People really love to overspend their money.
Why is that?
I account for every nickel.
The line "it's just money" is also tossed about while someone is making a ridiculous buy.
I mean yes, have fun, treat yourself.
But pay attention before you toss it down the drain.
A savings account is a good thing. Not 10 iPhones.
Redditorcaloriedeficit101wanted to talk about all the ways we should be saving coin instead of throwing it away.
They asked:
"What in your opinion is the biggest waste of money?"
Let's see where people like to spend the most.
Useless Bits
happy snow GIF by MasholandGiphy"Gold flake covered food."
TheShoot141
"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."
buttgers
The Scam
"Ticketmaster’s fees. F**k that company."
JuanPancake
"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."
conipto
Foot Love
"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."
nollyson
"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."
katindra
Claims Death
"Unused gym memberships. Subscriptions to services I rarely (if ever) use. Insurance, when as soon as you make a claim, your premium increases."
Teacher-Investor
"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 f**k me with circumstances completely beyond my control, can you not f**k me for that too? Your literal sole purpose is to solve my financial issues during this not elevate them. I pay you to stop me from being messed with."
bob0979
Every Other Year?
electronics GIF by South Park Giphy"Buying new electronics every year just because it’s a new model."
Primary_Asparagus_58
This is so true. I'll say it again... we don't need every new IPhone. It's an updated camera!
Not soo rare...
Fashion Style GIFGiphy"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."
MarcoNoPollo
Bad Peak
"Often out of season fruits (like strawberries in the winter) are really expensive and taste like water."
qquackie
"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."
mamoocando
Product Share
"Buying products from the Kardashians. Literally from any celeb."
Redittoranian
"Haven’t tried Rare Beauty, but I swear by the Fenty foundation, all the other brand I tried made my face all sweaty and wet after some time. This one stays a while and leave my face soft. Cannot say about other Fenty products tho, but love the foundation."
Nyctangel
"I bought Lady Gaga branded Oreos once because I wanted the Oreos (though I am a fan of LG nonetheless) and I felt stupid handing them over to the person on the till."
cragglerock93
Picture It
"From what little I understand of it I’m going to say NFTs."
Daydreamer631
"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."
DanF**kingSchneider
"They may take my house, but they'll never be able to take away my NFT picture I took of my house."
nonnativetexan
Burn me Baby
Back To Black Dirt GIF by Amy WinehouseGiphy"Funerals."
EatingUranium
"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 crap, 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!"
dawny2scotland
Big Day
"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.'"
lidder444
Smoked
"Cigarettes."
AimlessCreator
"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."
fokkoooff
Good Health
"The medical industry. Not the actual providers, all those middlemen, managers, CEOs, and companies (with all their shareholders)."
brushpickerjoe
"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."
Lev0nia
Mealtime
youtube lol GIF by Guava JuiceGiphy"All the food delivery services. It’s obscene how much more expensive it makes a meal."
chadwicke619
"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."
bumpercarbustier
Border Issues
"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."
deejayhill
"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."
Red-7134
cheap, but not good...
"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."
smack4u
"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."
mascottaricotta
Air Pressure
"Paying to have nitrogen put in your tires. It’s a total scam!"
VTX1800F
"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)."
NoBreakfast4061
Roll with it...
Dice Vegas GIF by The WeekndGiphy"Spending money on games, had a friend who spent over $1000 on Genshin Impact… and he doesn’t think he has a gambling addiction."
Rykona26
Entertainment Issues
"Cable."
Excellentbees
"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."
JMS1991
Walk Away
"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)."
CrabbyBlueberry
Save your coins. You don't need all the things.
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Reddit user Janine_18 asked:
"What's the one thing you'll never tell your SO?"
Love/Hate Relationship
"She loves her siblings and hates her parents."
"I hate her siblings and love her parents."
"They were very tight with their parents for the first 3 years of our relationship, and in 2017-2018 all hell broke loose so to say. My partner has no personal animus towards her parents, she is however extremely close to her older sibling who has a heap of problems with their parents."
"My partner follows their lead and it guides her own relationship with their parents. And the reason her siblings have huge problems with their parents is that they retired, moved 20(!) whole minutes away from their childhood home and went on a vacation for a month.
