The DU Lounge
Related: Culture Forums, Support ForumsThe many ways we waste money
I would think credit card interest is one of the worst. Since college I've always paid it off every month. It's shocking how much they make on interest.
The toys parents buy, I see them abandoned in parks and set out for trash pickup. I shudder to think of the "hours of playfun" ROI they actually yield. $6,500 on average seems low.
Here is one senior's list from a lifetime of observations:
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/these-16-money-wasters-are-why-so-many-americans-cant-save-for-retirement-2019-05-08
empedocles
(15,751 posts)UniteFightBack
(8,231 posts)instead of always external forces causing your woe. You too could have a hand in it.
Ohiogal
(31,669 posts)When I was younger and working, I used to buy lots of expensive cosmetics from Macys like all that Clinique stuff. Now that I look back, I cringe at how I wasted $ on it.
I often wonder how just about everyone these days drives late model $40 and $50 thousand SUVs and trucks the size of the Titanic. How can the average person afford these things?
Freddie
(9,232 posts)Are the biggest waste of $$. I think we even have our daughter persuaded that her next car should be a young used car with low mileage.
mopinko
(69,806 posts)this is only a "waste" of money if you consider women's labor worth zero.
back in the day, folks who could afford one person to help in the house, they hired a cook. now we hire our cooks an hour at a time.
i grant that it is easy to spend more than necessary eating out.
but reasonable spending on restaurants is a necessity for many, many families.
i could quibble w the toys one, but do regret that kids dont do more things in meatspace.