What, in your opinion, is the worst waste of money? What would you never spend money on?

I'm just interested in people's opinions about how they, and others, spend their money. I have friends and colleagues who spend and waste money on things (car loans, houses they can't afford, concert tickets etc) and think I'm crazy because I don't use my money like that. I'd just like to hear other people's opinions.

What purchases make you cringe? Do you have any horror stories? Do tell.

Interesting about the taxes. I live in Australia, and we pay really high taxes compared with other countries. However, we also have unemployment benefits with no time limit, free education, really good schools, and other great services, so I don't really mind paying high tax.

I'm an Australian too, and believe that we we get pretty good value for our taxes. They're high and there's a fair bit of waste and unwise spending by all of our governments, but overall, we don't do too badly.

I can't understand why people take out enormous mortgages on houses that are larger and far more expensive than they need or can afford. This applies particularly to young people these days with their first home. People used to start with whatever they could afford. It may have been smaller and further from town than their dream home, but it was what they could manage to pay for at that time. Over time, they built up equity and traded up. Now, most people want 4 or 5 bedrooms, multiple bathrooms, huge family rooms, media rooms etc etc. in their first home so they over-extend themselves with unservicable mortgages.
Expensive cars are another extravagance. People don't seem to be content with transport that will get them reliably from A to B. They demand fancy cars that they need to take out large loans to buy.
Expensive holidays, designer clothes, dozens of pairs of shoes, jewellery, cigarettes, club memberships - the list goes on.
Don't get me wrong. I like nice things too, but a reasonable house, an under 30k car, affordable holidays a few years apart, off the rack clothes etc. are all I need and want. Our first couple of home purchases were very modest, but we gradually traded up to a decent house in a good area, though it's still nothing like the first homes I described earlier.
I do confess that we spent a lot on getting the best education possible for our children and don't begrudge a cent of it. I guess some may see that as an extravagance, but they were always happy at school and have gone on to rewarding (in every way) careers. I'm pleased to say that they are also content to buy only what they can afford, even if their acquaintances have much larger houses and cars.
Even if I had a lot more money, I would still be content with my current level of spending - anything more would be a waste.

Payin Taxes :)

When someone I knew was about to get their electricity turned off because they are so bad with money, and they were complaining that they were going to have to stoop to drinking beer!

i wouldnt buy music online with my creidt card, thats a waste

$1 a day to have christian nutters tell starving africans NOT to war condoms

Taxes, they keep going up but yet I keep getting less and less support from the government.
I also think gambling can be a huge waste of money. I understand some people do it from time to time and that is ok. But don't let me hear you complaine you do not have any money if you are out gambling all the time.
Last one - hair cuts. I have my wife cut my hair. The last time I paid someone to cut my hair it cost me $15. We bour a home hair trimmer for $12 and she has been doing my hair since.

Cars and homes are not a waste of money. They are a necessity and most people you meet are currently paying on a car loan or mortgage. Usually they will not get approved for loans if they cannot afford them.
However, in my opinion, cigarettes are the biggest waste of money. It's a tiny stick full of stuff inside that hurts you and will eventually kill you and probably make others around you sick and/or uncomfortable. And at nearly $4.00 a pack, it's ridiculous! Especially considering that many people go through one pack a day!!!

I would never spend money to paste false nails on. Or fake hair, eyelashes and boobs. What you see is what I got.

Baseball cards (or anything related to sports). Sports are fun to play, not to watch... Tickets to any form of sporting events would be such a bad gift for me. Never could understand the mentality behind those things. I understand it's fun to spend time with someone at those events and the general atmosphere is really positive but I would never go to a sporting event just for the game.

Anything to do with football / soccer (UK).

It is now phoney, a waste of time, money and effort. How sad that a once wonderful game has been reduced to its current pale imitation.

It is not a game - it is a performance - and I've watched better performances by less well paid organisations. The local school play springs to mind!

Good answer about the cigarettes!
Personally, without passing judgment on anyone, I can't imagine spending money to dress up my car: glittery paint, fancy rims, lights underneath, etc.

Anything that's not going to pay you back, is a waste of money. That being the poor are poor and the midde-class are that way (being that the poor wastes money on minor expenses like food, rent, and objects, while the middle class wastes money on liabilities like houses with rents and cars with insurance payments, cell phones with added features that harbor expensive bills. The rich buy cashflow producing assets, things that will pay them back - whether it be just later on in time, as if with an appreciating house in a good area that you 1031 exchanged or have profit flowing from a business related endeavor as though a licensing deal or simply revenue from a product. Stocks are also in this list, via Dividend revenue and capital gains when they increase in value. This being exactly why I have the freetime to be able to break out a laptop and do silly things like this anytime I want.

I would never pay money for sex

Heating or cooling an unoccupied home. I have a turn-back thermostat that turns the heat down in the winter and the same with the air conditioner in the summer when I'm away at work. Also turns the heat down in the winter when I go to sleep. Why pay to heat something when nobody's there. I keep it warm enough to keep the pipes from freezing.

My in-laws will have the electric man at their house to shut it off but will still be puffing away on their cigarettes, then complain about what a pain it is to have to go to the dr bc they always have respiratory problems...shakes head...
The worst waste of money for us personally--Against my wishes, my hubby cosigned a car loan for a brand new car for his irresponsible older brother (29-30 years old). The interest rate is just shy of 17% making the monthly payment $480 a month. He made the first payment then decided he no longer felt like paying and we are stuck with making the payments. (We drive a used vehicle--we do not buy new vehicles.) Anyway, my short list of purchases that make me cringe--cigarettes, lotto tickets, and anything people pay extra for simply bc of the brand name (ie $700 shoes). Good question!