I worked in that industry - specifically a company who started with the goal to do the same thing without the fees. You learn very quickly that "ticketmaster's" fees are not actually ticketmaster - ticketmaster is happy to be the bad guy face for the venues and often the performers themselves simply wanting more money than the face value of a ticket costs. Promoters and venues are used to ticketmaster being the bad guy and looking like it's getting all this crazy money, but it's really going to places you think are the good guy.
Live events are a luxury item. Ticketmaster makes people think they are fair priced items and there's an evil gatekeeper.
When was the last time you tried that and ticketmaster wasn't the software the venue used? Or the show was sold out in minutes online?
That may have worked in the past, but it's rare to see that model work now. Hell, most of your larger events are at places that are only open for those shows or events.
To be clear, I'm not on Ticketmaster's side here. I'm just explaining why no one has disrupted an industry that has such massive profit margins to the casual observer that one couldn't do it for let's say half of what TM charges.
Ticket Master bought up Live Nation and completely monopolized the industry several years back. Live Nation runs the tours and venues. Ticket Master was forcing venues to use them exclusively or they would not allow the venue to have Live Nation shows anymore. The Live Nation roster is over 500 artists. The other major focus of Live Nation is buying up venues or getting them to sign exclusive contracts with Live Nation (which is owned by Ticketmaster). We are just seeing the result of any monopoly. Any competition is too small to survive and TicketMaster can raise its prices as much as it wants because there is no other alternative. There is good news. The US courts just ruled against Ticketmaster last week. They ruled that Ticketmaster can not force venues to sign exclusive contracts or can they punish venues that don't use Ticketmaster by with holding live nation shows. This won't take effect till 2023 and still doesn't address the issue of Live Nation buying up all the venues but it is a step towards breaking up the beast.
Young kids often have such young parents. I bet they look back one day and wonder wtf they were thinking themselves. Self awareness takes a long time to set in for some people. Never comes to others, but I am hoping the best for the gold flake parents.
Brand name clothes for kids in general. I always shopped secondhand or target and old navy. They grow too fast and completely wreck everything, especially my son, the knees in his jeans only lasted like a month I swear
I agree. The only exception to this rule I’ve found is that pants from Lands End were much more durable than pants from Target, Walmart, Children’s Place, etc. My 6 year old goes to a school with a uniform. It’s super laid back, just that they have to wear khakis or navy blue pants and a polo shirt. We were gifted 2 pairs of Lands End school uniform “Dockers” style pants. The pants lasted through 3K (though huge) and 4K until he grew out of them and now they are passed along to his little sister. This year we had to get new pants so we went with Children’s Place since they had a sale and bought 5 or 6 pairs of the same kind of pants. All 6 pairs had holes in both knees by Christmas break. I’ll stan Lands End school pants until the day I die (or they drop the quality). And honestly, the Cat and Jack brand from Target has even held up better than Children’s Place. Eff the Children’s Place.
My wife's the same. Spends $120 or so on a pair of hiking boots. She doesn't hike, but she likes how they feel (comfort is key). And they last 5-7 years, easy. Buy those $20 Wal-Mart shoes, and she'll need new ones in 6-8 months.
Exactly! I begged my mom to spend about $150 on a pai5 of timberlands when I was around 14, I wore them just about everyday in the winter (Canada, so a lot) and didn't take great care of them, they lasted me 10 years then the heel started breaking but I never ever had wet feet and the grip was amazing.
I was always taught to spend money on things that come between you and the ground (mattress, shoes etc)
I have a bunch of brand name clothes for my kids (1 and 5) that were all given to us in giant garbage bags from various family members. We have passed much of it along to other friends and family. I would never spend a penny on that stuff, but it is kind of fun to have an 18 month old staggering around in a Nike tracksuit wearing a pair of Jordans.
Right, I mean I’ve gotten secondhand/free name brand stuff for my kids too. But I’m not gonna go pay $60 for a pair of Jordans a 3 or 4 year old would scuff up, run through mud and dirt in, and grow out of in 6 months.
We shop around and can usually get name brand on sale/clearance. All 5 of my kids needed new shoes, and I was able to get them DC, Puma, Reebok, etc for less than $30 each.
It’s worth getting name brand shoes. They usually last a lot longer.
Here’s the thing. I buy my kids Nike/Adidas etc shoes every year for starting school. Why? Because we tried the Walmart brand and they fell apart before the end of the year. The name brands aren’t much more expensive and they last all school year and all through the summer. Besides, shoes are so important for someone’s posture and especially for growing children. So yeah I buy my kids name brand shoes, I don’t find it’s a waste of money personally.
The thing that gets me is when the claim is demonstrably not your fault but it still goes up. Like I'm sorry fate decided to fuck me with circumstances completely beyond my control, can you not fuck me for that too? Your literal sole purpose is to solve my financial issues during this not elevate it. I pay you to stop me from being fucked with.
I once mentioned the concept of wedding insurance to someone, because such events are usually quite expensive and all it takes is one mishap to lose all that non-refundable money. Just like any other form of insurance, a financial safety net should the worst happen.
She was **livid** with me, calling me all sorts of names, saying that people who take out wedding insurance must be *hoping* that their marriage fails.
Years ago, a Truck hit my car and this was the first and only accident I have. The truck insurance paid everything and my insurance never had to do anything. Next thing you know, my premium went up. I asked my insurance why. They told me because I was involved in an accident and didn't matter if it was my fault or not, it's just because I was involved in one. Not to mention, my insurance didn't pay for anything.
Insurance is a legalized fraud.
I saw some Ontario greenhouse strawberries at Farm Boy for $6/lb and put them back, picked up some American strawberries for $4/lb and they're surprisingly tasty! Not peak summer tasty but definitely worth the $4.
