News:

And we're back!

Main Menu

What is your time worth?

Started by Josquius, December 13, 2011, 03:06:15 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

Josquius

As I've posted in the OTT I've never had a puncture on my bike in my life yet here in Japan it seems to be happening a hell of a lot.
I've never had to fix a puncture before and it is quite a long and reasonably difficult process. Painful too.
At a bike shop...fixing a puncture costs 1000 yen...
Now...this does seem rather a lot of money for something which you can do at home. Yet...I'm earning pretty good money these days...its painful but...1000 yen for an extra hour to do what I want/sleep/whatever is pretty nice.

Everyone of course values money differently.
To a kid £100 is an amazingly huge amount of money which he will only ever see once in a blue moon. The thought of ever buying a games console himself is just crazy talk.
To a student...£100 is maybe a fortnight of living. A significant amount of money but nothing he doesn't handle on a daily basis.
To a rich lawyer or the like though £100 would maybe cover a pair of expensive socks bought on a whim.

How do you value your time and money?
Would you walk 5 minutes extra to spend 50p less for a can of coke?
If something saves an hour of your time does it also have to cost a lot less than you earn in an hour? Or would you pay more than you earn to get some extra convenience in life? Hell, for some of you; would you ever consider doing a simple household task that will take a hour or so when you can just pay someone to do it?
I'm not being vulgar here and asking for everyone to detail exactly how much they earn. Just how do you value your time in relation to your money?
██████
██████
██████

Zanza

Quote from: Tyr on December 13, 2011, 03:06:15 AMWould you walk 5 minutes extra to spend 50p less for a can of coke?
Probably not.

QuoteIf something saves an hour of your time does it also have to cost a lot less than you earn in an hour?
I work a fixed number of hours so I can't really convert free time into more income. So even if some activities would cost me either two hours of my time or my salary for one hour of work, I might still opt for doing it myself.

QuoteOr would you pay more than you earn to get some extra convenience in life?
In some cases. Simple example: I never iron my shirts myself. It's not that I couldn't easily do that and it doesn't even take that much time, but I hate it so I rather pay so that someone else does it.

Viking

My time gets sold at $250 per hour. But, as a general rule I value it at $50 per hour when I'm buying plane tickets and travelling on personal business. Naturally any extra expenses related to the layover; airport food, hotels etc; are included in that calculation.

This actually matters alot since the flights within norway tend to be twice as expensive at 6pm as they are at 10pm.
First Maxim - "There are only two amounts, too few and enough."
First Corollary - "You cannot have too many soldiers, only too few supplies."
Second Maxim - "Be willing to exchange a bad idea for a good one."
Second Corollary - "You can only be wrong or agree with me."

A terrorist which starts a slaughter quoting Locke, Burke and Mill has completely missed the point.
The fact remains that the only person or group to applaud the Norway massacre are random Islamists.

Brazen

Quote from: Tyr on December 13, 2011, 03:06:15 AM
Would you walk 5 minutes extra to spend 50p less for a can of coke?
Yes, that's like a 50% saving. Plus I like walking during my lunch hours and sometimes go somewhere 15 minutes away just for some fresh air.
Quote
If something saves an hour of your time does it also have to cost a lot less than you earn in an hour?
When I earned £50 an hour maybe. Now I'm a pauper I'm time-rich and money poor so I'm prepared to do a lot more.
Quote
Or would you pay more than you earn to get some extra convenience in life? Hell, for some of you; would you ever consider doing a simple household task that will take a hour or so when you can just pay someone to do it?
I do all my own DIY - I've painted several rooms top to bottom, rewired light fittings, assembled furniture (even when the first instruction says "requires two people" ) and fixed stuff to walls. All single women need a wireless power drill/screwdriver combo for full independence. I know my limits, though, so I got in a friend with a plumbing qualification to fit my new sink and an electrician to fix my fuse box. The latter I was completely ripped off on and took a plumber and two electricians before they identified and fixed the fault. Never again. KHAAAAAAAAN!!!!

I also use money off vouchers (only for things I would buy anyway or as a discount off the total in the supermarket, I'm not one of those mad clipper ladies) and won't buy a single thing online without first checking for discounts, free postage or cashback. The cashback thing's a real revelation.

