When should one use "etc. (etcetera)"?

I use it sometimes in answers or questions that I write here, but a few days ago I caught myself using it as a kind of lazyness tool.
I wanted to give a list of possible options, but only two materialized in my head the others were floating around there but I couldn’t grab them (from the gray matter).
So I wrote: “candles, newspapers, etc.”.
Isn’t it a bit lazy to use etc. like that, or showing an I-can’t-be-bothered-to-put-(more)-energy-in-answering-you attitude to the person asking the question?
When do you use etc.?
Are there rules for its use?