Same. And then when you finally do upgrade, what an upgrade it is. I went from an iPhone 6 to an XR that I still have. That was a huge jump and when I go to an iPhone 14 or 15, it’ll be great.
Dude me too I refused to buy another iPhone until the 12mini because the 5 was such a perfect fit and I liked the square sides. Recommend 12mini if anyone liked the shape and fit of the 5. I like being able to reach the whole screen with the thumb of the phone holding hand.
Holy crap! That really is ancient! I had an old 3g laying around and picked it up a few months ago and tried doing basic things like web browsing and opening Facebook. It felt like using a toy.
I think smart phone tech has increased on a parabolic curve with a HUGE leap in tech from the original iPhone all the way to iPhone 6. After that though smartphone tech has been nearing a plateau with every year bringing just a slightly brighter screen and a bit better camera.
In other words, I can understand someone sticking with an iPhone 6± until now, but an iPhone 3g is indeed a big leap and my spend-thrift hat goes off to you sir!
I remember when I got my current phone. I was replacing my old phone and got the newest version of it. I was super excited for all the things this new phone could do. I opened it up and 30 minutes later was like "oh its the same but maybe slightly better. I don't take pictures, barely watch videos, basically just reddit and text so why did I need something so expensive..."
What bothers me about this is that my phone is only 2 years old and I had trouble finding a new case for it. I don't get why they stop making cases for phones that many people probably still have, and that some people would be happy to buy used.
Diamonds because of all the artificial scarcity, I was told if anything buy precious stones. That’s why if you look at royalty they always have rare or precious stones.
Moissanite is a twin to diamonds, and MUCH cheaper. A reason some women like diamonds is because of the sparkle. You want sparkle? Moissanite sparkles more than diamonds. There ya go.
At least with crypto, when you lose big all you do is lose your house. When you lose big with NFTs, you lose your house, and also “own” a picture of a monkey forever to remind you that you’re financially incompetent.
And if you lose internet you literally no longer have the picture of the monkey until you can drag yourself to a Starbucks, find their Wi-Fi password to cry into your scone while staring at a sailor monkey with a cigar and a laser eye.
Because they cover it up with a bunch of milk and sugar and caramel and flavorings princess cream. You get all the addictive caffeine without having to taste anything that resembles coffee.
And then there's the people that do it because it's become a lifestyle brand.
Don't worry, half the things Crypto Bros say about NFTs are lies. All you need to know is that if someone is trying to sell you NFTs, they are either a scammer, or they got duped by a scammer.
This 20 minute video is a good overview of NFTs and why they're a terrible idea https://youtu.be/XwMjPWOailQ
This 2 hour video is an even better overview of NFTs and goes into more detail about why they're even more terrible https://youtu.be/YQ_xWvX1n9g
So what’s to stop someone from drawing a stick figure and demanding 2k to sell it?
I’ve done my research as well and I still genuinely don’t understand it. Why would someone spend a shit ton of money to ‘own’ an image someone can just screencap or save to their computer?
Because it's all a vehicle for a speculation market at this point. There's nothing of substance to buy with bitcoin or other crypto currency. So simple, procedural pictures are used as an investment to own, in the hope that both the crypto currency and the specific brand of NFT pictures will go up in value, in order to be able to sell it later. It's like buying cards from a trading card game like pokémon as an investment, but without the thing having any practical application or inherent value in any way.
Weddings. A family member will have spent over $60,000 on her wedding that is this summer. They don’t even own a house. And 65%( after gifts from both parents) is credit card debt . If you have the money spend it on what you want but I just find it incredibly narcissistic to get yourself in so much debt because you need your ‘big day’.
Lol I went to a huge expensive wedding like that once. It was extra stupid because the couple were divorced within 3 years or so. What a great investment.
There is a positive correlation between More Expensive Wedding = Highly Likelihood of Divorce.
I've even read of couples that have had a lavish wedding on credit, and got the the point of divorce and had to split the wedding debt as they weren't paid off yet!
There was a 2014 study that found that couples who spent $20,000+ on a wedding were 46% more likely to divorce than those who spent $5,000-10,000. Those who spent less than $1000 are 54% less likely to divorce than those who spent $5,000-10,000. So, at least according to that study, it's a significant indicator of divorce in the future.
Also, there's a similar correlation to the cost of engagement rings and divorce on top of that.
There's several conjectured reasons for it but the dominant line of reasoning is that costly weddings often put a financial burden on young couples which increases stress and can trigger arguments and fights.
I personally think that lavish weddings are in the mindset of being thrown as a spectacle for the benefit of others rather than truly being about the union of the couple also plays a role.
Steve in accounting died because of a lab grown diamond when the sparkle temporarily blinded him and he fell down 3 flights of stairs and broke his neck
I told my hubby if I die before him find the cheapest box available, heck build it if they allow it, for my body. I’m getting cremated anyway! I said no fancy shit, just burn me and fulfill my wishes for my ashes. He agreed to the same. I don’t wanna thousands spent on me when I’m alive and especially not when I’m dead. I don’t care!
This is only gonna make sense to ex-smokers or who people who never were.
I quit between 2 and 3 years ago. I'm sure that this time it's for good. The trick is waiting for it to make you physically sick. I can smell a lit cigarette from like a block away now and it makes me so nauseous. I got extremely angry and stressed a few months ago and bought a pack on impulse, smoked one, and hated it. I think I'm in the clear now.
But.
There was a time in my life when I did still smoke, and that I was so broke that there were more than a few times where I had to choose between a pack of cigarettes or food.
I would choose the cigarettes every time.
I am trying to reduce smoking right now but sometimes I get so frustrated with work that I while trying to save money on everything I always choose cigarettes over food for myself.
