It’s easy to get tricked into buying products that we have no use for, or worse, that don’t do the job as well as a cheaper, more natural option would. We see commercials with beautiful models selling product, touching background stories, and various reasons why you “need” such-and-such a random item. Our world is constantly bombarding us with messages like this.

Or maybe you grew up just thinking that you had to use certain things. Your mom always used that window cleaner, so it’s the thing you HAVE to buy. Well, this mistake isn’t your fault or your parents fault, but we are going to shatter that illusion right about now: Not all store-bought products are “necessary”, in fact some of them are straight-up scamming you.

Here’s nine examples of products you really should stop buying.

Bottled Water

Get ready for this one: the bottled water industry has been called “the biggest scam of the century” by many a publication. That just sets the stage for how terribly we’ve been bamboozled by bottled beverages.

It’s happened to all of us. We’re sweltering hot, we’re super thirsty, and you can’t get home to your Brita. What do you do? You stop at the nearest store/gas station and buy a bottle of water. It’s only $1.70 so it’s not a big deal, right?

While this is an innocent habit, it’s a bad one nonetheless.

Not only are you spending hundreds of dollars a year on this product (check out how much money you’ve been throwing away with this bottled water calculator) but it’s not necessarily “cleaner than tap water” as these companies would have you believe.

In 2015, 14 water bottle brands were recalled in ONE WEEK because E. Coli was growing in the bottles. Stories like this aren’t as uncommon as you’d hope, either.

And that’s not even the half of it. Unfortunately for our planet, Americans use around 50 billion bottles of water a year, and sadly 80% of those bottles are not recycled. Those that are recycled have been found to leach toxic chemicals into the products they are recycled into, according to research by the Columbia Water Center.

Moral of the story: CARRY YOUR OWN WATER BOTTLES AND DON’T BE AFRAID OF TAP WATER. Avoid these bottled scams at all costs, people.

Commercial Cleaning Products

The sad thing about commercial cleaning products is that they’re totally ingrained in our systems to buy. If I don’t pick up surface cleaner, bathroom cleaner and the like, I haven’t truly completed my shopping. This is not to say I ENJOY buying these things, as they are incredibly expensive.

And I guess that’s what makes this so sad.

For all the money you spend on a slew of commercial cleaning products, there are much cheaper and more natural products that will do the same job. More often than not, these more-natural cleaners come down to the following things: vinegar, baking soda, lemons, hydrogen peroxide, Borax, ect.

Just give it a Google or search right here on TipHero, you’ll find a million ways that these cheap products can clean your home for less.

Multivitamins

For the last couple decades, activist groups like The National Products Association and the Council For Responsible Nutrition have been lobbying to get multivitamins taken off the shelves. With their promises to fill in your nutritional gaps, as well as their colorful gummies and fun labels, these vitamins can seem extremely alluring.

However, this colorful facade could prove deadly. Studies have linked these multivitamins to various illnesses, including cancer.

Here’s how it basically went down: in 1994 the multivitamin industry has been given virtually limitless free reign over their health products. The government is not allowed to question their health claims or hold them up to the same standards given to other forms of drugs and medications. So anyone can throw together a bunch of random ingredients and call it a health supplement, and we’d have no idea how legit it actually is.

Rather than these awful pills, invest in a healthy diet with lots of fruits and veggies, or try more natural options such as apple cider vinegar.

Cellulite Creams

Approximately 70% of women can understand the frustration with impossible-to-banish cellulite — the lumpy effect that crops up on skin from fat underneath — inspires. Unfortunately for everyone, doctors say creams don’t cure cellulite; at best, they reduce its appearance for fleeting stretches.

Some products are certainly better than others — those may include retinol, caffeine and alpha hydroxy acids — but they won’t melt the fat at the root of the problem. According to the Mayo Clinic, exercise and muscle strengthening is the best bet for ridding oneself of cellulite.

Flashy New Appliances

The newest appliances come with super fun features. And while it would be pretty cool to have a fridge with a TV on it or dishwashers that talks, it’s important to sit back and consider how necessary these appliances are.

If money is no object to you, sure, buy the newest models of every appliance in the store. But for those of us with bills to pay, dropping $1,000 on a sink with jet streams just might not be in the cards right now.

These appliances even get expensive when they claim to “save you money” like energy-efficient stoves. If you truly break it down and do the math, it would take about a decade to start seeing savings after spending that amount of money upfront. And in the long run, what would you rather have: a fancy new appliance or money to pay rent?

Hopefully that’s an easy answer.

Deodorizing Sprays

Like cleaning products, these “air freshening” sprays are totally malarkey. This goes double if they don’t have any disinfecting properties, which we can understand coughing up the money for. But if they only claim to make your home “smell like a fresh rain shower” then you are being tricked, my friend.

Essentially, these sprays do a temporary job of covering up odors; they don’t remove them at the source or cover them permanently. They work for about 15 minutes before company comes over and that’s it.

Plus, you’re only spraying nasty chemicals into the air! Air that you, your family, and your pets have to breathe.

You’re much better off cleaning the source of the stink (i.e., take out that smelly garbage) or using a more all-natural way to remove home odors that will work better and reduce toxins in your house.

Budget Light Bulbs

Incandescents may be easy on your everyday household budget, but they’re tough on your energy bill. Start replacing them now with LEDs. To help swallow the initial costs, just replace them as they die out. A typical LED bulb can recuperate its cost in a little over a year (at least according to manufacturers, so in reality it’s probably a bit longer, but not enough to quibble about).

Even better, since LEDs can last a decade or more, you won’t have to buy bulbs as often, and your energy costs will be lower!

Drain Openers

Dealing with a clogged drain stinks, but what stinks even more is throwing away tons of money on extremely toxic drain openers. Especially when there are really simple ways to get rid of a clog on your own, using cheap products you probably have right in your house.

Plungers work well, for starters, or you can even use a bent wire hanger to get at source of the clog. For an at-home mixture that works wonders, mix 1/3 cup of baking soda with 1/3 cup of vinegar to make a fizzy solution that will really clear your drain in a snap.

Any of these solutions are better than spending $15 on an awful smelling batch of chemicals that will work exactly the same.

Feminine Cleaning Products

Now this might be the biggest lie of them all. Feminine douches are something that have been around for decades, supposedly for cleaning women’s vaginas. But guess what, ladies? We don’t need this overly expensive, one-time-use product as much as we are told.

In fact, we don’t need them at all! The female anatomy is much like a modern oven – in the sense that it cleans itself with a balance of good and bad bacteria.

Douches usually use chemicals (or even things like vinegar and baking soda) that only throw off the balance of your anatomy. Not only this, but they tend to cause dryness, irritation, and an array of other vaginal issues that no one wants to deal with.

Your body has got this covered, so just sit back and let it do its thing.