We ignored the wedding industry when we got married. We booked a nice inexpensive place in the mountains, had our wedding, went out to dinner with everyone, and that was it.
Use the phrase "we're having an event" instead of "wedding" if you use a planner - and most importantly divide-up parts of the wedding to other organizers, such as the baker of the cake, etc., that make it obvious. If you do it that way, prices are reasonable. The second the word 'wedding' is uttered, prices immediately triple.
Good for you. I have always found it odd that people spend thousands on a single day, instead of putting that money in to the rest of their lives. Like, buy a house, or start a savings account for future kids. Just, anything except a one time event.
Surprised no-one mentioned the diamond industry. They're so expensive despite being actually quite common and the only reasons why they're expensive is because of an artificial scarcity made by the companies to mine them (and an extremely effective ad campaign that tied diamonds to long lasting love in the form of wedding/engagement rings). It's honestly quite shocking you're just allowed to manipulate people in such a way.
That's true but diamonds are generally one of the most useless things you can buy, so if you decide to spend money on that you're doing it to yourself. That makes it quite different to companies messing around with medicine prices/insurance, predatory financing and corrupt justice systems which usually take people when they're low and ride them all the way to rock bottom. Diamonds being sold at 10 to 500 times their actual worth is nowhere near as bad as insulin being sold for 10 to 500 times its worth - which is a problem many Americans have had to deal with.
it is even funnier with "diamonds being long lasting" is that when one is set in metal ring jewelers have to be really careful to not *burn* the diamond.
It took my husband and I forever to find the rings we wanted because we DIDN'T want diamonds. The horrific working conditions aside (reason enough right there not to touch them), they are NOT that rare. You want a beautiful rare stone on a ring, get Tanzanite or something!
It also tends to involve a lot of worker exploitation. My mom lived in South Africa near diamond mines for a while and specifically did NOT want a diamond on her wedding ring because of it.
Explaining to my Welsh fiance how our US universities and pharmaceutical companies exploit the poor (LEGALLY) has him absolutely baffled. Evan, your older videos about citizenship and visas have really helped me through my own process, and these comfy Reddit vids have been my entertainment while I recover from my surgery. Thanks for being you! :D
Elder care in the US is a major racket. Assisted living facilities are just micro-apartments owned by real estate investment companies at 4x+ comparable apartments, which they justify by hiring entry level unskilled and undertrained, understaffed caregivers at minimum wage and they serve nutritionally insufficient meals. Oh, and they periodically offer BINGO.
Omg YES. I worked in a nursing home. It is criminal what happens to the elderly that go into care. I will say, though, the pay for nurses in many is comparable to hospitals, and the nurses aides make up to $25 an hour now in my state. They had to start paying more - who would choose such a horrible, back breaking, unappreciated job at minimum wage when you could get the same pay doing something much easier?
I was horrified to learn that in the US if you’re a bridesmaid at a wedding you’re supposed to pay for your dress etc. Apparently the average cost of being a bridesmaid is $1200.
Most don't cost that much. I've been a bridesmaid multiple times and it's about $100 for the dress & I wore my nude heels that I already owned. I think that price includes bridesmaids that traveling out of state and if they travel far for the bachelorette party.
My stepfather was furious to find out my mother paid the majority of the cost of her bridesmaids dresses on top of one for me as flower girl as well as paying for them to be fitted even though her bridal party was bigger than she intended tominclude his family, because that's the kind of man he was. I feel like this is the way to go as it stops the bride choosing something expensive because its "Just Perfect." Because mom was watching her own costs she told everyone who tried to convince her to do something different "no thank you" and took us to the local mall to find the dresses then hired this lovely lady who did the alterations out of a small spare room in her house. She told everyone that a black high heel that wasnt too tall or showy was fine so no one ended up having to buy shoes. The suits my stepdad insisted on for groomsmen actually cost more if I remeber right.
Yes this, the best thing one of my friends ever did was tell me she wasn’t going to make me a bridesmaid because she knew i couldn’t afford it. Some people may have been upset with that but i was so dang happy. I get to enjoy your wedding without the stress of a wedding weekend plus the price?? Best friend ever
Before there were restrictions put in place on them, payday loan rates in the UK were commonly over 1000% APR equivalent. It was insane, but a bunch of the companies were forced to cancel interest on the loans they'd given because it was obviously extortion. I can't say for certain how accurate anything I just said was, cause it was a few years ago and I wasn't directly affected, but I had friends that were, and that's more or less how it played out for them.
Yeah, the first swing at them was regulating advertising in in the early 2000's. One of the first big things the FCA did was slap them down hard in... 2015 I think. Capped default fees, the daily interest rate, and total cost, so you would never pay back more than double what you borrowed. Which is still kinda fucked up, but desperate people do be desperate. And it probably is better to pay that than get evicted or have your car siezed, or your cradit rating bent over and anally violated without lube or reacharound.
Yep, that's still common in the USA. Or at least my part of it. I'm in a major suburban area with all sorts of income levels high and low within a few minutes' drive of me. The payday loan places are pretty common in anywhere lower-middle-class and below. They like to take over failed fast food restaurant locations, for their small size and large windows to fill with signs. And if the area can't afford to keep a fast food place afloat, they have a good chance of finding plenty of desperate near-broke people to rip off.
When the adverts started talking about "Just ignore anyone who starts warning you about the APR" that was... Demonstratory of the problem with them, really...
Cheapest is to just not have one. Have the body cremated and then hold a wake down the pub. The cremation will be $1-2,000 (if you shop around), but still a lot cheaper.
the wedding thing is probably referring to if you go to a place, say a bakery, and you order a cake for your wedding, often the company will charge way more than they would if you had ordered a cake and not said it was for a wedding. (Ive heard this is across pretty much every part of the wedding process- tent rentals, locations, catering, bakeries, etc)
Yeah, we deliberately didn't mention that my now husband's 30th birthday party we were doing an event for anyway happened to also be on our wedding day and was doubling as the reception...
The Wedding Industry is 100% consumer perpetuated. All you need to be married is ~$50, a witness, and an officiator(~$120 for a court house wedding which is just that). Everything else is all on the couple.
One of the best weddings I ever went to was simply a registry office wedding with a very informal reception in the couples flat which was upstairs from mine with a few close family members and friends... the vast majority of my friends who's weddings I have been to (most quite lavish one way or another) have ended in divorced, but nope, the couple with the virtually free approach are the one who's marriage has endured.
I've been to an even more basic wedding than this. It was literally just at the local courthouse with only immediate family members present, and also a photographer because not enough people were old enough to sign as a witness. They signed the paperwork while the kids entertained themselves around the courtroom, gave each other the plainest rings possible, said a few things, and that was it. The only fancy thing about it was dinner afterwards. Less than a year ago so no comment on the endurance thing
@@CyanideCarrot Not trying to outdo, but actually overall I would say my friend's wedding was more basic, at least within the limits of UK law at the time. At the time the registry office was the most basic allowed. Weddings had to be performed in churches or registry offices, now places can apply for a license, but they do have to be considered "good enough" to get them. The only thing "fancy" about the wedding, was that outside the office was a small garden with a little archway to take photos under. The photos were taken by the grooms brother with a few supplementals by me. As for the numbers of people at the Wedding, we are talking less than a Dozen including Bride and Groom, and as you said nice reception... this was not the case here, The flat was tiny (actually didn't even have it's own bathroom, they shared that with me) there was a home made wedding cake, snacks (chips/crisps, carrots and dip) and drinks (mostly from existing personal supplies of the guests who lived locally and the couple themselves)
My parents got married in a registry office and I think the witnesses were employees of the borough. There was no honeymoon or even a picture of the happy couple.
@@CyanideCarrot Yeah, my brother and his wife got married at a courthouse with only about 5 people in attendance, then went to the bride's grandfather's house afterwards for the reception (because his house had a pool and they basically did a pool party for almost nothing price wise). They've been married 28 years now and are still very lovey-dovey towards each other. It's almost absurd how happy those two are together. Lol :)
In many ways the insurance industry is a racket. On the one hand, certain forms of insurance are a necessity for any responsible person, and you may even be legally required to carry some forms of it. On the other hand, insurance agents will totally misrepresent what they are selling in order to upsell you. Also, it's quite common to have to sue your insurance company to get them to pay claims for the coverage you purchased. For some reason we tolerate this kind of BS from insurance companies where other companies doing the same thing would get run out of town.
It's sort of the very nature of insurance though, because by definition, the vast majority of their customers will never make a claim (for things like home or car insurance) so don't experience that part of the customer service. It's like when people praise a shop for its good customer service when they were buying something. Try and return it when it's broken and that's when you can really judge the customer service. Having said that, let's be honest also, there are loads of people who try to scam insurance companies, and that's definitely part of the problem as to why they're so difficult to get money from even when it's legitimate.
One of the nicest weddings I saw on tv cost the couple about £800 as they grew their wedding flowers on their allotment and friends gardens,the bride bought her wedding dress in a charity shop. Friends did the catering and all the plates,glasses,cutkery etc was from charity shops and it didn't matter that it didn't match as it looked stylish,some people can do that and it looks artistic. Marriage is about the society you live in, formally recognising that this person is your legal partner and only children born of this person can inherit your property. It's never been about love and romance at all just by good luck sometimes that has come into the mix. Even before people understood the mechanics of conception they were well aware a man could father lots of children by many women so marriage evolved as a way to keep power and money together and not dissipated away. Not a very romantic viewpoint I admit. And marriage came BEFORE religion all over the world. Religions evolved ceremonies to fit the institution. Have nice time in the sunshine.
