I’m 25 and a few weeks ago I made the dumbest decision of my life. I went out drinking, ended up at a strip club, and somehow let myself get talked into using my credit card while I was pretty drunk. I signed everything. The total came out to $9,600. Just typing that makes me want to puke.
It’s a lot of money. It doesn’t completely ruin me, but it was coming from money I’d been saving for a house. I had worked hard to build it up and in one night I torched a huge chunk of it. I feel so stupid. I keep replaying it over and over in my head. I don’t even know what I was thinking. It’s like I snapped for a night and now I’m sitting here dealing with the fallout.
It’s going to take me around 6 months to a year to recover this. I could have done so much with that money. I checked on disputing it but I signed and thumbprinted everything. There was pressure but legally I don’t have much to stand on. So it’s on me. I can make the money back eventually, but mentally this has wrecked me. I’ve never felt this kind of regret before. I feel ashamed, embarrassed, and honestly just like an idiot. I don’t know how I’m supposed to forgive myself for this.
I guess I’m just venting because this has been eating me alive. If anyone’s ever done something financially really stupid and somehow moved past it, I’d honestly like to hear it. Right now it feels like this mistake is glued to my brain.
This is easily the dumbest financial thing I’ve ever done in my life. I could have done so much with this money. Could have gone to Europe. Wtf I’m so depressed.
Dude.
First off, stop calling yourself an idiot. You’re not an idiot. You’re a 25‑year‑old who got drunk, horny, and made a spectacularly bad decision with his credit card. That doesn’t make you defective; it makes you human. The only difference between you and the rest of us is that your “learning experience” had a comma in the price tag.
Here’s the hard truth: the money’s gone. It’s not coming back. You signed, you thumbprinted, you got hustled. No amount of replaying the night in your head will reverse it. All you’re doing right now is renting space in your brain to shame. It’s like paying interest on a loan you’ve already paid off.
The question isn’t “Why did I do this?” It’s “What am I going to do with the lesson?” Because whether you realize it or not, you just got a $9,600 crash course in impulse control, alcohol, and high‑pressure sales tactics. That’s a hell of a class. It’s also tuition for the rest of your life. If you actually internalize the lesson, this is probably the most valuable $9,600 you’ll ever blow.
You’re allowed to feel embarrassed. You’re allowed to feel regret. But at some point, you’ve got to stop flogging yourself and start moving forward. Build the money back. Forgive yourself. Set a rule: no big financial decisions while drunk, no handing over your card to strangers in places where everyone’s incentives are to separate you from your money.
One night of stupidity doesn’t define you. What defines you is whether you use it as a reason to level up or as a reason to keep wallowing. Everyone who’s ever been burned financially has a moment like this. This is yours.
Now take a deep breath, call it your “strip club MBA,” and get back to work.