The “Water Cooler” is a feature on Claycord.com where we ask you a question or provide a topic, and you talk about it.
The “Water Cooler” will be up Monday-Friday at noon!
Today’s question:
We all have things we pay for on a weekly/monthly basis (garbage, groceries, water, cable, PG&E, phone, internet, gasoline etc.)
What is something you pay for on a weekly/monthly basis that you feel is extremely overpriced?
Talk about it….
Medical Insurance and Internet/tv/phone service
You must have AT&T/Directv Barb. Big ripe off. I had paid many years ago for full service including maintenance for the entire interior of my home. Just had a problem with a line, called them out for service and they said they no longer support that…well my bill surly did not reflect that. Currently looking for another provider. UGG
Aunt Barbara ~
Couldn’t agree with you more.
Pay Medical Insurance $$$, co-pay $$, then get sent a bill for what’s not covered $$$$. Just had a breast biopsy in Dec. 2019. After this and that, and what-not’s, had to pay $1375 extra. Oh, and if I didn’t have coverage,…the bill would have been $15,000+. Yes, Cable with bundle is high too,…looking to change that.
Well I think you nailed it. If I had daved half of the cable/internet bills and invested that money I could be traveling the world right now, pretty much having everything I could ever want. And the health care costs are sickening.
Roz, I’m going to send up a prayer.
I called the cable co and said I need a new box,they said you don’t have insurance so it will be $300.I told them fine.I will cancel my services,then order new services the next day and I will get a new box.They then said,ok,we will give you a free box.It came the next day.Try this method when being told “it’s not covered”
PS.
It is DIRECTV.
Hey Silva~
Oh,…DARN! Forgot to mention, I am in the clear!
I do have a little souvenir they use to mark the area now days.
I have a reaction to any metals with nickel in it.
So, I have a pure Titanium ribbon chip, lucky me, LOL!
Oh, and any time you have metal implanted, must check before getting an MRI.
Thank You for caring,…You are so sweet!
Oh, good for you Roz!! I’m so happy for you. And now you just have to remember to stay out of MRI machines!
I think a much shorter list would be of things that are not overpriced.
The gouging CA people get from every over-regulated service is a large part of the high costs.
I found a bag of Dirt at a local warehouse store recently.
Reduced to $5, a 25-pound bag of dirt.
DIRT!
Garbage, groceries, water, cable, PG&E, phone, internet, gasoline, healthcare, medicines, insurance, and many other services are ridiculously expensive.
And, of course, the taxes on everything, not just once but several times over.
Better to be on welfare in this state. And an illegal. Then everything is free.
Dirt or rock.Anytime I need gravel for my 1/4 acre,it costs $300.
For rock?If you want dirt though,I can get it free.They have so much after they charged people to remove,that they will deliver as much as you want for nothing because otherwise they have to pay to dump it.This is why you see random dirt piles out on Willow Pass and Bailey rd.Free to dump when nobody is looking….
Natural gas. My electric usually runs between $35 and $45 a month so that seems fair enough, but heating my home with natural gas is way too expensive.
On the internet there are discounts, but you have to ask for them. I’m getting a huge discount from AT&T.
That’s easy. Rent.
So you’re in favor of rent control.? How about try owning and paying a mortgage instead of rent to someone else.
Yes, exactly, buying a house in the Bay Area – easy peasy and very reasonably priced – LOL
Well Rob don’t live beyond your means. There are plenty of affordable homes if your willing to drive a bit out. Oakley and Brentwood homes are 400k plus. I bought my home in Alamo 20 years ago. Make smart investments and stop complaining about prices.
@traumaRx, ever consider that Rob wasn’t old enough to purchase a home 20 years ago? I’m fortunate that I was able to. Young people these days have it harder than we did
State and local politicians salaries and benefits!!!
There you go! Especially the benefits.
PG&E, of course!
Cable TV -In Concord we have difficult reception due to the Oakland Hills and cable companies owning broadcast channels like ABC, NBC and CBS who then weaken the signals to encourage more cable subscriptions. And we have to pay for the over the air channels as part of the cable subscription. Just to get the local channels on cable costs over $20- a month. And we still see the advertisements.