The American prison system came to my mind too - definitely legalized slavery. EDIT: I'm glad that you're on holiday now. Definitely get the rest you need.
Regarding the wedding industry, it's a scam because they literally hike up the price for it being a wedding and not a regular party. My friend rang round and got quotes for a party package, got exactly what she wanted, and then the company got really pissed off when they found out the venue was being hired for a wedding party, because even though they weren't providing anything different or extra, they would have charged a lot more!!
Why when I needed a particular medication while on holiday in Texas did my travel insurers have to pay $120 for something I discovered when I got back to England I could have bought over the counter at Boots for £8 without a prescription?
Wow. You really jumped into the drug pricing problems in the US right at the start... I'm not even fully sure I still understand it, despite understanding it.😮 I'd ask how is it legal... but that has the most obvious answer *points to lobbying sign*
no but the wedding industry is still a problem, because as soon as you say it is for a wedding, the price just gets higher... for the cake for example...
@nijinoshita3301 exactly! we proved it to a family member by ringing around a few different venues and asking the wedding price, and then a couple of hours later ringing the same venue and asking for the price for a significant birthday, the price difference was gobsmacking,,, it was nearly 3 times more for the wedding and the inclusions were exactly the same!!! Sometimes I think people just get so caught up in the excitement of a wedding that they seem to lose any common sense... the courthouse or registry office for the legal stuff and have a massive party with all your loved ones is as much, or even more fun than worrying about how to pay for it all and who you have to upset because you can't afford to have everyone you want... during the "spicy cough" time, one of our local celebrants was doing a "no frills" legal package in her office, with just the couple and 2 witnesses at a reduced price, as much of the country was on extended leave, if you know what I mean...😉... it's sooo ridiculous and the whole industry just keeps getting bigger and bigger. When my son got married, he and my D-I-L hired a local charitable organisation's respite camp for the weekend, it has accommodation in individual cabins, all of the grounds and play equipment, plus the hall and kitchen facilities. The boys wedding attire was bought at a local discount variety shop, the girls outfits were purchased from Wish, and I made her wedding dress from 2 dresses that were given to her. The wedding party looked fantastic, everyone had a ball and the whole thing was done and dusted for under $8k... You really don't have to spend a small fortune to have a great day, and the bonus, whatever you save on the wedding could go towards a fabulous honeymoon/vacation or deposit for your first home...or whatever your heart desires...😁 🙃🐨🇦🇺
@@grandy2875 I've gotta be honest, the fact that they went to all that trouble and it still cost $8k is insane. It's still a lot of money at a time in your life that you're probably saving up for a deposit on a house or to have children. Some of the prices I've seen for the 'average wedding' are ridiculous. Like half a year's salary kind of money. We're planning ours at the moment, and we're going to do it at my fiance's hometown in Vietnam, which is unsurprisingly much cheaper. But they have a system over there where basically all of the guests bring money and that pays for most of the cost of the wedding. In the UK, people buy presents, which means you end up with a load of things you don't really need. Even if you have one of those wedding wishlists, you still end up with a bunch of stuff you probably wouldn't buy if it was your own money.
@@joepiekl that price included accommodation the whole weekend(Fri arvo to Sun lunchtime-ish) for about 60 peeps, all the food and non-alcoholic drinks, we provided our own grog, for the wedding breakfast and brunch the next day... the next affordable venue, for 6hrs, was $22k, not including accommodation and brunch, and all the other stuff that was in the package they got. Yes, it's not a no cost thing, but when we sat down and worked out the actual cost per head, it was cheap as chips and we had a ball...in the end it's the memories that really count, no matter how deep or shallow the pockets...
Yes and no. There is some justification for wedding prices being higher, albeit maybe not quite so hyper-inflated as some examples. The issue is reliability. The perceived "cost" of failing to deliver your goods/services to a wedding is significantly higher. Many people want/expect their wedding to be "perfect", and any deviation from that means that their wedding is "ruined". So, suppliers will incur extra costs and/or forgo other opportunities for income in order to make sure that they will definitely, absolutely be able to turn up and provide the goods/services. For a wedding, they have to make sure that there's pretty much no chance that they're going to have to say "sorry, but we're going to have to cancel". For example, if a company is providing the cake, what happens if something goes wrong in the oven, or they trip over and drop the cake? Perhaps they'll make two, just in case. Or they'll limit the number of other customers that they provide cakes for, in case they need extra space in the oven for a "redo". Same thing for the flowers - how many extra flowers will the florist buy in, just to make absolutely, positively sure that there's enough for all of yours? For the DJ - perhaps they'll pass over the opportunity for a lunchtime gig on the same day 50 miles away, because there's always the possibility of a major traffic jam preventing them from getting to your event on time. If it's "just" a birthday party then yes, people will be disappointed, but if it's a wedding, then it's "ruined". Having extra redundancy (whether that's in materials, tool capacity or time) costs money. Then you have to factor in the possibility of your wedding having a bridezilla/groomzilla/in-law-zilla to deal with, which is just hassle and stress. They don't know which weddings are going to have these issues at the time of booking (and they can't exactly turn around after the wedding and say "you were a real hassle to deal with, so we want an extra 50%"), so the cost of the extra stress/hassle gets included to everyone's costs.
We refused to pay for yelp at a small business I worked at. So they changed our hours online to close two hours early. Then wouldn't change them back when we called and complained.
I am suprised no one said Investment Banking, where they get to gamble your money to make them profits. And when it all goes wrong Governments bail them out with more of your money. I keep telling my kids if they want me to pay for them to get married, then it's a registry office, followed by happy meals all round.
To clarify - Printer ink is INSANELY cheap. All you pay for is the "privilige" of using the on-brand cartridge marked up by hundereds of times. The average amount of ink in a single cartridge is about 0.02-0.05$... Sold for 20-30$... Disgusting...
Evan keeps saying it's "More expensive than gasoline/petrol". At $40 for about 50ml (a typical household inkjet printer might have 6 cartridges with about 8ml in each), that works out to about $3,300 per gallon.
@@CineSoar It less than 5 cents to produce enough ink to fill a 50ml cartridge. They then lock them down, so you can't buy from the competition, producing a supply monopoly and charge you 1000x the price.
@@shapelessed I understand all of that. I'm just saying that Evan's comparison to petrol should be replaced with high-end Champaign, or luxury perfume (which I will grant, are marked up to insane degrees mostly by branding, rather than monopolistic practices). I think a lot of people look at those cartridges, and think they hold a roughly equivalent volume of ink inside, when literally there is only 1 tsp of actual ink. For $40 you get ~10 tsp, which is many, many times more expensive than petrol.
For profit prisons are worse than crime/punishment slavery. For profit prisons just insensitice prisons to have prisoners so that they can earn money, crime/punishment slavery are basically that prison labour except without pay.
so right about tow-away companies. the one hired by the city govt where i live is known for scalping ppl with ridiculous fees, towing cars that are parked legally, refusing to let ppl pay the drop fees ect.
Thank you very much for taking down the curtain so-to-speak at the end of the video and open up about struggles. It ok not to be ok, and it’s ok to talk about it. Hope you get through the rough patch quickly. Thanks for the weekly videos they’re “must watch tv” for me. - Dave
I felt that about MLMs. I remember first year of college I was required to take a Speech 101 class and this young guy made a speech on how wonderful MLMs were. He drew a figure on the whiteboard showing how the recruiting works - 1 person recruits 2 people who each recruit 2 people, etc. I was like, that looks like a... triangle? Didn't I hear something about a pyramid scheme before? (This was beginning of 2002; MLMs were hardly known back then.) Oh man, and the Cutco knives... I was a teen the first time I saw a flyer for it (I think also 2002?) and my mom and I went to the "interview." Mom was all for me doing it but thankfully my natural shyness and being an über introvert made me decide there was _no way_ I was going to bother a bunch of people I know then go bother a bunch of people _they_ know, etc., etc. The very thought made me queasy. Yay, awkwardness!
Actually MLMs were supposed to be made illegal in the 20th century, but guess what the government changed and guess what the new government were "friends" of the people who were leading some of the biggest MLM companies. (Ah how I looooove corruption)😂
The wedding industry is a big one for sure. It’s not that people set out to spend thousands on a party, it’s that business slap on a chonky premium for services or goods if it’s anything to do with a wedding. For example my brothers sister-in-law had a really casual wedding and she ended up buying a simple ivory slip dress second hand (that was not marketed as or sold as a wedding dress) for her wedding dress. She took it to get dry cleaned and they said it would be about £20. When she went to pick it up she said “I’m collecting my wedding dress” they brought it out and tried to charge her £80, because it was a WEDDING dress. Not because of any difficult, time consuming stains or smells they had to get out or anything. Purely because she called it a wedding dress, rather than just a dress.
