Wasting money is fun!

If it gives us meaningful pleasure and doesn’t harm others or our planet. So go ahead, buy that beautiful coffee table if you can afford it. But an antique might just be better made, more eco, lovelier craft, cheaper, allowing you more flexibility with the money you still have.

Losing money is okay, if we’re giving it to a good cause. Go ahead, fall in love with generosity—donate to those folks working to involve young people in our political process.

But: wasting and losing money on things that are useless and don’t make us or others happy…well, it’s time to get smart and invest in a life mindfully-lived.

What’d I miss? Add your (least) favorite in comments. For much more, go to Redditland or the many links below.

1. Car ownership. Insurance, fender benders, gas, the purchase price itself, depreciation…if we can bus or rent a car or use car sharing or bicycle or walk, we’re much better off. There’s a reason a car is a liability, not an asset, on the balance sheet.

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2. Junk Food. Junk food feeds our addiction to junk food without giving us nutrition, which is what our body is actually hungering for. So we don’t get satisfaction, but we do get fat, we do get plastic waste, and we do get gmo-loving companies owning food.

There’s nothing wrong with enjoying tasty food, of course—so sit down, slow down, eat up.

3. Pesticides: let’s stop paying to poison our dogs, cats, babies, bees and watershed. Let’s pay a kid to take out the bee-loving dandelions, if we must—tho remember you can buy ’em for $5.99 at the local farmers market, they’re actually good for you.

4. Power balance bracelets. Crystals (click to see why, if curious).

5. Leaf Blowers. Just use a broom and a rake (both of which last half of forever and are free, upkeep-wise), save gas and purchase price. We survived without leaf blowers! At least get an electric, they’re way quieter and don’t pollute.

6. Douches. They aren’t sterile. They’ll give you bacterial vaginosis. And best of all, they serve no medical purpose whatsoever!

7. Twofer! Lotteries. Gambling. The only person getting rich isn’t you.

8. Bottled “Spring Water.” It’s dirtier than tap water, because it’s less regulated.

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We know plastic in the ocean bothers you. Introducing Pela, the world’s first compostable phone case working towards plastic free oceans.

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George Carlin: “Ever wonder about those people who spend $2 a piece on those little bottles of Evian water? Try spelling Evian backwards”

9. Fat Burning supplements.

10. Tanning beds. Paying for orange skin? Brazil is the first country in the world to totally ban indoor tanning for anyone of any age. (en.wikipedia.org)  >> Doctors urge indoor tanning ban for minors – U.S. tanning salons should close their doors to minors to protect them from skin cancer, a group of 60,000 pediatricians said Monday in a new policy statement (reuters.com) >> More Cancer Cases Related to Indoor Tanning than Smoking (scienceworldreport.com)  NY Times: Warning: That Tan Could Be Hazardous: Indoor Tanning Poses Cancer Risks, Teenagers Learn

11. Funerals. The lowest form of life on earth: those (not all) who would rip off the grieving. Just keep it simple, and green.

12. Cigarettes. They stink. Yes, you might look cool, but ever make out with a smoker when you’re a non-smoker? That’s how badly you stunk when you were a smoker. “You pay for the privilege of slowly killing yourself. Source: smoker for 17 years.”

Bonus: $108 yoga pants.

Bonus:

10 Must Have Buys for the Spiritual Materialist.

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5 Mindful Things to Do Each Morning