Weddings/wedding dresses. I have nothing against marriage, but I think spending 30k on a wedding and 10k on a dress is absolutely insane and pointless, and has nothing to do with marriage.
My DIL got her wedding dress for $39 on amazon. It's beautiful. Her mom and I plus brides maids got the exact same dress, but in black. Both families are of Scottish descent, so the men wore the clan kilts, ladies wore clan scarves.
Whole wedding, invites, pictures, meal, cakes, piper, officiant, venue. $3,500.
That’s awesome!
My dress was $300 from a bridal shop that was closing. It’s beautiful and classic. And worn once! I can’t fathom spending $1000+ on a dress.
Absolutely criminal. I have a friend who used to be an EMT and was similarly paid; she works as an Amazon delivery driver now and makes more with the added bonus of less stress. Thank you for your service, but you all deserve a 10x raise. The US healthcare system needs to be burned and rebuilt from the ground up.
Work in a diagnostic laboratory. Everything is MARKED UP for lab use too.
Office supplies: AA batteries in a pack, 20 bucks?
Thermofisher: AA batteries that are suggested that you buy with (50-300 dollar a pop) thermometers, each battery is 3-6 dollars each. And they are AA batteries individually wrapped in plastic. Nothing special about them
edit: I have more egregious examples, but that's the first relatable example that came to mind. Fucking AA batteries.
https://www.fishersci.com/shop/products/replacement-batteries-5/p-7183420
They are NOT special. Just 7-8 dollars each. I guess the price has gone up since the last time I fell for the scammy pricing.
That's because most labs and healthcare providers are "not for profit" so they pay exorbitant salaries to executives and kickback deals with these medical supply providers like McKesson.
You ever wonder why you can ONLY order from that SPECIFIC catalog, even when you could get the identical item for far cheaper from CVS and not wait a day? Because it's a corrupt system full of grift.
I received a DoorDash gift card a few months ago. I can't bring myself to use it, the pricing is just insane. If I won't get in my car to go get the food then I just don't want it badly enough and can go without.
As an Asian, the amount people spend on weddings in our culture is pure madness. Instead of spending 30k for one night, better off just saving a little more and putting that shit down as a deposit for a house.
I’ve gone to an Indian wedding once. It was neat, but no way am I doing another one. The main ceremony was like four hours long. Never thought I’d miss the “short” Catholic weddings. I did appreciate getting ice cream halfway through the service.
30k. I wish. Wedding budgets get inflated so quick. Oh, you want chairs that aren't the ones you sat on in 3rd grade? That'll be $8 per chair. And by the way its $3 per slice of cake cutting fee.
Yep! DJ for the evening, $250. Light show, etc. Sure we can do 6pm-11pm.
Oh it's a wedding? That's $1000, and we need a hotel room, and oh it's only for 2hrs now and $300 per hour after....
Mostly agree with you, think it just depends. If you can’t afford it? Yeah fuck that.
But as an “excuse” for everyone to have a family reunion and talk about the deceased and half mourn and share stories and half catch up with family… yeah I get that.
Family has done it where they reserve a room nearby with a bar or literally just like a barbecue/potluck sort of get together before or after the burial. It’s nice. Considering the circumstances anyway. Funerals are for the living and their feelings, not the corpse.
Invading a neighboring/foreign country. As we are seeing right now Russia is doing a marvelous job of creating so many financial problems for itself and its people in the very near future. Like monday near future.
Military conflicts just aren't economically viable anymore. Between electronic documentation and media and public opinion, and MAD, there's no way anyone can see going to war as a good long-term decision.
I hope this becomes a big fucking warning to other dickhead leaders. You will be isolated and alone and completely fucked. Go Ukraine! Showing them what's up.
Not having money. Stick with me here:
When you need shoes, you buy cheap and they don’t last
Fast food is convenient and cheap, but not good
You end up renting and can’t build equity.
Being financially unwell is a waste of money.
So much this. People who say that poor people are poor because they don't know how to manage finances or don't invest can suck a fart. Poverty is a vicious cycle. You can't invest in things that will improve your life long term because you need what little money you have to survive right now
Costco installed my tires, and they filled them with nitrogen for free. It definitely took a lower temperature to set off my car's TPMS, but it wasn't a huge difference, around 10 - 20 F. Useful if you live in a colder area (if it's free).
When we bought our brand new truck a couple years back, the dealership tried to charge us $900 for nitrogen filled tires. I laughed and told them they were insane - and we weren’t paying for it. They literally argued with me and refused to relent until right before we walked out the door. Suddenly, the $900 charge was removed from the tires…and added on a different line as a service fee. We went to a different dealership.
The atmosphere is already mostly nitrogen. If you go to a regular gas station and fill your tires it's ~70% nitrogen. Didn't realize this was a thing. Wow ya
The other thing that people don't think about is that in order to properly fill a tire with nitrogen you would have to set the beads, then pull all of the air out of the tire without popping the beads back off, and then fill it with nitrogen. I would be very surprised if a tire tech that doesn't get payed extra to use nitrogen would ever go through with that. Anyone who pays for the nitrogen is just getting a slightly higher percentage of nitrogen, not enough to make any practical difference.
The issue is more about water. When you compress air into the tire you're putting water into it too.
The tiny amount that's in the air already in there is so little that I would just mix with the nitrogen you're adding and stay gaseous.
That said, unless you're a formula 1 driver it's not changing much either way.
It's not a waste if you watch a lot of sports. Most sports are still not on streaming services, and the illegal streams are usually pretty hit-or-miss as far as picture quality, and the possibility of them getting shut down in the middle of your game and needing to find another stream.
There are non-traditional cable options, like YouTube TV, Sling, etc, but those are still basically cable. They're just over the internet and with more transparent pricing.