Yeah, TV probably rips off people the most. In Germany, we have something called “Rundfunkgebühren”, which the owners of German TV-channels are responsible for and the system is completely outdated. We don’t even watch TV anymore and have barely ever listened to the radio, but they still expect us to pay for it? My brother told be that the people used to make a petition and even consulted experts, but it just ended up getting lost somewhere. He also told me that it’s not even a question of owning radio-/TV-devices. As long as you live in Germany, you have to pay for it, ca. 18 €/month.
Wedding industry, Valentine's Day, Christmas madness etc. - all these depend on the brainwashing super manipulative advertising industry - legal but exploitative to the max. Also, am I the only one who noticed that the more lavish and extravagant the wedding - starting with an outlandish, choreographed "surprise" marriage proposal with a blindingly huge diamond - the shorter the marriage?
Before I watch the video, I'll leave these here: ticket sales websites (fees galore), universities and research grants, bottled water, and the worst of all - RENT
You mentioned research grants but not the scientific publishing industry? They charge you to publish, get volunteers to review the submissions without pay, then turn around and charge you to read the results.
I had one of my most enthusiastic, successful interviews ever and got the job... then it was a MLM. LoveFilm, basically Netflix via DVDs in the post. Spent 4 days traipsing around the Welsh Valleys in the rain for zero pay because "I hadn't met my initial sales goal yet". Faked a migraine and went home and never came back.
I don't know if this has come about but a year or so ago one of our UK banks was talking about an idea for a multi-generational mortgage ie you buy a house spend not 25 years as traditional,but your whole lifetime paying instalments then when you die one or more of your adult children have to continue payjng until it's all finally paid up. That sounds like a nightmare to me. Maybe they decided it wouldn't work as who wants to inherit a debt like that and what parent wants to put such a future debt burden on their new born baby.
Let's be honest, no-one would ever get a student loan if there weren't these ridiculous laws in place to make sure the company always gets their money. No sensible bank would ever loan tens of thousands of dollars to an 18 year old with no assets. Which is exactly how it should be. If you make a stupid loan to someone who can't afford it and they default on it, that's your fault. Maybe if everyone 18 year-old wasn't able to access $60k no questions asked, the universities wouldn't be able to charge such stupid fees in the first place and they'd actually have to work in a reasonable budget.
The OG payday loan was called a loan shark and while generally they were much more understanding on personal crisis they would also break your legs and generally do a lot of other really nasty shit if you defaulted. So while payday loans are predatory and horrible; they won't straight up kill you.
3:06 You absolutely should, just to give you an idea how it works here: - The loan can't exceed a certain threshoald in absolute value based on the amount of money originally loaned(aka if you borrowed say 200$ you can't be charged more than 800$ no matter what) - The loans can't exceed a certain percentage of interest(aka you can't just loan the money on 100000% an hour)
There is a scheme in the UK thats getting pushed hard by the govt called Pass Plus which is a ~6 hour course covering driving in different environments (bad weather, town, motorway etc.) theres no actual exam but you do get assessed by the instructor and if you pass then *some* insurance companies will give you a discounted rate.
I am not sure they do them anymore but some insurers would say if you allow us to but a black box in your car to monitor your driving then it can be cheaper but would never get it. Of course all I have to say is I have a disability and an adaptive car and the price goes up 300%
@@martingriff101 Black boxes are still around; and stupidly exploitative. If you have to make an emergency stop at any time your insurance goes up as this violates the black box terms; if someone has an accident and you drive them to A&E, insurance goes up. Really not worth it.
In Aus we have a PBS (pharma benefit scheme I think it stands for) so a lot of antibiotics and stuff are at a set low price, stuff like psychiatric medications are based on your diagnosis. I was prescribed a medication for my mental health and I'm supposed to pay a far higher price unless I get diagnosed with either bipolar disorders or one other psychiatric condition, at which point it will be lowered to the standard $6.70 (I think, I know it's $6.something)
I think you're amazing...Your content is diverse, and educated, and fun....your editing is FABULOUS, and you're a funny guy!!!! Keep on keepin' on little brother! YOU ROCK!!!!!.... and remember that R&R is VERY important, so don't overlook it!
My example is very frivolous compared to all the examples you have quoted, but the ever increasing prices of so-called 'luxury' bags is staggering and the prices are now a true rip-off. Thank you for the video!
That goes for all "brand" clothes. The make-cost is the same as non-brand Asian products you can order online or wjatever, that's maybe like 1% of the end cost, the rest 99% is just for the brand logo sewed on it. Insane. And often the non-brand things can last longer than brand ones.
We had like a community wedding and it was awesome. We went to a beautiful registry office (it was the Bath one and therefore fancy but still cheap lol) and then rented a village hall. We had bring and share food and people brought so much nice stuff that there was tons left over! And most things we had like the dress, cake, clothes etc were either made by friends and family or rented or just pretty cheap. We had camping on the playing field as well for anyone who wanted to stay over. Obviously we were privileged to have the support of a whole bunch of people in order to do that, but I think it proves that it is at least possible to have a big wedding and not spend very much. Our entire wedding and honeymoon cost £3000 total and most of that was the venue rental and the holiday!
Look after yourself bud! Don't burnout, I look forward to your videos, I watch a lot of educational content on TH-cam, but your videos feel like coming home for some reason :)
If you want a big wedding, invite all your friends to meet you at a park and have a pot luck. In some places you might need to register in advance, but not everywhere. Here's an idea, arrange it with friends ahead of time so it's not a surprise and a scandal, and ask your friends that instead of giving you wedding presents they throw you the wedding party.
That's easy time shares that you have to pay maintenance fees in perpetuity-forever. AND (other than asking and they say no), you can never get out of the contract. AND your heirs only have 90 days each for each heir to file a pile of paper work each to get out of the contract.
I get married in a few weeks - we picked our meal and accommodation venue, which is normally a business and conference centre. They've never hosted a Wedding before and we picked a quiet time, so the price is affordable and they keep throwing us freebies. The hotel itself is pretty high end and the food delicious. That's another tip for weddings: host them in unusual places.
They may be looking at you as a loss leader. If it goes well, they'll start to actively promote themselves as a wedding venue and the price will go up (they'll say it's in line with demand, and it won't be a total lie), but in 5 years or so, they'll be 'competitive' rather than 'affordable'.
@@f0rth3l0v30fchr15t In my little area of the world, it's not normal to host weddings in which guests have to travel in from abroad, so I'm doubting that will happen.
@@eattherich9215 True. Once the government got involved and cracked down on the industry and they weren't earning thousands of percent interest most closed.
Enjoy your well deserved holiday! Sounds like it’s exactly what you need 🥰 really appreciate you putting the time and effort into making these videos for us to enjoy, but that being said if you needed to miss a few uploads we’d all understand! Make sure to put yourself first and do what you need to look after yourself ❤️ loved the vid!
In regards to the monopoly on cable/internet companies in certain areas of the US, I have to have my internet router in my bedroom because I didnt want to pay $50 for someone to come out to connect the ethernet outlet (or whatever its called) in my living room so that's fun...also in college we had to pay another installment fee just because they gave us a bad router but we apparently couldn't just get a new router from them...
similar to the TV provider one: gas companies installing smart meters that are only compatible with their company, so you can't switch provider to get a better deal cos they won't accept you with another companys smart meter
Hello from Trenton. Every municipality in Mercer County uses Comcast except Hamilton which uses Optimum and Princeton Township which uses something else but I don't remember what they're called.
The telecom. Not only do you have to sign a contract but they increase the amount you pay every year by inflation plus three and a half per cent. And when your contract ends you cannot just cancel your payment but they continue hounding for money because you have cancelled without tellling them and not given 30 days notice ( surely cancelling payment tells them ....! If your contract has ended you should not have to give notice). And they make it so difficult to cancel
One of the things with printers is that even you just print black & white they will use a bit of colour just to run it down. Plus HP have now bricked newer printers that have 3rd party ink
@@sarahrosen4985 I returned a Lexmark printer without opening it after reading the cartridge "patent license" on the box. They claimed to own the cartridges: you were required to mail the empties back instead of refilling them.
@@jamesphillips2285 🤬🤬🤬 when your business model is "scam users and make them enslaved to your whims" it's time to be forced to close and be barred from ever working anywhere but the counter at McDonald's with a scarlet L for Loser on all your clothes.
I've never yet had an inkjet printer that could accept compatibles. I had a series of HPs, switched to Lexmark and now Epson. I used to do a lot of colour printing but these days, it's only the occasional document print out. Even the black tank dries up from lack of use.
I have never read any reviews when selecting a restaurant to eat. There are some I never visited again, of course. Sometimes I have trusted hearsay, that is more trustworthy than paid or more-or-less forced reviews.
On the payday loans issue, way back when they first started, some in the UK were paying...wait for it... 1,400% interest. It was only after the intervention of, yes this is true, the Archbishop of Canterbury, did the government step in and limit the maximum interest rate (I think at 700%, but I'm not sure). I thank heaven I have never had to take one out.
Great video with great points! Unrelated, but can I ask where you got that shirt!? The texture looks so comfortable, and I want to get one myself if possible.
Evan, you're a good egg. One of the goodest. Thank you for putting the time in that you do to release funny and informative content, and I'm so glad that you're putting your mental health first - we only get one of dem brainz. Have a relaxing, recharging holiday, and whenever you're feeling better, we'll be so glad to have you back. ❤
Here in oz the federal government has a scheme called the PBS pharmaceutical benefits scheme, which limits the costs of medicines for people on government benefits. They have a list of hundreds of medicines that are covered, medical scripts are $30 a script even on drugs that are $50,000 a year. Not sure how it works for people not on government benefits.
