What’s something you regularly spend money on that’s feels like a waste?

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FlissMarie@reddit

Costa coffee every morning before work. It’s £4.45 now for a large latte (which is insane), but I just can’t help but do it! I could easily just make a coffee at work, but it’s not the same!!

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aliclang@reddit

Same. Daily on my commute or if I'm WFH I walk round to my local independent where its £3.65 for a regular. Brings me a lot of joy

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Poo_Poo_La_Foo@reddit

Mate...I have said already - I PAY the insurance. It just feels like a waste. Because I'm chucking £? at it annually to (most likely) never use it. I'm in my late 30's and have owned and rented many homes and cars and never had to claim.

I'm telling you my experience. I'm not sure that can be considered idiotic. 🤷🏼‍♀️

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Mikeytee1000@reddit

I’m in my fifties and 12 years ago somebody stole my £40k Audi and burnt it out, it’s the only claim I ever made. Even without that it’s never felt a waste of money to me, I don’t enjoy paying it but I greatly value the peace of mind it brings me. I think you are looking at it through the wrong end of the telescope my friend, but that’s just my opinion.

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PenneTracheotomy@reddit

I’m pretty sure the you not enjoying paying and OPs feeling it’s a waste is the same feeling. I don’t think they’re saying that if their house burned down and they made a £100k claim after only paying in £15k that it would still feel like a waste, but I think what you’re both saying is that it feels negative to pay money for something that you get nothing tangible back from for perhaps decades if ever.

Mikeytee1000@reddit

And maybe I don’t mind paying it because I’m so well off I don’t miss it all so doesn’t feel a waste to me, it’s pocket change.

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Greengrass7772@reddit

Have you tried claiming on your house insurance when you needed to adjust the size of your doors? You know, to fit your head through 🙄

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Mikeytee1000@reddit

I was being facetious it was a reply to the idiot who commented prior along similar lines

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Greengrass7772@reddit

Ah sorry mate, some people are some proper oddballs ain’t they?

I see you're copping some flack for this answer, but I understand and agree it feels like a scam sometimes. House insurance, contents insurance, pet insurance, health insurance, car insurance... I'm definitely relieved to have them when things go wrong, although I can't help but grimace at how much money is being spent for the possibility that something MIGHT happen.

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Poo_Poo_La_Foo@reddit

Thank you. Someone with reading comprehension skills 🤪

I insure my home and car - and I have health insurance through work, but I don't insure stuff like phones or laptops, etc. For me they come and go - things will get nicked, or break. It's part of life.

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AutoPanda1096@reddit

Doesn't to me.

It's awesome. Allows me to budget. I think some absolutely are poor value. Like, I'm more than happy to underwrite the cost of my phone.

But household stuff... Insurance is fantastic.

Like, renters often tell me that a benefit is not having any sudden surprises. Well that's where insurance comes in.

With my home cover I just tick a few boxes on a website when something goes wrong and someone turns up to fix it. This year, so far, someone came round to change my taps, fix a leaking u bend, replace a light fitting in the ceiling, and replace a heating element in my cooker.

It's obviously not free but I'm turning unknown costs into a known quantity each month. And a fraction of what some poor souls have to pay in rent in my borough.

I'm not sure I could sleep at night without building insurance. Imagine being one incident away from losing everything

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Poo_Poo_La_Foo@reddit

I've never claimed on any home or car insurance.

Don't you get penalised for claiming so many tiny things like in your examples? Don't you have to pay a cash excess? Then also lose any no claims perks?

I think most of the things you mention I'd just fix myself, from the hardware shop.

Maybe we are thinking about different sorts of insurance 🤔

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theshedonstokelane@reddit

Ice cream

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moscullion@reddit

TV channels that I pay for to watch a certain show and forget to cancel once I've finished watching the show.

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Firstly, you’re an amazing person for taking on an older dog. We’ve just had to rehome my grandmother’s older dog due to her going into care, it’s lovely to know the dog is off to a warm loving family to see out his retirement.

Training an older dog, especially one that’s had some traumatic experiences, is one hell of a challenge! Good luck & wishing you the best.