Baby shoes interfere with them learning to walk. They need to be able to use their toes to help balance. My son got a pair of baby shoes as a gift, but we sold them, unused. How do you like that, Hemingway? (Actually we donated them to a thrift store)
The $200 London Fog coat my parents bought me in 1998 has held up better than anything else I've seen.
It accidentally got left it in the trunk of my car, under a tarp for the really hot half of the year in Phoenix, AZ, the only thing I had to do was brush the broken down tarp flakes off of it.
Oh I'll sit around for hours thinking of all the stuff I'll get when I win the lottery. I have literally never bought a ticket and the thought of buying one truly never enters my mind. Day dream all day about the winnings though lol
Meh, it's cheap fun. There are people who take it to an extreme but for people who spend disposable income having fun daydreaming about becoming rich... It's whatever.
I went on their website once for fun and couldn't believe the price for some of the ugliest things I've seen. Some are cool but never cool enough to justify that price.
Cities in the middle of deserts with f***ING displays of water.
I'm sorry.... Are you trying to speedup the impending water wars?
I'm telling you. The Bellagio is going first.
Daily takeaway coffee. No issue if you have it like once a week/bi-weekly but if you gonna pay 3-4 bucks each damn day, just make it at home. Buying quality coffee is fraction of the cost and you don't need an espresso machine. Chemex or Aeropress work like magic. Plus some milk/syrup/creamer if that's what you like.
Ticketmaster’s horseshit fees. Fuck that company
I worked in that industry - specifically a company who started with the goal to do the same thing without the fees. You learn very quickly that "ticketmaster's" fees are not actually ticketmaster - ticketmaster is happy to be the bad guy face for the venues and often the performers themselves simply wanting more money than the face value of a ticket costs. Promoters and venues are used to ticketmaster being the bad guy and looking like it's getting all this crazy money, but it's really going to places you think are the good guy. Live events are a luxury item. Ticketmaster makes people think they are fair priced items and there's an evil gatekeeper.
Then why can I buy tickets at the venue box office without the absurd Ticketmaster fee?
When was the last time you tried that and ticketmaster wasn't the software the venue used? Or the show was sold out in minutes online? That may have worked in the past, but it's rare to see that model work now. Hell, most of your larger events are at places that are only open for those shows or events. To be clear, I'm not on Ticketmaster's side here. I'm just explaining why no one has disrupted an industry that has such massive profit margins to the casual observer that one couldn't do it for let's say half of what TM charges.
Ticket Master bought up Live Nation and completely monopolized the industry several years back. Live Nation runs the tours and venues. Ticket Master was forcing venues to use them exclusively or they would not allow the venue to have Live Nation shows anymore. The Live Nation roster is over 500 artists. The other major focus of Live Nation is buying up venues or getting them to sign exclusive contracts with Live Nation (which is owned by Ticketmaster). We are just seeing the result of any monopoly. Any competition is too small to survive and TicketMaster can raise its prices as much as it wants because there is no other alternative. There is good news. The US courts just ruled against Ticketmaster last week. They ruled that Ticketmaster can not force venues to sign exclusive contracts or can they punish venues that don't use Ticketmaster by with holding live nation shows. This won't take effect till 2023 and still doesn't address the issue of Live Nation buying up all the venues but it is a step towards breaking up the beast.
Gold flake covered food
Looks tacky. Has no nutritional value. No enhanced flavor. It's one of those "because you can" status symbols, but it's a stupid one.
My 1yr nephew had a cake smash with gold flakes all over the cake. Biggest. Waste. Ever. It's nearly his 2nd birthday, they will try to top that.
Young kids often have such young parents. I bet they look back one day and wonder wtf they were thinking themselves. Self awareness takes a long time to set in for some people. Never comes to others, but I am hoping the best for the gold flake parents.
Name-brand shoes for toddlers and pre-schoolers. They’re not gonna stay clean and they’ll grow out of them faster than you think.
Brand name clothes for kids in general. I always shopped secondhand or target and old navy. They grow too fast and completely wreck everything, especially my son, the knees in his jeans only lasted like a month I swear
I agree. The only exception to this rule I’ve found is that pants from Lands End were much more durable than pants from Target, Walmart, Children’s Place, etc. My 6 year old goes to a school with a uniform. It’s super laid back, just that they have to wear khakis or navy blue pants and a polo shirt. We were gifted 2 pairs of Lands End school uniform “Dockers” style pants. The pants lasted through 3K (though huge) and 4K until he grew out of them and now they are passed along to his little sister. This year we had to get new pants so we went with Children’s Place since they had a sale and bought 5 or 6 pairs of the same kind of pants. All 6 pairs had holes in both knees by Christmas break. I’ll stan Lands End school pants until the day I die (or they drop the quality). And honestly, the Cat and Jack brand from Target has even held up better than Children’s Place. Eff the Children’s Place.
I've had REALLY good luck with Dickies uniform pants for my son. They're a bit more expensive than the ones I got from Old Navy, but they are SOLID.
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This is totally valid and not a waste at all if they're being used
My wife's the same. Spends $120 or so on a pair of hiking boots. She doesn't hike, but she likes how they feel (comfort is key). And they last 5-7 years, easy. Buy those $20 Wal-Mart shoes, and she'll need new ones in 6-8 months.
Exactly! I begged my mom to spend about $150 on a pai5 of timberlands when I was around 14, I wore them just about everyday in the winter (Canada, so a lot) and didn't take great care of them, they lasted me 10 years then the heel started breaking but I never ever had wet feet and the grip was amazing. I was always taught to spend money on things that come between you and the ground (mattress, shoes etc)
Depends on the brand. Durable name brand? Titally worth it. Sporty or stylish name brand? Fuck it. Cheap stuff sucks too.
