13 ways Americans throw away money

[Svnla]

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/13-ways-americans-throw-away-money.html

1. Unused gift cards
2. ATM fees
3. Traffic tickets
4. Candies
5. Lottery tickets
6. Tobacco
7. Alcohol
8. CC interest
9. Casino
10. Soda
11. Wasted energy
12. Wasted foods
13. Bad health

Which one of you guys/gals are guilty of?

Me = soda but I am cutting back, lottery but only when the jackpot was up to $200 million or more and only 1 or 2 tickets. Oh yeah, I could lose a few pounds and working slowly on it.

 

[ElFenix]

where's cell phone bills?

 

[lxskllr]

I disagree with a lot of that list. Just because something isn't essential to survival, it doesn't mean it's a waste of money. Taking the list as gospel though, I have these...

1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 11(maybe), 12

 

[Leros]

I buy alcohol and soda, but I get pleasure out of them, so I don't consider that wasted.

 

[RockinZ28]

Tobacco for sure. Drink plenty of soda, but I love it so don't consider it a waste. Usually bring a 12oz can with me so it costs like 20c instead of $1.50+. That's it.

Probably 12 when I get older.

 

[kyrax12]

Soda is a huge waste of money.

Not in terms of the soda itself but the detrimental effects it can cause over a prolonged period of time.

For example: Cavities, diabetes..etc

(Assuming large quantities of soda are being consumed)

 

[OverVolt]

1. Unused gift cards
2. ATM fees
3. Traffic tickets

Spoiler

4. Candies

5. Lottery tickets

Spoiler

6. Tobacco

Spoiler

7. Alcohol

8. CC interest
9. Casino

Spoiler

10. Soda

11. Wasted energy
12. Wasted foods

Spoiler

13. Bad health

FTFY

Wasted energy is the natural way people learn to conserve energy. Like when you first learn how to drive. All that wasted energy in a parking lot, tsk tsk.

Ditto for wasted food and learning to cook. Its not so much wasted food as people aren't desperate enough to eat your cooking mishaps, or spoiled food because you can't portion properly. Both are learned by trial and error though.

Health is not 100% under your control.

Tobacco is only a waste because its taxed out the wazoo. Occasional tobacco use is not the end of the world. Ditto for alcohol.

Why not coffee? Technically no one needs that. This article is bad and should feel bad.

 

[Cerb]

3. Traffic tickets

Thrown away money?! What? You go try not paying one, and see what happens. You can try to avoid them, but they exist mostly for revenue generation, not safety.

7. Alcohol

So, where is the other good stuff? I 'waste' more on good cured meats than alcoholic beverages, and for the same reason: I live to eat, not eat to live.

11. Wasted energy

Every bit of electricity used could be done without; manufacturing of new goods, and throwing out old goods, can be worse than using less efficient old ones. Where do you draw the line? Not to mention, some common recommendations are risky (you have to hope the new equipment will last, while you know the old ones are fine). If you spend $1-5k to improve A/C, FI, and it keeps needing to be worked on, the only people it saved anything for was the power company.

In the average home "75% of the electricity used to power home electronics and appliances is consumed while the products are turned off."

I want to see how that was twisted into being. I have a hard time believing that a washer, dryer, coffee maker and/or toaster and/or hood vent and/or TV (and, many people leave their TVs on, since many have a long boot time), will account for 75% of power consumption. I honestly can't think of any other common appliances which are made to be turned off.

12. Wasted foods

It happens, but all the PSAs and news bits about it claim people typically throw out about as much as I spend on food in a year, so that's one that always makes me .

where's cell phone bills?

Beer is not essential. iPhones are. How can you not understand this?

 

[BoomerD]

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/13-ways-americans-throw-away-money.html

1. Unused gift cards No
2. ATM fees No
3. Traffic tickets No
4. Candies Rarely
5. Lottery tickets Rarely
6. Tobacco Yes.
7. Alcohol Rarely
8. CC interest Nope
9. Casino Nope
10. Soda Rarely
11. Wasted energy Maybe a bit
12. Wasted foods Not much if any
13. Bad health OK, you got me there.

Which one of you guys/gals are guilty of?

Me = soda but I am cutting back, lottery but only when the jackpot was up to $200 million or more and only 1 or 2 tickets.

I'm not sure how some of those are "throwing away money."
Not everyone wants to live some minimalist life, scrimping to save every possible dime.

 

[Schfifty Five]

Very stupid list.

 

[Apex]

"I spent 90% of my money on women, drink and fast cars. The rest I wasted." - George Best

 

[jlee]

That list is dumb. But anyway..

