Thursday, September 13, 2007

10 Things People Buy All the Time That Are a Complete Waste of Money


1. Landline Phones

Most people have them for two reasons. One, they have always had them and have just kept them. Two, they think it is more secure than a cell phone. It is ridiculous to not have replaced your landline phone by now. Everyone already has a cell phone and with all the cell phone packages out there you can have plenty of phones for the whole family. You can even have one that does nothing but sit on the desk at home for 1/3 of the price of a landline. Don't give me the BS of you have to pay for a landline to get DSL either. Not true. You have to have the lines in the house but they want you to pay for a phone but don't require it. Is it really worth $30 + a month for the insurance that it would work if a natural disaster took out all the cell towers? Heck it would most likely take out the landlines with it. PS Sure you can get a landline cheaper than a cell but then you don't have a cell. If you have a cell you don't need a landline.

2. A new golf driver every time they come out with the "the bigger/ different better driver"
You're going to learn sooner or later. The $300 you keep spending on the driver isn't helping you one bit unless your swing is getting better as well. Your ego is bigger but not your drive. Put the money into lessons PS: Those expensive golf balls aren't helping your bottom line or your game either.

3. A new car

Rich people don't drive new cars. They drive expensive cars, but they let someone else take the heavy depreciation on the first few years. For the rebuttal that rich people buy expensive cars all the time. True but they are in the income class that saving money is of no concern. Also, don't give me the old "I don't want someones handmedownds" or " I like that new car smell" Nice cars are taken care of and letting someone else break her in is not a bad thing. The new leather smell lasts for years and parking it in the hot sun will give you that new car smell again if you have leather. The warranty issue is no longer a problem as well due to the fact warranties are getting longer and stay with the car, no matter who the owner is. Save your money for the 9 mpg your Porche is going to get.

4. Extended warranties

What a crock. Best Buy admits most of their profits came from these for a few years. It's a proven fact that if you buy a high quality product and save the money you would have spent on the extended warranty, over the life of the product you will come ahead. They ONLY way you should ever get one is if you intend to do things to the product that the warranty probably wouldn't cover anyway. PS, the cell phone insurance is the worst. Unless you have a $300 phone, the odds say you can save the monthly fee and if you do lose or break you phone, you can buy a new one on ebay and transfer the sim.

5. A Soloflex.

You're not going to use it. How many tens of millions of people have been suckered into thinking they are going to lose weight and work out with this fine piece of gym equipment? The guy in the comercial does have a nice body but I am going to guess he didn't get it on the soloflex. Just buy a bench and a few dumbells. At least you can use the dumbells to hold the door open.

6. Hair Salon Shampoo

Women are more guilty of this than men. There is a reason they ask you if you need more shampoo every time you get your hair cut. It is a scam. The shampoo that they charge you $30 is no better than the $5 drug store shampoo despite the fact "you are sure" it's better. Look at the ingredients. Save your money for the brazilian wax.

7. Designer Jeans

If your butt looks good it really doesn't matter what jeans you put them in to. I realize they are fashion statements but if you really want to draw attention, a couple lunges and running a few miles a day will draw much more attention than a pair of $100 jeans. I am not saying to go out and buy a pair of dark blue farmer jeans, just a normal pair of $20-$30 pair of nice fitting jeans is all you need.

8. E-Books

There isn't anything in any of those online e-books they try to sell you that you can't find yourself on the internet. I don't know why anyone would spend money on these things but millions do. Save your money and buy some coffee ( not the coffee below) to keep you awake while you surf through google. By the way , I'll be selling this list as an ebook in the future

9. Premium Coffee

Starbucks has you suckered. You think spending $3 on a few coffees a day is OK. It's not. It has financially replaced the 2 pack a day smoking habit. The $3 a day put into a retirement plan yielding 8% annually would net you 300 grand in 40 years. And most people drink two

10. Lottery Tickets
Gambling is stupid. I've said it a million times. Trading has some skill behind it and it is possible to succeed. Lottery tickets have 0% chance of paying off. Yes, some win hundreds of millions. Yet if you played for ever you would never win because 50% of the money is taken out and only half is given back. You are so much better off taking the $1 a day and putting it in your glove box. At least at the end of the year you are guaranteed to win $365.

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For those that don't exercise, any

For those that don't exercise, any equipment is useless at home. For those that want to strengthen their body for the long term (life), then the Soloflex is great for the variety, flexibility and durability that it provides.

It's not for the faint of heart or determination.

For more on this, check soloflexvideo.com

I agree with Arielle, I have lots of

I agree with Arielle, I have lots of jeans and there is a big difference. I paid 120 euros for my jeans, the kind you wear for 1 years to have that perfect fit, sounds dumb, and actually disgusting nothing leaving them outside and air freshner won´t fix. Everything else I agree with.

