There are a few things that people spend money on that make me scratch my head. Also, I like lists.
Top spending habits that make me say ‘wtf?’
Bottled water
People, it comes from a tap. Abundantly. For free.
Okay okay, perhaps you come from somewhere that doesn’t have great tap water but here in TO and I’m sure where you’re from, it’s pretty decent.
Waxing
Boys, you can scroll down (or prepare to cringe) riiight around now. Paying astronomical amounts to rip hair off myself is absolutely silly to me because I can go to the drugstore, pick up a bottle of Nad’s or Alexandria and do it myself in all of 10 minutes. I remember my roommate getting a horrible wax job at a fancy salon back in university. I ended up busting out my bottle of wax and giving her a live tutorial of how to do it yourself.
High-end mascara
Out of curiosity, I’ve paid about $30 for Diorshow mascara. I thought it was great but I’m pretty sure if you gave me a bottle of Maybelline and slapped a Dior sticker on it, I’d think it was pretty great too (read: psychological!). A ton of people swear by the Maybelline stuff and its something like $8. There is no way any mascara is going to actually lengthen or miraculously twirl your lashes so grab the cheap stuff and go!
Tea
I love tea as much as the next uppity tea drinker. But unless I’m having a ‘coffee date’ (I don’t drink coffee so I grab tea), I don’t see the point of buying a tea when I can drop a bag into water. Water, bag, insert. Tea!
Designer clothing
Uhhh, enough said. I’ve been a sucker for this in the past but no more. NO MORE.
So, that’s my piece. What say you about things that are a total waste of money? Please share!
Cents & Nonsense 
I agree with waxing. You can get a decent hot wax warmer and set up for less than a hundred dollars and you’ll recoup that cost in no time. Especially if you visit once a month or more often at $15-50 a pop depending on what you get done.
I know, it’s ridiculous how much people charge for something so easy to do. Although I’m sure I’m guilty of paying for things I can do myself too. Perhaps the real key to saving is to learn how to do things yourself!
I’d love to talk more about this whole waxing business, haha. I’m with you on things like leg, arm, armpit, etc. hair… but have you ever tried to wax yourself down there? Umm yea, I’ll pay a professional any day! (TMI!?)
LOL amazing that you said that because I was thinking about that while writing – I was telling a friend the other day that I hate paying for waxing but that this is one instance where I DEFINITELY WOULD. Now that would be a trial and error that would mostly just be error and pain…!
Oh, I meant to add a comment re: bottled water. In Canada, I think bottled water should just be banned. Maybe not everywhere is lucky enough to have the fresh water that Vancouver Island + most of BC has but I’ve drank water from taps in many provinces and have never been disappointed. That being said, there are a lot of cities in North America that have to use recycled water. Vegas is one example. I would never, ever drink water from the tap in Vegas.
I do remember the water in Victoria being particularly tasty! One of the many things I miss about the Island. Totally agree bottled water should be banned in Canada. Or at the very least people should stop being stupid enough to buy it so that it becomes obsolete anyway. Would love to see that happen!
Bottled water – I agree, this is a huge SCAM! Get a Brita filter if you are that worried people!
Waxing – So good that you can wax at home! I can never figure out home waxing kits. I tried to wax my eyebrows once using a facial wax kit but nothing happened except for wax sticking on my face!
High End Mascara – Another huge SCAM! Maybelline is def. the best and sometimes they have it on sale at Walmart for under $4!
Tea – I know this is another huge SCAM and I have somehow convinced myself that tea at the store tastes better than tea at home!
Designer Clothing – Probably one of the hardest addictions to break for me! I have definitely been brandwashed!
Haha I totally do eyebrows myself! I never shape though, just clean up the fuzzy bits and tweeze the rest. Your eyebrows are so nice though, I don’t blame you for going to a person!
The only reason I ever buy tea at a store is if I’m meeting someone for ‘coffee’ since I don’t really drink coffee and tea is way cheaper (and healthier) than the fancy drinks I’d be tempted to get otherwise!
