Everyone loves the idea of getting something for free, especially when it’s something they really want. This list highlights the things people dream of having without spending money, from everyday essentials to life’s little luxuries. It’s a reminder of what we value most and how creative we can be when looking for ways to save money or make life a bit easier.
1. Preparing and Paying Taxes
Let’s get this straight. We’re already handing over 30% of our hard-earned income for Lord knows what purpose. Then, we have to pay an accountant or spend our precious time ensuring that we’re handing over our hard-earned dollars in a bureaucratically acceptable manner. And if we don’t spend the money on an accountant or prepare our taxes the right way, we might risk going to jail. Seems reasonable.
2. College Transcripts
The harder you look, the more you’ll see how rampant double-charging is in our society. You paid tuition and earned the grades, but do you have to pay another fee to get a copy of those grades? If American institutions know anything, it’s how to keep the “fee” in “freedom.”
3. Insulin
Especially for those who develop Type-1 diabetes through no fault of their own, having to pay for insulin just doesn’t seem fair. It’s just one of the countless examples of why “healthcare” rhymes with “unfair.” That might be a coincidence, but still. With a vial of insulin costing nearly $100 (or more) in the United States, diabetics really get shafted. If it were up to me, their glucose-regulating hormone would be free.
If you’ve enjoyed reading our content and are passionate about learning wealth, managing your finances, and achieving financial freedom, we’d love for you to join our community! Click here to follow Invested Wallet for more.
4. Ambulance Rides
How many victims of serious injuries have turned the EMT away, knowing that the cost of an ambulance ride is roughly enough to purchase an ambulance of one’s own? Too many.
5. Hospital Parking
When your loved one is laid up with an injury or illness serious enough to warrant a trip to the hospital, you’d hope that the tens of thousands of dollars in medical bills would come with free parking. Nope, that’ll be $15. Pay up or park across the street. The local hospital’s parking lot isn’t a Monopoly board, so look elsewhere for your free parking.
6. Healthcare
This isn’t some endorsement of socialism or nationalized medicine. Even if you’re an ardent believer in free markets, you have to admit your taxes aren’t doing much for you. At the very least, it seems reasonable that the duties you fork over year after year should pay for a couple of trips to urgent care or at least your annual physical. This is the sort of ROI Americans have been missing for decades.
7. Taxpayer-Funded Sports Stadiums
The rare few billionaires who are able to add a professional sports franchise (especially in the NFL, NBA, NHL, or MLB) to their portfolio land one of the most rapidly appreciating assets known to man. Why, then, do taxpayers continually fund multi-billion-dollar stadiums for owners who see much of the benefit through the team’s valuation? While municipalities own many of the stadiums, and teams pay rent to play in those stadiums, many of the purported economic benefits of taxpayer-funded, modern-day Coliseums fail to outpace the direct cost to the taxpayer.
8. Compressed Air at the Gas Station
Gas station owners with a conscience throw customers a bone, offering compressed air at no cost. They want to sell gas, not see five-car pileups caused by tire blowouts. Other station owners, who see emergency resources as a means of making an extra quarter, make customers pay to air up their tires. That’s downright un-American and the peacetime equivalent of war profiteering. It’s air profiteering, and it has to stop.
9. Funerals
Between the medical bills, casket, flowers, and ceremony, you can’t even die without forking over fifteen thousand bucks or more. So much for “let me die in peace.” How about “Let me die for free?” What do you think? Does the average funeral director really care about sending our loved ones off in style, or is the death industrial complex just as profit-driven as any other sector?
10. Water
Water ain’t free even in Flint, Michigan, and Jackson, Mississippi. That’s right, red-blooded Americans must pay for brown-colored “water.” If America’s H2O were a musician, it would be Muddy Waters. With all of the United States’ economic might (rapidly fading as it appears to be), the fact that Americans pay for chemical-riddled tap water seems as inexplicable as the tax code.
Related: Creative Ways To Make Money
We’ve compiled a list of the best ways to make money – from starting your own business to selling online to becoming a digital nomad. We even have ideas for those who want to stay put and earn extra cash.
Read More: Creative Ways To Make Money
Related: 10 Frugal Lessons I Learned From Being Flat Out Broke
I was living in the middle of a big city all by myself and paying my bills on a server’s salary. I had zero savings and was living paycheck to paycheck just to get by; frugal living was a necessity.
Read More: 10 Frugal Lessons I Learned From Being Flat Out Broke
Follow Invested Wallet For More
If you’ve enjoyed reading our content and are passionate about learning wealth, managing your finances, and achieving financial freedom, we’d love for you to join our community! Click here to follow Invested Wallet for more.