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sideone@reddit

I buy my dog insect-based kibble

Which one? Google suggested Yora but pricing suggests £90 per month which feels a lot.

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Silly-Recognition-25@reddit

But I've also seen at Pets @ Home more major brands running an insect-based line!

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Silly-Recognition-25@reddit

I buy Pawcura (formerly Percuro) which is about half that price!

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AutoPanda1096@reddit

Tell me about it

We get the finest raw meats, lay it out on a platter, spoon feed, etc

But would rather eat out of the cat litter

Whoever told me dogs were clever lied so bad, my cats run rings round doggo.

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princessheather26@reddit

I've recently been getting into gardening. I'm going through a cycle of :

I clear some weeds from a patch to prepare for new planting
My cats think I have made them a nice new toilet
My dog thinks she's got a nice new fresh cat poo buffet

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Codders94@reddit

Which one do you buy?

They treat their staff like shit and their customers like morons - constant pressure on the teenagers they employ to adopt aggressive sales tactics, scheduling their shifts in a way that means they don't have to give breaks, minimal or no guaranteed hours.

They also do a lot of greenwashing. On the shop floor they're telling you their products are unpackaged to help the environment, out back they're sending loads of recyclable plastic to landfill.

Source: worked for them.

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thereisalwaysrescue@reddit

Would you mind sharing some links with me?

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DoctorOctagonapus@reddit

https://www.vice.com/en/article/how-lush-cosmetics-tried-to-crush-a-union-drive/

https://www.reddit.com/r/LushCosmetics/comments/1klzbew/lush_is_back_to_union_busting_if_you_still_think/

https://www.reddit.com/r/LushCosmetics/comments/16m4cq1/lush_has_just_fired_a_bargaining_committee_member/

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fluffycowfan@reddit

Happy cake day!

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thereisalwaysrescue@reddit

Omg it is!

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Makeupmadness247@reddit

A sign to get the hello kitty cake soap?

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thereisalwaysrescue@reddit

I got the hello Kitty perfume a few weeks back as someone said it smelled like Snow fairy. It’s more milky bath, but everyone loves it.

MrPhynePhyah@reddit

Loved the items from lush, but always hated the shopping the experience. As soon one who’s avert to over powering smells there was only so much I could handle 😂

bacon_cake@reddit

Not sure that's a waste!

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eletricmojo@reddit

Could be a waste in the since there's cheaper alternatives out there but as I said to OP, their products are generally good quality

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thereisalwaysrescue@reddit

I’m literally melting the products in a bath 😪

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bacon_cake@reddit

Yeah but you can be that reductionist about anything.

I literally buy expensive clothes just to shield my naked body when I could wear sackcloth. I buy nice food when I could just eat a nutrient mash.

Complex-Piano-81@reddit

I wish I had someone to go with, I hate going on my own. I signed up and paid for three years upfront, and I've been twice in the last 3 months. The thing is, I do enjoy it, but I just hate going by myself.

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Ivebeenfurthereven@reddit

Do they do classes?

I find this a very weird argument. For some reason musicians seem to think they’re underpaid, and that they should be able to make enough to live on from.

But it’s not a job…it’s is a hobby.

You don’t see any other people with hobbies making that argument. I’d fucking love to get paid for riding my bike, my shitty drawings or playing a computer game. But unfortunately they’re not valued enough to be actual work.

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theotherquantumjim@reddit

Fucking lol. Equating riding your bike to learning an instrument, dedicating years to songcraft and/or production and honing your performance skills is so breathtakingly offensive I can’t even be bothered to respond. As if the hard work of artists of all flavours doesn’t enrich the lives of millions of people every day. Streaming is the way of the world now and everyone consumes their music like that but let’s not pretend it’s fair for the artists. Because it’s not - it fucking sucks

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Mundo7@reddit

why isn’t it fair? you think they’re worth more because you like their music…then donate to them, but there are millions of artists out there, are they all worth more money regardless of skill?

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durkheim98@reddit

why isn’t it fair?

So you don't understand how Spotify works.

Artists aren’t paid simply by the number of streams their songs achieve, but by the percentage of total streams they account for in each country: not for their work, but how well their work is doing compared with that of a handful of megastars.

