GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. — We’re all looking to save money and sometimes it’s hard to know where to start. The folks at Consumers’ Checkbook are helping by making a list of things you shouldn’t waste your money on - things that are simply not good buys. From airduct cleaning to vitamins, there's lots on the list, 65 things to be exact
"Several of the things on our 65 things you shouldn't pay for are these little mini-insurance policies that everyone is trying to sell you these days," says Kevin Brasler with Consumers’ Checkbook.
From electronics to home warranties and trip protection, these policies he says are almost always not worth the money.
“We often find that there's so many exclusions in these policies that they render them nearly worthless. For trip protection plans for example, I mean the airlines sell them and push them so you don't have to pay their outrageous fees, which is kind of a weird situation where they're selling you a policy to protect you against their unreasonable fees,” says Brasler.
“For home warranties and for Apple Care and all these things, there's big deductibles, you don't just get overwhelming coverage for the thing you're buying,” he adds.
And many have payout caps that are less than what the actual repair or replacement will cost. And about those air-ducts, it seems like it's a place you should keep clean, right? And the companies will tell you that it’s the healthy thing to do.
“The problem is there's really no independent research that indicates that keeping your ducts clean, having them cleaned, does any good. And in fact, the one study that was done independently, found that after cleaning dust levels went up for a short time and then they went back to normal and weren't improved,” says Brasler.
Amazon Prime. This one, though, is going to be based on your personal habits.
"A lot of people, they signed up for Amazon Prime because in the early days, the big hook was you get free two-day shipping, you don't have to wait a long time, or pay shipping costs, but now as long as you're ordering something that costs $25 or more, you still get free shipping," says Brasler.
Free, but not guaranteed in two days, so if you don't need it now this might apply to you. But if you're into the original video content, that's a different story. And they also offer cloud data backup, so if you're paying for that somewhere else, it's another thing you can cancel and save some cash.
One more for you: rental car insurance. Consumers' Checkbook says most of us already have sufficient coverage from our personal auto insurance and the credit cards we use to pay for the rentals. Plus, you automatically get liability coverage from the rental company.