They say timing is everything, so these people apparently missed out on everything.
1. Getting in shape
Getting in shape. It's obviously great for you physically, but you don't really realize how great it is for you mentally until you've done it. Biggest confidence boost in the world.
WakaFlakkaSeagulls & CrimsonPig
2. Being friendly
Being very friendly to everyone. You have to be extra careful with people that try to take advantage of it, but man, the doors it opens for you. It's amazing.
Being a lovely person really pays off.
3. Prepping the night before
Prepping my day the night before. I pick out my outfit, make sure my lunch is packed, have my breakfast easily readily, and make sure I take the things I need for the day (letters to be delivered, shopping list, etc.) I am not a morning person so I make sure I can do my mornings with as little effort as possible.
Alternatively, getting up 2 hours before you actually have to. It's really nice having enough free time in the morning to play some video games, watch a few episodes of your favorite show, or go somewhere for breakfast.
It makes going to bed easier too, because you know that you'll have some time to goof off after you get up.
The only hard part is that it requires the discipline to go to bed at a reasonable hour and then wake up early.
4. Going to therapy
Talking to a professional about my mental health problems.
5. Ending toxic friendships
Ending unfulfilling friendships.
6. Pancakes with chocolate chips
A lot of these are really inspirational and deep, but honestly I hate that I waited so long to start putting chocolate chips on my pancakes.
7. Meditation
Meditating every day. In the beginning it's like why the f I'm doing this I look like a spiritual wannabe, this is pointless, this is stupid... My mind is racing and seems I can't get through the thought storm they just pop up of nowhere and very fast and there's such a mess... After five minutes (Continued)
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after 5 minutes, thoughts lose intesity. After ten minutes I'm calm. After fifteen minutes I'm like "This is working, wow!". After 20 minutes I forgot why I was thinking so much in the first place and forgot about the I. After some months of everyday practice, I notice how thoughts are tools that can make a better and happier me. And I started to recognize the patterns. I call them "thought traps". So I meditate every day to remind myself that thoughts are not me.
8. Being on the right anti-depressant
Being on an Anti-Depressant that works. it was like HOLY CRAP, this is what normal people feel like?!
9. Switching to men's razors
As a lady, switching to men's razors.
I am never, ever, going back.
10. Using wet wipes
Using wet wipes on my bumhole.
11. Doing things immediately
Not procrastinating.
My life changed for the better in so many ways when I made the decision to stop putting things off and grab the bull by the horns.
12. Flossing.
The dentist always asked me how often I flossed, and I would lie. Then my gums would bleed from him vigorously flossing them for me. I soon learned (Continued)
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I soon learned how to properly floss, and how to remove any gunk in my teeth. To this day, my teeth ALWAYS look perfect!
[deleted]
13. Saving money.
If you just have a separate account where you can dump a little bit of money out of each paycheck, it's pretty easy to save.
14. Squats.
Just 30-50 squats a day and my bum is so much higher and firmer after only a month! It's kind of crazy. And now I feel stronger and my knees don't click as much. Who knew?
15. Cooking nachos the right way
Cooking nacho in the oven with a broiler instead of the microwave. A true game changer.
16. Quitting smoking
I quit smoking cigarettes 2 years ago and I've honestly never felt better about myself.
No more feeling like death in the morning. No more standing in the cold or rain to have a smoke. Plus this has been said before but I have so much extra money to spend on beer now.
17. Writing in pen instead of pencil.
Mrs. Jenowith doesn't like it, but whatever. I hated sharpening pencils. So much free time to play pogs with Brian and ransom his bike.
18. Running.
It took me a few weeks to get into without feeling close to death, but damn. Once I did... (Continued)
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I still suck at it, but I can do it. The cardiovascular improvement alone is worth it. I like being able to run up steps now without doubling over in pain.
19. Eating steaks medium rare.
Always had them well done at home. Moved out, wife introduced me to what I was missing out on. I weep for my past self.
20. Oral B
This battery operated tooth brush was a life changer for me. Teeth feel like I just left the dentist office every day. I can't believe people still use conventional tooth brushes.
21. Geocaching
I have travelled many times before, but little did I know that there were hundreds of small boxes nearby!
22. Rock climbing.
Started 5 years ago at age 29. It has completely opened up the world to me. Started camping, traveling, saving more money, getting in better shape, made me mentally super strong, destroyed depression, crushed my mood swings.
