“Throwing good money after bad” is a universal problem where people waste money on a lost proposition. It’s often criticized, especially when someone continues to spend money on a losing venture. Evaluating initiatives and seeking advice from financial experts can help avoid wasting money.
The idiom “throwing good money after bad” refers to a situation where someone appears to be wasting money on a lost proposition. Many languages have some version of this idiom, reflecting the fact that wasted money is a universal problem around the world. As a general rule, people use this term as a form of criticism, suggesting that someone’s decision to continue spending money is ill-advised.
In a classic example of a case where someone might throw money after bad, a business might invest in a major software upgrade and find that the software doesn’t meet its needs. To resolve the situation, the company would continue to spend money on software in an attempt to update it and make it functional. Critics may argue that this money is wasted and that it would be better to start all over with a new software system.
The temptation to keep spending money on a losing proposition can be considerable, especially when someone has invested a lot of time and money into it. It can be disheartening to be told that the money has been wasted and it would be best to just forget about it and move on. When people have invested most of their money in a worthless venture, throwing money after bad can be catastrophic, as they will lose the typically borrowed funding used to prop up the scheme as well as the initial outlay. This can mean that someone ends up worse than he started out.
This term refers to the closely related idea of throwing money at something to solve a problem. While substantial requests for funds can indeed resolve some situations, money isn’t always the best solution. Attempting to use money to fix a bad outcome sometimes ends up in a situation where people throw good money after bad, not realizing they’re taking the wrong approach.
To avoid wasting money, it’s a good idea to evaluate any initiatives that involve a disbursement of funds, from buying a house to setting up a business. The situation should be considered carefully and people may want to think about what will happen in an economic downturn or in the event of a major crisis. Seeking advice from financial experts can also help clarify the situation and help decide if something is a good investment. It also helps to have a partner to discuss issues with and to agree on a fixed point where partners should retreat to avoid wasting money.
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