If they're willing to forgo a further percentage of their earnings, then there’s Spotify Discovery, which adjusts the app’s algorithm to promote artists who accept a reduced royalty rate.

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Mundo7@reddit

I do understand, tell me how that’s different from other industries though? The bigger you are, the more you’re paid right?

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durkheim98@reddit

No you don't because you didn't bother to read my comment properly 😂

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Mundo7@reddit

Right, you’re one of those guys then.

you can’t tell me I’m wrong because even though it’s compared to “a handful of megastars”, the logic is dorrect

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durkheim98@reddit

It's laid out for you as simply as possible. It's not like number of sales equals like for like royalties from said number of sales. It's number of streams and a percentage when leveraged against the percentage of streams from top selling artists.

Spotify deliberately set it up this way to cheat smaller artists out of royalties, while not doing the same to major artists on major labels who would better able to make legal challenges against them.

If this explanation isn't enough for you, the information is a mere click away but I bet you won't bother.

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Mundo7@reddit

So it’s set up like this to pay major artists more money because they get vastly more streams than small artists? I get the logic, it’s not rocket science.

What I don’t get is why you think it’s “cheating” smaller Artists out of royalties? Is it just because under the old way of buying records / tapes / cds they would earn more?

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durkheim98@reddit

No the royalty distribution system, where revenue is pooled and distributed based on 'market share'. The system is designed to reward artists based on the number of streams they receive as a proportion of total streams on the platform.

That might seem straightforward on paper but it leads to situations where major artists with widespread popularity receive disproportionately higher payouts, even if their music accounts for a smaller percentage of the total revenue.

This is why many people like myself opt for platforms like Bandcamp which awards royalties directly on more of a like for like basis.

The only person who has really been able to investigate and break down the whole system of how Spotify operates in a way that disadvantages smaller, niche artists in favour of major stars: is Liz Pelly who wrote the book 'Mood Machine'.

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theotherquantumjim@reddit

I do. I buy their records or their music from Bandcamp. And clearly “all musicians should be paid for the music they make” is an absurd take and in fact a straw man, because it’s not what I said. But there are plenty of talented artists and musicians out there that in the past would have made some money, maybe a living wage, from sales of their music. Many of those artists now get an absolute pittance from streaming revenue. To suggest artists shouldn’t be paid for the work they produce is insane. Should I ask the mechanic to fix my car for free because he likes tinkering with cars? Unhinged

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Mundo7@reddit

I have never said artists shouldn't be paid for the work they produce, nice assumption.

Zaruz@reddit

Not a musician, but your argument is very flawed. Want to be paid for riding your bike? Become a stunt rider/youtuber. Drawing? Good artists can make money. Playing a video game? You can be paid if you play competitive or stream.

Not fair to equate your own (presumably) average skills which aren't marketable, to someone spending time and money to write, record, mix and publish music. For the most part hobbyist musicians are also not getting paid and are ok with that; the issue is for professionals who do most of the work and receive a fraction of the generated revenue.

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04housemat@reddit

The argument is the same. Want to be paid for your music? Be better and if you’re good, the free market will pay you appropriately. If you’re not…you’re playing gigs at summer fetes on a Sunday when I’m out riding my bike…

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durkheim98@reddit

if you’re good, the free market will pay you appropriately

You have zero clue how Spotify operates then.

Artists aren’t paid simply by the number of streams their songs achieve, but by the percentage of total streams they account for in each country: not for their work, but how well their work is doing compared with that of a handful of megastars.

If they're willing to forgo a further percentage of their earnings, then there’s Spotify Discovery, which adjusts the app’s algorithm to promote artists who accept a reduced royalty rate.

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aylyffe@reddit

“Be better and if you’re good, the free market will pay you appropriately.” Oh ffs. Tell me you don’t know what you’re talking about without telling me you don’t know what you’re talking about. Source: am married to a professional musician.

