26 Things That Are No Longer Worth Your Money

Most people don't have a money problem. They have an attention problem. And because they're paying attention to the wrong people and messages, their idea of what normal spending looks like is completely warped. And the sad reality is a lot of stuff nowadays is either wildly overpriced, overhyped and overrated, or just a straight up rip off. And I have to admit, I got bamboozled by some of this stuff in the past myself, but luckily I wised up and stopped buying crap that kept me broke and trapped in a cycle of clutter and debt. And now I'm on a mission to help other people escape that cycle as well, which is why today I'm sharing this list of 26 things that are no longer worth your money to help you notice and hopefully avoid all of the everyday mistakes, schemes and downright scams that are quietly draining your money away. Starting with number one on this list, which is overpriced groceries. Now this might be controversial because after all, most people would agree that groceries are an essential purchase. However, the cost of groceries has gotten so out of control, it's gotten harder and harder for people to feed their families. One thing I do to reset my finances at the beginning of each year is take a look at how much the average family is spending on food that's based on data from the USDA, the federal government, by the way. And I was absolutely floored when I read that the average family with two children ages 11 and 13 like mine has to pay a thousand dollars at minimum to be able to feed their family. $1,000 for the thrifty plan. Can you believe that? Do you agree or disagree with me that groceries are overpriced nowadays? I'd love to have you comment down below to let me know what you think and hear how much you are spending on groceries each month if you're willing to share. But the bottom line is there's no reason that food should be this expensive. The pandemic was years ago, so it's no longer about scarcity or supply chain emergencies. What we're talking about here is corporate greed that's being repackaged and sold to us as inflation and shrinkflation. Do y'all remember when the CEO of Kellogg's said that if people can't afford groceries, they should just eat cereal for dinner instead? Yeah, it's giving Marie Antoinette, let them eat cake vibes. Groceries are essential. So the way they're being priced nowadays is ridiculous and needs to change. Speaking of food, number two is food delivery fees and tips. Food delivery used to be a treat, but nowadays people have gotten so used to ordering DoorDash and Uber Eats, it's become a part of their everyday lifestyle. And between all of the taxes, delivery fees, service charges, and tips, your $15 subway footlong somehow magically turns into $30. And I think more and more people nowadays are getting fed up with paying insane prices for lukewarm food or having their order be held ransom until they leave a huge tip. Unless you're sick, disabled, or truly unable to leave the house, ordering through food delivery apps is almost never worth it. So if you really want takeout, stop paying this convenience tax, as I like to call it, and save money by picking it up yourself. And speaking of which, number three is buy now, pay later apps. The only thing worse than paying $30 for a takeaway burrito is taking out a loan to pay for that burrito. Buy now, pay later apps don't exist to help you budget, they exist to make overspending feel painless by breaking purchases into smaller payments, which makes you feel disconnected from the real cost of whatever it is you're buying. This not only encourages impulse spending, but it also quietly normalizes going into debt over random everyday purchases that are almost never worth it. As a rule, if you can't afford to pay for something in cash, then 99% of the time, it's not worth buying at all. And sticking to that rule is one big reason my husband and I have been able to stay debt free for over a decade. Number four is takeaway coffee. And the problem here isn't really the coffee, it's the habit behind the coffee. And paying $7 here and $10 there for a coffee or latte can quietly add up to thousands of dollars wasted each year. I don't want to be a hater here. So if you love grabbing a daily coffee on your way to work, and it's a simple joy you plan and budget for, I say go for it. But I do think a lot of people don't realize there are other ways they can still enjoy their morning coffee on the go while sticking to their budget. So for example, my husband takes the train to work a few times a week. And on those days, he makes coffee for both of us at home. And he'll put his coffee in this Yeti mug that he got for free from one of his previous companies years ago. So he gets to enjoy hot and fresh coffee on the go at a fraction of the price. So I'm just saying there's definitely other options out there. Speaking of high price beverages, number five is expensive alcohol. Just the other day, I was reading a story in this book called The Art of Spending Money about how a billionaire once paid $400,000 for four bottles of wine that had supposedly been owned by Thomas Jefferson and even had the former president's signature scrolled on them only to find out those bottles were cheap fakes. Billionaire problems, am I right? Now, most of us aren't spending that kind of money on wine, but the psychology is the same. And past a certain price tag, you're not paying for better taste, you're paying for the story, the label, and the feeling of exclusivity of that alcohol. And bars and restaurants are just as bad because you end up paying a 200 to 300% markup for cheap beer and cocktails that are 90% ice, and the cost adds up fast. So enjoy alcohol responsibly if you choose to, but don't confuse expensive with worth it. And buyer's remorse will last a whole heck of a lot longer than the buzz does. That brings us to number six on this list, which is status-based spending on things like designer clothes, luxury handbags, high-end watches, and expensive cars. And actually going back to this book that I mentioned earlier, there's an entire chapter devoted to the pros and cons of spending on status versus utility. And according to the author, there