Looking at money from the time value perspective

[DeletedUser394]

Recently I've started evaluating purchases by how many hours it took me to earn the money. I'm not really making sense haha, so here's an example;

I currently have quite a bit of money stashed away/invested but let's say I want to buy something. If it costs $30, I think of that in terms of: (that $30 represents nearly 2 hours of my time)

It doesn't matter that I may have $3,000 sitting in my chequing account and that the $30 purchase represents 1% of my unencumbered cash, I don't end up buying it because I get stuck on the time value of the purchase. (now that's not always how it goes down.. I've got season tickets to 3 of the 4 professional sports teams in my city for example lol!)

Anyone the same? How do y'all determine what to spend on non essentials? Right now I save/invest 50% of my net income.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Wimtbimtb]

A very good friend that has a Net~worth in the muti~millions does the same thinking but instead looks at anything dealing with Money. He compares any money transaction with how much a lap-dance from a peeler/stripper would cost. . He owns a few bars he told me he started doing it in medical school when his funds were very low. But he is fastlane for sure wish he would join here but he is not into online forums.

 

[Stayer]

The whole retail system has switched from Money to Time long time ago.

I was thinking of making an iPhone App that would allow people to evaluate their purchases in terms of time. Eg. they enter their salary in the settings, the App would figure their per hour and then they would just need to enter purchase price to see how much time they would have to work to get a certain item.

I believe people would become more sensitive with their purchases if they know that the new iPhone with 2 Years plan would take them 2 weeks or even a month to earn - the time they would rather spend on the beach.

 

[Lights]

I don't buy non-essentials on a regular basis. I only buy things I absolutely need, or it's necessary for my business. I'm not saying that's a good thing or a bad thing, but I can't break my bank until I see profits.

I don't think you need to change your habits or what not. Wasting time calculating if it's worth it is also costing you money. Time=money.

But if I want it badly enough, I'll buy it! If I want it after a month's time, I'll usually get it. I don't regret my purchases.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Kingmaker]

I do it.

I make roughly ~80 bucks net a day at my slowlane job so when I go to the store and I see something I want to buy I ask myself if that thing is worth the amount of hours I have to put in to get it. I hate my job, so a lot of times the answer is absolutely not.

Other times it actually works the opposite way - I came up on a Craigslist deal that would cost me $50 in investment... Even if I lost it all I could make it back in 5 hours of work, and the selling experience would make it worth it anyway. Took the calculated risk and succeeded.

 

[Ikke]

Been doing it for years.
Do I still buy things I don't absolutely need? Sure I do, but only if I think it's worth it