"They are apparently 'selfish', 'inconsiderate', and 'don’t think of themselves as parents'. This despite the fact that they call and visit for every holiday, birthday, promotion, celebration of any kind. Dog and babysit. Frequently host. Communicate well."
"No the absolute truth is that my partner's siblings are black holes and not great."
"Would 'I radically dislike your one sibling and don’t trust the other at all” be a viable middle ground?'."
~ Agreed_fact
Sweet Tooth
"A few years ago, my girlfriend put a candy bowl in our hallway at our apartment for Halloween. She came home that day to discover that nobody took any candy, and she was a little bummed."
"Over the course of that week, I'd take candy out before work or when she was asleep."
"She got so happy that 'the neighbors loved the candy'. She does this every year now, and I have to continuously swipe the candy and pretend it is the neighbors."
"It makes her happy, and I get free candy. Win win."
~ AlecsWebHair
GiphyIn It For the House
"That I know she cheated on me and the only reason I haven't left her is because the mortgage interest rates are a bit high so I can't comfortably buy her half of the equity we have in the house."
"I got a valuation, a mortgage pre-approval, and a lawyer all ready to go... But would only have about $21 per week to spare... I'd be screwed the first time a major appliance or the car breaks down..."
~ H_He_Metals
Mommy Dearest
"That her mother is a bad person in disguise of a caring and beloved figure."
~ Relative_Rich8169
"My pet name for my girlfriend is Bambi."
"She thinks it's because has big brown eyes, but really it's because I want to shoot her mother with a rifle."
~ airblizzard
Giphy"That's my mother in law. For her daughter, she'll do anything... to the point that it's overbearing and controlling and difficult to deal with."
"And for everyone else, she is one of the least empathetic people I've ever met..."
"She CRIED when Rush Limbaugh died, and she literally said the Proud Boys are like the Boy Scouts. But she'll drop $2,000 on Christmas presents for one person like it's nothing, so she thinks she's owed respect and kind words."
"I literally had to tell her at one point, 'If you want me to stop calling you a Nazi, buying me more presents or arguing with me isn't going to do it, you have to stop saying Nazi-friendly sh*t'. But she didn't stop, of course."
"She thought COVID was no big deal until a family member died of it."
"She also makes tons of snide comments about my work. I'm a lawyer in Big Law, I make great money but it's soul sucking and I never wanted to do this forever, I want to work for the government."
"She'll see a postal worker and say 'That'll be you one day, government worker, not a great way to provide for my daughter'."
"Her daughter, my wife, is a DOCTOR who is going to make more than I do no matter what job I work, and she herself is a dentist who worked until her banker husband could retire at the same time as her."
"She talks sh*t about how I made her daughter an atheist (I didn't, she did that on her own), but she herself has NEVER read the Bible and hasn't been to church in 20 years."
"She unironically believes in aliens, Big Foot, and ghosts, and thinks she saw Mother Mary in the sky."
"All the bad things I tend to think about Republicans (they don't care about an issue until it personally affects them, they have no standards except double standards, they use religion as a cudgel but don't actively live a spiritual life, they believe insane sh*t with zero evidence, they're old fashioned and judgy and can't accept that the world is changing around them, etc...) is her to the letter."
~ 2Charming-Fig-2544
Magic the Retirement Fund
"How much my Magic the Gathering collection is worth."
"They'll absolutely try to get me to sell some of it."
"It's my precious."
~ Ganthamus_prime
GiphyFirst Impressions
"When he and I first met, I was CERTAIN he was gay."
"He is very much NOT gay."
"And he will NEVER know I ever thought this."
~ ShinyIrishNarwhal
No Llama Drama
"When me and my wife first started dating, I had a dumb canvas painting with a llama and rabbit on it that I found at Walmart. I showed it to her and told her how much I loved it just because it was just such a dumb random thing to find."
"For some reason she took that as I love llamas and that they are my favorite animal. So now, every time she sees one or something with a llama on it I see her brighten up to show me and I get excited with her!"
"Llamas are not my favorite animal. Never have been. I don’t know how she made this connection, but i will never tell her otherwise because seeing her face light up every time is way better."
~ WhereTheChapstickAt
GiphyRelationship by Google
"I spend a couple hours doing research on how to make relationships work and keep her happy in the long run."