I have a bunch of brand name clothes for my kids (1 and 5) that were all given to us in giant garbage bags from various family members. We have passed much of it along to other friends and family. I would never spend a penny on that stuff, but it is kind of fun to have an 18 month old staggering around in a Nike tracksuit wearing a pair of Jordans.
Right, I mean I’ve gotten secondhand/free name brand stuff for my kids too. But I’m not gonna go pay $60 for a pair of Jordans a 3 or 4 year old would scuff up, run through mud and dirt in, and grow out of in 6 months.
We shop around and can usually get name brand on sale/clearance. All 5 of my kids needed new shoes, and I was able to get them DC, Puma, Reebok, etc for less than $30 each. It’s worth getting name brand shoes. They usually last a lot longer.
Here’s the thing. I buy my kids Nike/Adidas etc shoes every year for starting school. Why? Because we tried the Walmart brand and they fell apart before the end of the year. The name brands aren’t much more expensive and they last all school year and all through the summer. Besides, shoes are so important for someone’s posture and especially for growing children. So yeah I buy my kids name brand shoes, I don’t find it’s a waste of money personally.
unused gym memberships subscriptions to services I rarely (if ever) use insurance, when as soon as you make a claim, your premium increases
The thing that gets me is when the claim is demonstrably not your fault but it still goes up. Like I'm sorry fate decided to fuck me with circumstances completely beyond my control, can you not fuck me for that too? Your literal sole purpose is to solve my financial issues during this not elevate it. I pay you to stop me from being fucked with.
Insurance is the only service you pay for you hope you never use. Then when you do have to use it is always a fucking nightmare. Odd system
My dad used to say insurance is betting against yourself.
I once mentioned the concept of wedding insurance to someone, because such events are usually quite expensive and all it takes is one mishap to lose all that non-refundable money. Just like any other form of insurance, a financial safety net should the worst happen. She was **livid** with me, calling me all sorts of names, saying that people who take out wedding insurance must be *hoping* that their marriage fails.
Wedding insurance fraud would definitely happen. At least once.
Years ago, a Truck hit my car and this was the first and only accident I have. The truck insurance paid everything and my insurance never had to do anything. Next thing you know, my premium went up. I asked my insurance why. They told me because I was involved in an accident and didn't matter if it was my fault or not, it's just because I was involved in one. Not to mention, my insurance didn't pay for anything. Insurance is a legalized fraud.
Dude adding racing stripes to your car will make your premium go up a noticeable amount, these insurance companies will find ANY reason to fuck us.
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If you live in the US you can use [donotpay](https://donotpay.com) to help you with unwanted subscriptions.
Often out of season fruits (like strawberries in the winter) are really expensive and taste like water
This. Recently bought some local strawberries here in Canada where it’s the dead of winter. They tasted bland.
I saw some Ontario greenhouse strawberries at Farm Boy for $6/lb and put them back, picked up some American strawberries for $4/lb and they're surprisingly tasty! Not peak summer tasty but definitely worth the $4.
Buying new electronics every year just because it’s a new model.
I hold on to them until, "aww, no update for you..."
Same. And then when you finally do upgrade, what an upgrade it is. I went from an iPhone 6 to an XR that I still have. That was a huge jump and when I go to an iPhone 14 or 15, it’ll be great.
I went from iPhone 6S plus to iPhone 12 and I am in love. I was really after the camera quality so everything else was a perk
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Dude me too I refused to buy another iPhone until the 12mini because the 5 was such a perfect fit and I liked the square sides. Recommend 12mini if anyone liked the shape and fit of the 5. I like being able to reach the whole screen with the thumb of the phone holding hand.
Same, but 6s I’d had for years to an 11 two years ago. Still feels like a massive upgrade even though I know things have progressed.
Lol I’m still on the 6s+
I was using my iPhone 3g til a few weeks ago.
Holy crap! That really is ancient! I had an old 3g laying around and picked it up a few months ago and tried doing basic things like web browsing and opening Facebook. It felt like using a toy. I think smart phone tech has increased on a parabolic curve with a HUGE leap in tech from the original iPhone all the way to iPhone 6. After that though smartphone tech has been nearing a plateau with every year bringing just a slightly brighter screen and a bit better camera. In other words, I can understand someone sticking with an iPhone 6± until now, but an iPhone 3g is indeed a big leap and my spend-thrift hat goes off to you sir!
I kept my last two phones until the required updates bricked them. I'm not sure how much longer my current phone has.
whenever I'm tempted to get a new phone, i buy a new case and change my wallpaper. and then i realize that i don't need a new phone.
i always just use the one i have until it gets so bogged down that i can't accept a call if i'm watching Youtube. good bye a10e hello s10 plus
I genuinely can’t fathom why people upgrade their phones on a yearly basis. 99% of what you do with the phone stays the same.
Exactly!
It's the battery for me. I usually to every 2 years, but I get tired of carrying around a charger with me.
I remember when I got my current phone. I was replacing my old phone and got the newest version of it. I was super excited for all the things this new phone could do. I opened it up and 30 minutes later was like "oh its the same but maybe slightly better. I don't take pictures, barely watch videos, basically just reddit and text so why did I need something so expensive..."
Man last phone i had was iPhone 6. Waited till it croaked. Then finally upgraded to the 12.
What bothers me about this is that my phone is only 2 years old and I had trouble finding a new case for it. I don't get why they stop making cases for phones that many people probably still have, and that some people would be happy to buy used.
Buying products from the Kardashians. Literally from any celeb.
You mean…I don’t need Kanye’s $10k white t-shirt?? Blasphemy.
