Link: https://old.reddit.com/r/tifu/comments/1uk7pyn/tifu_by_trying_to_save_12_dollars_on_parking/

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The original was posted on /r/tifu by /u/Ok_Title_4455 on 2026-07-01 01:23:05+00:00.

I had a dentist appointment downtown at 10:30. The parking garage next to the building was 12 dollars, and for some reason that number offended me more than it should have.

I found a spot pretty fast, checked the sign for like half a second, saw the word parking, paid the meter, and went in feeling weirdly proud of myself.

The appointment was just a cleaning. Nothing dramatic, just getting told I need to floss better like every other adult liar.

When I got back to my car there was a ticket on the windshield.

I looked at the sign again and realized it said no parking from 10 to 11 on Tuesdays for street cleaning. I had parked there at 10:18. On a Tuesday. The meter still let me pay, which feels personal.

The ticket was 75 dollars.

Then to make it worse, I mentioned it to the receptionist when I got back upstairs because I had forgotten to ask for my little dental goodie bag. She told me that most people just use the garage and they validate it.

The garage I was avoiding would have been free.

So I paid for street parking, got a 75 dollar ticket, and missed out on free validated parking because I decided to become a financial genius for one morning.

TL;DR TIFU by trying to save 12 dollars and making my dental cleaning cost 75 dollars more than it needed to.