"She thinks I'm this awesome perfect guy but I just do what the internet tells me."
~ BadRobot___
Chemical Warfare
"He thinks I don’t fart around him because I’m too shy or polite."
"It’s really because they are so bad they could kill a horse."
~ Neonpantsuit
GiphyAre There Raisins?
"I don't like the potato salad she makes, and she always tries to make it as a treat for me."
"It's my mom's recipe, but doesn't taste like mom's."
~ Bean_Juice_Brew
*yawn* 🥱
"The spot you make me sleep in on the bed is uncomfortable but I lay there because you're comfortable where you are."
~ legacyrisky
GiphyConfessions
"We’re both in college, and last semester we both had a cold at some point. He had it much, much worse than I did, so I went to class and he skipped."
"Afterwards, I went to his dorm to share notes and take a nap. I was almost asleep, and I’m assuming he thought I was, because I felt him squeeze me and whisper, 'I love you so f**king much'.”
"It was the sweetest thing ever and I’m never telling him I know he did that."
~ scorpiomooon
Maybe a Farm Upstate?
"I definitely didn't kill that massive spider, and I have no idea where it went."
~ Cothak88
GiphySo, these weren't too awful, right?
What secrets are you keeping?
People's Wildest 'WTF Is Wrong With You?' Experiences
We all have that moment where someone we know says something so completely absurd, the only response we think of is 'WTF is wrong with you?'
Sometimes, it's something woefully inaccurate that you can't wrap your head around the fact that someone believes that.
Othertimes, it's something completely offensive and you regret your association with that person.
My college roommate was a girl I knew from my high school. I didn't know her too well, but we had some big things in common, so I figured it'd be fun to live with her.
This girl was half-Korean and talked a lot about racist people. At first, I let her rant, figuring maybe she or someone in her family faced some racism. I faced some myself, and I agreed with most of the things she said about racists. Eventually, however, I realized she was equating the word 'racist' with the word 'white.'
I spoke to her once, telling her she can't use 'racist' and 'white' interchangeably. She agreed to stop doing that, but within a few days, she started doing it again. She was a very bright girl, so I was a little concerned about this, especially since her own dad was white and was possibly the nicest man in the world. Not to mention, this made her and her siblings half-white too. Did that mean they were all half-racist?
I stuck by her for a while, but when she started saying things about what she wanted to do to racist people (once again using the word 'white' instead of 'racist'), I realized I couldn't be around her anymore. She couldn't talk about anything else after a while, and every time she spoke, I wanted to say, 'WTF is wrong with you?'
We did not room together the next year.
Redditors have stories similar to mine (and some even crazier), and they are eager to share.
It all started when a Redditorasked:
How To End A Friendship
"In college I used to kill time between classes hanging out with a guy who was from the same redneck county as myself. We didn’t really have much else in common, but he was nice enough and seemed eager to socialize so I figured why not. I wasn’t overly social myself and didn’t know a whole lot of people."
"One day we decided to go somewhere off-campus, and he drove us. While driving, on an interstate mind you, he proceeds to show me his handgun that he kept in his truck - not in a menacing way, but in a “Ain’t that cool?” way."
"I was not immediately frightened, but I respect firearms enough to recognize we are going like 60-70mph on an interstate in daylight, and nothing good can happen in this scenario. I calmly asked him to put it away because I was not comfortable in this situation at all. He then tells me “Oh it’s not loaded” and presses the gun to his head before pulling the trigger."
"Thank f**k he was right, but still it was a wild and frightening display of reckless disregard for his own life and mine for that matter in the event that he’d accidentally killed himself while driving us. I didn’t hang out with him much after that, certainly didn’t get in a car with him."
– omjf23
"“It’s not loaded” famous last words of many an idiot."
– GloInTheDarkUnicorn
The Worst Kind Of People
"When my dad was in the nursing home, they weren't running certain expenses, like ambulance rides, through his insurance. When I took over his financials, he was tens of thousands in medical debt that shouldn't have ever been charged to him in the first place. He was in numerous collections, and his credit score was tanked."
"When I complained to the nursing home director, he said, "Well, it's not like he's going to be buying a house or a car!" Then he laughed."