1. Unused gift cards <- yep, have one somewhere, didn't cost me anything though.
2. ATM fees <- nope
3. Traffic tickets <- nope
4. Candies <- $1.78 for a month's worth of lifesavers? Not wasted.
5. Lottery tickets <- nope
6. Tobacco <- nope
7. Alcohol <- nope, less than $20/mo
8. CC interest <- nope
9. Casino <- nope
10. Soda <- rarely, worth it
11. Wasted energy <- "wasted"? 14mpg is totally worth it.
12. Wasted foods <- yeah...I forget what's in the fridge.
13. Bad health <- nope

 

[OverVolt]

1. Unused gift cards <- Don't buy me gift cards. Gift cards are lame.
2. ATM fees <- Learn how to use ATM machines with the same logo as your bank
3. Traffic tickets <- Some are not all that avoidable
4. Candies <- doesn't matter, its food
5. Lottery tickets <- Its the mathmatically challenged tax, so yes
6. Tobacco <- Not pure evil, nor that addictive
7. Alcohol <- Super taxed, and its not a waste if you enjoy it.
8. CC interest <- If you have to carry interest its usually not by choice
9. Casino <- If you go there knowing you'll lose $100 and have some fun, why not
10. Soda <- basically food
11. Wasted energy <- ??? Use powerstrips
12. Wasted foods <- ???
13. Bad health <- ???

Alot of these are poor people traps. Poor people problems. Have a shit life, live in a shit area, sit around smoking paying exorbitant taxes, play the lotto to hopefully get out of shit life, eat shitty cheap food (soda & candy). Drive bad and rackup tickets. Rackup CC debt keeping up with the Jonses. Poor people problems, coming to a middle class family near you.

 

[gevorg]

#1 should be bottled water

 

[Powermoloch]

1. Unused gift cards - nope, they're gone as soon i get 'em
2. ATM fees - rarely
3. Traffic tickets -
4. Candies -
5. Lottery tickets - once in a blue moon
6. Tobacco - whoohoo, i hate smoke
7. Alcohol - dont' drink
8. CC interest -
9. Casino - once a year
10. Soda - (diet tho )
11. Wasted energy -
12. Wasted foods - rarely
13. Bad health - pffffft doing better than 3 years ago

 

[OCGuy]

Why the hell even live if you aren't going to do that stuff in moderation? Money is such BS that is easy to get and easy to blow through. Then you are dead.

 

[Spook]

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/13-ways-americans-throw-away-money.html

1. Unused gift cards
2. ATM fees
3. Traffic tickets
4. Candies
5. Lottery tickets
6. Tobacco
7. Alcohol
8. CC interest
9. Casino
10. Soda
11. Wasted energy
12. Wasted foods
13. Bad health

Which one of you guys/gals are guilty of?

Me = soda but I am cutting back, lottery but only when the jackpot was up to $200 million or more and only 1 or 2 tickets.

I hardly believe that Americans have a monopoly on throwing money away in this manner.

 

[Jeff7]

I don't do much with gift cards - it's another really good marketing campaign, or else something that practically sold itself. It's a way of taking universally-usable money and severely restricting its usage. Awesome. :thumbsup:
ATM fees....ewwwww, cash.
Traffic tickets - never gotten one.
Candy and soda: I will kill you if you keep me from these. I'm not addicted goddammit! :sneaky:
No drugs, no credit card interest.
Wasted energy and food...maybe some. Not much.
Bad health....yeah, I don't exactly exercise much. At all.

...
Why not coffee? Technically no one needs that. This article is bad and should feel bad.

Good point. Another universal human addiction thing - second-most traded commodity behind oil.

I prefer caffeine to come in tablet form. It stores easily, is also easy to transport, and doesn't spill. But, I also don't like the severely-bitter taste of coffee unless it is mixed with absurd quantities of milk and sugar.

 

[JoeyP]

Missing these:
1. Car leases/loans
2. Credit cards
3. Cable/satellite
4. Servicing avoidable debt
5. Keeping same insurance, without looking into quotes from others
6. Any mortgage besides 15 year fixed rate (also buying too much house)
7. Impulse purchases
8. Fast food
9. Most cell phone plans
10. Giving companies access to your checking accounts

 

[SandEagle]

missing these:
federal taxes
state taxes
local taxes
insurance premiums
property taxes
foreign aid

 

[Fingolfin269]

99. Time spent on here instead of doing something productive.

 

[Vdubchaos]

1. Unused gift cards - never
2. ATM fees - never
3. Traffic tickets - 3 years ago
4. Candies - sometimes
5. Lottery tickets - never
6. Tobacco - never
7. Alcohol - never
8. CC interest - never
9. Casino - never
10. Soda - never (although I have done damage to my teeth/body as I used to abuse this, quit drinking soda 4-5 years ago all together)
11. Wasted energy - sure
12. Wasted foods - all the time (hard to make meals for family of 6 and always have perfect amount, I do take left over to work)
13. Bad health - Ive done some damage here

 

[GTaudiophile]

#1 Health Care

 

[BlackTigers]

1. Unused gift cards ... Two in my wallet lol
2. ATM fees .... Only when necessary
3. Traffic tickets...not one.
4. Candies....no.
5. Lottery tickets....nope.
6. Tobacco...yes. Way too much.
7. Alcohol...yes. Way too much.
8. CC interest....not too bad
9. Casino....nope.
10. Soda....nope.
11. Wasted energy....huh?
12. Wasted foods....nope.
13. Bad health....see 6 and 7.

Which one of you guys/gals are guilty of?

Me = soda but I am cutting back, lottery but only when the jackpot was up to $200 million or more and only 1 or 2 tickets.[/QUOTE]

 

[wirednuts]

toll roads, federal income tax