Crazy pills

Who are, were these people? First of all, taking emergency roadside assistance out of your insurance coverage is a false economy. I don't know about theirs, but mine is about $15 a year, and I lock myself out or get a flat from time to time. Similarly, there's nothing wrong with spending hundreds of dollars on vacations, as long as you can afford it. That's why these articles are so stupid--it's not about spending or saving; it's about planning wisely so you can use your money to do what you want.

The bigger point follows: I may marvel at my mother's vacuum, nutmeg, portwine cheese, and shampoo collections--buying crap you don't need just because it's cheap is also a false economy--but even if you add up all the money mom throws out on that $hit--which doesn't have the added time-waste cost of the gadgets she wastes money on and then spends days figuring out how to use and then returning--it still doesn't add up to the really pathetic personal finance habits that are emerging from these stories. This article is about "low- and moderate-income" people, and some of them are just starting to do their own laundry and ironing? Really? That's not even the much debated "latte tax." That's... unbelievable.