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Are You Saving Time or Money?
We have become a society of service and convenience. And
we're paying the price with money out of our pocketbooks.
How many times have you bought a coffee at the convenience
store? How many packages of pre-cut frozen potatoes do you buy
in a month? Do you buy the pre-cut and shrink wrapped fruit and
vegetables in the produce department? Or how about individually
packaged chicken breasts portions that cost almost twice as much
(per pound) as a package of chicken breasts. Have you ever
bought a pre-mixed item, such as anti-freeze coolant, so you
don't have to waste the time mixing it yourself? Have you ever
calculated how much "convenience" items cost you?
Consider for example one of those frozen food entrées (TV
diners) in your freezer. They usually costs $3-4 each, and take
3-4 minutes to cook in the microwave. Now, instead, you cooked a
full meal (for approximately $10 and 30 minutes of your time)
with enough extra to freeze four entrée-sized portions and took
the same three minutes to microwave it each time you were
microwaving the "convenience" food. The difference would be
about 15 minutes saved (5 meals x 3 minutes to microwave versus
30 minutes to cook a full meal) at a cost of $5 more (5 meals x
$3 each versus $10). This equals a time-value rate of $20 per
hour (60 minutes divided by 15 minutes saved equals 4 multiplied
by $5 equals $20.
Unless you were actually bringing home $20 income in the time
saved by eating a frozen entrée, you are throwing away $5
(actual cost difference) and a time-value of $20. That is, say
you're take-home pay is approximately $10 per hour. Every week
you buy $60 worth of time saving products that save you only an
hour of time. You would have to work 6 hours to just save one
hour. We rarely stop and calculate how much time we are actually
saving, and what the actual costs are to our savings and
budgeting plans.
It doesn't make economical sense. If you are living paycheck to
paycheck, trying to get out of debt, and trying to save your way
to success, you need to consider every possibility on how to
save money. Stop buying the "convenience" mops with those
throw-away strips and buy an old-fashioned mop. Stop spending
more money to buy the microwave popcorn so you can sit in front
of the television for another 3 or 4 minutes. Buy a bag of
popcorn kernels at a savings of 3 or 4 times the cost of the
microwave popcorn. Unless you are working multiple jobs earning
a take-home pay worth more than the time-value costs of the
"convenience" products you buy, you are wasting money.
Become a John Frugal. Start thinking how you can use your time
more wisely, and be savvier with your money and spending habits.
Start saving more and spending less. Start saving more time
and money!
About the author:
Justin P. Ertelt is the author of Saving Your Way to Success,
and owner of http://www.savingyourwaytosuccess.com, helping
others acheive financial success. Justin can be reached at justin@savingyour
waytosuccess.com.
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