When it comes to hidden charges, you might be surprised at what you are paying for. In a number of cases, it probably doesn’t even occur to you that you are paying for something you rarely — or never — use. Here are 4 things that you might be paying for, even though you don’t use them:
1. Cable Channels
Do you really watch all those cable channels? If you have cable or satellite TV, you might not be getting your money’s worth. Does it really matter if you have 240 channels when, really, you only watch 10 of them? If you don’t watch sports, you might really be messed over, since ESPN accounts for way more of your cable bill than channels like the Food Network and Nickelodeon.
On top of that, even if you wanted to downgrade to a cheaper package, you might be stuck. My satellite company won’t allow us an HD receiver/HDR unless we get a minimum package. Perhaps it’s time to look for ways to watch my favorite shows online for less. One way is through Netflix, but at the very least, check out the latest broadband promotions to see if you can save on your existing plan.
2. Software
When you get a computer, it comes stocked with all sorts of software — much of it stuff you won’t use. However, those software programs add to the cost of the computer, and you pay that expense. I’m pretty sure I’m paying for GarageBand and other software that I really don’t care about, but is magically present on my computer. If you are ordering a computer, you might be able to order a bare bones version, or customize a computer with software you actually want.
3. Resort Fees
When you stay at a hotel, you might find “resort fees” added to your bill. This is common if you stay at a place with a nice pool, or if the hotel has groundskeeping costs. And there’s really nothing you can do about it — unless you are willing to do a little sleuthing to get to the bottom of these fees. You can look for hotels with lower resort fees, and lower overall costs. Remember, too, that the fitness room and business center might be built into your bill as well.
4. Extras for Your Car
Before you spring for your car, consider the cost that might be automatically a part of your vehicle. The cost of cars automatically equipped with music jacks, power everything, and other features is going up. The worst part? You probably won’t find a stripped down model on the dealer’s lot. You might be better off buying used if you want to find something that has fewer creature comforts — and a lower price tag. (Before you buy though, remember to look for these 5 signs you don’t want to see with an used car.) You don’t want to be too cheap, but you do want to be careful. Otherwise, you will end up paying for things you don’t need, and may not use.
Bottom Line
A number of items now come with “extras” built in. It doesn’t matter what you want, or whether you use these extras; you are paying for them anyway. Cable and satellite companies are reluctant to go to a la carte pricing, and you have to look hard to find a computer that doesn’t come stuffed with software that you might not be interested in. Shop around, and ask about fees. If enough people start asking questions and comparison shop, and demanding that they only pay for what they want, we might see change.
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
What bugs me are electronics like Satellite Radio or OnStar being forced upon you. You are required to pay around $2.000 extra for them, but if you decide to not start paying their monthly subscription costs after the free period (6 months?) is over, you can’t get your $2,000 back.
…And the #1 thing that most of us pay for and hope to get no bang for our buck is – Insurance. Car insurance, health insurance, short-term and long-term disability insurance, flood insurance, property insurance. We gladly pay, but hope nothing bad happens to trigger its use.
I have 6-8 channels of Mexican programming (no I don’t mean Spanish I mean Mexican); They add one when they feel like it, or swap with one or two of the public access channels, they recently swapped a cable channel for a local band w/ no corresponding price adjustment save the additional 5 dollars I was told were “taxes and fees”, I have 7 religious channels including cartoons and religion IN Spanish, I have a lot of b/w programming not colorized, two local channels that have news and weather separated into different bands again at cable prices, 5 shopping channels, 6 if you count the parttime ones, and paid programming (read shopping) at any hour any channel not necessarily listed. In the fine print it says, “Channel lineup subject to change”.
I didn’t count broadcast channels just the cable channels. I’m forced to pay for stuff I don’t receive , receive stuff that’s going to be taken away at a whim. There is more, but I’m tired…
You forgot welfare, food stamps, Medicaid, free lunch programs…
You should be happy you don’t need to use them.
Now go back to your Tea Party pamphlets.
Oh the list goes on, friend. Tax cuts for the wealthy and their multinational corporations, bank bailouts, auto bailouts, oil subsidies, sugar subsidies, your education…
To save money on TV, get a roof antenna! I am about 50 miles from Boston and get 60 channels for free, most in hidef… don’t need cable or satellite!
Think of all the engineering costs that go into crap like automatic parallel parking, wipers that go on automatically when it starts raining, seats that automatically go down, and on-and-on.
We are all forced to pay for these stupid “cool” things that auto makers come up with.
And let’s not forget that the whole time thr car manufacturer’s have been working on the ‘cool’ add-ons, gas mileage still stinks. It has been nearly forty (yes, 40) years since the Arab oil embargo, and do we have 100 mpg cars yet? How about 80 mpg? Does any manufacturer offer a fleet of 60 mpg cars? Don’t get me wrong, cool stuff can maybe help make us safer, but I want to get from point A to point B and use the least gas possible. Refocs, auto manufacturers!
I stopped watching tv and although it was tough at first, and I did have a relaps, I have been tv free for 2 years now. I missed all the holiday comercials, all the political advetisements, no corperate edited news, propaganda, and other nonsense that is spoon fed on a daily basis only thru tv. AND ITS GREAT. I just watch movies Ipick.
Actually, it’s Duh Gutterment which prevents cable/satellite providers from offering a la carte deals. . . as usual, interfering in the market means higher costs to us.
I ALWAYS buy used cars – especially considering the over-priced garbage of the last 20 or so years. . . I don’t think I could even buy a new car if I wanted to – what is a dealer gonna say when I tell them, “Nothing with more than a 2-star safety rating. Yank the airbags, EVERY DAMN ONE OF THEM. On-Star or Sync or any of the other crap, gone. Keyless entry, remove it and toss it in the trash where it belongs. I want a full-size spare AND jack.”
My wife’s car has a driver side airbag – mine is older than that, and will continue to be older than that as long as I can find a pre-airbag car that still runs. If not, I’ll have to figure out how to pull them on my own.
I build my own computers, and install only the software I want on them. It’s so much easier to do that, than to buy a prepackaged machine loaded with hundreds of dollars in software I’ll never use. Built a $1,500 computer for $500, 2 years ago.
I’m with James, I build my own computer, i like to know whats in my comp as well. these computer manufactures put the cheapest parts possible into there comps, only support them for a year, after the warrenty is up something always fails. when you build a computer most individual components come with lifetime warrentys. now doesn’t that show the quilty of the modern day prebuilt comp.