Every time you buy something, you are paying for it with your time (or with your family’s time).
Say what? Well, let’s suppose you buy new jeans for $35. You pay for the jeans from the money you make at your part-time job. You make $7 an hour (after taxes).
How many hours must you work to pay for those jeans? That’s right: 5 hours! (35/7 = 5). Are the jeans worth five hours of work? If you’ll wear them a long time and they’re good quality, they’re probably a good buy. But if you get tired of them in a couple of months, they are probably not a good buy.
Here are a few other examples. You do the math!
1. $21 to take a friend to the movies and buy popcorn: hours of work at $7/hour
2. $45 to go to a concert: hours of work at $7/hour
3. $125 to go to prom: hours of work at $7/hour
4. $200 monthly car payment: hours of work at $7/hour
(Answers: 1. 3 hours; 2. about 6 hrs.; 3. about 18 hours; 4. about 29 hours)
So, the next time you want to spend money on something, think how much it will cost in your time. Is it worth it?