are two main reasons valuing utility over status almost always leads to better long-term satisfaction. The first is that buying things for utility gives you the ability to express your own identity while chasing status often makes you conform to someone else's identity. And second, the pleasure you get from utility spending can be more durable than the pleasure that you get from spending on Because status is fragile and often depends on trends, comparisons, and keeping up with appearances, while spending on utility supports your actual life, your comfort, your values, and your needs. And once you see the difference, it gets a whole lot easier to stop paying top dollar just to buy someone else's approval. Number seven on this list is caring about other people's opinions. And one thing that never fails to amaze me is how angry people get about the Comments like this used to bother me, but now I mostly just laugh them off or leave the occasional spicy comment to try and point out the absurdity of caring about superficial things. Because if you think about it, how ridiculous would it be for me to change the way that I dress or to go out and buy new home decor just to fit someone else's taste. Spending money to cater to strangers and trends is one of the fastest ways to stay broke, miserable, and disconnected from the things that actually matter most to you. So if you struggle with caring too much what other people think about you, consider making what other people think of me is none of my business, one of your daily mantras. Next up, number eight is brand new cars. Did you know that when you drive a new car off the lot, it immediately loses around 20% of its value? Meanwhile, a gently used car that's just a year or two old can work just as well and cost thousands of dollars less. That's why for most people, brand new cars just aren't worth it anymore. So the next time you're car hunting, ask yourself if you really want to pay extra for that new car smell and the privilege of being first. Number nine is home appliances. People love to razz on me for having an outdated kitchen, but honestly, I'm thrilled because our appliances might be over 25 years old, but they're still going strong, which is something that you almost never see anymore thanks to planned obsolescence. Nowadays, modern appliances are made with cheap parts designed to break just outside the warranty and have so-called smart features no one asked for. I mean, who in their right mind would want to pay for a new refrigerator with a smart screen on the door that's going to serve you ads when you're in your kitchen? The takeaway here is to not feel pressured to replace appliances that are still working perfectly well, and if and when you do need to buy something, be sure and comparison shop and read tons of reviews because flashy upgrades don't always mean better quality. Next up, let's talk about high maintenance self-care routines. I'm talking about things like regular manicures and pedicures, expensive 10-step skin routines, Botox, hair extensions, highlights, and all of these things that quietly lock you into a very expensive maintenance cycle. Lately, I've even been seeing this trend that's being called high maintenance to be low maintenance, which sounds convenient, but in reality is often just a scam that's disguised as self-care. Because you're not actually becoming low maintenance, you're just paying a lot more money up front to stay committed to ongoing treatments, touch-ups, and appointments. To put real numbers to this, monthly nails alone can easily cost $1,000 to $2,000 a year. Hair extensions, highlights, and upkeep can run you $3,000 to $6,000 annually. And if you add Botox, injectables, and premium skincare on top, it's not uncommon for people to be spending $8,000 to $10,000 or more each year just to maintain their appearance. I'm not saying that you should never spend money on these things, but if you're living paycheck to paycheck because of them, maybe it's worth cutting back on most of and cherry picking one or two that you can add into your budget as the occasional treat. Number 11 is unused gym and fitness memberships. So quick disclaimer here. My family actually loves going to the gym and we go two or three times a week. So for us, it is absolutely worth the money, but I'll also admit I was 100% guilty of signing up for gym memberships when my motivation was high and then never going back after the first month. If you're not using your gym or fitness classes, they're not supporting your health. They're just quietly draining your wallet in the background. So if you're not going, give yourself permission to cancel and redirect that money towards something you'll actually use or need. Number 12, expensive weddings. The average wedding now costs over $30,000, which is an insane price tag for a single day, especially considering that 67% of people are going into debt just to be able to pay for their dream wedding. And when you consider that financial disagreements are one of the leading causes of divorce, starting your new life as a married couple with tens of thousands of dollars in wedding debt is probably not a great idea. Think about it this way, a wedding lasts for one day, but the financial consequences of your decisions can last for years. So a much better move would be to work together from the very beginning to have honest money conversations, build a realistic budget and start your marriage off on the right foot. Because weddings were meant to be for two, not you, your partner and a mountain of debt. The 13th thing on this list is the anniversary gift culture. So one of my many jobs back in college was working behind the fine jewelry counter at the mall. And it was then that I learned this crazy rule that says a husband is supposed to buy his wife a new gemstone every single year to celebrate their anniversary. So obviously because we're the fine jewelry department, we really want to push precious metals and gemstones. So year one was gold jewelry, year two was garnet, year five was sapphires and so on and so forth. But especially when it comes to saving money, rules are meant to be broken. And my husband and I stopped giving each other gifts a long time ago and we