False Frugalities: 42 Examples Of People Trying To Save But Actually Losing Money

Extended warranty You think you are saving cash on the off chance the product you bought doesn't hold on and you need repairs, but I don't know anybody who has ever been happy about this choice On the opposite end of the spectrum, car insurance for rental cars. My father and his colleagues used to travel the world and rent cars for several weeks at a time. It would only take one car accident in all those years of renting cars to justify the cost. Many of these rentals were for off-road use. The rookies thought to save cash passing on the insurance and would eventually shell out thousands on repair

Being cheap with anything you’re going to use a lot or over a long time. Better to spend $180 on a single frying pan that will last 10+ years than buy a $40 frying pan each and every year because they c**p out so easily no matter how careful you are with them. This metaphor, of course, fits the bill for almost any frying pan that is non-stick or costs less that $100 to begin with.

People with flex fuel vehicles buying E85 instead of gasoline. The reduced mileage you get out of E85 eats up any saving you get at the pump.

I know people that skip going to the doctor until the last minute to save the office visit payments. It's a terrible idea since by the time they get there the simple cold turns into pneumonia and costs much more to heal.

Not paying off your mortgage to save the tax breaks... While it is nice to save taxes, the long term financial benefits are astronomical when you free up a mortgage payment.

A $5 pair of sneakers is not a deal, no matter what your wallet says. Maybe consider them if you only need shoes for another month...

Steam sales. You think all these games are a great deal, but you end up playing very few of them and proceed to buy new games you would buy anyways. Remember, you didn't save $7.50, you spent $2.50.

Stopping at Costco for just one thing because its cheaper than the grocery store. Sure I save 3 dollars on the initial item that I went in to get, but the bill at the till always seems to average 400 bucks.

Cheap legal services. A good lawyer that takes 3hrs at $300 an hour will do a much better job far cheaper than a [bad] lawyer that takes 5hrs at $200 to do the same job. This is partly why good lawyers are so expensive - because they're cheaper.

People overinflate the h**l out of their tires to get better gas mileage, then have to spend much more to get new tires when they wear out far sooner.

Restaurant specials. It's rarely cheaper and it's typically food that is about to go bad and needs to be sold instead of thrown out.

There was a sub about how to budget food/living expenses. And the ideas that people had were ridiculous and required you to be financially well off enough to facilitate their idea of what saving money is. I don't think I received advice from anyone who knew what it was like to be poor, or actually truly need to responsibly budget their funds. One guy wanted me to plant a garden to grow some carrots or other veg. I explained that I have a small apartment, and that carrots are a dollar for a big bag. He actually got uppity with me and became a total [jerk] when I explained that I live in a small apartment in the middle of the biggest city in canada. There is no benefit to turning half my apartment into a garden so I can grow five bucks worth of veggies in a few month's span. I can't just go outside and plant vegetables. It's also cold here 9 months out of the year. I got berated out of the sub after pointing this kind of s**t out numerous times.

In many cases, buying a name-brand product with a coupon is *still* more expensive than buying the store-brand. Or, buying something just because it's on sale, but not necessarily because you need it.

Leasing a car instead of buying one. I'm not gonna get into the specifics but it's pretty much always more costly

Justifying the purchase of anything solely because it's a "good deal." I hear this misconception all the time. If you spend $100 on shoes, even if you bought it at 99% off, you're still out $100. You haven't saved a penny, and that'll be a real problem if you needed that $100 to pay your utility bills. Edit: clarity and $10,000 shoes. http://www.luxist.com/2010/02/26/louis-vuitton-offers-10-000-alligator-wingtips/

Dining Plans at college. I literally could go out to eat for every meal for the price of them. And I often did. I saved a ton of money because I don't eat that much/snack more often .

Supermarket specials. Next time you go shopping, grab a calculator and work out the cost per 100 grams (or whatever equivalent weight) and you'll almost invariably find that the products with the big 'Sale!' signs are not the cheapest. Of course it's impractical to do this with every item so you can of course estimate, or shop at a store that all ready has the cost per 100 grams of the price tag like I do.

Shaving with a straight razor. It's a larger down-payment to start into it (simple but nice razor, strop, and brush cost me about $100), but I recouped that in less than a year just by not buying more cartridges. In theory, a razor will last pretty much forever, for free. Here's the problem, though. I nicked my blade and had to repair it, so I bought about $80 worth of reworking stuff (much less than I could have spent). Then I bought a fancy 1930's blade and restored it. Then I bought a better brush, and a better stop, and a better shave mug, etc. I started because it appealed to my practical side. Then it quickly became a ritualistic money hole.

Where I work, we do price adjustments on products that have gone on sale since the customer purchased them. Most of the time, the refund isn't worth the amount of time, energy, and gas the customer uses driving to the store.

"Rent is throwing money down the drain" Owning a home is not always smart. It can be, but not always. It's not just the house cost, but costs in taxes, interest, insurance, repairs and maintenance, etc. Then there's opportunity costs. I know folks who can't move until they sell, and can't take better jobs cuz they can't move. A house can be a big anchor in some contexts.