Small weddings are the best ones. I don't know any couple who got married at one of those cheesy wedding venues that didn't end up divorced. When we got married, we sorted it all in 2 weeks, had the bans posted and a slot booked at the local registry office, invited our friends by saying if you're not busy next Saturday...... Told them the dress code was t-shirts and jeans, and no fancy new clothes. That set the tone for a nice get together with freinds. The peeps that officiated thanked us for being so chill as it was a rarity. We took our own photos and then we all piled down to our fave pub for lunch. Everyone ordered from the menu and it was great. The landlord said we were the best wedding party they'd ever hosted, no petty demands, no drunken behaviour. Just a nice get together. We had chosen not to waste money on the meaningless trappings that cost so much, or invite people we don't know because they're relatives. I think it's the best wedding I've ever been to. No stress, just a bunch of people having a fun time. Also the thought of having bridesmaids etc filled me with horror, or set a particular date at a particular venue. We didn't need to 'prove' how we feel about each other by blowing a tonne of money on a fleeting moment. If my mother had been involved I would have been guilted into doing this, or inviting that person..... Nope, my recommendation to everyone planning on getting married, go stress free, it's inexpensive and it's so much fun and more memorable! Why start your marriage in debt? It will just put you both under stress before you've even settled into your married life.
I mean in Germany it's the same with cable. But if it comes to someone actually coming. They will likely just disconnect you from the next hub. Instead of even bothering knocking at your door. No one ever needs to enter your property. But I haven't connected a TV in the last 15 years in all the places I lived in. So I don't know to which of those that might have applied. Except for the last one where I got internet via that cable and there you get your own frequency. So they can just disconnect you entirely via software. Also it's probably encrypted, at least i hope so, so they just need to stop giving your router new keys.
If I've worked it out correctly my student loan gets wiped this year! 25 years after the last payment to me. I've only made one payment back, when I forgot to tell them my new address so missed out on deferment, because the payment threshold is so high, even though I got a job in the area of my degree (Archaeology, probably the lowest paid sector where you need a degree to work in!) This is in the UK and has changed a lot since I went to Uni, now the threshold is lower and the cut off for it being wiped is longer. Also whilst we don't get better insurance due to our grades we do for not claiming on the insurance policy, No Claims Bonus. So better drivers pay less.
The cable company thing sounds like a turf war could break out if another provider's van is spotted in the area.😂 @5:05, my friend who lives in Florida (not on the coast) has just told me that her car and homeowner's insurance is topping out at $4,500. She says that the combined worth of her house and car is approximately $200,000. I know that a lot of players are pulling out of the insurance business in Florida and I guess those who stick it out, can name their price.
Now here's something even more ridiculous: My Pharmacy Benefits Manager (ExpressScripts) IS my mail-order pharmacy, who also owns my Specialty Pharmacy (Accredo) that manages my Biologic medication for IJA (I'm a 33 year old male, btw) and they own my Copay Assistance Manager SaveOnSP. So essentially, ExpressScripts is quadruple dipping...Legally.
Oh, is THAT why the guy doing the knife demo at the supermarket was pissed at me when I insisted he give me the free knife he promised for watching his demo, even thou I did not buy any? lol
Car insurance: - insurance companies are very interested indeed in factors that might make you more of a risk, but have zero interest in factors that might make you less of a risk, because they can't use those to screw more money out of you.
I actually heard of something that works better in USA than UK. In UK there is no flexibility on the age when you can draw the state pension and if you have certain health issues you may die before you reach that age. In USA they seem to call it Social Security but you can opt to take it early, at a slightly reduced rate. The earliest you can get it is age 62.
Something similar exists in Slivakia. Normal retirement age is around 64, I believe. But if you have health issues, you can request "premature" retirement, about up to 5 years earlier, with reduced retirement money. I am not sure about the exact years though, but there is such a possibility.
Timeshares. The fact these can be lifetime contracts that are inheritable is ridiculous. Apparently after you file court papers to not inherit a timeshare it goes down the list to the next person who also has to get a court order to not inherit
Any home or auto insurance of any kind. You pay the premium month after month for years on end and then they Raise your premiums or threaten to drop you when you actually use the insurance and file a claim.
Take a drive through the SF east bay at 4am as all the “essential workers” are headed to work and you’ll see why those of us with good grades got an insurance discount.
APRs are totally misleading when it comes to loans with a term shorter than a year, such as pay day loans. To calculate an APR, you have to assume the borrower continues borrowing the 'same' loan, each month, all year. In the same quote put on screen, it said the cost was $15 - $30 to borrow $100. So that's actually a 'rate' of 15% - 30% per loan. As someone who did at one time get into a cycle of pay day loan borrowing, it was horrible. But just wanted to point out that APRs are misleadingly large in this area.
8:45 If memory serves, they passed a new regulation in the US that Student Load Debt is inheritable. If you die with student loan debt, that debt is attached to your estate, and your next of kin get saddled with it. Multi-Generational Debt! At this point I wish I could attach a .gif like on that now-musky bird platform. This needs that clip from Rick and Morty that goes, "That just sounds like slavery with ex...tra... steps..."
I post reviews on Google Maps of places to eat out in my local area (inc pic of front facade + the plate of food). Not the fancy places with linen table cloths and wine lists, but pub grub and greasy spoons? I'm slowly doing the rounds. I've got like a zillion Google points which apparently are good for a discounted coffee in Costa.... Lol!
I think the part you ignored from the "wedding industry" is that most places/people have a "wedding tax" If you wann rent a place for a 24h rave party for a thousand people they'll charge you a thounsand buck, but if you say it's for a wedding (for the same amoun of people or less) they'll charge you ten thousand... And is like this for all the services in the wedding industry... Three plate meal for two hundred on a b-day party? $30 for each guest. Same meal for a wedding? $150 for each guest!! Hair cut for a gala? $50 bucks! Same hair cut for a wedding? $350!!!!! And so on...
In a few areas the wedding cost increase makes sense, because it won't be the same level of services but much higher. In others, it's just a scam. Wedding prices without added wedding service upgrade is not reasonable.
Human beings inherently thrive on greed, It benefits the greedier collective groups, to co-operate in larger and wider schemes for acquiring greater wealth, such is their avarice that they fail to acknowledge or even recognise that their actions impoverish the less well off and endanger Life by denying millions of people access to affordable medical care. To the corporate wealthy, the vast populations of the world are little more than cattle to be farmed and made a profit from, and ever year it gets worse, I am disgusted with my fellow human beings they bring shame to humanity!
One of these days I will have the technology to slow-down the opening audio and hear and understand the full name. ....meant in good fun. Standard openings have a way of becoming fast routine. But what's actually important is that I stick around and watch the video. I enjoy it, and the amusing super-fast opening words are a fun thing too.
We ignored the wedding industry when we got married. We booked a nice inexpensive place in the mountains, had our wedding, went out to dinner with everyone, and that was it.
Use the phrase "we're having an event" instead of "wedding" if you use a planner - and most importantly divide-up parts of the wedding to other organizers, such as the baker of the cake, etc., that make it obvious. If you do it that way, prices are reasonable. The second the word 'wedding' is uttered, prices immediately triple.
That sounds lovely 😊
@@LickTheShaft Yes! "Family gathering," "friend get-together" all work fine. The Wedding Tax is real!
Good for you. I have always found it odd that people spend thousands on a single day, instead of putting that money in to the rest of their lives. Like, buy a house, or start a savings account for future kids. Just, anything except a one time event.
That sounds like a wedding I’d consider attending.
Surprised no-one mentioned the diamond industry. They're so expensive despite being actually quite common and the only reasons why they're expensive is because of an artificial scarcity made by the companies to mine them (and an extremely effective ad campaign that tied diamonds to long lasting love in the form of wedding/engagement rings). It's honestly quite shocking you're just allowed to manipulate people in such a way.
That's true but diamonds are generally one of the most useless things you can buy, so if you decide to spend money on that you're doing it to yourself. That makes it quite different to companies messing around with medicine prices/insurance, predatory financing and corrupt justice systems which usually take people when they're low and ride them all the way to rock bottom. Diamonds being sold at 10 to 500 times their actual worth is nowhere near as bad as insulin being sold for 10 to 500 times its worth - which is a problem many Americans have had to deal with.
it is even funnier with "diamonds being long lasting" is that when one is set in metal ring jewelers have to be really careful to not *burn* the diamond.
When the diamond companies tell people how much they should spend on they engagement ring... And people repeat it until it's true. That's crime
It took my husband and I forever to find the rings we wanted because we DIDN'T want diamonds. The horrific working conditions aside (reason enough right there not to touch them), they are NOT that rare. You want a beautiful rare stone on a ring, get Tanzanite or something!
It also tends to involve a lot of worker exploitation. My mom lived in South Africa near diamond mines for a while and specifically did NOT want a diamond on her wedding ring because of it.
