A few years ago, I found myself going to various stores to find out where a specific item, say a DVD, cost the least. I was driving around from the first to the second store, from the second to the third store and then back to the first store to buy it there after all. And all this to save $3. Or I’d go to one store that I knew had the item I needed (e.g. after shave), but I wouldn’t buy it there. Instead I would drive to a second store for this item only to buy it there $2 cheaper. Been there, done that?
Then it hit me: This was my weekend! And I was spending it driving around, trying to save a few bucks here and there. Then I asked myself: “If someone wanted to hire me on the weekend to do some contract work, how much would I want him to pay me?” I figured that I would at least think about it at $50 an hour. With a little rounding, that comes out to a buck a minute, which is how much my precious weekend time is worth to me.
This little rule-of-thumb has made a significant difference in my life. Whenever I consider starting another bargain hunt, I ask myself: “How much time will this take and how much will it actually save me?”. In many cases I reach the conclusion that the savings are not worth the time I would spend. So I don’t do it any more. This – over time – has helped me regain quite a bit of “me time”. I’d rather use my weekend for something more enjoyable than to hunt down little bargains or I invest my time into making a real financial difference, e.g. by looking into refinancing my home or by reallocating my 401k.
How much is a minute worth to you?