I'd agree with most everything except

I'd agree with most everything except the shampoo and jeans comments. I've tried the $2 per bottle generic shampoo vs. my favorite bottle of Redken, and, no, they absolutely do not yield the same results. The ingredients are different, if you want to look. In some cases, you do get what you pay for.
As far as jeans go, I'm a fashion designer, so don't try to tell me I don't know what I'm talking about. There is a huge difference between designer jeans and jeans from say... the Gap. Jeans from the Gap are cotton woven similar to denim, but not quite the same. It's just a plain basket weave. Designer jeans, however, are real "denim," woven with a diagonal twill weave that looks nicer (has more texture) and feels much softer. It's also much stronger and more durable. Typically, designer or expensive jeans are also cut much more closely to true sizing and will fit better. Good jeans are worth paying money for. Now, I'm not saying go out and buy 15 pairs -- one or two will do. But cheap jeans simply won't cut it.

So there, there is a difference.

i totally believe in the article. it

i totally believe in the article. it is true that americans are fatter and more overweight than any other country in the world because we have to eat to much. We spend more money than any other country in the world in that we have a distorted thought that everyone has to have the flashy new car, new stereo, new cell phone etc. (we got by for 100's of years w/o cell phones), and expensive xmas gifts. We think and believe we have to spend alot of money to just really stay with the jone's. Americans need to change the whole thought process and start to save money instead of buying and spending money. The bottom line is that americans are selfish and spoiled. The country is spinning into a serious recession and maybe a depression. None of us have enough money to live on if this happens, look at all the foreclosure problems, we spend too much.

Re: AnonI dont know a single wealthy

Re: Anon

I dont know a single wealthy individual that will buy a new car. Everyone I know with exotics, some owning more than $2m in cars alone, refuse to buy a brand new car.

And those people buying the brand new Ferraris and Lambos are called Persians.... or just someone with a chimp for a money manager.

my cell phone costs way more than my

my cell phone costs way more than my land line.

who buys new drivers? what the hell is a new driver?

rich people don't buy new cars? so the guy who drove the new ferrari / porshe / maserati / etc. off the lot, you're telling me he wasn't rich?

aveda shampoo, particularly the rosemary mint one... way better than the cvs variety.

who sells jeans for $20... i buy mine at t.j. max and they're almost always $30 or more... the occasional $100 pair is totally worth it if i can exist in them for a year.

the content in most ebooks is definitely not available for free online. questia.com is one of the greatest bargains going.

1) You need a phone line for DSL. Most

1) You need a phone line for DSL. Most companies won't sell "naked DSL" service and if they do it's more expensive than just getting a phone line. Don't say get a cable modem because DSL whoops cables ass in my area (20 megabit vs 4). Oh yeah, I also need a phone line for the call box in my building's lobby.

4) You got it entirely wrong. Instead of buying expensive stuff (which is usually the same quality but just more expensive), buy the absolutely cheapest stuff and keep replacing it. It's cheaper to just throw it away and buy a new one.

I use a landline phone... shared with

I use a landline phone... shared with my roomates... I pay about $3.95 a month. Find me a cellphone for that cheap and maybe I'll read the rest of you're horrible blog entry.

$30- $40 jeans?! On what planet? If you

$30- $40 jeans?! On what planet? If you buy cheap jeans they will look awful and you will never wear them. Now THAT is a waste. Better to buy a quality expensive pair and live in them!

From #2 "Those expensive golf balls are

From #2 "Those expensive golf balls are helping your bottom line or your game either."

I think you mean 'aren't' helping...

Depending on a cell-phone is not a

Depending on a cell-phone is not a realistic option if you live anywhere outside if a major city. In my town cell-phone coverage is poor at best, and the majority of my house doesn't get any coverage. Even coverage in cities is poor in Canada, my old apartment (11th floor in a large city overlooking at least 3 cell towers) got very poor reception.

Other than that I agree with your other options.

Wow. The only one of those I have ever

Wow. The only one of those I have ever considered buying is the landline phone which, alas, is necessary in many areas of the UK for broadband Internet.

Oh no wait; I think I bought a lottery ticket once. So you're out by about 1 in 10,000 for frequency but otherwise dead on.

Don't forget bottled water. It costs

Don't forget bottled water. It costs roughly 1000 times more than tap water.

You sir, are a dum-dum, and have

You sir, are a dum-dum, and have absolutely no idea of what you are talking about. I still have not figured out how a blogger can make any money, who really cares what other people say, get a life and go out and meet people, dum-dum