We don’t buy things with money, we buy them with hours from our life.
Or, as Henry David Thoreau put it, “The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it.”
This is a life-changing principle. When we begin to see our purchases through the lens of exchanging life, rather than dollar bills, we can better appreciate the weight of our purchases and understand their full cost.
For that reason, I thought it might be helpful to take a hard look at how much life some of our purchases actually cost us.
For the sake of conversation, let’s use the median US household income. In 2017, that number was $61,400. For simplicity sake, let’s round down to $60,000 annual income.
If your household income is $60,000, working a typical 40-hour workweek, here is how many hours of work are needed for the following purchases:
Grande Starbucks Cappuccino ($4.00) = 8 minutes of work
Pair of Wrangler Jeans ($24.99) = 50 minutes of work
Coach Brand Purse ($119.99) = 1/2 day of work
55″ FlatScreen TV ($711.00) = 3 days of work
256GB iPhone XS ($1,249) = 1 week + 2 hours of work
Dinner at a restaurant for your family of four ($80.00) = 1/3 day of work
Dinner at home for your family of four ($17.00) = 1/2 hour of work
New Living Room Furniture Set ($1,983.94) = 1 week + 3.5 days of work
2019 Ford Fusion SE Hybrid ($26,550) = 5 months + 10 days of work
2,500 square foot house (10% down payment, 30-year mortgage of monthly payments, $303,000 purchase price) = 11 years + 6 months of work
1,600 square foot house (15% down payment, 30-year mortgage of monthly payments, $196,000 purchase price) = 7 years + 2 months
Keep in mind, the amount of work needed for the items above is based on an annual salary of $60,000. If your annual salary is $30,000, the work time will be doubled. If you make $120,000/year, the measurements should be halved.
Of course, there are alternatives to exchanging our hours and lives for material possessions…
It takes just 10 minutes to tell your child a bedtime story.
45 minutes for an evening walk with your spouse.
60 minutes to help your son/daughter with homework.
Or 2 hours/month to volunteer at your local soup kitchen.
The money we earn is ours to keep and we can spend it as we wish. But it can be a helpful exercise to realize how many hours of our lives go into each purchase we make.
And it is always wise to remember we can spend our hours pursuing items of far greater value than material possessions.
Stephanie Howell says
So if you have a job that pays a little over minimum wage , you better be real careful how you spend your time/money….
Pete says
The most important point you neglected is that your book is not a necessity and therefore we should not buy it.
Shay says
Always best to learn from an expert!
Love the book and the author
Dividend Power says
So the trip ski to maximize money per hour?
Mr C says
Its the opportunity cost of that time that is so key.
Would you rather read your kid a bed time story, or have your starbucks coffee?
Unfortunately in the middle of day to day life, we don’t evaluate what we’re giving up in making a decision about what to buy.
Jeanne says
Really good point!
Dr. Cory S. Fawcett says
Love this concept. My wife has done this since she was a child and compared her purchases to how many hours of babysitting she would need to do to pay for it. I’m adding this to my Fawcett’s Favorites on July 5th.
Dr. Cory S. Fawcett
Financial Success MD
Lauren says
Here’s a main point that was not discussed: If were exchanging personal time (not money) for our necessities, then why can’t EVERYONE who works a full 40 hour week have the things they want and need to live happy and comfortable lives? If this concept were true, then doctors and cashiers who work the same amount of hours would both be entitled to have that luxury car, no matter how much “money” they have. This article truly highlights the inequality we all face in society, as a majority of us have to give up almost double our personal lives in order to live comfortably because our jobs are deemed less important than others’.
Lauren says
I should add that as long as greed and status exist in society, there will never be a time when we will exchange personal time for our goods. These two concepts exist because people have an innate feeling that they need them in order to survive.
LookUp says
Greed has always existed. Period. It’s part and parcel of the human endeavor. Now, whether we ALLOW ourselves to succumb to it is a different story.
LookUp says
Should a waitress that pours coffee be paid the same as the concrete construction worker? Whose job has more skill and value? People are equal. Not jobs.
Brian Patterson says
I agree I have retired three times, the first at 30, the second at 44, and now at 58.
I worked basic blue collar jobs over my entire career. I never made big money. I just was smart. Anybody can do this.
Christa says
Fyi, due to required taxes like social security, you don’t take home 60k. So that Starbucks is more like 10-12 minutes (depending on your tax bracket). Each item takes more time than listed.
joshua becker says
Thanks for the comment. But technically, if someone considers taxes a contribution for something they use (roads, bridges, police/fire, national defense, social security, etc.), then my math would stand. Rather then seeing taxes as a deduction from the whole to be factored, it’s just another expense from the whole. But I hear what you’re saying, most people don’t see them that way as they are not necessarily voluntary.
Tbird says
Pier pressure we never get away from worrying about what the latest trend is “some do not all people “keeping up with the “jones “as we say ,the media has a lot to do with it
But that’s their job to sell us on every idea to get in our pocket book , we need to learn to live our own lives do our own thinking
mj says
i understand the narrative point but you failed to mention that we working for our necessities to be covered.
Juan Latorre says
You are right, but do not bare in mind whose are imposed necessities, food, wearing, etc.. And whose are your overflows… Three tvs, or other unnecessary expenses??
Mike says
Oh stop!!! U get the Point! A lot of ppl have their priorities, (needs and wants) real messed up. That’s what he’s pointing at. Why does there always gotta be someone like you trying screw up the message?… Must have hit a soft spot huh? LoL! It’s cool. I wish u well no matter who you are.
Donald Flanky says
Thank you for your article.
My thoughts:
I am 67 year old man. The Life Expectancy tables predict I’ll live until 83, on average (16 more years).
These 16 years comprise my REMAINING LIFE. Once gone, the story ends. Done. No more.
The other days I did a mundane task that took 80 minutes. It occurred to me that if I could somehow do it in 20 minutes, I would save ONE HOUR.
I need to be very conscious of how I send my HOURS and minutes, not just my dollars.
Beth Baker says
Exactly! A man being away from his home 13 hours a day, 7 days a week with a new wife, brand new baby, shared custody of his other 2 children and a new stepdaughter, may be bringing home a lot of money but he is losing out on so much more. He has made his wife a single parent of 4 with a few benefits on the side. He cannot effectively be a husband, a father, and possibly, an employee, a healthy human being. He has spread all much too thin. Is what he is making and paying for worth all those hours lost with his family? This children grow up really fast and the wife can get mighty lonely. That’s just my opinion, though.
Erin says
I like that you made this the focus of your article, but I actually think its a little different, and worse, in my interpretation.
If you make 60000 a year…lets say after ESSENTIALS (up for interpretation) but from rent/mortgage, gas, phone, utilities, insurances, vet, car maintainance AND saving for retirement…etc…your left over disposable cash is 100/week (5000/yr). So, when I explain my minimalist theory…if someone were to buy, say a nice bag (they dont need, but would love) or a nice dinner out for two….and it cost $100…. Then, I say, you have to go to work for 5 full days of work to afford you that dinner/bag. IMHO. Peace all…..
Erin says
So I calculate at for a 40 (2400 minutes) hours work week, saving $100 for disposable/luxury spending that that $4 grande takes 96 minutes of work, not 8.