r/AskReddit • u/SuhailStack • 1h ago
What’s something people spend money on that you’ll never understand?
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u/Serotonin_Loading 1h ago
Those NFT things.
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u/Eazy12345678 1h ago
i think that is over with like all trendy products
the tickle me elmo of our times.
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u/Saltybuds 1h ago
Friend of mine swore “NFT Daddies” or something of the sort would take off. 😂 He bought into a kickstarter for a game & scored some random energy drinks. That was in 2020-2021. I haven’t heard a thing about it since then 😭🤣
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u/Serotonin_Loading 1h ago
What was that other thing which was like a digital copy of the universe where you could buy, for example: the White House.
And if the actual White House wanted to purchase the White House in this digital universe they’d have to buy it off the first person who bought it.
What was it called?
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u/Aware_Cheesecake_519 1h ago
Online betting
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u/Safety_Drance 1h ago
Gambling in general. Sure, you might occasionally win money, but for perpetual gamblers you will always be the bigger monetary loser long term because of how probability works.
I watched a lady buy scratch off lottery tickets every pay check for years, and then one year she won 5k and she was so happy.
I was like, my dog, you've spent so much more than 5k on scratch tickets over the years, you're not even close to breaking even.
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u/KnownButton8327 1h ago
consistent food delivery unless you’re legitimately well off with zero debt or financial difficulty
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u/greensandgrains 1h ago
Gambling. The house always wins. I’m not one to judge spending money on experiences but gambling isn’t even a good experience. You can enjoy vagas without the casinos, watch sports without betting, etc., the gambling is just lighting money on fire and getting nothing in return.
It’s the one thing I’m a prude about. Lottery tickets, betting, casinos, yes even a friendly game of poker with a negligible buy in, any and all gambling I don’t like it keep it away from me. And no, I have no personal bad experiences with gambling, it makes no sense, yet here I am.
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u/V1per41 16m ago
Your point is spot on with casinos and lotteries. I didn't get those at all, but I do feel like it's worth pointing out that there is no house in a friendly game of poker, and that on top of that poker is also a game of skill. There is no house to always win. If you are equally skilled to your friends then you're just spending time, hanging out, and passing money back and forth. Worse than your friends then you lose money. Better than your friends or other random strangers.... Now you can actually reliably make money playing.
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u/MWMWMMWWM 46m ago
Dude my homie is super addicted. If it’s not card game / craps in Vegas, its sports betting. Sometimes its even spots card / pokemon cards, he litterally bought $3,000 in sports / pokemon cards to try and get a epic pull from one. Moron
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u/d710905 25m ago
I think i agree with this one. It's a losing game unless you're that one in a million. And those guys tend to go right back to gambling. The little guy never makes alot and walks out with it. I feel like im lucky that the reward centers in my brain for some reason dont light up with gambling or betting. I dont like less than highly likely odds for most things
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u/Mottis86 1h ago edited 1h ago
Yeah. What people don't understand is that even if they win when they gamble, they still lost. Imagine you're rolling a 6 sided die and if you get a 6 you double you money. Just because you rolled a 6 and won on your first roll doesn't mean it was ever a good idea. The best option was to never do it in the first place.
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u/sugaree53 57m ago
It’s a sickness. I had a co-worker who went to jail because he gambled away the rent money and it resulted in domestic violence
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u/shoeless_doh 1h ago
I get it if you're playing poker against other people. We used to have $10 buy in Texas hold'em tournaments in the dorms for like I don't know five or six or eight or nine people or whatever
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u/G-Unit11111 1h ago
Anything that has Trump's face on it.
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u/SignificantUse3695 1h ago
I bought an ‘America the Beautiful’ card last week to visit National parks and I was (unpleasantly) surprised to find it had Trump’s face on it.
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u/Emotional-Craftt 1h ago
Designer clothes that cost 10x more just because of the logo
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u/ADudeNamedBen33 1h ago
Genuine quality doesn't come with a logo. In fact you actually have to pay extra for the lack of a logo
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u/one_charisma_point 1h ago
OnlyFans
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u/el-conquistador240 1h ago
Gambling and religion
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u/Express_Shoe_4723 1h ago
Never understood religion. A god puts you on Earth, makes you work your life away and asks money for his homes (churches). Weird!