23. Listening to podcasts.
24. Washing my face properly
I used to have horrible skin through out most of my life, no matter the face wash I used I had painfully red pimples and like those aggrivated ones that sort of form like a mount Olympus on my cheeks and for head. So my confidence was (Continued)
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My confidence was non existent and the majority of the day all I did was hide my face from people and try to find different ways to cover it up. All it took was rather than using my hands I swapped over to a wash cloth with deep cleaning facial soap, it was rough at first and hurt because my skin was always sensitive from the acne. But now I literally rarely ever get break outs anymore, the extra exfoliant from the texture of the handtowel must've worked in the soap more. Sounds simple as shit but it was like a break through for me.
SavageDax
Wearing yoga pants.
Comfiest pants ever.
25. Drawing
I learnt to draw in five days using a book called "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" because it was referenced in some TedTalk and on the first day I was copying mediaeval woodcuts in almost exact detail. It also made my friends say "Holy crap, why didn't you start doing this sooner?"
26. Leaving my hair natural.
Drying and straightening my (thick) hair takes about 2-3 hours, going with my natural curls takes a few minutes to spray and scrunch it with a towel then it's done. The only downside is it takes 4 hours to air-dry so I can't do that at night.
27. Telling people I love them
I was super in love with this girl from high school, but I was too shy to tell her. I always thought, "now's not the best time" or "maybe she'll reject me" or whatever. There were a million excuses and I fed into every one of them. We got older and moved away to different cities for university, then eventually stayed in those cities for work. We talked occasionally online, and whenever we were in each others' cities or back in our home town, we would meet up. Being with her was the most natural, comforting, exhilarating feeling I've ever had. I'm sure if you've ever met a perfect match you'll know the feeling.
Anyway, I didn't tell her how I felt. And one morning, I got a call from her mother to tell me that (Continued)
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to tell me that she had suddenly died in a car crash. Her mother said, "I just have to tell you one thing, and I know she was shy but she would have wanted you to know that she was so in love with you."
10 years ago and I still think about her every day. How it could have been different. How I regret not telling her. There are so many regrets I have around that. Now, I tell everyone how I feel. I tell my friends and family that I love them all the time. I tell people how much they mean to me, because you really never know.
[deleted]
28. Shaving my head.
Hair, is some bullcrap.
No more buying shampoo. Or conditioner. No bed head after getting up in the morning. I feel far less disgusting before my morning shower. Wind is no problem. Hats are no problem.
Man, eff hair.
29. Using a menstrual cup.
If you're considering it... do it!
30. Stopped drinking.
I was putting down over 3 pints of whiskey per day. Went to detox and I'm so glad I did. I didn't realize just how badly it was affecting multiple aspects of my life. Haven't had a drink in over three weeks. Lost a few pounds too.
31. Trekking alone.
You become a different person when you are trying to conquer a mountain all by yourself.
Image source: Marcos Mesa Sam Wordley / Shutterstock.com
Article source: Reddit
Companies are typically in business for profit, and very few have the goal of keeping the customer's interests in mind.
But some corporations go even further to get more out of their customer in exchange for their "quality services" and as a result, the line between general business and scam becomes blurred.
Redditor jwwin asked:
"What is a predatory business that shouldn't be legal, but is?"
Students paying an exorbitant amount in tuition in order to seek higher learning should be warned there are additional expenses to cover for.
A Textbook Example
"College textbooks, they will release an 'updated' edition every semester but the information doesn't change. And then after you spent a fortune on the books the places that buy textbooks will give you like 5% of what you paid for the book."
– teethalarm
A "Double Whammy"
"Former Prof here. I talked with a book rep about this once and learned a lot. It is a bit complicated but worth understanding. Book publishers rely on large quantity sales to make any money on a book because the cost of production is so high up front (author, editors, printing, etc.). So, for a book to be profitable, it has to sell a lot of copies to spread the cost of production across all the books. A paperback in the fiction section might sell 100,000 or more. A textbook might sell as few as 1,000. So, the publisher needs everyone to buy the book to break even."
"Now add colleges into the mix. Somewhere in the 1980s (give or take), colleges saw publishers selling books and making larger profits on them than the college bookstore was making per book. So they got the bright idea to start buying used texts and reselling them. Before that, a text would come out and 97% (making the number up but it was close to that) of the students would buy the book in year one, 85% in year two, 75% in year three, 60% in year four and 50% in year five. A $50 dollar book would cost $25 to make (again, making the numbers up), sell to the bookstore for $40 ($15 publisher profit), and be sold to the student for $50 ($10 bookstore profit). Across the five years, the producer would make a profit."
"Then, college bookstores began offering students $25 for a used book and selling it for $40 ($15 profit - $5 higher than that of a new book). Students would then prefer the $40 used book over the $50 new book. But that cut the publisher's sales from 97% to 50% in the first year. Because they could not sell as many books they had to do two things: (1) raise the initial price of the text to cover the production cost in 1-2 years rather than 4-5 years, and (2) cut the cycle down from 4-5 years to 1-2 years to ensure that they got sales of the book. That is a double whammy. Texts that used to cost $50 now cost $300 or more. And they have a new version out every 18 months or so. Students refuse to pay that price and that cuts the sales numbers even further forcing the price up again. And, with new editions out so frequently, it is harder to sell them back to the bookstore."
