Tax Guru-Ker$tetter Letter
Wednesday, July 16, 2003
Why You Waste So Much Money. Research Says People Don't Use Services Like Gyms Enough to Justify Their Cost (link to article expired)
It's not hard to come up with dozens of examples of of how things that look like bargains up front turn out to be big wastes of money. Buying a gallon jug of mayonaise may reduce the per ounce price you pay over a standard size bottle; but the actual cost for what is used works out to be much higher when you have to toss three quarters of the contents away.
The other frequent example that comes to mind is timeshares. The promoters sell the concept based on how much you would save over hotel costs. Real life almost always works out the other way. With the annual maintentance fees, and missed usage, along with the terrible resale values, hotels are much cheaper ways to stay in resort areas.