History Main / MoneyDumb

** In "[[Recap/TheLooneyTunesShowS1E23TheFloat The Float]]", he uses the money he scammed Porky out of for a yacht. Of course, instead of using the rest of the money on a sail and safety equipment, he buys ''two'' jacuzzis and a bunch of other useless stuff, leading to him getting stranded in the middle of the ocean. [[NeverMyFault He still has the nerve to blame Porky for being short on cash]].

* Regulus from ''VideoGame/OctopathTravelerII'' is notoriously bad at managing his money. In the first part of ''The Merchant & The Scholar'', he's failed to get all the items he needs for his telescope... because he blew all his money at the game parlor, and therefore needs Partitio to help him out. In the second half, he takes out a loan from moneylenders who milk dupe him out of his money with abusive interest rates, and he ultimately has to give up his telescope as collateral. Osvald implies that Regulus has always been like this.

** In "[[Recap/TheLooneyTunesShowS2E23HereComesThePig Here Comes the Pig]]", when he and Porky arrive at a gas station, he is given money by Porky for gas while the latter was using the bathroom. Instead, Daffy wastes it on snacks, magazines, and a lottery ticket, leading to them being stranded in the middle of the desert. Once again, [[NeverMyFault he blames Porky for not giving him enough money for gas]].

* ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'': Stan Smith is oftentimes shown to be horribly irresponsible with managing money. When he received $20,000 by his dying grandfather, he ended up losing it... [[EpicFail on the bus, that is]]. When he was in charge of handling $967 to live on minimum wage for a month, he loses almost ''all'' of it overnight by spending it on frivolous things, becoming homeless as a result.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLooneyTunesShow'': WesternAnimation/DaffyDuck is shown to be terrible with managing money. In "[[Recap/TheLooneyTunesShowS1E23TheFloat The Float]]", he uses the money he scammed Porky out of for a yacht. Of course, instead of using the rest of the money on a sail and safety equipment, he buys ''two'' jacuzzis and a bunch of other useless stuff, leading to him getting stranded in the middle of the ocean. [[NeverMyFault He still has the nerve to blame Porky for being short on cash]].

* In ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'', Raj is cushioned from the realities of life in the USA - until his rich father withdraws the financial cushion that has been bankrolling him. Straight away Raj runs into serious trouble - maxed-out credit cards are only part of it - and his friends question all manner of extravagances and fripperies when they attempt to balance his budget.

* ''VideoGame/YakuzaLikeADragon'': Eri Katamaki, the young CEO of Ichiban Confections, inherited the company from her father when he passed away, but was anything but ready for it. Her poor hiring choices, bad money management decisions and being victim of a scam by the sidestory's ArcVillain drove the once flourishing company in the red. She's painfully aware she's not suited for the job, and hands Kasuga the reins to get Ichiban Confections back on top.

* Zhongli from ''VideoGame/GenshinImpact'', an otherwise intelligent and learned man, has absolutely no concept of budgeting. He would just 'buy them all' when asked to choose between goods, and always 'forgets' to bring his own wallet, necessitating others to cover for him. [[spoiler:As it turns out, he's the Geo Archon, Rex Lapis Morax, who had the power to generate money out of thin air, so he never needed to worry about money. Unfortunately, it severely warped his economic senses, so when he decides to give up his godhood, he's penniless and forced to mooch off other people's money. When Paimon brings up the fact that his power is what generates the currency used by all of Teyvat, he pauses, as though only [[OhCrap just now realizing that it could be a problem]] before sheepishly saying that the Qixing will figure something out.]]

->'''Haley:''' ...Though I did expect him to spend most of it purchasing [[TheCon local bridges]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLooneyTunesShow'': WesternAnimation/DaffyDuck is shown to be terrible with managing money. In "[[Recap/TheLooneyTunesShowS1E23TheFloat The Float]]", he uses the money he scammed Porky out of for a yacht. Of course, instead of using the rest of the money on sail and safety equipment, he buys ''two'' jacuzzis and a bunch of other useless stuff, leading to him getting stranded in the middle of the ocean. [[NeverMyFault He still has the nerve to blame Porky for being short on cash]].

* ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'': Stan Smith is oftentimes shown to be horribly irresponsible with managing money. When he received $20,000 by his dying grandfather, he ended up losing it... [[EpicFail on the bus, that is]]. When he was in charge of handling $967 to live on minimum wage for a month, he loses almost ''all'' of it overnight on frivolous things and ends up homeless as a result.

* ''Literature/Overlord2012'': Arche's parents are disgraced nobles who either have no idea of their no-longer-rich status or are desperately shielding themselves from it, spending enormous amounts of money on ConspicuousConsumption despite the fact that their daughter is the only thing keeping them fed. The reason she became a Worker (adventurers who take on illegal but higher-paying jobs) is to get enough money to take her two younger sisters away from her irresponsible parents. [[spoiler:In the light novel, Arche is dismembered and her sisters are sold into slavery by their parents and eventually die from overwork; in the web novel, Arche is still alive, albeit kept as a SexSlave by Shalltear, but is reunited with her sisters. [[KarmaHoudini Her parents face no onscreen]] repercussions.]]
* ''Literature/{{Shopaholic}}'' follows a woman that has severe compulsion for buying clothes and luxury items, leading her to be entirely in debt for the most part of her adult life. All of her purchases are frivolous and/or unnecessary (though she always rationalizes for what she needed to buy it). It crosses into AmbiguousDisorder as she shows symptoms of having Compulsive Buying Disorder, especially in the movie, where the mannequins actually talk her into buying stuff.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLooneyTunesShow'': WesternAnimation/DaffyDuck is shown to be terrible with managing money. In "[[Recap/TheLooneyTunesShowS1E23TheFloat The Float]]", he uses the money he scammed Porky out of for a yacht. Of course, instead of using the money on sails and safety equipment for the yacht, he buys ''two'' jacuzzis and a bunch of other useless junk, leading to him getting stranded in the middle of the ocean.
* None of the aliens from ''WesternAnimation/PetAlien'' are particularly bright regarding money, to the point where they've forced Tommy into crippling debt numerous times by buying things he can't afford. "Shipping and Handling Not Included" highlights this aspect of their characters: when they mistakenly believe they've won a million dollars through junk mail, they immediately spend all of Tommy's money on random items from a shopping channel. Swanky in particular tries to buy ''thousands'' of faberge eggs.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLooneyTunesShow'': Daffy Duck is shown to be terrible with managing money. In "[[Recap/TheLooneyTunesShowS1E23TheFloat The Float]]", he uses the money he scammed Porky out of for a yacht. Of course, instead of using the money on sails and safety equipment for the yacht, he buys ''two'' jacuzzis and a bunch of other useless junk, leading to him getting stranded in the middle of the ocean.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'': Richard is shown to be this, to the point that his wife doesn't trust him with money at all. This trait leads to the BrokeEpisode "The Money", where he understands depositing money in an offshore account as throwing money in the sea.
* ''WesternAnimation/BobsBurgers'': Linda Belcher zigzaggs this trope. On one hand, she is the one to actually manage the expenses of the restaurant, she has an extremely complex system through which she controls bounces with the bank and manages to keep their heads above the water. However, whenever something she, or someone she likes, really wants shows up, she has a terrible time controlling herself with what [[PerpetualPoverty little money her family has]]. This is best exemplified in "The Unnatural", where she pawns off Bob's espresso machine to pay for baseball lessons for Gene that everyone warns her to be an obvious scam, and "Yurty Rotten Scoundrels", where she freely loans her unhinged sister, Gayle, money to rent a yurt and make an art workshop, even though she is a terrible artist and even Linda herself admits that it's unlikely they'll ever see a return on that money; Bob even says that this is a recurring occurrence when Gayle is involved. It's possible that the family being constantly near financial ruin but never past it are both because of Linda, as she insists on financing her sister's life and whims, but maintains the restaurant working anyway.

