Are you paying any stupidity taxes?

[Cubicle]

Early in my investing life I bought some higher than necessary expense ratio funds. They aren't doing terribly. I don't want to pay the capital gains taxes. So stupidity tax it is.

[Larry Ragman]

-AAA $150 year auto payment. Have had it for decades. Used 1x for flat tire, very appreciative. Attempted to use it when stuck in snow but they refused to come out if not blocking road.
-Norton $100ish year auto payment had for decades haven’t installed it in probably 8 years.

Thank you I will at least cancel the Norton.
I’m hesitant to cancel AAA.

Check to see if your insurance offers roadside assistance. I am with USAA and they do. Have used it maybe three times for roadside flat tires. Best use ever was my daughter stuck on the inside of a highway against a barrier.

[Larry Ragman]

Auto renewal seems to be a common theme. It is oddly difficult to root them out and of course the companies rely on that. We also have the landline as part of a package, so it is cheaper to keep it but we don’t use it. One annoying credit card annual fee for a card we just keep as back-up that I’d like to get rid of but…

As I think about it I tend to agree with MPMD, these are minor. On a larger scale, I am still carrying term insurance. Long past FI so I don’t really need it. Two categories for me. First a long standing private decreasing term policy I renew annually. It is a modest expense and I keep it in case my wife wants to preserve some life insurance on me when I retire. Second, my work group. This used to be super cheap and I carried several million. I looked at it last year (after I turned 60) and holy smokes the rates jumped through the roof. I cut it down this year and saved half a house payment per month.

[TheDangerZone]

-AAA $150 year auto payment. Have had it for decades. Used 1x for flat tire, very appreciative. Attempted to use it when stuck in snow but they refused to come out if not blocking road.
-Norton $100ish year auto payment had for decades haven’t installed it in probably 8 years.

Thank you I will at least cancel the Norton.
I’m hesitant to cancel AAA.

Geico has roadside assistance that costs a few bucks a year that you can add to the policy. Used it last month when my car broke down. They had a flatbed tow truck to me within 45 minutes. Handled everything through their app, it was pretty slick. Agree that you should check with your auto insurance.

[TheDangerZone]

The auto renewal that burned me was The Athletic, a sports journalism website. They had a three month free trial and when it expired, it renewed for a year. I think it was $80 bucks or something. I usually set a calendar alert whenever I’ve got a free trial going but I missed it this time. Pretty annoyed but at least the writing is pretty good.

[Cubicle]

Forgot to add, I pay someone to cut the grass. My buddy is constantly telling me I am wasting money by not doing it myself. He got a little tractor & all that. I think with a sun canopy & drink holder.

I hated cutting grass growing up. I do not want to be in the summer sun doing that kind of work. So I tell him "I will see 1 more patient every time the guy shows up."

I am pretty big on "people have to earn my money" so I cancel things once I do not need them.

[PWMDMD]

Supply chain shortage?

No idea but I get mostly 1 bar and sometimes 2. I was hoping when I updated to a 5G phone that would improve but it has not. I've been checking out ATT.com for a few months and they are consistently not in stock.

[StarTrekDoc]

No idea but I get mostly 1 bar and sometimes 2. I was hoping when I updated to a 5G phone that would improve but it has not. I've been checking out ATT.com for a few months and they are consistently not in stock.

Call them up; tell canceling due to poor signal; the retention department may have a stash and sprinkle pixie dust to make one available to you

[jz-]

Most of our stupid taxes have been paid at the airport ---because we arrived late.

[GasFIRE]

No idea but I get mostly 1 bar and sometimes 2. I was hoping when I updated to a 5G phone that would improve but it has not. I've been checking out ATT.com for a few months and they are consistently not in stock.

Generic signal boosters are available. Used to see them at Fry’s Electronics, RIP. I’d check BestBuy, Amazon, etc.

[GasFIRE]

I still have a variable annuity that I invested in the 1990s. Made sense at the time as my tax-deferred space was limited back then. By the time I decided I didn’t need it anymore the value was above basis and I was in the highest tax bracket. I was able to 1035 exchange to a low cost Fidelity VA where I use the SP500 index fund. Currently ER is 0.35%, not great but not terrible either. Still trying to figure out how to fit it into retirement spending plan.

[pit.alumni]

Looks like at least a few still have a landline. I kept mine but got Ooma. Cost is now $6/ month. Yes, the only ones that use it are telemarketers and a rare legacy call. But it’s worth it to have a number to give out and avoid spam on my cell.

[childay]

No idea but I get mostly 1 bar and sometimes 2. I was hoping when I updated to a 5G phone that would improve but it has not. I've been checking out ATT.com for a few months and they are consistently not in stock.

https://www.ubersignal.com/cel-fi-go...er-system.html

Trust me worth the $$. Had another one previous but it was crap. You do have to put antenna up on roof or side of house.

[Kamban]

-AAA $150 year auto payment. Have had it for decades. Used 1x for flat tire, very appreciative. Attempted to use it when stuck in snow but they refused to come out if not blocking road.
-Norton $100ish year auto payment had for decades haven’t installed it in probably 8 years.

Thank you I will at least cancel the Norton.
I’m hesitant to cancel AAA.

If you don't mind fee-credit cards, many higher priced ones include roadside assistance and collision coverage of rental cars. Many also have a $300/year refund of travel expenses so the overall cost is not that bad.

[Kamban]

Paid $65/month for almost 2 years before I finally cancelled YMCA that I had not visited for that amount of time. Prior to that I used to go for spinner classes for a year but slowly got tired of it.

I still pay for Charter Cable even though we never watch it. But the difference between a high speed internet and triple play is not that much. And laziness and procrastination has kept me going with the internet+cable+voip for the past 6 months, beyond the promotion end date.