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These 27 Extremely Common Purchases Are Actually Complete Wastes Of Money, According To People On The Internet Who Learned The Hard Way

These 27 Extremely Common Purchases Are Actually Complete Wastes Of Money, According To People On The Internet Who Learned The Hard Way

Buzz Feed15-04-2025
Um, hi, so is it just me, or are we all kinda struggling at the moment? Maybe it's my unnecessary spending or perhaps I can blame it on the American tariffs — but the point is, I think many of us are looking for some ways to save money right now.
Here are some of the top responses:
1. "Giving money to Televangelists."
2. "Movies in theaters."
Klaus Vedfelt / Getty Images
"That shit is released on streaming platforms in a month nowadays, and I don't have to be price gouged for popcorn in my own home. Nor do I have to ask an annoying stranger to stop a solar flare in my face by taking out his phone on full brightness every few minutes."
— pineapplesuit7
3. "Over-blown weddings..."
— a_08-
"I had a coworker that spent over $100K on their wedding and was divorced with 16 months. Put it towards a house. Hell, put it towards an amazing year-long vacation."
— howard2112
4. "...and funerals."
— Pinorckle
"My father-in-law passed away last year. We had him cremated. Instead of having a funeral, we had friends and family over at our house. We talked about how wonderful and helpful he was. It cost us nothing.
I don't plan on ever having a regular funeral again."
— hated_n8
5. "Brand-name ibuprofen or paracetamol vs. generic stuff. It's exactly the same stuff."
6. "Subscriptions, and forgetting to cancel before the free trial ends."
7. "Grilled cheese at a restaurant."
— Prestigious_Ant_4366
"If you're going to a restaurant, you might as well buy something that you can't make at home or yourself."
— Putrid-Cockroach1497
8. "Antivirus software."
Courtneyk / Getty Images
— aphadon7
"Windows Defender has been good enough for the average Joe for years, and if it is configured correctly, it is just fine for businesses, too."
— LightCharacter8382
9. "AOL."
— Reverse-Recruiterman
"Remember there is a baby boomer crowd out there above the age of 75 that was in the prime of their career when AOL came out. About a year ago, now 77, she told me she still pays for it.
You would be shocked how hard it was to convince her that she didn't have to do that anymore."
— Reverse-Recruiterman
10. "ATM fees."
Oscar Wong / Getty Images
— Militia_Kitty13
"For whatever reason I got an ATM card before I had a debit card. Long story short, I wish I had never bothered getting an ATM card. Almost every ATM I used charged a fee, and I don't even want to know how much money I wasted on ATM fees."
— idratherchangemyold1
11. "Bottle service."
— w0ke_brrr_4444
"$500 for a bottle of Grey Goose because someone saw a rapper do it at an Atlanta strip club. Give me Belvedere at $25 a bottle instead."
— malarkeyBS
12. "Pyramid schemes."
Maskot / Getty Images
— a_08-
"So easy to spot. It's funny because they get so butthurt when I tell people they don't actually sell anything."
— dadabkilla
13. "Blue checkmarks."
AlexSecret / Getty Images
14. "Tanning."
15. "Video games early access content."
Westend61 / Getty Images
16. "'Alkaline' water."
Chris Rogers / Getty Images
17. "I smoke cigarettes. So, cigarettes. Paying to die faster."
"Because I'm a dumbass."
— nauticalcummins
18. "The latest cell phone, when the current one works perfectly."
D3sign / Getty Images
— a_08-
"I bought my phone in 2019, and I get a weird amount of comments from people asking me when I'm going to upgrade. When I say I'm going to upgrade when my phone breaks, it's like they weren't expecting it.
It's not even an old phone — it's an iPhone 11. There's literally nothing wrong with it."
— eugeneugene
19. "Giving money to politicians."
Kevin Dietsch / Getty Images
20. "Uber Eats. Especially for fast food."
"Crazy to me."
— degoba
21. "Daily expensive coffee drinks. You know, you can make it yourself for 10% of the price."
22. "Lottery tickets."
Dave Kotinsky / Getty Images / Bacardi Rum
— Majestic_Bet6187
"Should never be viewed as an investment; should be viewed as gambling."
— sunnbeta
23. "Fake nails."
Christopher Polk / Variety / Getty Images
— Longjumping-Mouse-61
"I would like to add false eyelashes."
— jeanvelde
24. "A life coach."
Luca Sage / Getty Images
25. "For sure Tinder!"
Willie B. Thomas / Getty Images
— FatihDurukan187
"Some dudes need to pay for a month so they can stop blaming algorithms on their lack of matches."
— Everythangs4sale
26. "I can't believe I haven't seen vitamins on this list yet. You're literally pissing away your money."
Prostock-Studio / Getty Images
— mr_poopie_butt-hole
"Of all the great medical scams in the modern world, vitamins have to be the biggest overlooked obsession that doesn't do much good at all for most people."
— dumpitdog
27. "I think designer baby clothes are a total waste since kids grow out of them so fast."
Flavia Morlachetti / Getty Images
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