“Time is money” is an old saying that is meant to convey the urgency of rushing ahead because any time wasted could be time spent earning money. Many times in our frugal lifestyles, we trade off time in order to save money, such as cooking from scratch instead of going through the fast food line, taking out the time to create a grocery list and clip coupons before shopping, etc.
Most of the time these are good choices and have a secondary benefit. The time I spend hanging laundry means saves some money, but it also means that my kids will always have clothing that isn’t stretched or faded, despite being handed down through their siblings. The home cooked meals reduce our food budget, but they also mean that we have fresh, healthy food and avoid artificial chemicals whenever possible.
Sometimes, though, efforts to save money just aren’t worth it, and you have to know where to draw the line. For example, while it might be cheaper to hand scrub my clothing, there is no way I will ever willingly give up my washing machine. The extra hours (not to mention skin) I save will be better invested in earning money or saving it in other ways.
As I have mentioned before, I have been selling a few things, some of our excess clutter to put toward new bedroom furniture that I would like to purchase in the future, and I have been using Facebook yard sale groups with much success. These groups can be addicting, so I try to be aware of the amount of time that I spend on them.
I have noticed, though, that some people continue to list items, even for weeks, that just aren’t selling. These items are being “bumped” or maintained several times a day, new photos are being taken, etc. They seem to be taking up a large amount of the seller’s time. Now, this might be a wise investment, if one is selling a car for thousands of dollars, or even furniture for hundreds, but often the seller is trying to unload old cook books for a dollar a piece or is asking the moon and back for an old toy.
I try to be a little more aware of the time I invest when saving money. Time is so easy to waste, and unlike money, you can never get it back.