What are some bad habits that waste money that most people don't consider to be bad?

[gogirlanime]

* drink alcohol
* buy televisions (our friends usually have a big old tube TV to give away when we need one. we're on our 3rd hand-me-down TV, have never bought one)
* pay for cable
* manicures, pedicures, expensive hair treatments
* weddings (seriously, tends of thousands of dollars just for one stressful day of your life? I think this is a huge waste of money)

I agree with all of these. The only one not so much is TVs. I think buying a TV every 6-7 years is normal and if you find a good price for it, it can be a very smart buy. My boyfriend and I waited until Black Friday and got a 50" LCD TV for $288 at Walmart, his old TV was a bit dated (I tried to convince him to wait one more year) but still decent (5 years old). We love the quality of Blu-rays so we treated ourselves with a new TV but didn't spend a kagillion dollars on it, and for only $20 we got a 3 year warranty!

His old one we gave to his sister for Christmas (so that was another $30-$50 we didn't have to spend) so technically the TV was even more inexpensive for us.


However I agree people buy a new TV sometimes every year or every other year, why? It's not needed.

[TBH]

However I agree people buy a new TV sometimes every year or every other year, why? It's not needed.

Recently when our old TV broke we looked into buying one. You can get them quite cheap, I agree. We found another hand-me-down so I didn't need to buy one, but I was shocked reading the Amazon reviews. For the smaller flat screens, people said things like "I bought four of these for each of the kids' rooms" etc. FOUR TVs. We have one TV and that is plenty. I don't understand why people need TVs in the kitchen, bedrooms, even the bathroom.

But then we do have a lot of electronic gadgets, so I guess you choose your poison? We have 1 desktop computer, 3 laptops for a 3-person family, an older iPad, 1 smart phone, 2 kindles, a very old iPod touch--oy. It would be cheaper to put TVs in every room!

[Gailete]

My ex would turn on the TV the minute he got up, leave it on when he went to work, came home and turned it on again since I had turned it off and it stayed on until he went to bed. Sadly for our one TV family it was HIS choice at all times for what was on TV.

I can't conceive of why anyone needs a TV for every kid. That would seem to mean that they were living in a pretty big house as well and so much easier to buy a TV for everyone instead of teaching how to share and cooperate. Some parents make decisions for their kids that are going to leave far ranging impacts. How do people learn to work together when they have never had to learn to compromise even on a TV show to watch. A very selfish generation is coming our way and it isn't pretty and is going to just get worse.

[moneybags]

. Some parents make decisions for their kids that are going to leave far ranging impacts. How do people learn to work together when they have never had to learn to compromise even on a TV show to watch. A very selfish generation is coming our way and it isn't pretty and is going to just get worse.

We grew up in a household with one TV (10 people). There was no compromise, we watched what Dad picked (basically cop shows). I don't think I'm making my kids selfish by allowing them to watch what they want.

[disneysteve]

My ex would turn on the TV the minute he got up, leave it on when he went to work, came home and turned it on again since I had turned it off and it stayed on until he went to bed. Sadly for our one TV family it was HIS choice at all times for what was on TV.

Can't imagine why he's your ex.

I can't conceive of why anyone needs a TV for every kid. That would seem to mean that they were living in a pretty big house as well and so much easier to buy a TV for everyone instead of teaching how to share and cooperate. Some parents make decisions for their kids that are going to leave far ranging impacts. How do people learn to work together when they have never had to learn to compromise even on a TV show to watch. A very selfish generation is coming our way and it isn't pretty and is going to just get worse.

I would have to disagree. I grew up in a house with 4 people. We had 3 bedrooms. We had 6 televisions: one in each bedroom, one in living room, one in kitchen, one in basement. I think I turned out okay. I know how to play well with others even though if there was a show I really wanted to see and others didn't, I was able to go to my room and watch it. That doesn't mean we all went separate ways all the time. Most of the time, we were all in the living room together. Another factor was that my father worked from home. His office was the dining room table. So watching TV in the living room wasn't always an option. And I would frequently watch TV before going to sleep. I could do that in my room without disturbing anyone else.

It really isn't much different today. My daughter doesn't have a TV in her room but she does have an iPhone. Before going to sleep, she uses that to watch TV shows, movies, etc.

I will go on the treadmill and watch a show on the iPad. My wife may be watching something else on the family room TV while DD is on the desktop computer watching a third show. So basically computers and smartphones have replaced the need for multiple TVs (we have 2 by the way).

[Gailete]

I didn't mean that all children with their own TV turn out terrible, but I have seen way too many that in many issues, including TV, that they have never had to compromise, share or do anything else equally repulsive to them. At one point I had a stepson (very short time thank goodness), as a family 5 of us visited at his great-aunt and uncle's lake cabin. When it was time to sort out where every one was sleeping, when he was told he had to SHARE accommodations, he flat out stated he had never shared before and wasn't about to now! This kid was 16 or 17 at the time and truly as a previously single kid had never learned to share, compromise, or think about others needs and welfare. I have seen it in other 'kids' as well over the years. For awhile my son was bringing home girls. Not one of them ever thought of getting up and helping or even offering to help with setting up or clearing away after dinner. When I grew up, I would have been in big trouble if I hadn't offered my assistance when I was company and certainly had to do these things at home as well. This is just something I have observed over the years and I see it as a bad thing because we having been raising a 'ME' generation for awhile and unfortunately they go one to raise even more self-centered kids.

Not all become self-centered because they have their own TV but I see it as symptom.

Quote:


Originally Posted by Gailete View Post

My ex would turn on the TV the minute he got up, leave it on when he went to work, came home and turned it on again since I had turned it off and it stayed on until he went to bed. Sadly for our one TV family it was HIS choice at all times for what was on TV.