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04housemat@reddit

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04housemat@reddit

I pay for the video game because I like playing the game and need to pay for it or I can’t play - I value that at ~£50. I pay for the console because it’s a technological marvel and was incredibly difficult and expensive to design and build and uses expensive raw materials - I value that at ~£300. I pay for my bike because it was hard to build, used lots of advanced materials, not something I can do myself, the market isn’t flooded with high quality manufacturers and I get a lot of enjoyment out of it - I valued that at ~£4,500 I pay for gig tickets, because I like the DJ, enjoy the atmosphere and like to dance - I value that at ~£30.

A musician can’t just decide to charge more if there isn’t a market to sell it in. Just like a bike builder can’t decide his bikes are worth £30,000 or plumber can’t just decide installing a new radiator is worth £5,000.

Musician can’t just take something they love, and started as a hobby, and decide its value. Unfortunately £0.002 is the going rate and if you can’t sell enough, or make it work through other revenue streams, they’ll need to keep it a hobby and also get a job.

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rideshotgun@reddit

I like playing the game and need to pay for it or I can’t play - I value that at ~£50.

That also was the norm in the music industry for decades. We all used to buy have to CDs before streaming came along.

I pay for my bike because it was hard to build, used lots of advanced materials, not something I can do myself, the market isn’t flooded with high quality manufacturers and I get a lot of enjoyment out of it

The same applies to music. I assume you don’t have access to a state-of-the-art studio, decades of technical experience, or produce all the music you listen to entirely on your own?

Musician can’t just take something they love, and started as a hobby, and decide its value. Unfortunately £0.002 is the going rate

I actually agree with the first part - value can’t be self-assigned. But the real issue here is that platforms like Spotify have taken it upon themselves to determine that £0.002 is the fair rate, without input from the artists. That’s what many people - especially those who genuinely value music and the art behind it - take issue with.

Spotify wouldn’t even have a product to sell without the music created by these artists. The time, talent, and years of dedication it takes to write songs, learn instruments, and master production is enormous - and £0.002 per stream feels like a slap in the face. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to say artists deserve a fairer share of the profits they help generate.

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04housemat@reddit

That’s the key point, assignment of value. I value the games console and the bike…once upon a time people valued the CD. Not anymore. Bad luck. The romance of being a musician is gone. If people don’t value it, it isn’t worth it. Music is only worth what people are willing to pay for it.

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penguin62@reddit

You don't think musician is a job?

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04housemat@reddit

It’s not a job if you can’t earn enough to pay your bills because the market doesn’t think your worth it. If you can command a sufficient fee it is, otherwise you’re just a guy playing a guitar in a pub.

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glasgowgeg@reddit

I’d fucking love to get paid for riding my bike, my shitty drawings or playing a computer game. But unfortunately they’re not valued enough to be actual work.

Plenty of people get paid for riding their bike, drawing, or playing computer games.

There are professional sports players (including bike riders), artists and even computer game players these days.

Just because you're not good enough to do it professionally doesn't mean other people aren't.

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04housemat@reddit

That’s exactly my point! If the musicians were good enough, and people wanted to pay them for their work because it was worth it…they would be getting paid for it!

Musicians always complain that they should be able to get paid, but you don’t hear amateur footballers as the local Sunday game saying it.

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No it doesn’t “The free market” is there to take all the profits until they need governments to bail them out. The free market is just a myth.

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04housemat@reddit

This is about a guy paying playing a guitar…not critical infrastructure, public services or the stability of the global economy. The free market absolutely delivers in 99% of cases, and unless you can come up with a better option…that’s the reality of life.

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theavodkado@reddit

You yourself seem to be aware that it is worth more than it currently is:

probably the best value money I spend every month! £12 for every song in the world!?

Wow

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hepheastus_87@reddit

Drawing, riding bikes, playing music and playing computer games are actually jobs, though...

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nali_cow@reddit

The difference is, you're not sat here saying you willingly pay £10/month to watch people ride their bikes.

You yourself seem to be aware that it is worth more than it currently is:

probably the best value money I spend every month! £12 for every song in the world!?

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Zs93@reddit

Get 5 friends and do Spotify family with them

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shesmykeylimepie@reddit

Spotify and Disney+ keep me sane on night shifts, they are definitely not a waste of money.

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AutoPanda1096@reddit

It really depends if you use them.

Daveddozey@reddit

Most people pay rent out of their 40k a year income. 40k Isn’t great, but it’s not awful either.

