7 Ridiculously Overpriced Foods (and 7 Better Ways to Blow Your Money)

Photo Credit: cyclonebill/Creative Commons

Restaurants looking for some quick press can follow this tried and true formula: Take a simple dish (candy, a hamburger, soup); add some crazy valuable ingredients (gold, truffles, crystal); and market it as "The World's Most Expensive."

And while we know the market for a $5,000 burger, $2,000 sushi roll, and $1000 frittata isn't exactly huge, there are definitely better ways to blow your money in one shot.

1. The $500 Jellybeans

In March,Mogulite reported that Jelly Belly founder David Klein -- whom the site refers to as a "reclusive candy mogul" -- planned to launch a jar of jellybeans with a not-so-sweet price: $500.

The beans will be coated in 24-karat gold leaf and come packed in a crystal jar, but Klein said the taste of the "Beyond Gourmet" line will be the real treat: "It's literally an exotic trip around the world through the sense of taste via never-before-tasted jelly bean flavors," says the press release, while referencing varieties like mango chutney and lemongrass curry.

Wow. And we thought the strawberry daquiri flavor was groundbreaking.

Instead: Spending $500 on jellybeans when 37 million people in the United States relied on Feeding America's food banks last year is more than a bit ridiculous.

We suggest, to those looking for these oh-so-rare-flavored beans: turn that money over to a local food bank, use it to buy canned goods that can be donated to food drives, or mail a check to a national hunger fighting organization (like Feeding America).

2. The $2,600 Bottle of Water

If you live in an area where you can drink the tap water, then you have no excuse for buying bottled water. And no matter where you live, you have no excuse for buying the $2,600 bottle of water that Bling H20 announced in March.

The water, reportedly sourced from Tennessee's Great Smoky Mountains, gets its pricetag because of the 10,000 crystals that encrust the bottle.

Instead: Trust us: You do not want to be known as the idiot who spent $2,600 on bottled water.

You do want to be known as the philanthropist who provided more than two dozen people with fresh water for life -- which is what you'll be when you donate that money to water.org.

The group provides clean, safe drinking water to communities around the world -- Bangladesh, Haiti, Kenya, and elsewhere -- think of it as a more literal way to pour money down the drain.

3. The $5,000 Burger

While the new, $5,000 burger on the menu at Fleur in Las Vegas is pricey in part because of its ingredients -- chef Hubert Keller combines Kobe beef, foie gras, and plenty of black truffles in the finished product, according to The Wall Street Journal -- as any server can attest, it's the alcohol that really boosts the bill.

The burger is served with a bottle of 1995 Petrus and a set of Italian glasses; still, says The Wall Street Journal, the whole meal would probably only cost about $3,000 if you made it yourself.

Instead: While we're not always fans of PETA's attention-grabbing tactics, they do focus many of their efforts on rescuing animals of all shapes and sizes -- and promoting veganism and vegetarianism, a diet that advocates say is better for the environment, better for your health, and better for animals (and which most definitely does not include hamburgers that cost as much as a used car or meat from cruelly force-fed ducks). Send them a check and call it a day.

4. The $1,000 Frittata

The restaurant at the Parker Meridien hotel in New York City refers to this dish as "The Zillion Dollar Lobster Frittata" -- so when you find out that it really costs only $1,000, that seems pretty cheap.

What do you get for your money? Six eggs, lobster claws, and 10 ounces of Sevruga caviar. And if you're feeling a bit thrifty the restaurant also offers a $100 version -- though you'll find only one ounce of caviar on that.