Explaining to my Welsh fiance how our US universities and pharmaceutical companies exploit the poor (LEGALLY) has him absolutely baffled. Evan, your older videos about citizenship and visas have really helped me through my own process, and these comfy Reddit vids have been my entertainment while I recover from my surgery. Thanks for being you! :D
Elder care in the US is a major racket. Assisted living facilities are just micro-apartments owned by real estate investment companies at 4x+ comparable apartments, which they justify by hiring entry level unskilled and undertrained, understaffed caregivers at minimum wage and they serve nutritionally insufficient meals. Oh, and they periodically offer BINGO.
Omg YES. I worked in a nursing home. It is criminal what happens to the elderly that go into care. I will say, though, the pay for nurses in many is comparable to hospitals, and the nurses aides make up to $25 an hour now in my state. They had to start paying more - who would choose such a horrible, back breaking, unappreciated job at minimum wage when you could get the same pay doing something much easier?
I was horrified to learn that in the US if you’re a bridesmaid at a wedding you’re supposed to pay for your dress etc. Apparently the average cost of being a bridesmaid is $1200.
Most don't cost that much. I've been a bridesmaid multiple times and it's about $100 for the dress & I wore my nude heels that I already owned. I think that price includes bridesmaids that traveling out of state and if they travel far for the bachelorette party.
My stepfather was furious to find out my mother paid the majority of the cost of her bridesmaids dresses on top of one for me as flower girl as well as paying for them to be fitted even though her bridal party was bigger than she intended tominclude his family, because that's the kind of man he was. I feel like this is the way to go as it stops the bride choosing something expensive because its "Just Perfect." Because mom was watching her own costs she told everyone who tried to convince her to do something different "no thank you" and took us to the local mall to find the dresses then hired this lovely lady who did the alterations out of a small spare room in her house. She told everyone that a black high heel that wasnt too tall or showy was fine so no one ended up having to buy shoes. The suits my stepdad insisted on for groomsmen actually cost more if I remeber right.
Yes this, the best thing one of my friends ever did was tell me she wasn’t going to make me a bridesmaid because she knew i couldn’t afford it. Some people may have been upset with that but i was so dang happy. I get to enjoy your wedding without the stress of a wedding weekend plus the price?? Best friend ever
I was only ever a bridesmaid once, and thankfully the bride's mom sewed all the wedding dresses herself, so it cost me zero. Lovely wedding, too. :)
I am in Australia and paid for my own bridesmaid dress.
Before there were restrictions put in place on them, payday loan rates in the UK were commonly over 1000% APR equivalent. It was insane, but a bunch of the companies were forced to cancel interest on the loans they'd given because it was obviously extortion. I can't say for certain how accurate anything I just said was, cause it was a few years ago and I wasn't directly affected, but I had friends that were, and that's more or less how it played out for them.
Yeah, the first swing at them was regulating advertising in in the early 2000's. One of the first big things the FCA did was slap them down hard in... 2015 I think. Capped default fees, the daily interest rate, and total cost, so you would never pay back more than double what you borrowed. Which is still kinda fucked up, but desperate people do be desperate. And it probably is better to pay that than get evicted or have your car siezed, or your cradit rating bent over and anally violated without lube or reacharound.
When they started, many of the online payday lenders were charging in the region of 3-4000% APR.
Yep, that's still common in the USA. Or at least my part of it. I'm in a major suburban area with all sorts of income levels high and low within a few minutes' drive of me. The payday loan places are pretty common in anywhere lower-middle-class and below. They like to take over failed fast food restaurant locations, for their small size and large windows to fill with signs. And if the area can't afford to keep a fast food place afloat, they have a good chance of finding plenty of desperate near-broke people to rip off.
When the adverts started talking about "Just ignore anyone who starts warning you about the APR" that was... Demonstratory of the problem with them, really...
Ticketmaster is the example most are likely familiar with
Funerals - my offsider’s dad did the cheapest funeral he could for his brother, still over $7000 AUD
Cheapest is to just not have one. Have the body cremated and then hold a wake down the pub. The cremation will be $1-2,000 (if you shop around), but still a lot cheaper.
@@randeknight probably not that quite cheap where I live in Queensland as the nearest crematorium is 2 hours away
the wedding thing is probably referring to if you go to a place, say a bakery, and you order a cake for your wedding, often the company will charge way more than they would if you had ordered a cake and not said it was for a wedding. (Ive heard this is across pretty much every part of the wedding process- tent rentals, locations, catering, bakeries, etc)
That's what I was thinking too
Yeah, we deliberately didn't mention that my now husband's 30th birthday party we were doing an event for anyway happened to also be on our wedding day and was doubling as the reception...
Lobbyists are one of the main reasons the US has poor services or lack them all together.
The Wedding Industry is 100% consumer perpetuated. All you need to be married is ~$50, a witness, and an officiator(~$120 for a court house wedding which is just that). Everything else is all on the couple.
Invitations that clearly spell out POTLUCK wedding, no presents, bring a casserole or salad should set the expectations correctly.
One of the best weddings I ever went to was simply a registry office wedding with a very informal reception in the couples flat which was upstairs from mine with a few close family members and friends... the vast majority of my friends who's weddings I have been to (most quite lavish one way or another) have ended in divorced, but nope, the couple with the virtually free approach are the one who's marriage has endured.
I've been to an even more basic wedding than this. It was literally just at the local courthouse with only immediate family members present, and also a photographer because not enough people were old enough to sign as a witness. They signed the paperwork while the kids entertained themselves around the courtroom, gave each other the plainest rings possible, said a few things, and that was it. The only fancy thing about it was dinner afterwards. Less than a year ago so no comment on the endurance thing
@@CyanideCarrot Not trying to outdo, but actually overall I would say my friend's wedding was more basic, at least within the limits of UK law at the time. At the time the registry office was the most basic allowed. Weddings had to be performed in churches or registry offices, now places can apply for a license, but they do have to be considered "good enough" to get them.
The only thing "fancy" about the wedding, was that outside the office was a small garden with a little archway to take photos under. The photos were taken by the grooms brother with a few supplementals by me.
As for the numbers of people at the Wedding, we are talking less than a Dozen including Bride and Groom, and as you said nice reception... this was not the case here, The flat was tiny (actually didn't even have it's own bathroom, they shared that with me) there was a home made wedding cake, snacks (chips/crisps, carrots and dip) and drinks (mostly from existing personal supplies of the guests who lived locally and the couple themselves)
My parents got married in a registry office and I think the witnesses were employees of the borough. There was no honeymoon or even a picture of the happy couple.
@@CyanideCarrot Yeah, my brother and his wife got married at a courthouse with only about 5 people in attendance, then went to the bride's grandfather's house afterwards for the reception (because his house had a pool and they basically did a pool party for almost nothing price wise). They've been married 28 years now and are still very lovey-dovey towards each other. It's almost absurd how happy those two are together. Lol :)
In many ways the insurance industry is a racket. On the one hand, certain forms of insurance are a necessity for any responsible person, and you may even be legally required to carry some forms of it. On the other hand, insurance agents will totally misrepresent what they are selling in order to upsell you. Also, it's quite common to have to sue your insurance company to get them to pay claims for the coverage you purchased. For some reason we tolerate this kind of BS from insurance companies where other companies doing the same thing would get run out of town.
It's sort of the very nature of insurance though, because by definition, the vast majority of their customers will never make a claim (for things like home or car insurance) so don't experience that part of the customer service. It's like when people praise a shop for its good customer service when they were buying something. Try and return it when it's broken and that's when you can really judge the customer service. Having said that, let's be honest also, there are loads of people who try to scam insurance companies, and that's definitely part of the problem as to why they're so difficult to get money from even when it's legitimate.
One of the nicest weddings I saw on tv cost the couple about £800 as they grew their wedding flowers on their allotment and friends gardens,the bride bought her wedding dress in a charity shop. Friends did the catering and all the plates,glasses,cutkery etc was from charity shops and it didn't matter that it didn't match as it looked stylish,some people can do that and it looks artistic. Marriage is about the society you live in, formally recognising that this person is your legal partner and only children born of this person can inherit your property. It's never been about love and romance at all just by good luck sometimes that has come into the mix. Even before people understood the mechanics of conception they were well aware a man could father lots of children by many women so marriage evolved as a way to keep power and money together and not dissipated away. Not a very romantic viewpoint I admit. And marriage came BEFORE religion all over the world. Religions evolved ceremonies to fit the institution. Have nice time in the sunshine.
The American prison system came to my mind too - definitely legalized slavery. EDIT: I'm glad that you're on holiday now. Definitely get the rest you need.
It's right there in the Constitution that slavery is illegal unless they are prisoners.
"Legal slavery, pretty much." No, not 'pretty much,' just plain ol' "Legal slavery." It's in the US Constitution.
Regarding the wedding industry, it's a scam because they literally hike up the price for it being a wedding and not a regular party. My friend rang round and got quotes for a party package, got exactly what she wanted, and then the company got really pissed off when they found out the venue was being hired for a wedding party, because even though they weren't providing anything different or extra, they would have charged a lot more!!
Why when I needed a particular medication while on holiday in Texas did my travel insurers have to pay $120 for something I discovered when I got back to England I could have bought over the counter at Boots for £8 without a prescription?
Wow. You really jumped into the drug pricing problems in the US right at the start... I'm not even fully sure I still understand it, despite understanding it.😮
I'd ask how is it legal... but that has the most obvious answer
*points to lobbying sign*
Simple way to think of it, drug manufacturers keep raising prices to pay for middlemen who get more private insurance companies to pay for said drugs.
no but the wedding industry is still a problem, because as soon as you say it is for a wedding, the price just gets higher... for the cake for example...
