20 Dumb Impulse Buys You're Never Gonna Use

According to a Bankrate report, Americans spent a staggering $71 billion on impulse buys in 2023. That’s a lot of retail therapy! 

We all want to think that we are financially responsible and buying the things we only need and will use for sure until we get a targeted ad of some super cute gizmo or whatnot that we just have to buy or it will sell out, and we use it like twice.  And we often fall for the similar categories of "I might need it," I will definitely use this. 

So here are 20 useless things we all buy but hardly ever use.

We are almost sure that at least one in every five homes has an overpriced clothes rack, which initially was a treadmill or elliptical runner. Now, it stares at you every morning, draped in last week's laundry, as if to say, "You are the worst, why am I here?"  Why do we let this happen? It beats me. One theory is that we sometimes overestimate our motivation to make drastic life changes, leading to impulse buys that gather dust.

It can happen to the best of us. That plant app subscription seemed so helpful when you were into plants. But then you realized that taking care of plants isn't as hard as it seemed — just water them from time to time. And yet, that plant app, which you got for a year because of your grand gardening plans, keeps quietly siphoning money from your account every month.

Juicers always seem like a smart buy because you figure you'll save so much money on store-bought juice, right? Well, not exactly. Juicers are notoriously bulky and hard to clean, and they eventually end up on the shelf as a souvenir, reminding you of the time you wanted to start your day with fresh OJ, while you drink the store-bought stuff.

Cookbooks are actually great, and they are the bread and butter of many talented cooks and chefs. But the thing is, we never use them as we can just Google "Thai Basil Chicken" on your smartphone or, even better, shout to Alexa to read you the recipe, and you are good to go. 

They are so elegant and beautiful that they scream, "You need me, buy me right now." And we do. Then we end up with a drawer full of unopened notebooks and half-started journals with the first page reading, "I bought a journal today, I will wri..." And so it goes.

Massagers like your massage gun always seem like a quick fix for chronic back pain, as they're handheld and convenient. But then again, are they worth it?

Actually, not much, as it's still debated whether they are effective or not, and then what started as "I deserve this" ends up as a dent in your bank account tucked in the back of your closet.

According to Finder.com,  in 2020, Americans flushed $397 million down the drain in unused gym memberships. Kudos for the motivation, but the problem with gym memberships is they don't adjust based on your willpower, which withers faster than you can say "squat!" They are usually on annual basis, and come with notoriously high cancellation fees. 

While we are all aware of how traveling itself can be enough to tap your account, we still cannot resist the temptation of buying things like packing cubes, travel shampoos, passport covers, money belts, and whatnots. 

It beats going to the therapist once a week, right? However, while the intention is there, these self-help books are in the same category as massage devices — meant to do a quick fix on something that requires a lot of time and, unfortunately, a lot of money as well.

We buy "Living Your Best Life: Strategies for Personal Growth and Fulfillment," read one page that summarizes that everything is probably your or your parents' fault, then shelve it next to that untouched cookbook. So next time, maybe steer away from the self-help section in the bookshop. 

Here's a self-help haiku: "Life is hard, you'll be fine. Go to the therapist; it will help." 

You bought a tent, sleeping bag, and portable stove, dreaming of weekends in the great outdoors. But camping trips are few and far between. The gear ends up in the garage, gathering dust.  End of story! 

Travel insurance sounds like a responsible and smart buy. But there's a big possibility that your credit card already offers free trip protection. So, spending up to 10 percent of your trip price on insurance? Total waste of cash.

Seriously, how hard can it be to slice a banana that you had to buy a banana slicer? But you realize that only after an unhinged impulse buying spree on Amazon. These gourmet kitchen thingamajigs sell themselves only because they are cute, and once you are over the cuteness, they end up in the back of the drawer.

I went to a trial boxing class with a friend last summer. After using the gym's boxing gloves, which reeked, I realized if I was to start boxing lessons for good, it only made sense to buy my own boxing gloves. Here we are one year later, did I start the boxing lessons? No. Are the gloves still sitting unpacked in their original box? Absolutely.

Just like travel insurance, extended warranties on everything from kitchen appliances to vehicles seem like a financially responsible buy. But the reality is that these warranties come with a lot of fine print that excludes the most common problems. So you end up with a broken appliance, a useless warranty, and repair costs. Smart buy? Not much. 

Fancy body scrub is another item that comes with the "I deserve this" justification. And you do, but then you're too busy to use anything but your go-to shower gel, and your bathroom shelf ends up cluttered with fruit-smelling body thingies.

Formal clothes often turn out to be a frivolous purchase unless you're someone who dresses up frequently for date nights or needs formal attire for work. We all need at least one good set, but beyond that, it can quickly become overkill. Between weddings, funerals, and the occasional fancy event, the average person doesn’t need much more.

It doesn't make much sense when you get your cable TV bill every month, and on top of paying for the streaming services like Netflix, Hulu and Disney. But we still do it, why? Creatures of habit. 

We all love our pets, and we want to be good pet parents. So of course you will buy that personalized bathrobe for Cheddar. But then some $50 (Jesus Lord) lighter  you realize that Cheddar is an animal, and it doesn't need a bathrobe. So here's that. 

You downloaded Duolingo determined to be fluent in Spanish, French, or Japanese in two months. The cute owl mascot cheered you on, and for a week, you were unstoppable. Then life got busy. 

Now, the app sends guilt-inducing notifications, reminding you of lessons missed. Maybe one day you’ll get back to it, but for now, ¿dónde está la biblioteca?

Souvenirs are the epitome of useless impulse buys. Only when you unpack do you realize that tacky wooden spoon you bought in Portugal will have zero use in your house.