Software subscriptions. I’ll buy a perpetual license if there’s no decent open source alternative as long as it will run offline. For example, $300 for Marvelous Designer back in the day was reasonable, but they can fuck right off with the subscription-only model.
Cucumber, because fuck cucumber.
With the caveat that if it's small and you pickle it, I'm down.
Besides that, and I can't express this more clearly, FUCK CUCUMBER. Infects everything it touches, permeates the air, tastes like old water, smells like... Foetid moss or watery algae.
I gather the hatred some people like me carry for pukecumber has a genetic root.
Only Fans cause that shit is free dude
Anything advertised on Instagram or Facebook by "influencers" like some cable tv tele-marathon my grandma would fall for.
Stocks and shares in any sort of oil and gas company, Google, Meta, Amazon, etc.
Nestle and Goya products
Lottery tickets
New phones
Anything from Temu or Shein
I try to avoid the keyboard mash sellers on Amazon but for some products it's pretty much impossible to find anything else.
Fully automated coffee machines. I love coffee but these things suck, coffee tastes weak and they often break. They even mold inside.
Television. It's like paying to see ads.
Hand soap. Dish soap works better and you can use it on dishes in addition to your hands.
A dining table. I eat at my desk or standing at a counter. I was pressured into buying one by family because it was apparently bizarre to them I did not have one. Got the cheapest one I could find to appease them. I have now owned it for 4 years and it has never been used once, it just takes up space.
Just wanted to add that dish soap is actually very strong and removes all the natrual oils from your skin. If you are prone to sensitive skin it's a bad habit to regularly use dish soap as it can aggrivate it. Every now and then isn't going to hurt though.
I couldn't live without a dining table. Where else would I keep car parts when they come out of the dishwasher?
Hand soap. Dish soap works better and you can use it on dishes in addition to your hands.
I was always told it would fuck up your hands. Does it?
Expensive phones
Dryer sheets
Also not sure how to search within a thread on piefed app...
Buy dryer balls, they are reusable and last for as long as you don't lose them.
We got a four pack that became a 3 pack after the first day until my wife found the fourth one in the hood of a hoodie she hadn't worn in a while.
Alcohol, tobacco
Season passes for games.
Anything apple
Apples are my favourite snack!
A few people are saying "streaming services", I go further and rarely-if-ever buy entertainment media. Music, videos, games, websites.
Not even pirating most of the time, there's a whole world of good Creative Commons music, FOSS games and actual creative communities (not just parasocial fan communities) for me to be entertained for lifetimes. It's just healthier to be outside the world of profit and addiction machines. (It amazes me that people can think 'influencer' is not a creepy ominous title)
Restaurant fries and drinks.
Was on a really tight budget for a time, so I know I can feed myself for a few Euros a day. Going back to fast food restaurants at all still instils some guilt in me, but there is 1 that has unbelievably good prices and I can still appreciate the convenience at times.
But fries and drinks are just a scam with how big the profit margins are, and not even hard to prepare at home if you're ordering take out or have it delivered (I also don't pay for delivery, my bike is free).
I agree for the drinks. But I can't cook fries like my local burger place does. And it's cheap, like half a dollar (USD equivalent of my home currency) for 1 box of fries.
Anything that runs anything by Google
Any paid subscription which doesn't either
a) Save me money, eg Amazon prime (although someone else in my family has Prime so if I need something from Amazon I just use their account) b) Do something I can't setup myself
And especially no subscriptions which give me the licenses to digital media, without hardware, eg xbox or netlfix
Robot vacuum cleaner
Easily one of my favorite appliances, up there with dishwasher and washing machine. My floors are always insanely clean because that thing drives around every day.
Honestly one of the surprisingly good things I've gotten.
That said, I have one of the dumb ones. It doesn't map my house and upload it to the cloud.
Mostly it's to do with boycotts. Like, it's not the end of the world if you don't play a video game. I'm generally quite loose with my money if it's not on any boycott list, since I can feel good about even pointless things if my money isn't going to something evil.
Condoms. Get a surgery and have the little guy fixed. Can’t get anyone pregnant that way. Be careful who you sleep with. Make sure both people get tested before doing the deed. No need for the condom at that point.
Unless someone can provide another reason to get a condom. I’m happy to be corrected.
Make sure both people get tested before doing the deed.
Not one for spontaneity, eh? 😄
"I've had a great night, what do you say we keep this night going?"
"Sure, swab yourself here, here, and here and spit in this tube, and in a couple days, if all goes well, I will be so down for that!"
I got a vasectomy when I was already in for other surgery, but condoms were a mild annoyance with a more than acceptable tradeoff. They're ready to go whenever, it's a no-go for some if you won't use one, and it's as much for my own protection as it is for the other person. I wouldn't necessarily expect someone to take my word on it that I got it done right off the bat either.
If you're out dating, I think it's just respectful to have them available. Different people have different comfort levels, so one should come prepared to accommodate.
The latex free ones aren't a bad idea either if you need to keep some on hand. My partner has an allergy so I couldn't use regular ones. They were more expensive, but I actually thought they were better, and it was still a low price to pay, considering what I got in return. She carried her own, but after we continued going out I wasn't going to make her keep paying for them every time.
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