We have become a society of service and convenience. And we’re paying the price with money out of our pocketbooks.

How many times have you bought a coffee at the convenience store? How many packages of pre-cut frozen potatoes do you buy in a month? Do you buy the pre-cut and shrink wrapped fruit and vegetables in the produce department? Or how about individually packaged chicken breasts portions that cost almost twice as much (per pound) as a package of chicken breasts. Have you ever bought a pre-mixed item, such as anti-freeze coolant, so you don’t have to waste the time mixing it yourself? Have you ever calculated how much “convenience” items cost you?

Consider for example one of those frozen food entrées (TV diners) in your freezer. They usually costs $3-4 each, and take 3-4 minutes to cook in the microwave. Now, instead, you cooked a full meal (for approximately $10 and 30 minutes of your time) with enough extra to freeze four entrée-sized portions and took the same three minutes to microwave it each time you were microwaving the “convenience” food. The difference would be about 15 minutes saved (5 meals x 3 minutes to microwave versus 30 minutes to cook a full meal) at a cost of $5 more (5 meals x $3 each versus $10). This equals a time-value rate of $20 per hour (60 minutes divided by 15 minutes saved equals 4 multiplied by $5 equals $20.

Unless you were actually bringing home $20 income in the time saved by eating a frozen entrée, you are throwing away $5 (actual cost difference) and a time-value of $20. That is, say you’re take-home pay is approximately $10 per hour. Every week you buy $60 worth of time saving products that save you only an hour of time. You would have to work 6 hours to just save one hour. We rarely stop and calculate how much time we are actually saving, and what the actual costs are to our savings and budgeting plans.

It doesn’t make economical sense. If you are living paycheck to paycheck, trying to get out of debt, and trying to save your way to success, you need to consider every possibility on how to save money. Stop buying the “convenience” mops with those throw-away strips and buy an old-fashioned mop. Stop spending more money to buy the microwave popcorn so you can sit in front of the television for another 3 or 4 minutes. Buy a bag of popcorn kernels at a savings of 3 or 4 times the cost of the microwave popcorn. Unless you are working multiple jobs earning a take-home pay worth more than the time-value costs of the “convenience” products you buy, you are wasting money.

Become a John Frugal. Start thinking how you can use your time more wisely, and be savvier with your money and spending habits. Start saving more and spending less. Start saving more time and money!

Justin P. Ertelt is the author of Saving Your Way to Success, and owner of http://www.savingyourwaytosuccess.com, helping others acheive financial success. Justin can be reached at justin@savingyourwaytosuccess.com. To learn more visit http://www.savingyourwaytosuccess.com

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