What's Worth My Time?

I was thinking some more about the decadent throwing of money into the bin (or in other words, how much it costs if you buy all your workday sustenance from the shop on the day, instead of bringing your lunch and coffees from home) and it occurred to me that actually, people are not stupid. People know these behaviours are inefficient and are costing them money. What it comes down to is this: people are concluding that the cost is worth it. Or more accurately, the saving is too small to bother taking the time.

We mostly measure our worth in this world via cash. When someone asks what an item costs, the answer comes in the form of currency. We have become so focussed on the bling that we've completely lost track of a really basic concept.

We only live once. There is only one shot at this "time on earth" thing. And because most of us are sheep who automatically wander through life like brain-dead zombies, we tend to make a lot of money decisions based on them being "what everyone else does".

Oh-ho-ho. You might now be indignant, dangit, because you're an individual who thinks outside the box. Well, bally for you. Here's a warm round of applause. (Don't worry, it's free.)

So yeah as I was saying... We only live once. But our decisions are influenced by those around us and the way everyone else lives. Everyone else does it. It doesn't occur to most adults to do it any differently.

Buy takeaway for dinner. Grab a coffee. Join a gym. Switch on the air con. Buy a new outfit. College debts. Update the phone. Amusement park visit. Pay the guy who mows the lawn. Steak for dinner. Visit the cinema. New garage for the car. Take the kids somewhere special. Get a second car. Fizzy drinks. Hire a cleaner. Get a manicure. Trip to Spain. After-work drinks. Lunch on the go. Bigger house. Car wash visit. Hair appointment. Babysitter. Pay tv package for the football. Expensive Christmas gifts. Weekend away. Game console. Vending machine snacks. Redecorating the living room. Brand name shoes. Ready meals. Perfume.

The angry crowd will pipe up again here and claim they can't afford half those things (and that's fine) but almost nobody avoids all of these things. Or even most of them. These things are all normal. Working long hours and then spending all your pay on living - it's normal. And most people will have excuses for some of them and say they were "needs" and couldn't be avoided. Sometimes that's true.

What if I said to you: You only have a year to live. What if that were true? What would you change, what would suddenly matter to you most? The answer is, time. Time would suddenly be the thing most precious to you. You would want more time to do the things you love, see the people you love. You would definitely not want to spend more time working, unless you could then afford to quit after six months.

Even for people who don't have just a year to live, they will generally tell you that it's not worth their time to save the money. That's why they buy a takeaway lunch, reasoning that it's not worth ten minutes in the morning to save the cash. But they're only thinking about this week. How about if it's framed in a different way?

If you started taking your lunch, a snack, a drink and two cups of coffee from home, from the age of 20, and you did this every day until retirement, that's £117,000. That's SEVEN YEARS OF WORKING AT MINIMUM WAGE, or about 9 years when you factor investment in. So if you currently already work at minimum wage or not much above it, imagine being able to do whatever you like every day at 56 while you're young and energetic, while all your friends are stuck at work until 65. Is ten minutes worth it to gain nine years?

It's not too late to make a difference. Even if you're much older than 20, it will still mean extra time on your hands later. So now: is it worth ten minutes to make a sandwich, throw an apple into your bag, fill a water bottle and top your flask up with coffee from home?