People all around the world waste money. It happens to us, maybe we have buyer’s remorse on an item, but it happens. Searching for some of the biggest wastes of money, an online forum had tons of responses, and here are the 14 biggest wastes of money.
1. Lottery Tickets
People often hear stories of others hitting the jackpot and gaining a million dollars. How much money do people waste hoping to hit that jackpot?
One poster mentioned it this way, “For every story of someone hitting the jackpot there’s about 1,000,000 more of people who don’t and waste a lot of money.” It is true. The lottery is like a tax on people with low incomes. The people that need the money the most will waste it. They could easily invest that $100 a week instead of wasting it away.
2. Reddit Rewards
A Reddit Reward is something other Reddit posters may give someone for a great comment. It costs Reddit coins, which you must purchase. It is a big waste because it costs money, and what is the point of the rewards?
Some posters compare giving awards to people like going to see a movie. It is all up to the individual but is a big waste of money.
3. Donations to Twitch Streamers
Many people may wonder why some of these Twitch streamers get donations. It is understandable if you are subscribing, but many people are donating to them. Some may donate $10,000, which can be used for many things.
One poster even mentioned Selena Gomez, “I think it was Selena Gomez or someone who was doing a live stream and people started donating to her and she freaked out and shut down the stream.” She has money, but she even didn’t understand why people were
donating to her.
4. Buying Cheap Things You Have to Replace
Quality is much better than quantity. When you constantly have to replace items because you are too cheap to buy quality, you are wasting money.
One poster put it like this, “As grandma used to say: never cheap out on things that go between you and the ground: mattress, shoes, and tires.” Grandma is right on this one. Quality matters in all these things, and it keeps you healthy and safe.
5. Celebrity Meet and Greets
People like to pay to meet and greet celebrities, but many do not see the point. It can be costly; the stars do not know who you are, so why waste the money?
One poster talked about a friend doing this, “I have a friend who is not very well off financially, and is complaining about money to me once a week. Yet she always seems to have money to pay for a celebrity meet and greet at least twice a year.”
Why complain about money when you waste it on items like celebrity meet and greets?
6. NFT Artwork
NFT Artwork is such a massive waste of money. People created them to bring a physical element to the digital world, but the price so high on so many of these is a total waste. People pay money for this digital art when they can take a screenshot and have it. It is like a scam of the digital world.
One poster said, “NFTs are Beanie Babies for guys who get mad about female Ghostbusters.” How the poster put it is pretty funny, but it is true. It is like Beanie Babies; we know how valuable those things are now.
7. Gold Food
Have you ever seen people on tv or youtube eat gold-leafed food before? It is an expensive experience for people to try. The food costs a ridiculous amount of money for little or no nutrition.
One poster commented about this, “And then there’s gold leaf food, sure the food looks fancy but at the cost of ludicrous amount of money! And with the gold having no usable nutrients at all, it just is not worth it to buy such expensive food for relatively small amount of nutrients.”
What a waste of money.
8. Buying Expensive Clothes As Flex
Many people may buy super expensive clothes to show off that they have money. In reality, that is one of the biggest wastes of money. You can get much more affordable, good-quality clothes and still have leftover money for investments and savings.
One poster commented, “I’ve bought ten dollar shirts that felt like a million, and fifty dollar shirts that feel like a nickel.” Buy quality, not overspend for brand names.
9. Gambling
Gambling is an addiction, like smoking or even going for lottery tickets. Many people think they will hit big or get close to hitting big. Some go to the casinos wearing diapers so they do not need to leave their slot machines.
When you see that money disappear fast, you think twice about doing it again. One poster learned the hard way, “I once gambled $100 away in about ten minutes. This was back when that was a ton of money to me. The regret and shame was so great I never did it again.”
10. Yeti Ice Box
Yeti is one of those brand-name products with a price so high that people just buy them to show off. These products can easily be bought much cheaper and save much more money. One poster said, “All of their products are so insanely priced, like $500 for a cooler? Or 120 for a small lunch box?? It’s insane.” Why waste your money on these insanely overpriced products like a Yeti cooler?
11. Fireworks
People love fireworks; watching them go up in the air is fantastic. As one poster mentioned, “Fireworks, I love them, but it’s like $50 per second for the good ones.” Another poster said, “Yeah just go to the local firework event and see it free.” If you like fireworks, your best option is to watch the free local shows, which are much better than buying some.
12. Online Game Currency
Ramit Sethi, the author of I Will Teach You to Be Rich, created a show called How to Get Rich. One of the people on the show had a bad spending habit, and they spent most of their money on online game currency. It is one thing to like games, but to continue to buy stuff on games like game currency, coins, gems, or whatever it is can be such a big waste of money.
One poster said, “Yeah its cool at first but meh after you realize you spent $20 for basically nothing.” It is true. You spend $20 for some coins, which is just out of your pocket, never to be seen again.
13. Twitter Verification
Since Elon took over Twitter, many users have felt a worse experience. Those verified have felt that getting a blue checkmark is not worth it. Who wants to pay $8-11 for a blue checkmark unless you run a business through Twitter? It is a colossal waste of money. Some people do like it.
14. Pod Style Coffee Makers
Pod coffee is one of the biggest wastes of money out there. It could be cheaper to buy coffee from Starbucks.
One poster learned the hard way, “We got a pod style maker a few years ago and we were spending about $200.00/month on pods. My wife is an avid coffee drinker, and I am a weekends only lightweight. Then we got a high end drip machine and we spent about $20.00/month for, arguably, better coffee buying ground coffee from Costco.”
It is cheaper and better to grind and make your coffee than those pods. Save big and make your own.
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This thread inspired these biggest wastes of money.
I’m Steve. I’m an English Teacher, traveler, and an avid outdoorsman. If you’d like to comment, ask a question, or simply say hi, leave me a message here, on Twitter (@thefrugalexpat1). Many of my posts have been written to help those in their journey to financial independence. I am on my journey, and as I learn more I hope to share more. And as always, thanks for reading The Frugal Expat.
