We complain about the high cost of living every day, and this still doesn’t stop us from purchasing nonessential items or treating ourselves to some retail therapy. From $300 shoes to hundreds of dollars worth of designer water, here are 17 outrageous things we find money to splurge on.
Lottery Tickets
Saying that you have a slim chance of winning the lottery is an understatement. Nonetheless, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reveals that Americans spend up to $94 and even more on lottery tickets per month, with some individuals earning below $30,000 spending 13% of their income on lotteries alone!
Luxury Apparel
Many Americans love luxury fashion and will not pass up the chance to splash hundreds of dollars on a Loewe shirt or even thousands on Nike shoes. It always seems like a great investment to make for your self-confidence and social outlook, but in reality, it’s kind of ridiculous!
High-End Gadgets
Buying a new gadget may be exciting (and sometimes necessary) if you use a device that’s almost a decade old. However, we still see people spend over a thousand dollars on new iPhones every year, despite these not providing much improvement over their former phones.
Expensive Weddings
Weddings are undeniably beloved lifetime experiences, but is it worth taking a 30-year loan just to spend it all on a single day? According to Forbes, the average cost of a wedding is $33,000, and despite financial difficulties, people still find a way to pay for this… crazy!
Expensive Makeup
Many people value looking good for any occasion, and they often don’t mind spending hundreds of dollars on a makeup kit. However, the ingredients of these luxury items are often no different from cheaper alternatives. This isn’t likely to change, though, as brand recognition is everything to people.
Eating Out
Dining out will never go out of fashion–it’s currently more popular than ever, with the average household spending over $3,000 annually on restaurants and takeouts. Luxury dining costs even more, with people spending hundreds on a single dish happily. Treating yourself occasionally is fine, but doing this regularly is just silly!
Food Delivery Services
A huge trend in the food industry is takeout delivery services, which allow customers to indulge without leaving the comfort of their homes. These services are becoming increasingly popular, despite the Wall Street Journal sharing that customers are spending 40% more than they would otherwise!
Extended Warranties
Extended warranties may seem necessary at first, but the longer the warranty, the more expensive it is, so you may spend more insuring an item than buying it! Ask yourself this: do you really need a five-year or more warranty on a product that only costs $100 to fix?
Luxury Cars
For many people, owning a vehicle isn’t just about getting from A to B. If it were, they’d save thousands of dollars by buying reliable budget cars instead of luxury vehicles. However, this is unlikely to change, as car enthusiasts simply cannot pass up on the short-term excitement of owning a fancy sportscar.
High-End Gym Memberships
Luxury gym memberships usually offer a better variety of equipment, making workouts more rewarding. However, this is only true when you have the time to follow a disciplined workout routine. Regardless, many gym-goers spend big on a luxury membership despite their “nine-to-five” jobs, which prevents them from having the time to benefit from it.
Concerts
In the past, most people considered music concerts to be worth the money, but this has started to change with such events becoming increasingly expensive. For example, Business Insider claims that Swifties (Taylor Swift’s lovely fans) spend up to $20,000 in a single year just to attend her concerts!
Pets
Many people rely on support animals, but most pet owners simply choose to keep furry friends as pets, and this can get outrageously expensive. In some cases, people spend thousands of dollars just to buy “pure breeds” of animals, with additional thousands being spent annually on keeping their pets happy and healthy.
Video Games
Many people find spending $50 for a new video game or even $1,000 on an advanced gaming rig justifiable. However, this can amount to a whopping $60,000 over your entire lifetime, and this isn’t even considering the absurd amount gamers are beginning to spend on in-game skins and ‘gacha’ content!
Smoking
Cigarette smokers often spend over $13,000 a year to fulfill their addiction, continuing to feed into a $300 billion market. Sadly, this isn’t just about money; many smokers don’t consider the health complications that accompany this habit. It’s silly when you look at it like that!
Premium Gas
There are promises that premium gas will make your car run better and prevent damage to your engine, but this is only true for engines that are designed for it. Premium gas costs about 30% more than already expensive regular gas, with CNBC estimating that Americans waste $2 billion on it every year.
High-End Watches
Luxury watches can be considered status symbols, high-ticket investments, or generationally inheritable possessions. Therefore, it’s no surprise people spend thousands (or millions) of dollars on pieces, yet it’s silly when you realize that they tell the time just the same as $50 watches do.
Designer Water
We saved the silliest for last; it’s “luxury” water, which has been treated to contain natural minerals supposedly beneficial to the body. As if bottled water wasn’t enough to stop spending on, some rich people now pay $200 or even more for one bottle of designer-branded H2O!
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