** [[SpoiledSweet Amy Wong]] is shown to be this in a few episodes, since her incredibly wealthy parents buy her everything. When she goes shopping for a car, she pays ''more'' than the sticker price, because she "thought it was an auction". When her parents [[BrokeEpisode lose their money]], she expresses confusion at the concept of paying rent, having literally heard the word for the first time.

** Krusty the Clown is routinely shown to be careless with his expenses, relying on a ridiculous amount of cheap merchandising keeping him afloat. This becomes a plot device in "Homie the Clown", where wasteful spending and incompetent gambling (as in, betting ''against'' the Harlem Globetrotters, an exhibition basketball team whose entire gimmick is to [[ShowyInvincibleHero win every time by blatantly breaking the rules in amusing ways and showing off]]) get him in trouble with the mafia. His most frivolous wastes of money in the same episode include using a string of pearls and a rare comic book to light his cigars and buying a new house ''because his old one was dirty''.

** "Porous Pockets" features [=SpongeBob=] getting extremely rich after stumbling upon a large diamond. He spends the episode giving away free money to the greedy crowd that attaches themselves to him and ignores Patrick's attempt to make him stop. He eventually runs out of money and everyone abandons him.
** Subverted in "Squid's Day Off": Squidward leaves [=SpongeBob=] in charge of the Krusty Krab (Mr. Krabs was in the hospital and Squidward wanted a day off). He has an ImagineSpot where Patrick asks for change for a cent, and [=SpongeBob=] gives away all the money on the till. Squidward runs to check that everything is okay, and tests [=SpongeBob=] by asking him for change of a dollar; [=SpongeBob=] proceeds to recite every possible combination of coins that he could get for it until Squidward simply goes away.

** Krusty the Clown is routinely shown to be careless with his expenses, relying on a ridiculous amount of cheap merchandising keeping him afloat. This becomes a plot device in "Homie the Clown", where wasteful spending and incompetent gambling (as in, betting AGAINST the Harlem Globetrotters, an exhibition basketball team whose entire gimmick is to [[ShowyInvincibleHero win every time by blatantly breaking the rules in amusing ways and showing off]]) get him in trouble with the mafia. His most frivolous wastes of money in the same episode include using a string of pearls and a rare comic book to light his cigars and buying a new house ''because his old one was dirty''.
** Homer himself is constantly throwing away his money due to a combination of impulse buying, his many [[ZanyScheme Zany Schemes]] and overall [[TheDitz stupidity]].
-->'''Financial Officer:''' You throw over one thousand dollars a month into local wishing wells.
-->'''Homer:''' Of course, you idiot. Cause I'm wishing for more money.
-->'''Financial Officer:''' (...)''Three'' subscriptions to Vanity Fair?
-->'''Homer:''' [[InsaneTrollLogic I have three bathrooms, don't I?]]

* Peter Griffin from ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' simply ''cannot'' be trusted with money. One episode that takes place in the future reveals that Lois set up a secret bank account that Peter couldn't access, which she did after Peter spent Meg's college money on a ''medieval catapult''. Among the dumb money-related decisions Peter has made, he has:
** Bought a horse after being sent to get shopping.
** Bought a riding mower ''and'' hired a translator to speak to a raccoon, in the same episode.
** Dipped into the family's emergency fund to buy volcano insurance, despite living in Rhode Island.
** Withdrawn 6000 dollars to make an "important" PSA that solely consist of him singing "Bird is the Word".
** Spent most of the money he was supposed to be saving for his and Lois' wedding on classes to learn how to make dial-up noises with his mouth (he had to recuperate the money by becoming a sperm donor).
** Planned to use $28,000 to open a sushi restaurant, solely so he can greet random people in a funny accent (Lois, for obvious reasons, doesn't give him the money for it).
** Planned to use his winnings from a game show to buy a cave in his yard, for the sole purpose of telling people to not go near it.
* None of the aliens from ''WesternAnimation/PetAlien'' are particularly bright regarding money, to the point where they've forced Tommy into crippling debt numerous times by buying things he can't afford. "Shipping and Handling Not Included" highlights this aspect of their characters: when they mistakenly believe they've won a million dollars through junk mail, they immediately spend all of Tommy's money on random items from a shopping channel. Swanky in particular tries to buy ''thousands'' of faberge eggs.