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Ok_Weird_500@reddit

You can live on it, but it doesn't go far if you live in London though. I guess, if you don't have to work you can live somewhere cheaper.

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Daveddozey@reddit

Well yes. Why would you live in one of the most expensive cities on the planet if you weren’t working.

On the other hand if you had a 50k a year job and another 40k a year passive investment that’s like a 90k a year job, which isn’t too shabby even in London.

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Ok_Weird_500@reddit

WeUsedToBe@reddit

If that’s an acceptable loss to you, by all means. Just trying to spread awareness of how abysmal the odds actually are.

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E-Step@reddit

That's a fun simulator.

I did the Euros twice a week for a hundred years and ended up losing 20k

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Even worse is when you notice the email in the middle of the night, but the website, for some reason, doesn't let you check until the morning!

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head_face@reddit

the website, for some reason, doesn't let you check until the morning

I don't go in regularly, but I do when the pot gets to a good size. I don't think I'll get anything, but what I'm buying is dreaming about if I did.
Statistically I'll never win, but statistically someone else will. Never know, you might get lucky and be someone else's someone else.

I do one Thunderball a week, with lucky dip, via DD.

I'm winning the £156 mill tonight, just saying

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Scratch_Careful@reddit

I worked out a couple years ago it averages out about the same as netflix a month and i know i get far more enjoyment out of the daydreams than the dross netflix puts out.

Sugar-free coffee syrup. It is a small company so at least I am supporting a small business.

Coffee in coffee shops. When I use to commute I would get takeout coffee on the way to work every day. Crazy money but I just couldn't organise myself to make it at home.

These days I buy a lot of Japanese gel pens ( such as Uniball One) , especially when brands bring out limited edition colur sets. I put them in a case, admire them, then write in black ink. God knwo whys- it's an addiction!

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kilimanjaro_olympus@reddit

Oh my god I have the same vintage-color Sarasa pens as yours on the bottom row!! They're an absolute delight to write with, I looooove Sarasa pens!! Colours are lovely too, makes my notes look so much more colorful.

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Middle-agedCynic@reddit

Big fan of them, got both sets now. And one of the Sarasa Grand pens with the metal body in dark green.

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kilimanjaro_olympus@reddit

I am jellyyyyyyyy, sounds awesome!

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tetrisyndrome@reddit

Middle-agedCynic@reddit

I have the Uniball Edge which I think is 0.28 but it's too scratchy for me and pricey for what it is.

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Mavericks7@reddit

If something brings you joy, it's not a waste.

One of the things I enjoy is getting a coffee and just sitting in a coffee shop and getting lost in my thoughts.

I feel like that's my decompression

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Middle-agedCynic@reddit

same

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AllahsNutsack@reddit

I make better coffee at home than my local coffee shop, but I still go there for the vibes.

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lilybottle@reddit

They do write beautifully, though - as a lefty, I discovered Uniball Jetstream many years ago (smudge-free and smooth as butter!), and more recently discovered Uniball One, which write just as smoothly, with really vibrant inks. Why I own so many Zebra Mildliners is yet to be determined, they smudge the fuck out of everything, but they're just so pretty!

I justify my own stationery habit (which extends to fountain pen inks, a particularly bizarre choice as a lefty), by claiming that I use them for studying (part-time OU student for fun, and yes, that's also a strange choice).

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TooLittleGravitas@reddit

Why I own so many Zebra Mildliners is yet to be determined, they smudge the fuck out of everything, but they're just so pretty! I suspect you aren't supposed to actually write with them, except that first time.

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Some of us are collectors

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pip_goes_pop@reddit

Glad I'm not the only one who spends more time buying kit for hobbies than actually doing the hobby itself!

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fallingfromtheskies@reddit

where is that pencilcase from? it looks so spacious!

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Silly-Recognition-25@reddit

Jealous of your pens, they are lovely!

I stopped getting coffee or when I accidentally paid almost 7 quid for a latte not noticing the outrageous price. I now just keep a pack of caffeinated gum in my pocket or buy an energy drink.

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Beneficial how? It’s just that you said in many ways, and I’m curious other than aesthetically how it benefits.