And yes I know you have a designer addiction! Haha I shouldn’t talk, walking around with my Michael Kors and Longchamps bags. Mind you these are remnants of pre-frugal-me. I contemplated selling the MK but umm no, its too cute lol
Hahahha I’m with Cait about waxing “down there.” I went to get it by a so called professional once but it hurt like hell and it was bleeding everywhere.. it was complete torture. I want to go to a real professional and all of my friends go to this place called the European Wax Center, but I just can’t deal because it’s so expensive. I want to try it some day.
I love using Cover Girl mascara. Lashblast! It’s cheap and I don’t get the hype with designer make-up. I mean designer shoes or designer purses are obviously expensive because they have logos.. I don’t care for them anymore but I don’t judge people who buy them. For designer make-up all I can think of is….it always looks the same. You can tell people you are wearing Dior mascara and they wouldn’t know LOL. Unless it’s something like foundation – I have really acne prone and sensitive skin so I use Clinique and then Dior foundation 😛
Silly wordpress sent this to spam! Oh my goodness, that waxing experience sounds horrendous. You defintiely need to make sure you go to a really good place for something like that but yeah, like you said its just way too pricey!
Totally agree with you on makeup. For the most part I had been buying all my makeup at Sephora, hello $$! Definitely going to switch over to drugstore brand because who cares – but yes things like foundation, face creams are worth splurging on. Clinique makes great products and I love MAC too for foundation.
I agree with Cait in that bottled water should be banned. I love tea, but I’m happy making it because I drink a lot of it and if I bought it at, say, Starbucks, I’d have to get up far too often (plus, it’s expensive!) High end mascara, and high end eyeliner – both scams. Face creams and foundations are worth splurging on!
Oh I totally agree about face creams and foundations! I am happy scrimping on silly things like mascara/liner in order to save up for good creams.
A coworker was getting Tims tea twice a day and only just realized she was spending $80 a month on tea. I think the only thing I was surprised about was the fact that she was so surprised. She now drinks tea from our kitchen – another win for frugality! Another friend buys Starbucks coffee everyday even though her office kitchen uses Starbucks coffee…that one is still a work in progress!
So. Many. Things. (http://eemusings.wordpress.com/2012/02/09/things-i-dont-and-wont-pay-for/)
I’ve never had a wax. Too chicken to try it.
Completely agree with your list, especially books! Way too pricey for something I will likely only read once. I’ve been wanting to read the second Hunger Games book but refuse to buy (plus the library has a huge waitlist) so I just posted to Facebook that I was looking for it and someone brought it to work for me yesterday 🙂
As for fees, I still pay bank fees and I could not for the life of me explain why.
I agree with you about bottled water. My wife insists that we buy it though, because it’s convenient for her at work. We got one of those filtered water pitchers that go in the fridge and I’ve noticed that we both drink more water now. But we still can’t break the bottled water habit!
I also think dry cleaning is a total waste of money. Unless the tag specifically says to dry clean, throw it in the washer and iron it! You’ll save a ton of money over time.
Get her a travel water bottle 😀 Thank you for mentioning dry cleaning! If I actually dry cleaned all my work pants, I would definitely be spending a ton! Now if only I knew what to do about my winter jackets. Do you wash things like that yourself too?
It depends on the material. If they’re made of polyester or cotton I’ll throw them in the wash. If the tag says dry clean only, I splurge once a year to do that. It’s cheaper than buying a new jacket every year, I figure.
I agree with everyone about banning bottled water. It’s a waste of money and bad for the environment. I always make sure to not buy clothes that require dry cleaning. Some of my clothes says dry cleaning recommended, but if it’s allowed to be thrown in the washer, that’s what I’m doing.
CB actually buys a lot of bottled water. We are trying to get better but it’s very convenient to just toss a couple bottles in the car. We had a travel bottle a while back, but then we got lazy at refilling it. I know, I know, I try to tell him to minimize his bottle-buying habit, but for some reason it hasn’t stuck. If that’s his worst financial faux pas, though, I guess I’m pretty lucky.
Yeah, definitely not the worst faux pas at all. BF is super-frugalisto but also super-paranoid in general so he is scared to drink tap water…lame considering it’s perfectly safe in Toronto. And yeah, for any car rides we definitely just toss in a few bottles too :S Water fail.