You work hard for your money. So make sure you steer clear of these 6 absurd ways to spend your money.
Everybody occasionally makes a bad purchase here and there. But a bad purchase is very different from an absurd purchase. Absurd purchases are those made for goods that actually cause harm, or serve an ironic purpose, such as making the product less useful than it ought to be. Tragically, the absurd purchases on this list are not only common, you've probably made several of these purchases already. The real challenge after reading this will be to change your spending habits so you never again make these 6 absurd purchases.
6. Aluminum Car Rims
Try to purchase a new car today without aluminum rims. The appeal of the aesthetic of aluminum rims has made them an apparently indispensable accessory to any car. But is there any proof they provide even a modicum of actual improvement to the vehicle's operation?
In fact, the opposite is true in almost 90% of provable cases. In severe weather situations, such as in northern climates where snow makes driving treacherous, what type of rims are typically used? When northern drivers make their annual switch from summer tires to winter, they do so with the winter tires on steel rims.
The logic behind a choice like this is both sound and entirely obvious: winter driving usually is accompanied by potholes. Potholes are major trauma to a car rim. A steel rim may bend if struck against a pothole. An aluminum rim is not immune from getting dented in this fashion as well. But here's the key: for about $15, any mechanic on the planet can repair a steel rim. Conversely, even aluminum rim specialists - who typically charge more like $100.00 per repair - cannot always return the rim to its original true form. The result? A wobbly ride, or an enormous price paid for a replacement rim.
The next time you purchase a car, ask your dealer if you can obtain a discount by having the vehicle equipped with steel rims versus aluminum. If so, realize that not only will you save money up front on the purchase price of the car, you'll also save yourself downstream costs in terms of repair dollars and the headache of a rim that is built to break.
5. Stainless Steel Appliances
Primarily, stainless steel appliances are an absurd purchase because they cost more. Given the feature you are paying a premium for has absolutely nothing to do with the function of the product, making the purchase is absolutely absurd.
The other feature of stainless steel appliances is that they are absolutely anything but stainless. Accompanying your purchase will be cleaning products and personal labor to upkeep the appearance of the appliance. Given the entire point of a kitchen appliance is to make your life easier, choosing a stainless steel appliance over a traditional - and lower maintenance -white appliance is absurd.
4. Teflon Coated Frying Pans
According to the U.S. Government site medlineplus.gov, "the nonstick types of these pans should be used only at low or medium heat. They should never be left unattended at high heat. This may cause the release of fumes that can irritate humans and household pets".
A frying pan that the U.S. government advises should not be exposed to high heat. Seriously? OK, what exactly is high heat? Wouldn't exposure to any heat from a natural gas source be considered high heat. It is an actual flame, after all.
Any purchase you make that may cause health hazards if used microscopically outside the strict bounds of stated functionality of the manufacturer is an absurd purchase. These pans often appear at garage sales and thrift stores. It is very important for you to understand that even if a frying pan seems to be a deal, you are much better off spending more money on a safer material such as stainless steel.
3. Even One Single Lottery Ticket
Buying many lottery tickets is not what makes this entry on our list. A single lottery ticket purchase is absurd! Any purchase beyond a single ticket only serves to increase the level of absurdity. In some states, such as Massachusetts, the average lottery consumer spends $978.18 per year on lottery tickets! That is literally the same as winning $900 every year by not spending any money on lottery tickets! Wake up people!!!
2. Warranties
Although most warranties are worthless, their value with respect to car purchases is particularly noteworthy. Car warranties don't cover the aspects of a car most certain to fail. Wear and tear items like tires, brakes and even mufflers are typically not covered by most car warranties. Areas where the warranty does provide coverage likely overlaps with your actual automobile insurance, as the reason for the failure is very likely due to an accident. If you have auto coverage, it will be used first, and only in an extreme case will your warranty in a situation like that actually kick in.
Warranty providers also do their level best to deny claims, as the whole name of the game with a warranty is to collect an up front payment and then go into hiding. If you have a warranty on a product and then later make a claim, be prepared to have it denied on the grounds of unreasonable use or that you failed to provide reasonable and necessary maintenance.
If you are wondering if now is a good time to purchase a warranty understand this: it never is!
1. Soda Pop
Incredibly, despite government issued studies that absolutely damn soda pop, consumers still drink it regularly. Sugar sweetened beverages, such as soda pop, were studied in 2010 with a pool of 310,819 participants. The results were that those participants consuming 1-2 servings of soda pop each day had a 26% greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes than those who consumed less than 1 serving.
Sure, soda pop tastes great, but it contains such an overwhelming amount of sugar that your body cannot keep up if you consume just two cans a day. Should you be someone who regularly consumes that much or more, unfortunately, you are regularly making an absolutely absurd purchase every time. Force yourself to consider more healthy alternatives, such as sparkling water - which you can purchase in cans just like soda, or via SodaStream which you can make at home for a lower cost per serving.
Do you have examples of products that are absurd at any price? What do you do when you see people making those purchases?