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pinkthreadedwrist@reddit

It's good for your brain (dopamine), good for your body (out and about), good for the community (using resources keeps them going), good for artists (having people look at your art is important in addition to selling it).

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Moniker_Geller7@reddit

Well explained, thanks! I didn’t want to have to do the “I’m not being funny” disclaimer but I honestly wanted to learn something from your perspective :)

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Ecstatic-Raspberry71@reddit

How do you find local exhibitions that you’re happy buying from?

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Illustrious_Study_30@reddit

Switch to the 12ml refillables! Pixl DUO12 - £12 for the unit with a tank, and as someone who vapes all day every day, I still get three(ISH) days out of them. The refills are then only £7 online. Less than £2/day feels much better even if it is still throwing money in the sea.

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dajay2k@reddit

I was the same. Took me a while to figure out was spending £100+p/m on disposables.

Switched to a proper vape now, spend around £40-45 on juice bottles

Taste nicer too (IMO)

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Mercurial_Synthesis@reddit

I alternate, between disposables, buying a cheap kit vape, then throwing it away a month later and going on patches, then starting the cycle again. My dopamine delivery system is in shambles.

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90sRobot@reddit

And also plastic and chemicals.

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theotherquantumjim@reddit

It’s okay the turtles like to eat them

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CameramanNick@reddit

I eat out more than I should.

That said I don't drink and some people spend an absolute fortune on that.

And the ones who aren't dead still feel lost because that's their life now. I video called one during the pandemic as I was reaching out to old mates and it was so uncomfortable. He was stoned out of his head and was just like this empty shell. A shadow of himself. It actually really disturbed me and I still think about it.

I'm all for personal choice, it's just depressing that people want to choose that in their life. I guess we all have our struggles but drugs don't solve them, I see drugs as an excuse to not solve them.

Hope you are happy with your choices whichever path you take :)

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JoeTisseo@reddit

It was a much better and cleaner choice than drinking a glass of wine or going to the pub etc. I now do neither so I feel like i just removed some small joy from my life. No benefits health wise as of yet, just financial. I vaporised it too so wasn't even smoking. I get what your saying but it really isn't the devil's lettuce some make it out to be, certain people are predisposed to mental health issues.

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Plodo99@reddit

I’m trying to ye to a point where I smoke like 4 nights a month and drink 4 nights a month. Basically just on weekends. It’s tough as I get to sleep so much better after weed but it wrecks my brain if I do it too often.

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It’s not an idiot tax. It’s a charitable donation that has a slim chance of transforming your life. Nothing wrong with it at all.

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fail_happy@reddit

It's not idiot tax, the national lottery does a lot of charity work. Just yesterday I was walking the dog in a woodland park that got funding from the national lottery.

Think of it as charity with a chance of winning money back!

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turbo_dude@reddit

and so did Jimmy Savile

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fail_happy@reddit

So therefore anyone who donates to charity touches kids? I don't think so

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turbo_dude@reddit

tired of this 'but it's for charity'

Why doesn't the government build sports halls etc?

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terryjuicelawson@reddit

I mean, it does, there are government grants and council sports halls all over the country. The lottery is basically a bigger version of a school holding a raffle to get extra equipment.

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terryjuicelawson@reddit

It is basically why we went from terrible to towards the top of the Olympic medal table. Lottery funds all sorts of niche sports so they can do it full time.

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turbo_dude@reddit

it's a reverse Robin Hood system - we do not need more millionaires

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geeered@reddit

I get tickets for big euromillions sometimes (which just reminded to check and see the jackpot's quite big).

Some people use drink and drugs for an escape, go on expensive holidays or regularly spend £10+ on in game purchases in a computer game. I see the lottery as paying for a little bit of escapism - the dreaming what could be if my ticket comes in. £2/£2.50 for a ticket if you're sticking to one a week is pretty cheap.

Though, it's not free of danger, I can see some people do end up using it as a way to avoid putting the effort in to their own lives because their mind is stuck in dreaming about this big win.

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Away-Thing-1801@reddit

I'm the same and someone has to win! It could be me. Or you.

