous, March 30, 2001

Lipstick. Periodically I think, "Lipstick is fun to wear!" and I buy some. Then I put it on and either a) smear it all over my face or b) learn the hard way that Colorstay means "dyed permanently, until your lips slough off".

-- Anonymous, April 03, 2001

Body lotion, fresh veggies and fruit, soap, stationary, and jeans. I'm sure when Zoe's born I'm going to buy loads of stuff she'll never need.

-- Anonymous, April 04, 2001

Soap and toilet paper. I always have a seat to myself on the bus though.

-- Anonymous, April 04, 2001

Oh my goodness, are you that stinky guy who hangs out in my front yard?! Look, you won't melt if you let a little water hit you once in a while. And T.P. isn't for sissies. You can do it!

Well, at least get out of my yard. You are making my garden wilt before it has even had a chance to get really going. The day lilies keep making a go of it, then your pong just knocks them flat. It isn't right.

You know the guy who sells and uses crack? The one who walks around flailing his arms and shouting to himself? Go sit in HIS yard. He'll LOVE the company. Really.

You can stop tee-tee-ing on my roommate's back tires, too, you know.

-- Anonymous, April 04, 2001

Actually, my roommate doesn't have tires, but her car does.

And I'm joking. *emoticon, emoticon*

(But I bet y'all figured that out on your own 'cause y'all are damn smart like that.)

-- Anonymous, April 04, 2001

Craft supplies, books on crafting, craft supplies, little wire notebooks, a mini light table I bought 6 years ago, and never even opened!

Pens and pencils, although, to be fair, I use them at least once before losing them or seeing them dissappear into the kids bedrooms. Every time I go to Office Depot, I buy pens or pencils. Every Time.

-- Anonymous, April 04, 2001

And, for spring, bedding plants that are never planted, and die from lack of water.

-- Anonymous, April 04, 2001

Clothes. Like mad. I seem to either outgrow them or shrink from them too quickly. Someday I'll have a size stick to it. Please, god, let it be an 8.

Salad in a bag. Pretty much any vegetable becomes fodder for the wild animals out back.

And shoes. I hate to say it, but I buy shoes that never touch my feet outside of the store about once every few months. Can't pass up a good deal, but I only wear the same 3 pairs that I've had for almost a decade.

Goodwill loves me.

-- Anonymous, April 10, 2001