just celebrated 15 years of marriage. Instead of following a retail checklist, we've chosen to celebrate in ways that actually matter to us. Experiences, memories and time together, not pressure to buy one more expensive thing. So that just goes to show you, you can have a healthy marriage without having to follow all of these rules about gift giving. Now I've read the five love languages and I fully accept that gift giving is a love language. So if you love giving gifts, there are always affordable alternatives like going to a free concert together or borrowing a telescope from the library to go out and stargaze together. Just remember, you can always think outside the box and anniversaries don't require a high price tag to be meaningful. Number 14, going to the movies. I remember a time when going to the movies was a casual, cheap night out. But nowadays between tickets, snacks, drinks, parking, suddenly you've spent 60 to $80 to sit in a sticky seat next to someone who's scrolling on their phone on TikTok or a teenagers who are throwing popcorn. Throwing popcorn in this economy? So then the cheaper alternative used to be just to have your movie nights at home. But nowadays streaming services have gotten so out of control with their pricing that it actually made number 15 on this list. Because it's so not worth it to have multiple streaming platform subscriptions nowadays. You've got Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, Prime Video, Max and Apple TV. There are so many streaming platforms nowadays, a lot of people don't even remember what they're paying for. And it's a really good idea every once in a while to go through your subscriptions and see if there are any that you're not using. Maybe you watch the shows that you wanted to watch and you haven't been on there for months and months. So it's a good idea to cut those services entirely. That's actually what we did last year with our Netflix subscription, which saved us $200. And instead what we did was rent movies from the library and watch them at home for free. But then if there are certain shows that you want to watch that are only available on those streaming platforms, a great money saving hack is to only subscribe to one platform each time. And then when you're done watching the show or the movie that you want to watch, cancel that subscription and you can either put that money back into your bank account each month or put it towards a different streaming platform. So instead of collecting streaming subscriptions like Pokemon, make it a habit to regularly go through your subscriptions and only pay for the ones that you're actually watching, which is a nice segue into number 16, which is cable TV. How is it that cable TV can give us access to hundreds of channels that literally have nothing to watch on them except for dozens and dozens of ads? Honestly, cable TV just isn't worth it anymore. It's expensive, it's ad heavy, and quite often it locks you into contracts that can last for years. We said sayonara to cable TV over 10 years ago and we haven't missed it since. Number 17 is bulk shopping for perishables. Bulk shopping definitely can save you money and it's useful when you're buying things like rice or, say, toilet paper for a family of four. But if you find yourself buying packs of produce, dairy, or bread that regularly goes bad before you get a chance to use them up, that's not saving, that's wasting money in slow motion. Food waste costs hundreds of billions of dollars a year, with the average family of four wasting almost $3,000 every single year. Bulk buying only works if you actually use everything and sometimes the better option is to go for smaller and it ends up being cheaper because you're not wasting so much. Number 18 is the cost of airplane tickets. I feel this in my soul because we just got back from a trip where we went to visit my husband's family overseas in Germany and it was insane how much prices have gone up since the pandemic and somehow now everything is considered an upgrade and you have to pay extra for bags, you have to pay extra for a little bit more legroom, and I hear they're even charging extra for oxygen masks as well. Just kidding, just kidding. Honestly, nowadays it feels like airlines are looking for any excuse they can to nickel and dime you to death and a lot of people are just getting sick of it and choosing to drive when they do want to go on vacation. Unfortunately, if you want to travel internationally, that's not really an option, so the onus is on you to find more affordable flight options to compensate for these insane prices. And speaking of travel, that brings me to number 19 on this list, which is Airbnbs. Once upon a time, Airbnbs used to be cheaper than hotels, but now you've got cleaning fees, service fees, and a tour list that's longer than your grocery receipt when you went out to and cook your own meals yourself. So at this point, hotels are making a comeback and honestly, I'm here for it. And the room service. Please go away, let me sleep for the love of god. Number 20 is all those daily impulse purchases that you barely think about. Impulse spending doesn't feel dangerous, but between the five dollars here and twelve dollars there, those little treats can add up to hundreds and sometimes even thousands of dollars every single year. Last year, I did a no-buy year, and as part of my no-buy year, I decided to start an impulse spending journal to keep track of all of the times I felt the impulse to buy something that I wasn't planning to or that I didn't really want or need. And you would not believe how much money I saved just with this one simple habit. Let's just say it was thousands of dollars, and if you're interested to find out more about that, be sure and subscribe and turn on all notifications if you haven't already because I'm going to share the exact numbers in next week's video. But between all of your trips to the gas station and the target dollar spot and the checkout aisles when you're at the grocery store, all of these are specifically designed to quietly drain your wallet. So building your awareness and being able to say no to impulse spending can save you a huge amount of money over time. Number 21 is