Time vs Money: Which Is More Important to You? [Ultimate Choice]

Well, well, well…welcome back to another financial blog post. Good to see you, friends. Hope all of you are staying safe and staying financially abundant. Today, we are going to talk about time vs money.

Yes, I’m sure we’ve all heard the phrase time is money at least a couple of times throughout our lives. Probably more than we should, but hey, here we are. Let’s break down time vs money to see which one is more important in your lifestyle.

Now not everyone is the same. To be honest, until about a couple of weeks ago, I didn’t even really understand why people were so hung up about the phrase until I actually researched the matter.

Now I feel like I am morally inclined to tell you –my internet friends.

So, let’s stop messing around and get right into it because hey, time is money, people (see what I did there?). Seriously, roll the tape before this starts to get awkward! Roll the tape!

What Is the Difference Between Time vs Money?

When we think about it, time and money are related to each other. The more time you spend at work, the more money you make. And on the flip side, if you waste your time, you are wasting the opportunity to earn more money.

Before you get all freaked out and throw your remote at your TV screen, I will say this. Time invested in something is very similar to money invested into something –they both hold a substantial value on their own.

If this is still kind of confusing to you, let’s break this down a bit further with these differences below:

The Definition

Money is measured or defined as how much money we make for the job that we do. On the other hand, time is how many hours we spend at our jobs.

The Renewal

Money that is spent can always be earned back. Whereas time that passes can never be regained back. Someone grab me a tissue. I am feeling as though I am about to have an existential crisis!

The Value

The value of time never changes. However, the value of time can change from person to person, depending on how much time.

On the other hand, the value of money will decrease with time but remain the same between people. For example, what you could buy with $100 20 years ago is not what you could buy with $100 today (sadly).

The Potential to Be Earned

While money can be earned, it is not constant between people. For example, that is why we have the upper, middle, and lower financial classes in society.

On the other hand, you can, unfortunately, not earn time. Time passes by at the same rate for everyone. Seriously you guys, I am getting a wee bit emotional here.

The Amount

Money is obviously not limited as people make different wages based on their skill set. Whereas everyone has 24 hours in a day, no one can change that.

How to Be Mindful

Now that we’ve learned some fundamental differences about time vs. money let’s look at some questions. You should ask yourself to become more mindful of the differences between the two.

Opportunity Cost

If you’ve taken economics, then this is one of the first definitions you will ever learn. And if your profession was anything like mine back in the day, they will make sure that you never forget about this definition.

Opportunity cost states that for every choice you make, there is a necessary trade-off to consider.

As a person, you will have to analyze what you are potentially going to gain in exchange for what you are going to be giving up. Your loss essentially could be upfront or in the near future.

For example, you can either decide to put a down payment onto a car now and take the financial hit upfront or make monthly payments with interest attached to it.

If you do the math, you are going to be spending way more money taking out monthly payments than if you were to spend the cash upfront. Let’s jump into these questions now.

What Is Your Hourly Wage?

Let’s say you’re making $15 an hour at your job minus the tax. Now for my sake, let’s just say you’re really making $10 per hour. Now imagine you are walking through the mall and you see this adorable shirt that catches your eye.

You go up to it, and you’ve fallen in love with it. You then take a look at the price tag, and you see that the shirt costs $50.

Now you might be sitting here thinking, “Hey, that’s not that bad. I think I’m going to buy it.” Before you make your way over to the till, you should really be thinking to yourself, “wow, that shirt cost me 5 hours of my life at work.”

Now I’m not saying to apply this to every scenario. However, if you do think about spending in terms of time spent, it may change your perspective on how you spend your money in the future.

Will This Fit Into My Budget?

Now that you’ve realized how much time that shirt has cost you and you still want to purchase, there is absolutely nothing wrong with doing so. However, suppose you are trying to be more financially cautious with your spending.

In that case, it may be best to put the item back for today and save towards the shirt for next month instead of taking it out of your allotted grocery money and so on! You never know, the sweater might just go on sale, which would be AMAZING for you in the end!

This is a tip I learned from my mom back in the day. If you wait long enough, it’ll go on sale, and if it’s gone by the time you come back, it wasn’t meant to be! It’s as simple as that!

Plan Your Future

If you are lucky enough to work at a job that you are absolutely passionate about (myself included), then you have won life’s challenge. Try and find something you are passionate about and make it into a career for yourself.

That way, you are able to productively get the most value out of both time and money at the end of the day! Just remember to be mindful of your thoughts and feelings towards time and money.

If you are ever in the position where you have to choose between one or the other, go with your gut feeling and do whatever makes you the happiest.

Don’t Get Distracted by Materialistic Things

In a capitalistic world, we have been taught that we should give more value to money over time from a very young age. And depending on the person you ask, they may agree that we should put more value into money.

I personally believe that it depends on the circumstances of the situation. While the value of money may be higher at one point in your life than the value of time, these values can shift interchangeably depending on your life stage.

Just remember that sometimes money and materialistic items aren’t always the answer to everything.

Sometimes the most valuable aspects in your life can come from moments with your friends and family that you will remember for a lifetime as opposed to a sweat that you may grow out of in a couple of years!

Final Thoughts

When you think about it, both money and time are super important, especially in the corporate business world. However, sometimes you have to make investments into the things that matter most to you!

Remember, money comes and goes. You can always earn it back, and it will always be there when you work hard for it. Time, on the other hand, slips away from us whether we want it to or not.

It’s up to you to decide which you believe is more valuable: time or money. And there you have it, my friends, another financial blog post for the books.

The Ultimate Showdown: Time vs Money hope after reading things, your perspective on time and money has shifted for the better!

I know it’s always fun and games on this blog, but I thought I would switch it up for you guys and pull a fast one on you! Until next time my dudes! It’s been a slice.

Time vs Money: Which is More Important to You?