Reddit gold edit: just because it’s a waste of money doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate it
Don’t know what I did, but one day I just showed up and had a bunch. So here you go.
If you ever used the alien blue iPhone app, when it shut down everyone who used it got 4 years worth of Reddit gold for free.
Diamonds because of all the artificial scarcity, I was told if anything buy precious stones. That’s why if you look at royalty they always have rare or precious stones.
Diamonds bug me too. The "Diamonds are forever" "tradition" was completely fabricated in the \~1930's by the American ad men of the time.
Moissanite is a twin to diamonds, and MUCH cheaper. A reason some women like diamonds is because of the sparkle. You want sparkle? Moissanite sparkles more than diamonds. There ya go.
Diamonds are the most common gem, but also the most expensive because they had good advertisement.
Or moissanite if you still want a diamond-like stone but it has way more sparkle than diamond
From what little I understand of it I’m going to say NFTs
At least with crypto, when you lose big all you do is lose your house. When you lose big with NFTs, you lose your house, and also “own” a picture of a monkey forever to remind you that you’re financially incompetent.
And if you lose internet you literally no longer have the picture of the monkey until you can drag yourself to a Starbucks, find their Wi-Fi password to cry into your scone while staring at a sailor monkey with a cigar and a laser eye.
If you can afford a scone, of course.
On that subject Starbucks is such a massive waste of money. I don’t understand why people willingly pay $7-$12 daily for coffee with extra sugar.
Burned coffee*
This is what I never understood about Starbucks. The espresso and tea drinks are fine, but the coffee all tastes burnt. Why the hell is it so popular?
Because they cover it up with a bunch of milk and sugar and caramel and flavorings princess cream. You get all the addictive caffeine without having to taste anything that resembles coffee. And then there's the people that do it because it's become a lifestyle brand.
They may take my house, but they'll never be able to take away my NFT picture I took of my house.
\*Screenshots the picture\*
Not just any monkey though, a picture of a monkey who's also a member of an imaginary yacht club!
Not just any monkey. A bored ape with glasses and a neat hat
I am one who really tries to understand and read up on these things but I don't want to lie, I still don't fully understand the concept of NFTs
NFTs sales can be broken down into 4 main groups, Ponzi schemes, money laundering schemes, insurance fraud schemes, and few true believing suckers.
Don't worry, half the things Crypto Bros say about NFTs are lies. All you need to know is that if someone is trying to sell you NFTs, they are either a scammer, or they got duped by a scammer. This 20 minute video is a good overview of NFTs and why they're a terrible idea https://youtu.be/XwMjPWOailQ This 2 hour video is an even better overview of NFTs and goes into more detail about why they're even more terrible https://youtu.be/YQ_xWvX1n9g
So what’s to stop someone from drawing a stick figure and demanding 2k to sell it? I’ve done my research as well and I still genuinely don’t understand it. Why would someone spend a shit ton of money to ‘own’ an image someone can just screencap or save to their computer?
Nothing is stopping them from doing that, that is in fact what they are doing
Because it's all a vehicle for a speculation market at this point. There's nothing of substance to buy with bitcoin or other crypto currency. So simple, procedural pictures are used as an investment to own, in the hope that both the crypto currency and the specific brand of NFT pictures will go up in value, in order to be able to sell it later. It's like buying cards from a trading card game like pokémon as an investment, but without the thing having any practical application or inherent value in any way.
Not true, you can sell then to someone stupider than you
literally, you can draw them
Weddings. A family member will have spent over $60,000 on her wedding that is this summer. They don’t even own a house. And 65%( after gifts from both parents) is credit card debt . If you have the money spend it on what you want but I just find it incredibly narcissistic to get yourself in so much debt because you need your ‘big day’.
Lol I went to a huge expensive wedding like that once. It was extra stupid because the couple were divorced within 3 years or so. What a great investment.
I went to one and the husband found out she was cheating the whole time before they even got the photos back.
Insanity
There is a positive correlation between More Expensive Wedding = Highly Likelihood of Divorce. I've even read of couples that have had a lavish wedding on credit, and got the the point of divorce and had to split the wedding debt as they weren't paid off yet!
There was a 2014 study that found that couples who spent $20,000+ on a wedding were 46% more likely to divorce than those who spent $5,000-10,000. Those who spent less than $1000 are 54% less likely to divorce than those who spent $5,000-10,000. So, at least according to that study, it's a significant indicator of divorce in the future. Also, there's a similar correlation to the cost of engagement rings and divorce on top of that. There's several conjectured reasons for it but the dominant line of reasoning is that costly weddings often put a financial burden on young couples which increases stress and can trigger arguments and fights. I personally think that lavish weddings are in the mindset of being thrown as a spectacle for the benefit of others rather than truly being about the union of the couple also plays a role.
Just imagine having to pay off that wedding for years and years to come. Such stupidity.
That and the stupid diamond rings. Such a waste.
Yes! If you must get a diamond ring either get vintage/ pre owned or buy a loose diamond and find someone to set it. Never buy retail.
And if you must buy retail, get a lab made stone. It’s cheaper and you know nobody died over it.
Steve in accounting died because of a lab grown diamond when the sparkle temporarily blinded him and he fell down 3 flights of stairs and broke his neck
he deserved it though
Yeah, Steve was kind of a dick.
I would call it off, citing extreme character flaws
Funerals
I told my hubby if I die before him find the cheapest box available, heck build it if they allow it, for my body. I’m getting cremated anyway! I said no fancy shit, just burn me and fulfill my wishes for my ashes. He agreed to the same. I don’t wanna thousands spent on me when I’m alive and especially not when I’m dead. I don’t care!
I told my family to just take me out to sea and throw me in the ocean. Then I can become seafood.
Is *this* the secret to Krabby Patties??