smartphones for kids. Beyond the upfront cost of buying a smartphone in the first place, there's a growing body of research linking early or excessive smartphone usage to higher rates of anxiety, depression, sleep deprivation, attention problems, and difficulty regulating emotions in children. Constant notifications and addictive apps disrupt focus, sleep, and real-world social development at a time when young brains are still forming. Yes, smartphones can be useful, but it's important to set boundaries and rules. And for many families, delaying smartphones or choosing simpler options not only protects your child's well-being, but also saves you a significant amount of money. Number 22 is products that condition kids to grow up to be good little consumers. I never realized just how manipulative brands and advertising can be until I read a story about how the coffee brand Nestle was able to enter the Japanese market and market to Japanese people who initially didn't like the taste of coffee and who preferred tea by targeting them when they were children with coffee-flavored sweets and treats, which created positive childhood memories and emotional connections to the taste of coffee so that they would grow up into coffee-loving adults. So that's why you see so many addictive video games getting marketed to little boys and skincare routines getting marketed to little girls. I mean like, hello Sephora kids. Teaching kids that they always need to buy products to solve their problems or feel okay is expensive and it's a hard mindset to undo later. Number 23 is thrift shopping. And I just want to say that I am a huge fan of thrift shopping and a lot of my clothes and the items in my home have come from thrift stores or secondhand stores. But even though thrifting can save money, it can also easily become a shopping addiction with a better reputation. Buying things that you don't need just because it's cheap isn't actually saving money. It's still costing you money and creating too much clutter in your home, which is a huge lesson that I personally had to learn the hard way. And not only that, but I've also noticed a growing trend where certain thrift stores are starting to mark up the stuff that they got for free with insanely high price tags. Again this is stuff that they got for the low low price of free and they want to charge you an arm and a leg for it. Also another thing I've been noticing lately is that it's getting harder and harder to find nice usable items because a lot of what's being donated is broken, stained, worn out, or past its usable lifespan. And thrift stores shouldn't have to be the middleman for people who struggle with putting stuff that should be in the trash in the trash out of guilt or indecision because donating something doesn't magically make it useful again. If something is ripped, broken, or unusable, the best thing you can do is responsibly recycle it or throw it away instead of passing the problem along to someone else. Remember a good deal is only a good deal if you actually need and will use an item and don't be afraid to say no to something if it's not in good condition or the price tag isn't justified. Number 24, self-storage units. If you're paying hundreds of dollars every month to store things that are just collecting dust, that's a good indicator that something might need to change. Here's a wild statistic for you, the US self-storage market was estimated to be over $44 billion in 2025 and it's not because everyone suddenly needs more space, it's because we're buying more stuff than our homes and our lives can handle. For a lot of people, storage units become a place where their indecision can live and decluttering is almost always cheaper than storing a bunch of stuff that you don't want or need. Because the harsh truth is that if it doesn't deserve a place in your home, then you probably don't need it badly enough to justify paying for a self-storage unit for it every single month. Number 25 is buying new holiday decor every year. Somehow we've been sold this idea that our home needs a refresh every single season and holiday with new pillows, new signs, new color schemes, and new bins. But I think it's important to remember that the joy and nostalgia that a lot of people are chasing doesn't come from buying new holiday stuff and seasonal decor every single year. It comes from togetherness and traditions that we've built over many, many years that aren't something that you can buy from a store, but rather come from repetition, from treasured memories, and the stuff that you pull out and put up together year after year. So instead of upgrading your decor annually, reuse what you love, edit what you don't, and let the holiday be about the experience instead of how Instagrammable your living room looks. And not only will your wallet thank you, but the storage space in your attic, basement, or garage probably will too. And finally, number 26 on this list is collectibles. A lot of people buy collectibles because they think they're an investment, but I've learned firsthand that this is rarely the case. When I was growing up, my dad poured so much money into collectibles that he told me would pay for my college one day. Things like Beanie Babies, and Swarovski crystals, and Barbie dolls, and he had his own coin collections, and knife collections, and more. And after he passed away, not only was going through those collectibles a huge burden on us, but when I went to sell those items on eBay, I quickly realized that a lot of those things were worth a half or even a third of what he had paid for them back in the 80s and 90s. Here's the thing about collectibles, whether they're marketed as valuable or they're simply sentimental to you, at some point, every single item becomes a decision that someone has to make, whether it's you or someone else in the future. So if you're going to hold onto something, let it be because it genuinely brings joy or value to your life and not because you paid a lot of money for it or because you feel guilty for letting it go. I recently talked about this concept in more detail in this video, so be sure and go check out that if you're interested, or I'll see you next week. Until then, take care. Bye-bye.