The popular phrase ‘time is money’ suggests that time, like money, is a limited resource that should be spent carefully. In today’s world, many services exist for people to save time – exchanging money for a process to be sped up.
A good example of this is ride services like Uber or Bolt, which allows customers to save time on public transport, or food delivery services for takeaway meals like Deliveroo or Just Eat, which mean people save time as they don’t have to cook.
These apps are designed for convenience are becoming increasingly popular, which leaves us with the question of how much time we should be ‘buying back’ or spending money on, and at what price. Keep reading for tips to help you make that decision:
Consider what you’re buying time for – if you’re looking to free up an evening, for example, by taking an Uber home or ordering dinner in, a little patience may be a virtue. If you’re not going to be doing an activity that brings you joy or growth, it might not be money well spent.
Think about how you use ‘lost’ time – conversely, it’s useful to consider how you’re using time that’s spent on doing chore activities such as commuting or cleaning. Try making these activities more productive by ‘habit pairing’ for example, diary planning on the train, or listening to a podcast while cleaning – lowering the ‘opportunity cost’ of spending time on the chore, or the cost of the time wasted.
Be careful of routine – if you start incorporating paying for a time-saving service into your routine, it’s useful to try and stay aware of that service becoming commonplace. Incorporating something like a regular laundry service, or cleaner for your home can definitely save you time but can also quickly start to add up in cost before you notice.
Building self-reliance – similarly, you may learn skills doing time-consuming activities, which may save you time (and money) in the future. For example, the first time doing a DIY project might take a long time if you’re learning the process, but it will become faster later down the line – and you’ll save money the next time some shelves need to go up!
Learning delayed gratification – while avoiding time-saving services can be good for your bank account in the long-run, it’s also good practice for learning delayed gratification. This means getting into the habit of waiting before buying something, to avoid the initial impulse and give yourself time to save on unnecessary expenditures.