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AutoPanda1096@reddit

Idiot!

disposable vapes and drugs

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Any-Class-2673@reddit

Greggs. I have two greggs between my main work area and my home so when I'm walking past it is very tempting to get something, especially on days where I only have a 30min break.

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Drath101@reddit

Energy drinks, lots of them. It's a shitty habit but it does help me get through my shitty shift work job. With that said, if I finally get through into office work with a regular schedule I'm planning to boot the habit like I did smoking.

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halos1518@reddit

It's only like coffee. Just stick to one a day and drink sugar free variants.

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stevie855@reddit

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autumn-knight@reddit

Commuting.

My workplace is more than capable of WFH and we did so for years, even heading that way pre-pandemic. Nowadays all the meetings we have and training we do is done via Teams, even if we’re sat in the office together.

But it’s bad optics apparently it WFH so we have to get less done in the office just so it looks better.

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rideshotgun@reddit

I find this so disheartening. We had such a rare opportunity during the pandemic to make remote work the norm - to shift how we approach work and genuinely improve work-life balance. But as a society, we pissed it away. Now, more and more companies are pushing people back into offices, not out of necessity, but for the sake of presenteeism. And for what? We know remote work offers greater flexibility, productivity, and overall well-being.

I’m not saying every job or company should be fully remote. It makes sense for businesses to offer office space for those who need or prefer it. But the return to five-day office weeks - just for the sake of it - is so incredibly depressing.

It’s not just employers I hold responsible for this - employees share the blame too. There should have been far more pushback. We had a moment when collective action could’ve reshaped workplace norms, but too many people just accepted the return to the old ways without any resistance.

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Mavericks7@reddit

A lot of roles are hybrid.

I don't know anyone who has to go into an "office" 9-5 Monday - Friday.

I'm lucky that we're 99% remote. Even the once a month meeting in the office, depending on child care etc half the team doesn't show up and it ends up on Teams anyway.

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I left a job because the promise of WFH and flexible hours evaporated. I'm not commuting again.

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banedlol@reddit

AI

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Mavericks7@reddit

Not so much me, but people who get a takeaway for lunch.

Like you can't make a sandwich or a snack at home?

AllahsNutsack@reddit

How many coffees you drinking a day?

I have a Bambino plus and kingrinder hand grinder and it makes amazing coffee. Better than most coffee shops.

I'd probably not recommend the kingrinder now, but there's lots of good alternatives around that price range.

Set me back about 450 for that setup and it's more than enough imo.

I basically refuse to believe you can get coffee that is a lot better than what I am currently making. You'd almost certainly be paying a lot more money, for absolutely marginal gains in taste.

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Farscape_rocked@reddit

I drink a pot a day, if my wife's also working from home then that's two pots a day, which is roughly 35g.

I have a no-brand hand grinder I got my brother from amazon in 2021, which I then got as a hand-me-down when he bought himself a nice electric one.

I've seen this since I posted that which is very tempting.

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Ivebeenfurthereven@reddit

I probably don't want to know this, it'll be bad for my wallet.

What is the taste difference between a cheap and expensive grinder?

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Farscape_rocked@reddit

Bodum do a £50 coffee bean grinder and it's a chopper. It has a rotating blade, like in a food processor. So the grain size is down to how long you whizz it for and I'm not sure how even it'd be.

A good grinder uses a burr which is adjustable so you can control how big your grinds are. How finely ground it is affects taste, and you want different sizes for different types - espresso wants to be more finely ground than a filter coffee. My hand grinder has this but I'm lazy and using a drill instead of the handle is noisy. I'd rather have this than the £50 bodum grinder though.

Electric burr grinders seem to be £200+, and the one I like is sold by my coffee supplier and is on the commercial end of things. But it looks nice and claims to be silent, and I need something that'll do a coffee pot's worth of coffee and not an espresso worth of coffee. I'll never actually buy it though.

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Ivebeenfurthereven@reddit

Touché. Kenwood make a "coffee grinder" attachment for their (excellent) stand mixers - but it is in fact just a tiny food processor with blades. Glad I gave that a miss.

I wonder if the commercial ones ever come up used, could be an interesting restoration project. Probably far too big for home use mind.