Can't imagine why he's your ex.

but one of the reasons that my ex felt that the TV was his alone and in his sole power was he was raised that way. He too had a TV in his room and had been allowed to pick up his dinner plate and go watch TV while everyone else had dinner at the table. Even when we were married and would visit his parents he would still do the same thing leaving me to be social with his family and watch the kids while he reverted back to his growing up status of doing what he wanted.

Our society is changing at almost as rapid pace as new cell phones keep coming out. As I go out shopping and running errands, I keep seeing many examples of selfishness and a non compromising attitude.

But as this thread is about some bad habits that waste money that people don't consider to be bad, when providing so many TVs to a household for each child to have one, and then the public ones, you are talking around $1K give or take depending on models or size and unless you have the cash to be paying for all those TVs, how many of them were bought using a credit card and the old TVs aren't even paid off yet when the new ones are purchased? DisneySteve I assume pays cash for his and only when his budget can handle it, but I doubt if most people (not just Savings Advice folks) pay cash, but use credit cards.

[disneysteve]

But as this thread is about some bad habits that waste money that people don't consider to be bad, when providing so many TVs to a household for each child to have one, and then the public ones, you are talking around $1K give or take depending on models or size and unless you have the cash to be paying for all those TVs, how many of them were bought using a credit card and the old TVs aren't even paid off yet when the new ones are purchased?

I do think the whole big screen TV thing is insane. When people are bragging about what a great deal they got on their 50-inch TV I have to wonder what they're house looks like.

We actually had trouble finding our current TV. We were replacing a 25" tube TV with our first flat screen. Just try finding a 25" or thereabouts flat screen. I went to 5 different stores. Each had exactly one model to choose from in that size. If I wanted a home movie theater, they had numerous choices. Apparently, that's what everyone buys today. Our family room isn't that big. There's no way we would put anything larger than the 25" TV in there, and we have a 23" in our bedroom (still a tube until it dies).

[dojo]

The best laid plans can go awry. My last son was autistic and even though I had managed to potty train the older and the little girl I babysat before he was born. even with help from the youngest's teacher at his preschool for developmentally delayed children, he wasn't potty trained and out of diapers for good till he was 3 1/2. Certainly wasn't for lack of trying on our part or being a lazy mother. I sincerely wish you the healthiest baby in the world, but babies don't always cooperate with plans made before they were born.

Sorry to hear about it, let's hope the little lady will cooperate If not, we can always buy some more diapers.

Our decisions are based on our budget, as it's normal in any household, and of course our goals. We'd like to 'automate' some of the stuff that would take more time and be able to focus on spending those hours with the kid and also trying to run our businesses, so that we keep the bills paid.

I'm a big fan of many of the gimmicks we have access to today, since they free up some of my time. Sure, many are useless (for us at least), but the good thing is that we have where to choose from.

Money in this matter is not such a huge issue, our budget for the little one isn't too 'tight'. We have already saved money for the near future and the businesses are doing well, so we don't have too worry too much about the cost of diapers for instance. Let's hope it will all stay the same

[Like2Plan]

Not to mention we have already stocked up on diapers in the past months, we're almost covered for at least 4 months. We bought them at sale prices, so it's not even a huge burden for us. We also have other 'gadgets' that will earn us more TIME, which does cost quite a lot when you're trying to put food on the table and also be there for the child. For me it's more important to spend some extra minutes with the baby, than to wash, fold, manage diapers. .

I will be interested in finding out how this strategy (buying a 4 month supply) in advance works for you. How did you determine how many of what size? We used disposable, but we found they was variability between products (different fit between products) and babies grow very fast. I don't know if I could have accurately predicted the amount of diapers needed for a particular size.

[kv968]

I do think the whole big screen TV thing is insane. When people are bragging about what a great deal they got on their 50-inch TV I have to wonder what they're house looks like.

You don't need much room for a bigger TV. I have a 52" and sit about 9' away from it (small living room) and it looks great. Especially for blu-ray, HDTV and video games (so basically everything).

I'll admit, it did a look a bit overwhelming when I first turned it on but that quickly went away and I love it.

[dawnwes]

Expensive cell phone plans
Cable/Satellite TV
Car payments
Eating out excessively


Please note, 10 years ago, we had all of the above. Granted, we were dual income then, but we also hadn't made some significant changes to our budget and were in debt. We thought it was all fine because we had decent incomes. SInce then, we have cut $900/mo by cutting out the above.

[Gailete]

I will be interested in finding out how this strategy (buying a 4 month supply) in advance works for you. How did you determine how many of what size?

I would wonder about that as well. I brought my last baby home from the hospital and immediately packed away all 'newborn' size clothes that I had. He weighed over 10# 23"long, So if I had had a month or two supply of newborn diapers, I would have had to 'dispose' of them as well.

[rob62521]

Usually anything that precedes the rationalizing statement "I deserve this."

[gogirlanime]

Expensive cell phone plans
Cable/Satellite TV
Car payments
Eating out excessively


Please note, 10 years ago, we had all of the above. Granted, we were dual income then, but we also hadn't made some significant changes to our budget and were in debt. We thought it was all fine because we had decent incomes. SInce then, we have cut $900/mo by cutting out the above.

Oh yeah, I agree with these. Get a Walmart phone plan $20-$30, get Netflix or Hulu or both, buy a car with cash, cook at home. Will save you tons.

[disneysteve]

You don't need much room for a bigger TV. I have a 52" and sit about 9' away from it

Call me old-fashioned but the biggest tube TV used to be about 32" and everybody was just fine with that. Regardless of price, we wouldn't have gone much larger than we did. In fact, our main limiting factor was the TV opening in our wall unit. Anything larger than what we bought would have required remodeling the room and getting rid of that piece of furniture.