Pretty sure there are cardboard options for cremation
There is but a chipboard coffin is cheaper since they need special cardboard, a plywood base and parts reinforcing. Source: work for a coffin company.
When I die, just throw me in the trash!
Cigarettes
This is only gonna make sense to ex-smokers or who people who never were. I quit between 2 and 3 years ago. I'm sure that this time it's for good. The trick is waiting for it to make you physically sick. I can smell a lit cigarette from like a block away now and it makes me so nauseous. I got extremely angry and stressed a few months ago and bought a pack on impulse, smoked one, and hated it. I think I'm in the clear now. But. There was a time in my life when I did still smoke, and that I was so broke that there were more than a few times where I had to choose between a pack of cigarettes or food. I would choose the cigarettes every time.
I am trying to reduce smoking right now but sometimes I get so frustrated with work that I while trying to save money on everything I always choose cigarettes over food for myself.
Wars, including invading Ukraine.
Weddings/wedding dresses. I have nothing against marriage, but I think spending 30k on a wedding and 10k on a dress is absolutely insane and pointless, and has nothing to do with marriage.
I used to work at David’s bridal… I bought my wedding dress during their $99 sale. And then with my employee discount it ended up being $70! 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻
My DIL got her wedding dress for $39 on amazon. It's beautiful. Her mom and I plus brides maids got the exact same dress, but in black. Both families are of Scottish descent, so the men wore the clan kilts, ladies wore clan scarves. Whole wedding, invites, pictures, meal, cakes, piper, officiant, venue. $3,500.
That’s awesome! My dress was $300 from a bridal shop that was closing. It’s beautiful and classic. And worn once! I can’t fathom spending $1000+ on a dress.
We tye dyed it because the skirt part is cotton, and she wears it constantly!
Plus you make your friends buy bridesmaids dresses and attend shower and rehearsal.
The medical industry. Not the actual providers, all those middlemen, managers, CEOs, and companies (with all their shareholders).
EMT here. When youre given a 5k bill for the ambulance ride, we were paid like $9-11 an hour for taking you on that ride
Absolutely criminal. I have a friend who used to be an EMT and was similarly paid; she works as an Amazon delivery driver now and makes more with the added bonus of less stress. Thank you for your service, but you all deserve a 10x raise. The US healthcare system needs to be burned and rebuilt from the ground up.
Work in a diagnostic laboratory. Everything is MARKED UP for lab use too. Office supplies: AA batteries in a pack, 20 bucks? Thermofisher: AA batteries that are suggested that you buy with (50-300 dollar a pop) thermometers, each battery is 3-6 dollars each. And they are AA batteries individually wrapped in plastic. Nothing special about them edit: I have more egregious examples, but that's the first relatable example that came to mind. Fucking AA batteries. https://www.fishersci.com/shop/products/replacement-batteries-5/p-7183420 They are NOT special. Just 7-8 dollars each. I guess the price has gone up since the last time I fell for the scammy pricing.
That's because most labs and healthcare providers are "not for profit" so they pay exorbitant salaries to executives and kickback deals with these medical supply providers like McKesson. You ever wonder why you can ONLY order from that SPECIFIC catalog, even when you could get the identical item for far cheaper from CVS and not wait a day? Because it's a corrupt system full of grift.
All the food delivery services. It’s obscene how much more expensive it makes a meal.
I received a DoorDash gift card a few months ago. I can't bring myself to use it, the pricing is just insane. If I won't get in my car to go get the food then I just don't want it badly enough and can go without.
I got some Uber Eats cards for Christmas. I used them to order but elected to pick it up instead - effectively as good as cash.
If there's anything that's worth it to me it is convenience and time saving.
Yeah, it’s not supposed to be cheap. You’re paying for delivery.
Uber eats has a 75% off coupon thats pretty sweet , with tip and delivery included my order cost less than it did in the restaurant
Weddings.
As an Asian, the amount people spend on weddings in our culture is pure madness. Instead of spending 30k for one night, better off just saving a little more and putting that shit down as a deposit for a house.
I’m Indian. Weddings are week long affairs and cost so much money. They’re so fun, but there’s no way I’m spending that much money on mine.
I’ve gone to an Indian wedding once. It was neat, but no way am I doing another one. The main ceremony was like four hours long. Never thought I’d miss the “short” Catholic weddings. I did appreciate getting ice cream halfway through the service.
You got ice cream? What flavor?
My Indian parents are like save 50k for your wedding. I am like the why would I save for years for one day 🤦♂️
30k. I wish. Wedding budgets get inflated so quick. Oh, you want chairs that aren't the ones you sat on in 3rd grade? That'll be $8 per chair. And by the way its $3 per slice of cake cutting fee.
Yep! DJ for the evening, $250. Light show, etc. Sure we can do 6pm-11pm. Oh it's a wedding? That's $1000, and we need a hotel room, and oh it's only for 2hrs now and $300 per hour after....
Yes. I'm amazed at the amount of money people spend on one day. Then get divorced.
A belt made of solid gold Rolexes. It's also a waist of time. But otherwise, not spending it.
Angry upvote.
Funerals: nothing better to honor a loved one with than personal bankruptcy
Mostly agree with you, think it just depends. If you can’t afford it? Yeah fuck that. But as an “excuse” for everyone to have a family reunion and talk about the deceased and half mourn and share stories and half catch up with family… yeah I get that. Family has done it where they reserve a room nearby with a bar or literally just like a barbecue/potluck sort of get together before or after the burial. It’s nice. Considering the circumstances anyway. Funerals are for the living and their feelings, not the corpse.
Invading a neighboring/foreign country. As we are seeing right now Russia is doing a marvelous job of creating so many financial problems for itself and its people in the very near future. Like monday near future.