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DismalPhysicist@reddit

You can get an electric burr grinder for much less than £400! I have a Dualit one that was £80 and is pretty decent.

I'm also pretty sure that making a filter coffee by pouring over the water yourself from a kettle is better than the machines make it, but I have no proof of that...

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Farscape_rocked@reddit

Hmmm.... might try that.

Since I posted I found a delonghi one for £50. Might give it a go.

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Ok-Chest-7932@reddit

Council tax.

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Try_at-your-own_Risk@reddit

Vaping but it keeps me sane and away from cigarettes

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Sendnoods88@reddit

Starbucks coffee. I hate myself

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Emergency_Mistake_44@reddit

Car Insurance for sure. If it wasn't the law, I wouldn't bother with it. I've been driving 18 years and spent about £15-20k on insurance for a grand total of zero need.

"But emergency_mistake, what if you have an emergency mistake"?

I'll take my chances.

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AllahsNutsack@reddit

I'll take my chances.

So you only buy the cheaper third party insurance?

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gloomfilter@reddit

It's not really your chances though... the only legally required insurance is third party, so if you cause an accident you have a means of paying for the other person's car. You might be able to cover that yourself, but if you paralyses them hand have to pay for a lifetime of medical care and lost earnings, you probably won't be able to.

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lickyagyalcuz@reddit

Rent.

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jacob12431@reddit

Weed

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CaveJohnson82@reddit

Insurances. Have paid for car and home insurance for the better part of 20 years, the one time I tried to claim on the house insurance the adjuster came out, said "wear and tear" and then increased the payment the next year.

Like what?

Have you looked at taxis/uber?

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MisterWednesday6@reddit

Pet insurance. Found out, after switching providers and having my cat diagnosed with IBS literally two weeks later, that the new provider counts it as a pre-existing condition and won't cover any treatment he has to have for it. I'm managing for now, but if he gets any worse I will not be able to cover it financially.

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kachuru@reddit

If it brings you joy is it a waste?

Notebooks. Buy them because they are beautiful, then can’t actually use them, because they are beautiful. Stationery Paradox. I own about 40 and still look at them in shops!

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Toc-H-Lamp@reddit

For me it used to be music. Specifically written music to be played on bass guitar. We (my wife was similar with saxophone and recorder music) now have boxes of music all over the flat we live in. When we started, we’d play it regularly, but nowadays most of it never sees the light of day. We probably spent several thousand pounds over the years, and it’s now worth about 50 quid, if that.

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Middle-agedCynic@reddit

Ali express. Will look for link. But if you are in the USA might be a tariff issue.

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ancapailldorcha@reddit

Glasses. My prescription is fairly high so I'm out hundreds before I even look at frames. I think I'm too old for the laser surgery and I can't stand the thought of contacts so I've no other option.

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AvailableLeave8733@reddit

For me? It's got to be gadgets I swear will revolutionise my productivity. That new smart notebook, that latest app subscription, even a pen that promises to make my handwriting look like calligraphy (spoiler: it doesn’t). Do I need them? Nope. Do they end up in a drawer? Often. But for a fleeting moment, it feels like I’m buying the edge that’ll shave hours off my week.

I'm also a lottery player, knowing I'll never win but enjoying the daydream.

BUT it's also important to understand that the national lottery funds SO MUCH art, sport, and heritage in this country. So I always justify it by saying, even if I don't win, I'm contributing to something good in this country.

My wife spends a lot on flowers.

That's OK.

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Farscape_rocked@reddit

At least you can cancel the subscriptions.

I've got an xbox one that rarely gets used, my intention is to get a telly that'll do xbox when I next upgrade and then at least I can cancel the xbox subscription when I realise I'm not using it enough rather than spending £400 on a console I'll not use.

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joefraserhellraiser@reddit

Drugs!

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04housemat@reddit

I find this a very weird argument. For some reason musicians seem to think they’re underpaid, and that they should be able to make enough to live on from.

But it’s not a job…it’s is a hobby.

You don’t see any other people with hobbies making that argument. I’d fucking love to get paid for riding my bike, my shitty drawings or playing a computer game. But unfortunately they’re not valued enough to be actual work.

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