PG&E rates double every 5 years. This does not match inflation.
Depending on where you are in Concord you might be able to get the Sacramento channels instead. I’m in a valley so that won’t work but up in the shopping center at the top of the hill could tune in all Sacramento stations.
I’m getting used to a 60 degree house. @_@
Get a Roku or FireTV and add the Locast app/channel. Free with no hidden fees, stream all of the channels you should be able to receive OTA with an antenna. Obviously internet is required but really who can live without that these days…
gasoline
Taxes, taxes, taxes on top of taxes. Federal taxes, state taxes, property taxes, sales taxes. And of course all of the mandatory licenses, fees, etc. as well. A good quarter of my income goes solely to fed, state and property tax. And yet they still keep asking for more. It’s absolutely maddening.
Just about everything as we who are accountable have to pay higher prices on everything due to slackers, entitlement crowd and welfare generational grifters just to name a few.
Gasoline
property taxes
anything you buy form a store as we have to make up the shortfall for all the thieves who steal daily but are not arrested or prosecuted
My ex spouse
I think Ferraris are overpriced and I need a subsidy to get one. They ARE a necessity, aren’t they?
I have never heard anyone complain that they overpaid their tattoo artist.
Just sayin. 🙂
California state taxes
Multi blade cartridge razors.
One of, if not THE the biggest marketing cons in history. I switched to classic double-edge (about 8-10 cents per edge) several years ago, and have saved a fortune.
Reply if you want more info.
Razor blades and printer ink
Invest in a laser printer and you will never go back to ink jet printers. You can also try a nice electric shaver.
I think the worst is Cable.
I have Comcast/Xfinity.
I have the second from the lowest package.
I have two TVs and WIFI Internet.
My bill is $148 a month
There’s gotta be something wrong with that.
I’m paying $134 for 1 TV,and internet.
Bit of a conflict – “Overpriced necessities”, reads the headline. The internet and cable television are NOT necessities. You can actually live without the world wide web and 300 cable channels.
Not according to the people I’ve had to share a roof with.
PG&E and bundled cable ( wifi, phone, cell, tv) . Just got rid of ATT/Direct TV changed to Xfinity/comcast and its $40 less a month but still high.
We kept our UVerse Fiber Internet but just dumped our UVerse TV. We’re using HULU Live TV, Netflix, and Amazon Prime, and paying a whole lot less We’re still figuring out the HULU, but I think it’s going to work out fine.
Health insurance BC PPO.
I didn’t consider cable TV a necessity and I cut the cord. I realized I was paying $200/month for garbage programming and endless commercials. I don’t miss it at all.
It all seems reasonable and if it isn’t I avoid it or work at lowering it. Best I can do as far as necessities. Food seems kinda high, particularly good meat and vegetables. A fresh bunch of spinach is damn near $3 here. Yeah, I should be hitting the farmer’s market but I end up buying way more than I eat. I need a wife. What was the question?
LOL.
Are you cheap?
Ano,he can only buy so much and certain items with a food stamp card.
What a great compilation of what it takes to pay to live in this state…some of us might wonder why we are the most taxed of all in the nation….One might think that all the taxes, propositions and bond measures would fix every problem, including massive traffic issues, a supposed housing shortage, and people living on our sidewalks in squalor….. The worst part is people will continue to vote to have us pay more of these new taxes to no avail……
Everything is overpriced. Life seems to be one “Ginormous Racket”. And then, I buy many overpriced toys, just to kill the pain.
I know what you mean about buying toys,after my cat died
3 years ago,I spent thousands in one year buying Matchbox, Hot Wheels and Johnny Lightning to help ease the pain and take my mind off of things.Not cheap.
But you were talking about real toys I guess,full sized ones.
Sorry about your family member.
I have a little of both, a few of my toys also sit on the shelf.
Foundation
♥BEER♥
Cable and PG&E are a joke. Getting rid of both as soon as practically possible.
Tampons. -_-
Everything. I can’t even afford to die anymore.