Cable TV.

Home warranties
HVAC maintenance contract (kept patching problem adding freon rather than fix it)
Full service realtors

Anonymous wrote:Yearly HVAC service. We had one come out and they said the way our HVAC was installed, they couldn't service it. They said just to wait until it died. Great. And then they still demanded their fee. Basically paid for a service that didn't happen.

Write them a bad review on Yelp. That sounds like the first company we had for annual inspections/service. Total scam. I did a review on Angie's list (fake good reviews) and Yelp (lots of bad ones -- wish I'd checked there first) so others wouldn't be scammed in the future.

Next time I asked my neighborhood listserv for a good rec and that HVAC guy was awesome.

Yearly HVAC service. We had one come out and they said the way our HVAC was installed, they couldn't service it. They said just to wait until it died. Great. And then they still demanded their fee. Basically paid for a service that didn't happen.

Financial planner. Basically just told us "keep up the good work" and convinced us to get more life insurance and write up a will (okay, those last two were super important, but not worth her fee!).

A few house projects where we were fleeced by plumbers or contractors (Case). U

This device that was supposed to kill the mosquitos in my backyard (a gfit). Mosquito magnet maybe? Felt so guilty landfilling it but there was no sense just storing it forever.

$2k for an interior designer (flat fee) that picked out a few things but totally not enough to justify doing.

I agree on high-end appliances, apart from Miele dishwashers, which are worth it.

Paying full whack on realtors' fees.

Anonymous wrote:Waterpik (is it just me or does that get water all over the mirror when I try to use it?!)

Eh -- maybe you are not someone who "needs" it.

I have gum issues, and the waterpik is the *only* way to get down below the gum line cleaned.
Well worth it to me.

When I was in my 20's, I would get sucked into buying the extended warranties for most of the expensive items I bought. That was obviously a waste.

I also agree with classes for babies / toddlers, especially swim lessons. I ended up teaching my children more just by getting in the water with them and playing. The group baby & me classes were worthless.

Kitchen designer. I ended up needing an architect and the cabinet seller and garden web were better designers than she was.

Waterpik (is it just me or does that get water all over the mirror when I try to use it?!)

Gymboree classes for an infant.
90% of the toys we own
Most of what's on our credit card balance

I have some for sure...

1.) High end appliances...they didn't preform any better and had a shorter shelf life then my middle of the line maytag ones beforehand. I am a pretty decent cook so I thought I would be able to tell a difference and really enjoy them but it just wasn't the case.
2.) Montessori preschool for DC 1 and 2. It was not a bad school, just super over priced. I found a little church basement preschool for DC 3 that did the exact same thing for about 60% less.