Yes! That’s a good point
@nijinoshita3301 exactly! we proved it to a family member by ringing around a few different venues and asking the wedding price, and then a couple of hours later ringing the same venue and asking for the price for a significant birthday, the price difference was gobsmacking,,, it was nearly 3 times more for the wedding and the inclusions were exactly the same!!!
Sometimes I think people just get so caught up in the excitement of a wedding that they seem to lose any common sense...
the courthouse or registry office for the legal stuff and have a massive party with all your loved ones is as much, or even more fun than worrying about how to pay for it all and who you have to upset because you can't afford to have everyone you want... during the "spicy cough" time, one of our local celebrants was doing a "no frills" legal package in her office, with just the couple and 2 witnesses at a reduced price, as much of the country was on extended leave, if you know what I mean...😉...
it's sooo ridiculous and the whole industry just keeps getting bigger and bigger.
When my son got married, he and my D-I-L hired a local charitable organisation's respite camp for the weekend, it has accommodation in individual cabins, all of the grounds and play equipment, plus the hall and kitchen facilities. The boys wedding attire was bought at a local discount variety shop, the girls outfits were purchased from Wish, and I made her wedding dress from 2 dresses that were given to her. The wedding party looked fantastic, everyone had a ball and the whole thing was done and dusted for under $8k...
You really don't have to spend a small fortune to have a great day, and the bonus, whatever you save on the wedding could go towards a fabulous honeymoon/vacation or deposit for your first home...or whatever your heart desires...😁
🙃🐨🇦🇺
@@grandy2875 I've gotta be honest, the fact that they went to all that trouble and it still cost $8k is insane. It's still a lot of money at a time in your life that you're probably saving up for a deposit on a house or to have children. Some of the prices I've seen for the 'average wedding' are ridiculous. Like half a year's salary kind of money. We're planning ours at the moment, and we're going to do it at my fiance's hometown in Vietnam, which is unsurprisingly much cheaper. But they have a system over there where basically all of the guests bring money and that pays for most of the cost of the wedding. In the UK, people buy presents, which means you end up with a load of things you don't really need. Even if you have one of those wedding wishlists, you still end up with a bunch of stuff you probably wouldn't buy if it was your own money.
@@joepiekl that price included accommodation the whole weekend(Fri arvo to Sun lunchtime-ish) for about 60 peeps, all the food and non-alcoholic drinks, we provided our own grog, for the wedding breakfast and brunch the next day... the next affordable venue, for 6hrs, was $22k, not including accommodation and brunch, and all the other stuff that was in the package they got.
Yes, it's not a no cost thing, but when we sat down and worked out the actual cost per head, it was cheap as chips and we had a ball...in the end it's the memories that really count, no matter how deep or shallow the pockets...
Yes and no. There is some justification for wedding prices being higher, albeit maybe not quite so hyper-inflated as some examples.
The issue is reliability. The perceived "cost" of failing to deliver your goods/services to a wedding is significantly higher. Many people want/expect their wedding to be "perfect", and any deviation from that means that their wedding is "ruined". So, suppliers will incur extra costs and/or forgo other opportunities for income in order to make sure that they will definitely,
absolutely be able to turn up and provide the goods/services.
For a wedding, they have to make sure that there's pretty much no chance that they're going to have to say "sorry, but we're going to have to cancel".
For example, if a company is providing the cake, what happens if something goes wrong in the oven, or they trip over and drop the cake? Perhaps they'll make two, just in case. Or they'll limit the number of other customers that they provide cakes for, in case they need extra space in the oven for a "redo".
Same thing for the flowers - how many extra flowers will the florist buy in, just to make absolutely, positively sure that there's enough for all of yours?
For the DJ - perhaps they'll pass over the opportunity for a lunchtime gig on the same day 50 miles away, because there's always the possibility of a major traffic jam preventing them from getting to your event on time. If it's "just" a birthday party then yes, people will be disappointed, but if it's a wedding, then it's "ruined".
Having extra redundancy (whether that's in materials, tool capacity or time) costs money.
Then you have to factor in the possibility of your wedding having a bridezilla/groomzilla/in-law-zilla to deal with, which is just hassle and stress. They don't know which weddings are going to have these issues at the time of booking (and they can't exactly turn around after the wedding and say "you were a real hassle to deal with, so we want an extra 50%"), so the cost of the extra stress/hassle gets included to everyone's costs.
We refused to pay for yelp at a small business I worked at. So they changed our hours online to close two hours early. Then wouldn't change them back when we called and complained.
I am suprised no one said Investment Banking, where they get to gamble your money to make them profits. And when it all goes wrong Governments bail them out with more of your money.
I keep telling my kids if they want me to pay for them to get married, then it's a registry office, followed by happy meals all round.
To clarify - Printer ink is INSANELY cheap.
All you pay for is the "privilige" of using the on-brand cartridge marked up by hundereds of times.
The average amount of ink in a single cartridge is about 0.02-0.05$... Sold for 20-30$... Disgusting...
Evan keeps saying it's "More expensive than gasoline/petrol". At $40 for about 50ml (a typical household inkjet printer might have 6 cartridges with about 8ml in each), that works out to about $3,300 per gallon.
@@CineSoar It less than 5 cents to produce enough ink to fill a 50ml cartridge. They then lock them down, so you can't buy from the competition, producing a supply monopoly and charge you 1000x the price.
@@shapelessed I understand all of that. I'm just saying that Evan's comparison to petrol should be replaced with high-end Champaign, or luxury perfume (which I will grant, are marked up to insane degrees mostly by branding, rather than monopolistic practices). I think a lot of people look at those cartridges, and think they hold a roughly equivalent volume of ink inside, when literally there is only 1 tsp of actual ink. For $40 you get ~10 tsp, which is many, many times more expensive than petrol.
I think the wedding industry thing is about how they jack up the prices on identical items just because the word "wedding" is attached to it.
For profit prisons are worse than crime/punishment slavery. For profit prisons just insensitice prisons to have prisoners so that they can earn money, crime/punishment slavery are basically that prison labour except without pay.
so right about tow-away companies. the one hired by the city govt where i live is known for scalping ppl with ridiculous fees, towing cars that are parked legally, refusing to let ppl pay the drop fees ect.
Financial planners who advise older folks who have savings to invest. Really they're just selling crappy investment products for an insurance company.
Thank you very much for taking down the curtain so-to-speak at the end of the video and open up about struggles. It ok not to be ok, and it’s ok to talk about it. Hope you get through the rough patch quickly. Thanks for the weekly videos they’re “must watch tv” for me. - Dave
I felt that about MLMs. I remember first year of college I was required to take a Speech 101 class and this young guy made a speech on how wonderful MLMs were. He drew a figure on the whiteboard showing how the recruiting works - 1 person recruits 2 people who each recruit 2 people, etc. I was like, that looks like a... triangle? Didn't I hear something about a pyramid scheme before? (This was beginning of 2002; MLMs were hardly known back then.)
Oh man, and the Cutco knives... I was a teen the first time I saw a flyer for it (I think also 2002?) and my mom and I went to the "interview." Mom was all for me doing it but thankfully my natural shyness and being an über introvert made me decide there was _no way_ I was going to bother a bunch of people I know then go bother a bunch of people _they_ know, etc., etc. The very thought made me queasy. Yay, awkwardness!
Actually MLMs were supposed to be made illegal in the 20th century, but guess what the government changed and guess what the new government were "friends" of the people who were leading some of the biggest MLM companies. (Ah how I looooove corruption)😂
Well as a European I have not run into most of these as they are illegal here thank the maker
The wedding industry is a big one for sure. It’s not that people set out to spend thousands on a party, it’s that business slap on a chonky premium for services or goods if it’s anything to do with a wedding.
For example my brothers sister-in-law had a really casual wedding and she ended up buying a simple ivory slip dress second hand (that was not marketed as or sold as a wedding dress) for her wedding dress. She took it to get dry cleaned and they said it would be about £20. When she went to pick it up she said “I’m collecting my wedding dress” they brought it out and tried to charge her £80, because it was a WEDDING dress. Not because of any difficult, time consuming stains or smells they had to get out or anything. Purely because she called it a wedding dress, rather than just a dress.
Yeah, TV probably rips off people the most. In Germany, we have something called “Rundfunkgebühren”, which the owners of German TV-channels are responsible for and the system is completely outdated. We don’t even watch TV anymore and have barely ever listened to the radio, but they still expect us to pay for it?
My brother told be that the people used to make a petition and even consulted experts, but it just ended up getting lost somewhere. He also told me that it’s not even a question of owning radio-/TV-devices. As long as you live in Germany, you have to pay for it, ca. 18 €/month.
Taxation. I mean, if the money went back to the taxpayer in services that's fine, but it's usually embezzled.
Wedding industry, Valentine's Day, Christmas madness etc. - all these depend on the brainwashing super manipulative advertising industry - legal but exploitative to the max. Also, am I the only one who noticed that the more lavish and extravagant the wedding - starting with an outlandish, choreographed "surprise" marriage proposal with a blindingly huge diamond - the shorter the marriage?
