Comments on: Viewing Your Time As Money

By: Norman Perlmutter

Norman Perlmutter — Fri, 06 Dec 2013 01:48:31 +0000

Good post, but you should also take into account the automotive expenses of driving the extra distance, which could be substantial.

By: Making Really Hard Decisions | Spencer Greenberg

Making Really Hard Decisions | Spencer Greenberg — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 17:44:17 +0000

[…] For decisions that aren’t that important, it’s especially easy to make yourself less happy overall by worrying about them too much. A half hour of frustrated deliberation is probably not worth it when you’re deciding how to spend the $5 coupon you just got. Even if you make the “wrong” choice with the coupon, you’ll probably be happier on net without having wasted the time and given yourself the extra stress. And don’t forget that your time is worth money. […]

By: Spencer

Spencer — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 04:05:53 +0000

In reply to steve dean.

Hey Steve,
Thanks for the comment! I agree that you have to be thoughtful when you apply the technique. I meant it for use especially in cases where one is considering sacrificing time (such as waiting in line, or driving extra miles). It certainly won’t work very well when you don’t take into account all the ways a thing is valuable to you. So if one were going to try to apply it to spending time with a friend, it would be important to try to factor the possibilities of all the benefits you mention (improved friendship in the future, etc.) into that dollar value assigned (admittedly, a hard thing to do).

By: steve dean

steve dean — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 00:57:45 +0000

Excellent post, but I would caution that this nifty process, if followed unquestioningly, can sometimes interfere with personal relationships as well as life experiences that don’t have obvious monetary equivalents. For example, stopping by a friend’s house for an hour might not seem worth the $XX you could be making if you just stayed at work for an additional hour; however, there could be hidden value in that meeting, like improved friendship, a novel life discovery, or a perhaps a new and important contact. Trying to convert everything into direct dollar equivalents can be an oversimplification of all life’s delicious minutiae.