12 things we should stop buying now.

[theoldwolf]

From Time's Moneyland Click the link for the full article - here you get the executive summary without having to page through the slide show.
 
 
 
 

1. Homeopathic Flu Remedies: The CDC says there is no benefit.
   
2. Credit Card Payment Insurance: Largely a scam, with so many conditions and exclusions that you may never see a dime.
   
3. Dirt-Cheap Paper Towels: Non-absorbent, cancelling your savings.
   
4. Bottled Water: Expensive, non-ecological. Exception: If you're in a place where the water can't be trusted. See more here.
   
5. Premium Gasoline: 99% of cars don't need it. Edit: (From the comments below, it appears that many people still use premium or a mixture to get optimal performance in various vehicles.)
   
6. Super-High SPF Sunscreen: Expensive hype - SPF 30 blocks 97% of UVB rays. Exception: If you're very fair-skinned or have a history of skin cancer.
   
7. Auto Service Warranties: Scams - "92 percent of consumers called the companies’ sales tactics misleading or improper." Note: These are not the "prepaid service plans" offered by many dealerships, but the aftermarket solicitations you get in your junk mail.
   
8. 100-Calorie Packs of Snack Foods: Make your own. Exception: If you're a binge-eater who can't stop from eating the whole pack, paying more is still better for you than the alternative.
   
9. Lottery tickets: A tax on people who are bad at math.
   
10. Unlimited Cell Phone Minutes: Most of us don't yak enough to make such plans worthwhile.
    
11. Brand-new college texts: Do everything you can to find or borrow used or electronic versions.
    
12. Extended warranties: Usually duplicate manufacturer's coverage and are not needed. Exception: Laptops (especially for students and frequent travellers).
    

Comments

[kusanagi-sama.livejournal.com]

1. I don't use any flu remedies as I never get the flu.
2. I have always saw the credit card insurance as a waste of money and interferes with paying off the credit card.
3. I am not my parents, I don't buy the cheapest paper towels out there
4. Tap water regardless of where you are is fine by me (except if you are on vacation, you want to try and keep drinking the same water)
5. Don't need to use premium, its high octane content on an engine that needs the lower octane of regular will get lower MPG, but will get more HP. Same goes with Ethanol, high octane = low MPG, but increase power along with creeping engine damage (at least corn ethanol is like this, sugar based ethanol is not, as I understand - the sugar beet based ethanol in Brazil for example)
6. I never use sunscreen. I hate the feeling of slapping sticky wet stuff on me
7. I never even use the warranty on my truck and don't go for those aftermarket warranties (except when the dealer makes you get one for the used car/truck you just bought)
8. I'm not a health nut, so I don't buy those products that in its good intentions is trying to starve you to lose weight, but only winds up making you eat more of them
9. I don't really care to do the lottery, as I rarely win anything. So if anything, I might spend $10 a month. This last time, last week I won $55 on spending $9 on $1 scratch offs (Hadn't won that much since around 1999-2000)
10. There's nothing much you can do about this, just about all cell phone plans come with unlimited minutes, except for the actual minutes you use when you don't call a cell phone
11. I tried my best to find used ones. If they had the kindle when I was still in college, I would buy me a Kindle and get the kindle version
12. See #7