Wait, you were paying 40 bucks every few months for gutter guard screens that never really worked? How long did you keep buying those before you finally gave up on them? I ask because I've looked at those foam and mesh inserts at the hardware store like 4 times now and talked myself out of it each time, but I want to know if they're a total scam or just kinda useless. Also curious what made you finally pull the trigger after 9 years, was it the basement flooding or did something else push you over the edge? Because I'm sitting at year 6 of the same deal and Pete sounds like a steal at 185 compared to what I keep telling myself I'm saving.

Trim weight is how you steer and how you stop, so calling it waste misses the whole point of why it is there. Every ounce up high on the tail costs you in a climb or a gust, and the plane handles like a pig when it is gone. Dead weight you haul around is one thing, but the parts that keep you flying straight are not the same as junk in the baggage bay.