Time vs Money

If its not obvious, my time is being over consumed with my new job at work, fixing up my house, wedding planning, relationship nurturing, China assignment preparations, and everything else that normally goes on. I am not able to give certain things enough attention and it bothers me.

The "Time vs Money" truism keeps popping up with everything I’m doing.

Do I attend another conference call after dinner or do I start to paint a bedroom so I can get the house ready to rent. Do I start putting together my side of the invitation list or deal with the broken dryer at the rental property?

With the lack of time and flexibility, it is costing me. I’m eating out more to save a little time. I’m not studying the grocery flyers to find specials, just going to the store to pick up what I need and moving on. I’m too tired in the evenings to keep tabs on my incoming mail/bill pile. There isn't enough time to get all the improvements done to my house which means I won't be able to generate the rental income I was shooting for. My fiancee and I are seeing less and less of each other because we are both running around working on things which means we spend more to reconnect when we can -- eating out at more expensive places or going to see a movie, etc.

I’m not complaining. We are getting alot done. This will be ok for awhile as long as we continue to see progress in reaching our financial goals. Hopefully next year things will slow back to "slower" pace for me. Then I can spend my time clipping coupons, turning off lights in unused rooms to save electricity, and cooking dinners at home.

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Comments (12)

I couldn't agree with you more, I think we all try to bite off a bit more than we can chew sometimes.
I wouldn't worry too much about the cost of eating out if it means getting things done(I assume you don't take 3hrs for a dinner). You could eat out daily for a month for one month of lost rental income.

Posted by MT | April 4, 2007 3:36 PM

It's about maximum effeciency, and what your time is worth. Sometimes eating out is cheaper because you're time is better used to make more money doing something else. Personally, I'm not super frugal so I don't mind paying money for certain conveniences. That and money isn't everything.

Posted by dong | April 4, 2007 3:49 PM

i hear ya... i have no time for anything Id really like to be doing. too much time spent on work, rental property, grad school, the girl; i suppose its ok to be beyond busy for a short amount of time but when you start going years on end without time for things that are important to you, its definately time to make some sacrifices. thats where im beginning to find myself

Posted by bryan | April 4, 2007 9:49 PM

Time is money. You have to decide for yourself if the time it takes to change your own oil or iron your own shirts is really worth it. When you are trying to save money it might be worth it. If you have a family and have very little time you might want to splurge in order to have some quality family time.

Nagel
http://finance.webaplex.com

Posted by Nagel | April 5, 2007 6:49 AM

Hey 2mil,

I just hit a similiar situation and decided to calc my net worth every 6 months instead of each month. maybe moving it to every 3 months in your case would give some more time (in the sense of adding up all the numbers from each source) and help 'even out' the month that you eat out a lot... (don't want to say ignorance is bliss, but thought would put the idea out there)

Posted by Eric | April 5, 2007 10:37 AM

I hear you. I have an issue with not being able to concentrate on more than one project at a time, but conversely I always have several projects in the air at once. I'm writing a book, going to school, editing a friends novel, training for a triathlon, and working 40 a week. I go CRAZY trying to keep everything together and still have downtime with my girlfriend.

Posted by Starving Artist | April 5, 2007 12:45 PM

Life is full of these periods, especially when you are in the midst of change.

I wouldn't plan on things slowing down next year. The first year of marriage is full of challenges. Marriage isn't easy, even if you think you know your spouse really well. It takes time - two years in the case of me and my wife - for things to settle a bit. But then, when you both adjust and start really communicating openly and freely, it's a huge improvement in quality of life over being single.

Posted by oblomov | April 5, 2007 4:02 PM

2mil,
Have you checked out contributory IRA option as opposed to Roth IRA? I have written an article about this at http://finnews.blogspot.com.

Posted by financeguy | April 5, 2007 11:58 PM

I have been struggling with this very topic as well, especially with the addition of my new rental property. I have been noticing that a lot of my time, though, has spent in front of the computer looking at my spreadsheets, checking stock/mutual fund quotes, and making sure that I don't miss an upcoming payment due date. I especially like Eric's comment up above --- ignorance can be bliss, to a degree. One of my new goals is using David Bach's advise and "making it automatic." I'm going to try and find ways to automate parts of my own financial system. Anything to free up some more of my valuable time! If you spend half as much time working on your financial system and keeping up with it --- maybe that would be a time saver as well. That's my 2 cents.

-NetWorth
http://www.networthchallenge.com

Posted by NetWorth | April 14, 2007 7:45 PM

I haven't had time to browse your blog in ages. It's odd how similar our busy vs. blogging epxerience is, check out this post at makingourway - same experience.

Critical issue, if you have a challenging, exciting job, it accelerates your life experience. Is it worth giving up for a certain level of financial independence or is it worth shooting for the big paying corporate job? Which is more fulfiling?
Regards, makingourway

Posted by makingourway | April 25, 2007 1:33 AM

I haven't had time to browse your blog in ages. It's odd how similar our busy vs. blogging epxerience is, check out this post at makingourway - same experience.

Posted by makingourway | April 25, 2007 1:33 AM

I'll have to agree with Nagel on this.
You have to decide what is better for you. Your time, or your money. If you can "outsource" something, then it may be worth more to you, because you can focus more on things that need attention.

As an example, I used to cut the grass for our yard. It's not too small at 1.5 acres. Using a 46 inch deck lawnmower, it cost me 3-3 1/2 hours every week, double-dosing on allergy medicine, and that time away from my family (which includes my wife and our 4 children), not to forget the time spent cleaning the underside of the mower, sharpening the blades twice a year, oil changes, and buying gas.
I looked into the cost to have someone else do it, and it was a mere $51/cut (although they raised it to $55/cut after 3 years). Now, that averages just about $1,100/yr. Not a very small amount to be sure. And since I budget our finances out 3-5 years at a time, I make sure to allow for this service.
However, since we've been using the service, I only take my allergy medication when necessary, and I've stopped having sinous infections, and I get to spend that time with my family (whether it's helping to educate our children, to play with them, or just sit and relax).

Posted by Chris | June 11, 2007 11:22 AM