Time or Money?
I was thinking about the lean times in our marriage. I came to realize that in order to save money, it usually took time — and conversely, saving time often required money. I almost always leaned toward saving money. Many times, I didn’t have enough time to do everything that needed to be done, but saving money felt more important.
Let me give you a couple of examples.
If my house was in a mess (which it was most days), I would take the time to clean it myself, even if it meant going to bed at 1:00 a.m. or later. It exhausted me, but I saved $200 by not hiring a cleaning service.
On the other hand, I paid for my kids to buy lunches at school instead of making sack lunches. It cost about $60 a week for all three kids, but it saved me the daily time and energy of packing lunches. In that case, the return on investment wasn’t financial — it was my sanity.
This morning, I was looking at my vision board and trying to decide which goal to tackle first. Would it take time or money to accomplish? I noticed that many of the items on my board can be achieved without spending much money at all.
Getting my A1C under 7.0 is a major focus. I have to buy food anyway, so I’m making more protein-rich choices. I can exercise at home. My medications are covered by insurance. None of these things are exorbitantly expensive — they simply require time and consistency to see results.
Another low-cost goal is becoming more proactive in working on this website, The Retired Widow. It’s easy to procrastinate when it comes to updating the blog or other pages. I did that last week…for reasons. I felt guilty. I know I can do better, and I will. There’s no money involved — I just need to work during my best zone time, in the morning, and not slack off.
Some goals on my board will require a monetary investment. I’d like to pay off my mortgage as soon as possible. That goal will take both time and money. I’ll chip away at it as much as I can, but it will still take a few years. But not another 25 years! Good heavens — I’d be as old as Methuselah. I don’t want to leave a mortgage for my kids to deal with someday.
I also have a few personal things coming up that will cost money. I could dip into my savings to pay for them, but I’d be more satisfied if I saved the money instead. That way, I won’t need to rely on credit cards or loans. It will take a few months, but it will be worth it.
Do you think about the ROI — the return on investment — of saving time versus saving money? I think it’s something most of us consider, even if we don’t always realize it.
Blessings,
Bethanne