* ''Manga/BungouStrayDogs'': Fitzgerald has been filthy rich for so long that his sense of expenditure is atrocious. After the Guild arc, he loses all his fortune and requires Louisa's financial support until he can stand on his own two feet again, yet he buys expensive cooking utensils only because they were on special sale and despite the fact he doesn't even know how to cook. When Louisa expresses concern over this, Fitzgerald fails to see the problem since he used to buy a whole store when he wanted a single product from it.

* In ''LightNovel/CombatantsWillBeDispatched'', Snow is remarkably bad with her money. She often spends extreme amounts of money and/or takes out loans to buy expensive swords, which get consistently lost or broken anyways. When she explains to Alice and Six that she got kicked out of the castle, the flashback even shows Snow carrying a backpack full of swords instead of the expected necessities like food or water. This can be at least partly explained by Snow's upbringing in poverty; because she never learned to properly manage money, [[AFoolAndHisNewMoneyAreSoonParted she spends whatever money she does get irresponsibly quickly, to the point that she ends up consistently broke]].

* ''LightNovel/Overlord2012'': Arche's parents are disgraced nobles who either have no idea of their no-longer-rich status or are desperately shielding themselves from it, spending enormous amounts of money on ConspicuousConsumption despite the fact that their daughter is the only thing keeping them fed. The reason she became a Worker (adventurers who take on illegal but higher-paying jobs) is to get enough money to take her two younger sisters away from her irresponsible parents. [[spoiler:In the light novel, Arche is dismembered and her sisters are sold into slavery by their parents and eventually die from overwork; in the web novel, Arche is still alive, albeit kept as a SexSlave by Shalltear, but is reunited with her sisters. [[KarmaHoudini Her parents face no onscreen]] repercussions.]]

* Girlfriend from ''VideoGame/FridayNightFunkin'' zigzags this. She knows how to properly file taxes, but charges $1 trillion for art commissions because she doesn't know how to properly price herself. While she fits the "rich background" archetype for this, as she's the daughter of two celebrities, it's mostly because she's a natural airhead.

* In the early 1980s, ABC had a series of animated public service announcements produced by their in-house animation company Greengrass Productions called ''The Dough Nuts'', with each PSA teaching viewers how to better manage their money by showing a character squandering their money in a foolish way, such as not keeping track of every single purchase one makes, letting oneself get duped by misleading advertisements or buying products without thinking over whether it's of a desirable quality.

* In the early 1980s, ABC had a series of animated public service announcements produced by their in-house animation company Greengrass Productions called ''The Dough Nuts'', with each PSA teaching viewers how to better manage their money by showing a character squandering their money in a foolish way, such as not keeping track of every single purchase one makes or buying products without thinking over whether it's of a desirable quality.

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** "Porous Pockets" features Spongebob getting extremely rich after stumbling upon a large diamond. He spends the episode giving away free money to the greedy crowd that attaches themselves to him and ignores Patrick's attempt to make him stop. He eventually runs out of money and everyone abandons him.
** Subverted in "Squid's Day Off": Squidward leaves Spongebob in charge of the Krusty Krab (Mr. Krabs was in the hospital and Squidward wanted a day off). He has an ImagineSpot where Patrick asks for change for a cent, and Spongebob gives away all the money on the till. Squidward runs to check that everything is okay, and tests Spongebob by asking him for change of a dollar; Spongebob proceeds to recite every possible combination of coins that he could get for it until Squidward simply goes away.