Before I watch the video, I'll leave these here: ticket sales websites (fees galore), universities and research grants, bottled water, and the worst of all - RENT
You mentioned research grants but not the scientific publishing industry?
They charge you to publish, get volunteers to review the submissions without pay, then turn around and charge you to read the results.
@@jamesphillips2285 Ah yeah, how could I forget!
I had one of my most enthusiastic, successful interviews ever and got the job... then it was a MLM. LoveFilm, basically Netflix via DVDs in the post. Spent 4 days traipsing around the Welsh Valleys in the rain for zero pay because "I hadn't met my initial sales goal yet". Faked a migraine and went home and never came back.
Parents on the hook for student loans? What the hell? You take on debt, as an adult, and it passes on to someone else? Madness.
I don't know if this has come about but a year or so ago one of our UK banks was talking about an idea for a multi-generational mortgage ie you buy a house spend not 25 years as traditional,but your whole lifetime paying instalments then when you die one or more of your adult children have to continue payjng until it's all finally paid up. That sounds like a nightmare to me. Maybe they decided it wouldn't work as who wants to inherit a debt like that and what parent wants to put such a future debt burden on their new born baby.
Let's be honest, no-one would ever get a student loan if there weren't these ridiculous laws in place to make sure the company always gets their money. No sensible bank would ever loan tens of thousands of dollars to an 18 year old with no assets. Which is exactly how it should be. If you make a stupid loan to someone who can't afford it and they default on it, that's your fault. Maybe if everyone 18 year-old wasn't able to access $60k no questions asked, the universities wouldn't be able to charge such stupid fees in the first place and they'd actually have to work in a reasonable budget.
Some student loans have the parents co-sign for it - it's also common for parents to co-sign for the first car loan.
Thank you for being a human being and sharing what you do, the more we normalise not being ok, the better ☺👍
The OG payday loan was called a loan shark and while generally they were much more understanding on personal crisis they would also break your legs and generally do a lot of other really nasty shit if you defaulted. So while payday loans are predatory and horrible; they won't straight up kill you.
The pay day loans used to be allowed to be as high as 1000% here, until it was capped.
3:06 You absolutely should, just to give you an idea how it works here:
- The loan can't exceed a certain threshoald in absolute value based on the amount of money originally loaned(aka if you borrowed say 200$ you can't be charged more than 800$ no matter what)
- The loans can't exceed a certain percentage of interest(aka you can't just loan the money on 100000% an hour)
The lil acoustic at the end of your videos now is so nostalgic!
There is a scheme in the UK thats getting pushed hard by the govt called Pass Plus which is a ~6 hour course covering driving in different environments (bad weather, town, motorway etc.) theres no actual exam but you do get assessed by the instructor and if you pass then *some* insurance companies will give you a discounted rate.
I am not sure they do them anymore but some insurers would say if you allow us to but a black box in your car to monitor your driving then it can be cheaper but would never get it. Of course all I have to say is I have a disability and an adaptive car and the price goes up 300%
@@martingriff101 Black boxes are still around; and stupidly exploitative. If you have to make an emergency stop at any time your insurance goes up as this violates the black box terms; if someone has an accident and you drive them to A&E, insurance goes up. Really not worth it.
@@GCOSBenbow 100% agree
In Aus we have a PBS (pharma benefit scheme I think it stands for) so a lot of antibiotics and stuff are at a set low price, stuff like psychiatric medications are based on your diagnosis. I was prescribed a medication for my mental health and I'm supposed to pay a far higher price unless I get diagnosed with either bipolar disorders or one other psychiatric condition, at which point it will be lowered to the standard $6.70 (I think, I know it's $6.something)
I think you're amazing...Your content is diverse, and educated, and fun....your editing is FABULOUS, and you're a funny guy!!!! Keep on keepin' on little brother! YOU ROCK!!!!!.... and remember that R&R is VERY important, so don't overlook it!
My example is very frivolous compared to all the examples you have quoted, but the ever increasing prices of so-called 'luxury' bags is staggering and the prices are now a true rip-off. Thank you for the video!
You mean they weren't a ripoff before?!
I mean are they really a rip-off when their value is derived from being expensive?
That goes for all "brand" clothes. The make-cost is the same as non-brand Asian products you can order online or wjatever, that's maybe like 1% of the end cost, the rest 99% is just for the brand logo sewed on it. Insane. And often the non-brand things can last longer than brand ones.
We had like a community wedding and it was awesome. We went to a beautiful registry office (it was the Bath one and therefore fancy but still cheap lol) and then rented a village hall. We had bring and share food and people brought so much nice stuff that there was tons left over! And most things we had like the dress, cake, clothes etc were either made by friends and family or rented or just pretty cheap. We had camping on the playing field as well for anyone who wanted to stay over. Obviously we were privileged to have the support of a whole bunch of people in order to do that, but I think it proves that it is at least possible to have a big wedding and not spend very much. Our entire wedding and honeymoon cost £3000 total and most of that was the venue rental and the holiday!
Look after yourself bud! Don't burnout, I look forward to your videos, I watch a lot of educational content on TH-cam, but your videos feel like coming home for some reason :)
If you want a big wedding, invite all your friends to meet you at a park and have a pot luck. In some places you might need to register in advance, but not everywhere. Here's an idea, arrange it with friends ahead of time so it's not a surprise and a scandal, and ask your friends that instead of giving you wedding presents they throw you the wedding party.
That's easy time shares that you have to pay maintenance fees in perpetuity-forever. AND (other than asking and they say no), you can never get out of the contract. AND your heirs only have 90 days each for each heir to file a pile of paper work each to get out of the contract.
I get married in a few weeks - we picked our meal and accommodation venue, which is normally a business and conference centre. They've never hosted a Wedding before and we picked a quiet time, so the price is affordable and they keep throwing us freebies.
The hotel itself is pretty high end and the food delicious.
That's another tip for weddings: host them in unusual places.
They may be looking at you as a loss leader. If it goes well, they'll start to actively promote themselves as a wedding venue and the price will go up (they'll say it's in line with demand, and it won't be a total lie), but in 5 years or so, they'll be 'competitive' rather than 'affordable'.
@@f0rth3l0v30fchr15t In my little area of the world, it's not normal to host weddings in which guests have to travel in from abroad, so I'm doubting that will happen.
@@Redrally Point out where I said anything about people coming from abroad.
I'll wait.
Payday loans in the UK at one point were well into 4-digit APRs until some rule came in to reduce them
Even if you're having a not-super-lavish wedding, the second you tell a venue it's for a wedding rather than eg. a birthday they double the fee
OK, you are now obligated to get married, and start your speech with "This wedding is brought to you by Raid Shadow Legends".
Pay day loans at silly APR was a thing at one time in the UK too but after a lot of horror stories the government cracked down on it!
The payday loan industry in the UK has more or less disappeared.
@@eattherich9215 True. Once the government got involved and cracked down on the industry and they weren't earning thousands of percent interest most closed.
Im so glad i just got my autism diagnosed because my parents now get the expensive stress relief meds i take for just 2 dollars, canada is amazing
Enjoy your well deserved holiday! Sounds like it’s exactly what you need 🥰 really appreciate you putting the time and effort into making these videos for us to enjoy, but that being said if you needed to miss a few uploads we’d all understand! Make sure to put yourself first and do what you need to look after yourself ❤️ loved the vid!
In regards to the monopoly on cable/internet companies in certain areas of the US, I have to have my internet router in my bedroom because I didnt want to pay $50 for someone to come out to connect the ethernet outlet (or whatever its called) in my living room so that's fun...also in college we had to pay another installment fee just because they gave us a bad router but we apparently couldn't just get a new router from them...
similar to the TV provider one: gas companies installing smart meters that are only compatible with their company, so you can't switch provider to get a better deal cos they won't accept you with another companys smart meter
Hello from Trenton. Every municipality in Mercer County uses Comcast except Hamilton which uses Optimum and Princeton Township which uses something else but I don't remember what they're called.
The telecom. Not only do you have to sign a contract but they increase the amount you pay every year by inflation plus three and a half per cent. And when your contract ends you cannot just cancel your payment but they continue hounding for money because you have cancelled without tellling them and not given 30 days notice ( surely cancelling payment tells them ....! If your contract has ended you should not have to give notice). And they make it so difficult to cancel
One of the things with printers is that even you just print black & white they will use a bit of colour just to run it down.
Plus HP have now bricked newer printers that have 3rd party ink
Watch Louis Rossman's video on HP printer predatory behaviour. I'd like to see them bankrupted and the 'master minds' pilloried.
@@sarahrosen4985 I returned a Lexmark printer without opening it after reading the cartridge "patent license" on the box. They claimed to own the cartridges: you were required to mail the empties back instead of refilling them.
@@jamesphillips2285 🤬🤬🤬 when your business model is "scam users and make them enslaved to your whims" it's time to be forced to close and be barred from ever working anywhere but the counter at McDonald's with a scarlet L for Loser on all your clothes.
I've never yet had an inkjet printer that could accept compatibles. I had a series of HPs, switched to Lexmark and now Epson. I used to do a lot of colour printing but these days, it's only the occasional document print out. Even the black tank dries up from lack of use.
@@eattherich9215 For occasional use laser is far superior to inkjet.
