Writer Devin Friedman has wanted a pool since he was a kid. As an adult, he saved tens of thousands of dollars to install one, but nothing went as planned. He hopes you can learn something from his story.

This episode was produced by Hady Mawajdeh, edited by Amina Al-Sadi, fact-checked by Laura Bullard, engineered by David Herman, and hosted by Sean Rameswaram.

Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained

Support Today, Explained by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices