Two weeks before the eve of Christmas. It's so close you can see the panic in your fellow shopper's eyes as you search the aisles and the window displays for some trinket to give our loved ones.

One hundred dollars for something that'll get a grimace of thanks at best? Is there a more vulnerable time to being ripped off?

Well, yeah, there is. Every day we buy stupid. Let's zoom in on eight of the worst.

1. Wedding photos

And you thought the Nigerian bank deposit scam was bad. How about five gees for a USB key or CD of photos featuring groomsmen clinking their stubbies in their all-black suits and the couple jumping in the air on the beach? You want an album with that? Add a thousand. How about a couple of tabloid-sized canvases of your favourite photos? Five hundred apiece. But don't complain, you Scrooge. It's the happiest day of your life!

2. Swiss watches

So my wife dropped three grand on a supposedly timeless classic Swiss piece. She'd got her first bonus and figured it was time to live a little. Every year it went in for a service. Four hundred bucks and one month without the piece. In the end, the crown wasn't completely screwed in, a drop of water seeped in and the watch was destroyed. Meanwhile, the $70 Seiko, which doesn't look much different and generates as many compliments, lives quietly on.

3. Suits

You can have the best fabric in the world and buy it from the house of St Laurent in Paris, but if it doesn't fit it'll look like a sack while the cool kid in his $200 Top Shop three-piece rules the show. You want to see bad overpriced suits? Check out the ads for the major Australian department stores during whatever horse racing carnival they're sponsoring. Even the physical perfection of Kris Smith can't a bad suit make.

4. Panel beating

A shopping trolly ran into my car the other day. The scratches are barely visible and there's a small dent in its hindquarter. A good cut-and-dry polish would remove it. But this is an insurance deal, right? Five thousand bucks including 65 hours of labour. And we wonder why our premiums are so stacked.

5. Water

It's almost free. From a tap. A cent or two for a litre. Twenty years ago, if a time traveller had swung into Australia, this great, clean land of abundance, and told us we'd be paying four dollars for a bottle of water, we would've had them locked up.

6. Business class airfares

Who doesn't want to lay on their back and drink fine booze for a 20-hour flight? But an extra 10k? The smart consumer spends $20 on a bottle of Temazapam and arrives to the best hotel in town, a massage, and another $5,000 leftover for more profound thrills.

7. Vodka

It has no taste or odour. Why burrow into your wallet for more?

8. New cars

Buying a new car isn't much different to buying a wedding album. Toss your caution at the wind. Isn't it time you treated yourself to something special for all those years of hard work? Car salesmen are jackals who prey on this carefree emotion. You want to know what that $1500 "fabric protection package" is? The apprentice in the workshop empties a $20 can of Scotchguard on the seats.