Hey, Evan. Pay day loans, have a search for 'wonga', look at their APR, i think UK law was changed specifically because of them
I have never read any reviews when selecting a restaurant to eat. There are some I never visited again, of course. Sometimes I have trusted hearsay, that is more trustworthy than paid or more-or-less forced reviews.
On the payday loans issue, way back when they first started, some in the UK were paying...wait for it... 1,400% interest. It was only after the intervention of, yes this is true, the Archbishop of Canterbury, did the government step in and limit the maximum interest rate (I think at 700%, but I'm not sure). I thank heaven I have never had to take one out.
**the agriculture industry** -a horticulture student
Great video with great points!
Unrelated, but can I ask where you got that shirt!? The texture looks so comfortable, and I want to get one myself if possible.
It’s actually a hoodie though it’s also made in crewneck style.
It’s an At Ease Hoodie
Evan, you're a good egg. One of the goodest. Thank you for putting the time in that you do to release funny and informative content, and I'm so glad that you're putting your mental health first - we only get one of dem brainz. Have a relaxing, recharging holiday, and whenever you're feeling better, we'll be so glad to have you back. ❤
It's okay not to be okay. Still hoping you feel better soon because even though it's okay, it's not fun. All the best.!
Here in oz the federal government has a scheme called the PBS pharmaceutical benefits scheme, which limits the costs of medicines for people on government benefits. They have a list of hundreds of medicines that are covered, medical scripts are $30 a script even on drugs that are $50,000 a year. Not sure how it works for people not on government benefits.
2:58 There's a word for that, it's loanshark
Small weddings are the best ones. I don't know any couple who got married at one of those cheesy wedding venues that didn't end up divorced. When we got married, we sorted it all in 2 weeks, had the bans posted and a slot booked at the local registry office, invited our friends by saying if you're not busy next Saturday...... Told them the dress code was t-shirts and jeans, and no fancy new clothes.
That set the tone for a nice get together with freinds. The peeps that officiated thanked us for being so chill as it was a rarity. We took our own photos and then we all piled down to our fave pub for lunch. Everyone ordered from the menu and it was great. The landlord said we were the best wedding party they'd ever hosted, no petty demands, no drunken behaviour. Just a nice get together.
We had chosen not to waste money on the meaningless trappings that cost so much, or invite people we don't know because they're relatives. I think it's the best wedding I've ever been to. No stress, just a bunch of people having a fun time.
Also the thought of having bridesmaids etc filled me with horror, or set a particular date at a particular venue. We didn't need to 'prove' how we feel about each other by blowing a tonne of money on a fleeting moment. If my mother had been involved I would have been guilted into doing this, or inviting that person..... Nope, my recommendation to everyone planning on getting married, go stress free, it's inexpensive and it's so much fun and more memorable! Why start your marriage in debt? It will just put you both under stress before you've even settled into your married life.
I mean in Germany it's the same with cable. But if it comes to someone actually coming. They will likely just disconnect you from the next hub. Instead of even bothering knocking at your door. No one ever needs to enter your property. But I haven't connected a TV in the last 15 years in all the places I lived in. So I don't know to which of those that might have applied. Except for the last one where I got internet via that cable and there you get your own frequency. So they can just disconnect you entirely via software. Also it's probably encrypted, at least i hope so, so they just need to stop giving your router new keys.
Good stuff. Hope you enjoy your time out, and feel better.
If I've worked it out correctly my student loan gets wiped this year! 25 years after the last payment to me. I've only made one payment back, when I forgot to tell them my new address so missed out on deferment, because the payment threshold is so high, even though I got a job in the area of my degree (Archaeology, probably the lowest paid sector where you need a degree to work in!) This is in the UK and has changed a lot since I went to Uni, now the threshold is lower and the cut off for it being wiped is longer.
Also whilst we don't get better insurance due to our grades we do for not claiming on the insurance policy, No Claims Bonus. So better drivers pay less.
The cable company thing sounds like a turf war could break out if another provider's van is spotted in the area.😂 @5:05, my friend who lives in Florida (not on the coast) has just told me that her car and homeowner's insurance is topping out at $4,500. She says that the combined worth of her house and car is approximately $200,000. I know that a lot of players are pulling out of the insurance business in Florida and I guess those who stick it out, can name their price.
In Poland ZUS (Zakład Ubezpieczeń Społecznych ; Social Insurances Department) is jokingly called legal dissorganized crime :P
Now here's something even more ridiculous: My Pharmacy Benefits Manager (ExpressScripts) IS my mail-order pharmacy, who also owns my Specialty Pharmacy (Accredo) that manages my Biologic medication for IJA (I'm a 33 year old male, btw) and they own my Copay Assistance Manager SaveOnSP. So essentially, ExpressScripts is quadruple dipping...Legally.
The "paperwork" fees you have to pay delivery companies to deliver your things.
New Orleans is notorious for towing during Mardi Gras.
Oh, is THAT why the guy doing the knife demo at the supermarket was pissed at me when I insisted he give me the free knife he promised for watching his demo, even thou I did not buy any? lol
i think the wedding industry is shady af in the way everything has a massive markup if it's a wedding vs just a regular party of the same size.
Car insurance: - insurance companies are very interested indeed in factors that might make you more of a risk, but have zero interest in factors that might make you less of a risk, because they can't use those to screw more money out of you.
I actually heard of something that works better in USA than UK. In UK there is no flexibility on the age when you can draw the state pension and if you have certain health issues you may die before you reach that age. In USA they seem to call it Social Security but you can opt to take it early, at a slightly reduced rate. The earliest you can get it is age 62.
Something similar exists in Slivakia. Normal retirement age is around 64, I believe. But if you have health issues, you can request "premature" retirement, about up to 5 years earlier, with reduced retirement money. I am not sure about the exact years though, but there is such a possibility.
I bet the us social security pension is enough to live on as well, even at the reduced rate.
Timeshares. The fact these can be lifetime contracts that are inheritable is ridiculous. Apparently after you file court papers to not inherit a timeshare it goes down the list to the next person who also has to get a court order to not inherit
Any home or auto insurance of any kind. You pay the premium month after month for years on end and then they Raise your premiums or threaten to drop you when you actually use the insurance and file a claim.
Take a drive through the SF east bay at 4am as all the “essential workers” are headed to work and you’ll see why those of us with good grades got an insurance discount.
Love this video, so true…. Enjoy your holiday, relax and recharge 😊
Hope your holiday sets everything right again. Love your videos.
Simples: Ticketmaster :)
Also get denied medical testing when you don't have insurance. Insurance does not help healthcare. It only causes problems.
APRs are totally misleading when it comes to loans with a term shorter than a year, such as pay day loans. To calculate an APR, you have to assume the borrower continues borrowing the 'same' loan, each month, all year. In the same quote put on screen, it said the cost was $15 - $30 to borrow $100. So that's actually a 'rate' of 15% - 30% per loan. As someone who did at one time get into a cycle of pay day loan borrowing, it was horrible. But just wanted to point out that APRs are misleadingly large in this area.
8:45 If memory serves, they passed a new regulation in the US that Student Load Debt is inheritable. If you die with student loan debt, that debt is attached to your estate, and your next of kin get saddled with it. Multi-Generational Debt!
At this point I wish I could attach a .gif like on that now-musky bird platform. This needs that clip from Rick and Morty that goes, "That just sounds like slavery with ex...tra... steps..."
I post reviews on Google Maps of places to eat out in my local area (inc pic of front facade + the plate of food). Not the fancy places with linen table cloths and wine lists, but pub grub and greasy spoons? I'm slowly doing the rounds. I've got like a zillion Google points which apparently are good for a discounted coffee in Costa.... Lol!
Love you Evan! Enjoy your holiday!!
I think the part you ignored from the "wedding industry" is that most places/people have a "wedding tax"
If you wann rent a place for a 24h rave party for a thousand people they'll charge you a thounsand buck, but if you say it's for a wedding (for the same amoun of people or less) they'll charge you ten thousand...
And is like this for all the services in the wedding industry...
Three plate meal for two hundred on a b-day party? $30 for each guest. Same meal for a wedding? $150 for each guest!!
Hair cut for a gala? $50 bucks! Same hair cut for a wedding? $350!!!!!
And so on...
In a few areas the wedding cost increase makes sense, because it won't be the same level of services but much higher. In others, it's just a scam. Wedding prices without added wedding service upgrade is not reasonable.
Human beings inherently thrive on greed, It benefits the greedier collective groups, to co-operate in larger and wider schemes for acquiring greater wealth, such is their avarice that they fail to acknowledge or even recognise that their actions impoverish the less well off and endanger Life by denying millions of people access to affordable medical care. To the corporate wealthy, the vast populations of the world are little more than cattle to be farmed and made a profit from, and ever year it gets worse, I am disgusted with my fellow human beings they bring shame to humanity!
Enjoy your break! Thanks for such nice videos despite all this. Looking forward to the prints!
One of these days I will have the technology to slow-down the opening audio and hear and understand the full name.
....meant in good fun. Standard openings have a way of becoming fast routine. But what's actually important is that I stick around and watch the video. I enjoy it, and the amusing super-fast opening words are a fun thing too.
TH-cam has playback speed UI built in :)
I watch all content at 2x speed
I love it when I learn new things. Thanks for mentioning playback speed options. Cheers !
Sorry to hear you've been having a rough patch pal, enjoy your holiday!