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u/QuietSalamander8306 1h ago
I was raised extremely Mormon. Only recently have I left the church and begun to realize how weird it all is. Literally just one high-school biology class with an intro to evolution changed everything for me. Im a biological anthropology major now and the more I learn, the more I laugh at how I believed all that bogus
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u/Express_Shoe_4723 1h ago
Became a little dream of mine to be an antropologue. Glad you got out of it all, and I hope, with not too much trauma!
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u/WFH12 1h ago
No other religion asks for "church money" if thats your only issue..
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u/Express_Shoe_4723 53m ago
Well, others talk about hell for eternity, or marying children. None are better.
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u/philament23 1h ago
Essentially the same thing since there’s a ton of religions and they can’t all be right.
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u/CarelessSuccotash488 1h ago
A big wedding
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u/Eazy12345678 1h ago
yeah huge waste of money, brain washed tradition by society
rather go on a nice vacation or buy a new car. or furnish the home. or put it down on a home or 2nd home
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u/Lemon_Trees-22 1h ago
I agree why put out $50,000 on a wedding thst usually cause s family fights that never go away when you can take it buy a house fill it slowly with what you need and go on ? And the rate and cost of divorce these days is insane !
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u/SLNSD 1h ago
Rims on beaters.
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u/Asleep_Welder_3494 1h ago
Cigarettes
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u/Eazy12345678 1h ago
strong this. bad for you and you publicly do it cause you think you look cool and or become addicted to it
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u/HankScorpioPR 1h ago
Uber Eats/Door Dash/any of those bullshit services where you pay $30 for a coffee so some guy can bring it to you.
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u/Cheat-Meal 1h ago
Cigarettes. Seriously gotta be the most addictive and dangerous things you could ever spend your money on.
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u/Ok-Check-3210 1h ago
The long lines for Trader Joes totes
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u/Motor_Patience5186 1h ago
Baffling, especially since they're just as available a few days later with no line.
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u/Jinxybug 1h ago
Expensive water bottles, honestly
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u/DawgreenAgain 1h ago
I have numerous Yeti drinks bottles and they were worth every cent paid for them . If you're just using the transparent plastic ones then yes there's no point spending big money. But if you need to keep hot drinks hot and cold drinks cold then it's worth spending big money
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u/BrownpaperbaG830 1h ago
Luxury bags. I get expensive cars since there is at least an engineering concept behind it. Bags though are relies purely on branding. It's a sucker's game
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u/tiradium 1h ago
I think we can safely add clothing to that list as well. After a certain price range the quality is just not getting better and you basically pay for the logo
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u/unicorndreamer247 41m ago
Hate to tell you but super expensive cars aren't worth it either. And ABSOLUTELY they're based on "branding" too! You're buying the "engineering" hype? Sucker!
Purses & clothing does the same. You're buying the brand, not necessarily the quality.
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u/Fit-Equivalent-5040 1h ago
What ever dumb thing is trending on social media like labubu or whatever the new flavor of the week is that 'influencers' are showing off that cost a ridiculous amount of money.
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u/texacer 1h ago
church
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u/SLNSD 1h ago
Buy friends and a ticket to the pearly gates?
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u/aivlysplath 1h ago
Mormonism in a nutshell.
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u/SLNSD 1h ago
They are brutal if you don't buy in. Family members will ostracize you and stop talking to you if you stop being a Mormon. It's more of a you are with us or against us. I've known people kicked out. Sad.
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u/aivlysplath 43m ago
Yeah I left the church when I turned 18, it was tough. I realized it was all culty bullshit when I was 13 though.
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u/Horror_Trouble_2642 1h ago
All the seasonal plastic landfill crap that hits the store every year. What happened to buying it all once then you use the same shit every year?
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u/HoaryPuffleg 1h ago
I have to assume it’s influencers showing off their new holiday themes every year that encourages stores to stock so much crap and some people to feel the need to redo their themes as well. I’m too cheap to do that, plus I prefer to just buy a couple of new things on sale or make them every year and add to my Christmas decor. The more the merrier (and tackier!)
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u/BigChuch1400 1h ago
Crazy subwoofers and sound systems for cars. I couldn’t stand it. Modern cars have good enough sound systems as it is. I want to enjoy my music, not be deafened by it.
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u/m0n3yF4nM4n 1h ago
For many, that is how they enjoy music.
All about that bass, buh-buh-buh-buh, bass!
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u/porp_crawl 1h ago
It's not about how it sounds to them.
It's how they think they will sound for everyone else.
Insecure self-loathing assholes who think this gives them worth, by making people take notice of them.
Same with loud-assed cars, motorcycles.