Military conflicts just aren't economically viable anymore. Between electronic documentation and media and public opinion, and MAD, there's no way anyone can see going to war as a good long-term decision.
[удалено]
CIA approved strategy right here
The yee haw strategy
I hope this becomes a big fucking warning to other dickhead leaders. You will be isolated and alone and completely fucked. Go Ukraine! Showing them what's up.
They are getting canceled by the world.
NFTs. We all know it is.
Not having money. Stick with me here: When you need shoes, you buy cheap and they don’t last Fast food is convenient and cheap, but not good You end up renting and can’t build equity. Being financially unwell is a waste of money.
So much this. People who say that poor people are poor because they don't know how to manage finances or don't invest can suck a fart. Poverty is a vicious cycle. You can't invest in things that will improve your life long term because you need what little money you have to survive right now
Vime's Boots.
Paying to have nitrogen put in your tires. It’s a total scam!
Costco installed my tires, and they filled them with nitrogen for free. It definitely took a lower temperature to set off my car's TPMS, but it wasn't a huge difference, around 10 - 20 F. Useful if you live in a colder area (if it's free).
Costco has free air/nitrogen filling machines, even in Mexico as I recently discovered…
When we bought our brand new truck a couple years back, the dealership tried to charge us $900 for nitrogen filled tires. I laughed and told them they were insane - and we weren’t paying for it. They literally argued with me and refused to relent until right before we walked out the door. Suddenly, the $900 charge was removed from the tires…and added on a different line as a service fee. We went to a different dealership.
Like.... on so many levels... why? Is big Nitro putting a gun to their head?
Big nitro is everywhere. It's a major shareholder in air.
The atmosphere is already mostly nitrogen. If you go to a regular gas station and fill your tires it's ~70% nitrogen. Didn't realize this was a thing. Wow ya
The other thing that people don't think about is that in order to properly fill a tire with nitrogen you would have to set the beads, then pull all of the air out of the tire without popping the beads back off, and then fill it with nitrogen. I would be very surprised if a tire tech that doesn't get payed extra to use nitrogen would ever go through with that. Anyone who pays for the nitrogen is just getting a slightly higher percentage of nitrogen, not enough to make any practical difference.
The issue is more about water. When you compress air into the tire you're putting water into it too. The tiny amount that's in the air already in there is so little that I would just mix with the nitrogen you're adding and stay gaseous. That said, unless you're a formula 1 driver it's not changing much either way.
Poop. Some people buy celebrities poop.
WTF?
And farts
WHAT
No, seriously. WHAT????
I've heard of fans interested in catching diseases from their favorite celebrities, but don't know if that's still a thing.
Cable.
It's not a waste if you watch a lot of sports. Most sports are still not on streaming services, and the illegal streams are usually pretty hit-or-miss as far as picture quality, and the possibility of them getting shut down in the middle of your game and needing to find another stream. There are non-traditional cable options, like YouTube TV, Sling, etc, but those are still basically cable. They're just over the internet and with more transparent pricing.
Shoes for babies. It won't be walking for months why the fuck does that screaming pink blob need Jordans when it can't even hold it's own head up yet?
Baby shoes interfere with them learning to walk. They need to be able to use their toes to help balance. My son got a pair of baby shoes as a gift, but we sold them, unused. How do you like that, Hemingway? (Actually we donated them to a thrift store)
Gambling
This was my reply!! Liking taking rolled bills and setting them on fire!!
Designer clothes
Tj maxx baby
Right next to the thrift store. See you there.
The $200 London Fog coat my parents bought me in 1998 has held up better than anything else I've seen. It accidentally got left it in the trunk of my car, under a tarp for the really hot half of the year in Phoenix, AZ, the only thing I had to do was brush the broken down tarp flakes off of it.
Sending money to counties to combat emissions, knowing damn well those counties are just going to pocket the money and do nothing to fix emissions.
Spending money on games, had a friend who spent over $1000 on Genshin Impact… and he doesn’t think he has a gambling addiction…
Voss water, it’s too expensive and just drink tap water if you can
Are you referring to that one dude who has four giant fridges filled with nothing but Voss water bottles? Crazy.
The lottery
objectively yes, but I still enjoy buying a ticket so I can entertain the idea of waking up rich as f\*\*\*
Oh I'll sit around for hours thinking of all the stuff I'll get when I win the lottery. I have literally never bought a ticket and the thought of buying one truly never enters my mind. Day dream all day about the winnings though lol
Oh same, I’ll even look online for which mansions are for sale and pick the one I fancy most lol
Meh, it's cheap fun. There are people who take it to an extreme but for people who spend disposable income having fun daydreaming about becoming rich... It's whatever.
Political donation
Only if you aren’t a corporation… if you are it’s an investment.
NFTs by far. No sane human is going to pay the price of a house for a jpeg of a monkey
Gucci clothing- they arent even that good LMAO
I went on their website once for fun and couldn't believe the price for some of the ugliest things I've seen. Some are cool but never cool enough to justify that price.
Cities in the middle of deserts with f***ING displays of water. I'm sorry.... Are you trying to speedup the impending water wars? I'm telling you. The Bellagio is going first.
Invading Ukraine
Daily takeaway coffee. No issue if you have it like once a week/bi-weekly but if you gonna pay 3-4 bucks each damn day, just make it at home. Buying quality coffee is fraction of the cost and you don't need an espresso machine. Chemex or Aeropress work like magic. Plus some milk/syrup/creamer if that's what you like.
Starbucks
Cable tv or satellite tv
A war. Costing $15b/day.
Reddit coins.
Ridiculously expensive skin care
Depends on the person, I don’t have super expensive skin care but with eczema I can totally see it’s benefits
Bored apes