"That's why you see so many 'course packs' now - where a professor will pick a few pages from a book to give to the students. I went from having nearly every student purchasing a text in my early career to having zero students with a text late in my career. Your professor probably dislikes the state of affairs as much as you do. I cut down what books I would select because I could not justify students paying that much for what they were getting. I would also recommend students look for older editions on Amazon and the like which got me in trouble with my administration because I was not supporting the bookstore. But, it was difficult to teach from a text that no one had or had access to. The University's desire to generate revenue from texts truly was killing the chicken because it was not producing enough eggs."
"So look for an older edition on Chegg, Amazon, or the like and match it up with what your professor is teaching from the new edition. You are right, it probably has not changed. Be careful for the problems at the end of the chapter - that is often where the changes are."
– BewnieBound
These businesses parade as services but they are notorious for taking more than what you're willing to pay for.
For A Future Owner
"Rent to Own (furniture, appliances, TVs, video game systems, etc.) The mark up on the interest over time ends up costing 4 times the purchase - or more."
– PartyAlarmed3796
"Well the trick is to not pay (seems to be what a lot of people do)."
– Expensive_Ad2695
"Which is why those places are so expensive and why they're actually kinda necessary for some people."
"They're taking a pretty big risk on people with no credit, and if a person with shi*ty credit needs a refrigerator or other necessary appliance, there's usually nobody else willing to work with them. Also, most of them report to credit agencies so you can build your credit through them."
"I'm not a fan by any means and I hate that people are buying video game systems and couches through them, but I still think they're filling a need."
– Pitiful-Pension-6535
Money Sucker
"Payday loan companies – they're like financial vampires, sucking the life out of people with high-interest rates."
– neonliolia
"And yet most of them are owned by major banks... hmmmm."
"Bank of America, Wells Fargo, US Bank, JP Morgan/Chase collectively all own the largest payday lender companies."
– Bramtyre
"In Canada, there is an effort to turn Canada Post into a kind of bank that offers basic banking services to the most vulnerable. Not sure what happened to that, but it was an alternative to check cashing and payday loan rackets."
– hobbitlover
Greedy Event Vendor
"Ticket Master."
– LTVOLT
"Agreed. We went to a preseason hockey game the other week. Tickets were $5 each but there was around $8 of Ticketmaster fees for each one and you had to use their app to get in the door because the barcodes change like every 30 seconds or something. It's ridiculous."
– darfus1895
Where can citizens turn to receive genuine care without drying up their financial resources?
Big Pharma
"Health Insurance and over priced perscription drugs."
"Wife is type 1 diabetic. Her pump is over $1000 a month WITH 50% coverage. $177 for just the sensor pack. We have the best coverage we can afford."
– Dukeboys_
"US pays the middle man for health care coverage. The middle man and the health care provider come up with "health packages" you can buy into, just in case you get sick. It's just sick how they funnel money from the middle class into this."
– dcoolidge
"Healthcare insurance industry. They can straight up reject claims you should be covered for and make you jump through near endless hoops to get them to pay for the service that is part of your plan."
– ColdHardPocketChange
All Out To Get Ya
"Homeopathic 'medicine' sellers."
"Psychics"
"Domain search engine registration scams (fake emails or physical mail that shows up saying 'your domain search registration is about to expire' and look exactly like warnings that your domain name is about to expire)"
"Fake homeowner warranty/car warranty scams loaded with so many limitations and exclusions they’ll basically never pay out."
"Multilevel marketing systems like Amway."
– 4wqrewtety
Losing Sight Of Kids' Well-Being
"From my experience working in group homes for youth are awful. The owners only want money and the more kids in care the more money."
– OddReputation3765
Going Nowhere Fast
"Car insurance."
"You get penalized for using it. Even just once in some cases."
– Effective_Sundae_839
"1000% agree. I was rear ended by a hit and run driver while i was stopped at a stop sign. Literally came to a stop for 3 seconds max and got destroyed. Car insurance wanted to give me 4k and shut me up. It’s called the nuisance fee. I eventually lawyered up and got 25k out of it. But like wtf. B*tch that’s what we PAY FOR, following renewal of my policy it increased hundreds of dollars a month and that was even after i switched to a different company. 'A claim is a claim regardless who is at fault.'”
– HitBackZach
Businesses taking advantage of their customers should be a crime, yet here we are.
What companies can you think of that legally continue to look after their own profitable interests above providing a decent service?