It isn't even about getting "the ladys" - like a big chunk of modern body building, it's guys trying to get attention from other guys and we're all collateral damage.
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u/RetroBerner 1h ago
You can still enjoy the bass without turning the volume all the way up. I can't even listen to NIN without a sub anymore.
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u/Stcroixwe1der 1h ago
Some people’s subwoofers really sound like shit too. They want it for the bass and to be noticed blasting ass music and then they just listen to rap and the thing pounds so hard it makes their car sound like a cheap pile of shit. Nobody is impressed homeboy, you just have shit music taste and the car sounds fucked lol.
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u/scottishzombies 1h ago
honestly everything these days is hard to justify but even after my partner worked in the industry, I still don't understand performance vehicle enthusiasts and the sheer dollar value of these investments in their (frankly, mediocre) cars. and NFTs just do not make sense to me. also as a new parent, designer/brand name clothes for babies. I struggle to understand it for fully grown adults who can keep their size consistent for years at a time, but a literal child??? a toddler? a NEWBORN??? absolutely insane behaviour.
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u/Initial_Savings8733 1h ago
Fabric softener. It smells awful and I can smell it from a mile away, it ruins your clothes, ruins your washing machine, and it makes clothes feel greasy and dirty. I'm an extreme couponer and won't even buy it if i get paid to buy it
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u/philament23 1h ago
We use wool balls in the dryer instead.
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u/Stcroixwe1der 1h ago
Cigarettes. I dont get it. Wanting to smell like stale shit and look 20 years older.
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u/MusketeersPlus2 1h ago
Fake eye lashes. Why do you want to look like you have caterpillars camped out on your eyes?
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u/Doc911 1h ago
High-end Sneaker collecting,
I'm not personally wealthy, for context wealth is money that can write ONE check and make anyone rich, but I am frequently wealth adjacent. Truly, one of the most wasteful and insanely wasteful, not to mention an absolute bubble with zero actual value, is definitely men and sneakers ...
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u/bobyouger 1h ago
Paying millions to lobby politicians for tax cuts to save the same millions. All so they would know, at least the money won't go towards helping people.
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u/Least_Satisfaction58 1h ago
Fireworks.
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u/Eazy12345678 1h ago
yeah im kinda just against the negative environmental impacts from production to use. garbage falling from the sky. littering
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u/myairblaster 1h ago
Collectables. Collector hobbies like trading card games, shoes, whatever. I just don’t understand people who collect things
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u/Horror_Trouble_2642 1h ago
I collect rocks and I really have no idea why I do it. It’s like a tiny little caveman gene leftover that compels me to pick one up now and again and say things like “oooh that’s a keeper”
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u/Xsiah 1h ago
That's free though. I feel like it's different when you collect things that you come across throughout your life - rocks, postcards, STIs, coins.
But what's the point of just buying everything that someone just produces for the purpose of being bought by you to just be stored in a box?
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u/dontpolluteplz 1h ago
Delivery services for food when they’re within a mile. Expensive hair / nail appts. Overhyped luxury brands where a shirt is hundreds of $$.
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u/Motor_Patience5186 1h ago
I don't understand my fellow women spending money on eyelashes, eyebrows, Botox, highlights, blowouts, waxing, and on and on. It's insane what some women spend on their appearance - just maintenance. Thousands.
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u/charliesh00man 1h ago
My sister will spend $60-120 every couple of weeks getting her nails done. She's done this for as long as I can remember. But then complains that she is struggling to pay actual bills. It's insane.
I got my nails done once in middle school for a dance and then never again. I truly don't get it.
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u/sugaree53 49m ago
They don’t want to “let themselves go”. Sometimes the husband is the reason
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u/fellowsquare 21m ago
Dumbest take ever... If you're existing and feeling good about your self only because you care about what your husband thinks... then you need therapy and discuss the daddy issues.
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u/Jackpot777 1h ago
DoorDash / Uber Eats. Any food delivery service where you end up paying over $20 for $10 worth of food. Order from a Chinese restaurant. Delivery’s quick and free for local places, so order from a nearby place.
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u/DeJoCa 1h ago
Lunch out everyday while working, and coffee on the way, or during the day. It’s so easy to make your own, and I don’t mean you should never buy these. But everyday? Ridiculous waste of a whole lot of money.