Monoriu

I make peanuts and my time is next to worthless.  So yes, I will walk 5 minutes extra just to save a few dollars.  But I also suck at doing anything that involves my limbs.  I can, with some difficulty, change the lightbulbs.  I can do some of the IKEA stuff.  That's about it.  I can't paint.  Can't do anything involving wires or pipes, leakages or the toilet.  Can't change the oil in the car.  Doesn't even know how to open the hood, in fact.  Can't change tires or do anything about tire pressure, obviously.  I can refuel, but the last time I did it, I left the engine on accidentally.  Despite working in IT support for 3 full years I have little idea how to fix computer issues.  My most common response is to remove the power when the computer is dead. 


dps

Quote from: Zanza on December 13, 2011, 04:01:27 AM
Quote from: Tyr on December 13, 2011, 03:06:15 AMOr would you pay more than you earn to get some extra convenience in life?
In some cases. Simple example: I never iron my shirts myself. It's not that I couldn't easily do that and it doesn't even take that much time, but I hate it so I rather pay so that someone else does it.

I think that's an important point.  It's not just a matter of how much time an activity might take and how much your time is worth, but how much you enjoy or dislike the activity enters into it as well.  For example, I actually kind of enjoy painting, so I don't see that I'd ever pay someone to paint a room for me.

Martinus

Quote from: Viking on December 13, 2011, 04:07:12 AM
My time gets sold at $250 per hour.

Is it what you get or what your employer gets?

Caliga

Quote from: Monoriu on December 13, 2011, 05:56:28 AM
Despite working in IT support for 3 full years I have little idea how to fix computer issues.
These days that actually makes you the rule rather than the exception.  Most of the people who know how to fix computer issues have long since been promoted to the level where they don't actually have to anymore. :)
0 Ed Anger Disapproval Points

Eddie Teach

Quote from: dps on December 13, 2011, 06:22:32 AM
For example, I actually kind of enjoy painting, so I don't see that I'd ever pay someone to paint a room for me.

I hate painting and I wouldn't either. Mainly because it's such an unnecessary task.
To sleep, perchance to dream. But in that sleep of death, what dreams may come?

Razgovory

I've given it serious thought. I must scorn the ways of my family, and seek a Japanese woman to yield me my progeny. He shall live in the lands of the east, and be well tutored in his sacred trust to weave the best traditions of Japan and the Sacred South together, until such time as he (or, indeed his house, which will periodically require infusion of both Southern and Japanese bloodlines of note) can deliver to the South it's independence, either in this world or in space.  -Lettow April of 2011

Raz is right. -MadImmortalMan March of 2017

Josquius

Quote from: Caliga on December 13, 2011, 07:37:27 AM
Quote from: Monoriu on December 13, 2011, 05:56:28 AM
Despite working in IT support for 3 full years I have little idea how to fix computer issues.
These days that actually makes you the rule rather than the exception.  Most of the people who know how to fix computer issues have long since been promoted to the level where they don't actually have to anymore. :)
Really?
When I was applying for jobs such roles seemed to have pretty high requirements.
And I couldnt get them.
Gah,.
██████
██████
██████

Malthus

Quote from: Martinus on December 13, 2011, 06:58:39 AM
Quote from: Viking on December 13, 2011, 04:07:12 AM
My time gets sold at $250 per hour.

Is it what you get or what your employer gets?

I assume the latter ... I hesitate to say what my billing rate is. Needless to say, I personally do not get anything like it.
The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane—Marcus Aurelius

Ideologue

At a guess?  -$.25 an hour, and accelerating.
Kinemalogue
Current reviews: The 'Burbs (9/10); Gremlins 2: The New Batch (9/10); John Wick: Chapter 2 (9/10); A Cure For Wellness (4/10)

Viking

Quote from: Martinus on December 13, 2011, 06:58:39 AM
Quote from: Viking on December 13, 2011, 04:07:12 AM
My time gets sold at $250 per hour.

Is it what you get or what your employer gets?

Employer, but... that's just the list price... almost all contracts are fixed cost contracts. What offshore workers get paid can often be much more than 250 per hour net per month. But, that's what it costs per hour in principle.
First Maxim - "There are only two amounts, too few and enough."
First Corollary - "You cannot have too many soldiers, only too few supplies."
Second Maxim - "Be willing to exchange a bad idea for a good one."
Second Corollary - "You can only be wrong or agree with me."

A terrorist which starts a slaughter quoting Locke, Burke and Mill has completely missed the point.
The fact remains that the only person or group to applaud the Norway massacre are random Islamists.

Ideologue

How do you go about becoming an oil worker, anyway?
Kinemalogue
Current reviews: The 'Burbs (9/10); Gremlins 2: The New Batch (9/10); John Wick: Chapter 2 (9/10); A Cure For Wellness (4/10)