Time is Money

Time is money. Something I learned just as I entered adulthood.  I remember my first UCSD economics class and a graph that pitted time against money.  The professor asked us students to put ourselves on the graph based on our own values — which was more important time or money?

It’s Free Only if Your Time is Worthless”  by Damon Darlin of The New York Times reminds us the the Internet is not really free because it takes up our time.  For some, lots of time.  Darlin uses the example of searching for free TV shows instead of paying for cable service.  Depending on how much you are worth on an hourly basis, that one show that took you 20 minutes to find could be costing you $30!

In that early economics class I valued time more than money, and I still do. Though my Internet habits may not be keeping with my stated value.  I find myself searching for hours for a flight that is $20-100 cheaper.  That is not good economics.

Thanks to Darlin for reminding us that our time is money.