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u/cosmicintervention 1h ago
Sometimes it’s just about getting out of the workplace and getting some fresh air or freedom
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u/Wise-Department-4239 1h ago
I don’t understand the coffee, but if you work in a place with dozens of options for lunch nearby you it’s pretty fun to try something new every day or at least a couple of times a week
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u/L3PALADIN 53m ago
this is one of those things that changes based on your income. if you make enough per hour, its not just that you can afford to eat out, its literally cheaper to buy than to lose that time doing the work of making it. (unless its something you enjoy doing of course)
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u/Adventurous-Owl-1490 1h ago
Mobile game micro transactions
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u/Eazy12345678 1h ago
if the game is free and you enjoy it can be a away to enjoy the game more.
$60 for micro transaction for a game you get hours of enjoyment from could make sense
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u/Pretty_Sir3117 1h ago
Fine dining. I’ve been hosted several times at 2-star and 1-star Michelin restaurants, and I always act amazed just to go with the flow and be polite to the host, but honestly I never felt the prices were ever worth it (to me). Maybe my taste buds just suck lol
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u/Eazy12345678 1h ago
the fine dining can make sense. some are really good meals and experiences.
but everything has diminished returns. you can probably get a good meal for $200 a person or less that is same quality as a meal that is $1000+ a person
but if you really enjoy food it can make sense
also makes more sense if you are millionaire and cost doesnt really matter
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u/Real_Life_Sushiroll 1h ago
Church tithes.
I don't think Jesus said "love your neighbor as yourself and give me 10% of your income."
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u/morphinecolin 1h ago
Tithing predates Christianity by centuries and began in Mesopotamia. In the ‘Christian’ sense, it comes from Leviticus, which is the Jewish part of the Bible. Jesus actually said that you shouldn’t give more than you can afford to give.
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u/unpopularcryptonite 1h ago
Starbucks, Onlyfans, Snap premium, mobile games
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u/Eazy12345678 1h ago
starbucks- i mean you could really like their coffee, i dont drink coffee, but the only coffee i have every paid for is from a starbucks
onlyfans- u really like that girl or guy, easy way to get access to all their current content. sex sells and always will.
mobile games- if you enjoy the game why not. hours of entertainment for cheap
snap premium- i have no experience with.
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u/dks0unreallreally 1h ago
gambling. I totally understand the appeal but the reality about how much you spend vs how much you get in return is simple. I will buy a few scratchers every couple weeks. if I win i put it back in for more. if I don't , I just accept it and keep moving.
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u/Spiritual_Hornet_213 1h ago
Massive weddings, I have no idea how people afford them, and going into significant debt for it seems silly when that money can be used for so many other things like buying a home to begin a life together as spouses or reliable transportation, etc
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u/prod_TeeCapone 1h ago
Drugs
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u/Eazy12345678 1h ago
when you have all the money in the world. and can do every you want the only way to make it more fun is on drugs
you ever go to a concert of your favorite band on cocaine or ecstasy?
you ever hike on cocaine?
you ever swim on cocaine?
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u/Substantial_Ad_4435 1h ago
Expensive mobile phones. Last time I replaced I phone I was in a hurry and purchased a phone that was around $400 instead of the $200 one next to it that looked identical. I was annoyed at myself for ages. I didn't realize my error until I'd set it all up and then used it to take a photo of the receipt
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u/CL3Onsite 1h ago
When its spent on hurting others. I'll never understand someone seeing something like a human safari and wondering if the cost of killing people was affordable.
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u/Used-Gas-6525 1h ago
Credit card debt.
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u/Eazy12345678 1h ago
here ill explain this one for you
i have had many credit cards with 0% interest for 12-36months is pretty much a free loan. just pay the debt before the 0% expires.
I also have credit card debit carried as 5% fee for balance transfer for 1 year. why? cause in the stock market I can make 15% and if the 5% fee still leaves me with 10% gains on my money. so instead of paying off my credit card i carry a balance for 1 years before paying it off or transferring the balance again.
i have about 20k credit card debt actively being transferred each year at 5% I could easily pay that off. but i wont cause the 20k in the stock market is making me 10% so $2000 a year not paying off the debt
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u/Used-Gas-6525 1h ago
OK, credit card interest debt if you want to be pedantic. Also, I don't think that's a particularly advisable way to accrue investment capital, but you do you if it works.
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u/hiro111 1h ago
For all but the very wealthy, I don't get high end sportscars. They're basically wasted on the road and almost no one outside of professional drivers can track something like a GT3 at anything close to the capabilities it can offer. A spec Miata is more what an average Joe can handle. Also, EVs have made raw acceleration cheap.