"My dad was paralyzed from the waist down and needed lifelong care, so he was never going to leave the nursing home. Even though he was technically correct, I gave him the "WTF is wrong with you look." Then I complained to HIS boss and he got canned a couple a weeks later. My dad's insurance was fixed pretty quick, too."
– MNWNM
"“Sorry, what was funny about that? Could you please explain.”"
– v3n0mat3
...Seriously?
"MIL told my wife she should divorce me bc I googled whether a lasagna should be covered with foil while cooking."
– Struggle-Silent
"This is my first laugh of the thread lmao wtf."
– koreantrvp
"It actually ruined this entire trip. It was at my BIL’s wedding, which was only close family (siblings + parents) and they had the caterer make a lasagna for an evening dinner."
"Father of the bride was gonna pop it in the oven and asked if it should be covered. I googled lasagna cooking instructions and said yes it should be covered and cooked at this temp. MIL said absolutely not!"
"Me and the father of the bride kinda gave each other a look and he covered it. MIL was furious and texted my wife that I was an a hole and she should divorce me before we had kids."
– Struggle-Silent
Hostile Work Environment
"Boss at old job told the team we needed to ‘get used to a healthy level of conflict, fear and anxiety in the workplace.’ I dipped so fast after that."
– Prestigious-Energy69
"Similarly, a boss told me that I owed him my loyalty because he was paying me."
– Kylearean
How To End A Relationship
"A girl I was with while we were still together just looked at me while I was driving to her house and said.” You know I would get over you faster than you’d get over me” I was like …… Tf did you just say?"
– omega91301
"Huh. And just like that I'm over you."
– Pineapple_Spenstar
"Honestly, that would absolutely do it for me. When I was younger, I would be stupid and hurt and argue. I'm past 50 and I got no time for that nonsense."
– Terpsichorean_Wombat
There Are Other Ways To Stave Off Boredom
"I was DD for some buddies who wanted to go to a particular dance club in Baltimore. They're all hammered, it's too loud and we've been there for several hours. Casually an older woman next to me chats me up and notices my eyes are nearly crossing from boredom. I explained what I was doing there and casually (stupidly) mentioned I'm a bit bored. This psycho BITES ME on the chest! Afterward says "Well ya ain't bored now, are ya??""
– Mike7676
"Well, were you bored after that?"
– DontWannaSayMyName
"I must say, I was not!"
– Mike7676
That Goes Both Ways!
"I'm a man who works with kids, and when I started this job, I was talking to one of my old coworkers about how every once in a while I'll get weird looks for being a man working with kids and my coworker said I deserved it because some men can't be trusted with kids. I was shocked and she went on to say that I did it to myself and deserve to be questioned about it. I immediately stopped talking to her."
– Dolhedew
"What? What in the actual f**k? Doesn’t she know there are women who can’t be trusted with kids?"
– Anonymoosehead123
That Escalated Quickly
"The lady that accused my kids of cutting the line. (They hadn't, I was watching). When I went to ask her what was wrong, she told me to go back to my own country with that sh*t. (I was born in Massachusetts.)"
"The line was to pet dogs at a Renaissance Fair."
– pasafa
Everything All At Once
"While alone with a coworker, he told me that "women in the work place will lead to the decay of the fabric of society" to me. A woman. He also asked me out, got an attitude when I didn't say yes and continues to walk around with huge incel energy. He always complains that he has no one to go home to yet refuses to look at himself as a possible reason."
– Nopeferatu31
"Sounds like they should learn something from the phrase, "if you meet one a**hole, they're the a**hole. If everyone you meet is an a**hole, you're the a**hole.""
– tmpope123
Ouch!
"I told a coworker my wife had died."
"Her response: "You're one of those bald middle aged guys with a dead wife.""
"Me: "Yeah.""
– WalrusCello
"I want to think this was a wholesome thought that came out wrong. An awkward attempt at dark humor."
– ThisUsernameIsTook
*Cringing*
"Had an otherwise normal co-worker who was completely convinced windmills will cause the earth to stop spinning."
– Shadowmant
"WINDMILLS DO NOT WORK THAT WAY! GOOD NIGHT!"
– Torvaun
These are all crazy 'WTF is wrong with you' stories, but that last one blew my mind in 'how is it possible people think that could be true' sort of way!