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u/sugaree53 1h ago
Tattoos
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u/Ok_Calligrapher8976 52m ago
The amount of money people spend on Doordash, makes me so uncomfortable.
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u/rgbhuman42 50m ago
Blind boxes.
Great, you wasted $30 trying to get the one toy you wanted. And now you're stuck with 25 other duplicates you have no use for.
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u/Final_Echidna_6743 15m ago
All this online gambling. I’m sick of being inundated everywhere you look by all the advertising.
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u/karinato 1h ago
Youtube premium, even wen I become so damn rich i promised myself I'm never falling for that
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u/Horror_Trouble_2642 1h ago
I’ve had premium for years! It was back when they actually had decent YouTube release movies and shows. But I get music, no ads, endless day and night ambience in my home. It’s better than tv subscriptions that you pay for and still get ads
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u/czerniana 1h ago
I watch a lot of info/crafting related videos on YouTube. The best decision I ever made was purchasing Premium, especially living in Ohio where you get absolutely inundated with political crap.
I haven't seen a single political ad all year. It's.... very nice for my mental well being.
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u/Miniac1076 39m ago
As a fellow Ohioan without premium, I am sick and tired of hearing Jon Husted and Sherrod Brown’s names. It’s every, single, ad.
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u/justanotherone2026 1h ago
Falling for what, never seeing a commercial on YouTube?
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u/PanAmFlyer 1h ago
Cable tv.
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u/Eazy12345678 1h ago
i gave up on tv like 10 years ago
I watch a ton of youtube. and i do have netflix and amazon prime
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u/SouthernCategory9600 1h ago
Going through a coffee stand for a coffee and/or breakfast every morning.
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u/SombraAQT 1h ago
Food delivery for people who don’t have a need for it. Like yeah if you’re disabled or something like that where you can’t easily leave the house then fair enough, but if it’s just because you can’t be bothered to go get it? Crazy to me.
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u/Ok_Junket3029 1h ago
Getting their nails done
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u/Eazy12345678 1h ago
i dunno know. i have dated many girls that got their nails done and its pretty attractive to me.
if you have the money do it. if not do it yourself, or try your best.
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u/AdventurousAd808 1h ago
Single water bottles. Why buy a bottle of water for $2 when you can get 24 for $5
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u/Xsiah 1h ago edited 1h ago
Why buy water at all
ETA: I'm talking specifically about places with safe drinking water - it's completely fine where I am but people still buy bottled.
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u/MisfireCu 1h ago
I'm on a well and my water is super hard and gross(and yes we have softeners and filters) so I buy water. Though I get the massive water cooler jugs not bottles.
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u/Eazy12345678 1h ago
yeah bottle water is just producing garbage waste
get a reusable water bottle and fill it at home
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u/echeveria_rn 1h ago
Brand name OTC meds. I don't understand why anyone would pay double or triple for Tylenol instead of getting generic acetaminophen.
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u/NorTravel 1h ago
I’m not saying this is why, and in fact, I also buy OTC generic meds. But, if you go down a rabbit hole and find out about the production facilities that some generics go through and the health / contamination inspections that some routinely fail, as opposed to brand-name stuff, we may begin to question this path in years to come.
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u/xyrer 1h ago
Watches. Luxury ones.
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u/HappyGnumff 1h ago
They retain and in some cases increase in value. It’s a legit investment if done with thought
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u/kyonkun_denwa 1h ago
I do plan to buy a luxury watch (Omega Speedmaster). I acknowledge it's a totally emotional purchase that really cannot be rationally justified, and the average person would think I'm crazy for dropping several thousand bucks on a watch. I've made peace with the mental illness and I've accepted that I'm really just buying a piece of jewellery. If I actually wanted something that just tells the time with no bullshit and no software updates, I have a Casio G-Shock for that.
For most luxury watch buyers, it becomes more of a status thing. Like it's a way to signal that you're better than the poors who wear Timexes. But there are also some luxury watch buyers who are flat out broke and will pour all their savings into watches. Those are the ones I truly don't understand. Obviously a more advanced stage of mental illness than my own.
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u/AR_lover 1h ago
Food delivery services from restaurants.
You pay at least double and in most cases triple, because you are lazy? And I don't just mean lazy for not leaving and getting it yourself. I mean lazy for that, or if you know can't leave, lazy for not preparing for that.
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u/--Rick--Astley-- 1h ago
In-app/in-game purchases.