Is your time really worth money?

**Dancing Lotus** · 07-31-2008, 01:39 PM

I often hear resistance to using coupons or cooking from scratch because it involves time.
The number one excuse I hear is "my time is worth money"
Is it really? Do you work outside of the home?
If you work outside of the home and take time off of work to clip coupons or make bread then yes, your time is worth money. You are not getting paid while you bake your bread.
But if you are a stay at home mom then you are actually making money.
I stay at home , I clip coupons and shop the sales add. I spend about 1 hour a week working on my shopping list. Typically I save 30 dollars or more off of my bill. So for my one hours time I just made 30 dollars.
That hour of my time is worth 30 dollars and it's the only hour of the week that I can truly say my time is worth money.

So maybe someone can explain to me what "my time is worth money" means to you. Because to me it implies that you think and hour of your time actually has a monetary value.

**NMMatt** · 07-31-2008, 01:43 PM

Depends. Time I wouldn't spend working isn't worth money, but sometimes it is worth more than money. If I don't take the time to relax, excercise and work on the relationships in my life - all the money in the world won't matter.

**DonnainME** · 07-31-2008, 02:23 PM

Time can be worth $. BUT if you're wasting time, then it's not worth $.

**MomToTwoBoys** · 07-31-2008, 02:58 PM

I used to think that my time was worth money, but in all reality, I look at my time being worth more to my kids and my husband than it does to me. I can you can say that I like to share the wealth.

**The Muse** · 07-31-2008, 03:15 PM

I think time is worth money if you could be getting paid for the time you're spending clipping coupons or whatever.

I think my DH's time is worth money because he's a consultant and often turns down work because there's a such a demand for his time. If he gave up work to fix something that would cost less than his hourly rate to hire out, it would cost us money. If he fixed something during time that he wouldn't be working anyway, he'd be saving us money.

I work a salaried job, so outside of work, I don't think my time is worth money. Unless I'm doing something with the intent of earning money like crafting or something.

**Greebo** · 07-31-2008, 03:16 PM

I think its backwards.

Money is worth time. The more money you have, the more time you can free up.

**EmilyD** · 07-31-2008, 03:24 PM

I don't do much with my time anymore expect read threads and do genealogy, but yes, I think even that is worth money.

When the kids were home, I earned a lot of money that I will never see or be paid for. I was on call 24/7 for most of 30 years .. that SHOULD be worth something. I washed clothes, cooked meals and cleaned house and if I hadn't done it it would have cost dh BIG bucks to get done. Special things like nursing, driving kids back and forth to stuff would have been an added expense.

But now, when I need credit for that pay, I can't get it cause SS doesn't think that it counts.

So yes, I think my time is and was worth a lot of money.

**joyofsix** · 07-31-2008, 03:52 PM

I always think of it like this- Does spending a little more time save me money over doing it the 'fast' way. Ex would be going to a couple stores to hit sales, stopping and looking at garage sales or Salvation Army before buying new, cooking from scratch rather than ordering out. And yes, sometimes my time is worth more than money.

**Jamauk** · 07-31-2008, 03:55 PM

When I hear someone say "my time is worth money" in regards to coupon clipping, I think what they are really saying is "I'll have to save xx to make it worth my time."

In other words, if I spent an hour every week on my coupons and only saved $5, then no, I wouldn't be worth my time because I could spend that hour doing other more productive stuff that may or may not save more money.

But, if I spend an hour every week clipping coupons and I save about $50, then yes it is worth my time.

Am I rambling, or does this make sense?

**savvymom** · 07-31-2008, 03:59 PM

I think it depends on what you are using your time on, and how valuable what you are doing is to you. I don't know that the two actually have anything with each other (unless you have taken off work without pay).

EX: Clipping coupons may be "worth my time" as long as I save $25, but Sally would only consider clipping coupons "worth her time" if she saved $100.

**spyzvixxen** · 07-31-2008, 04:08 PM

I consider couponing my hobby. It really is an adrenaline rush to get paid to take things out of the store. Guess it's better than drinking or doing drugs, right?

ETA - if your time is worth $15/hr and you spend one hour clipping coupons to save $30, then yes, it is worth it. For the casual couponer, probably not.

**Mrsokdee** · 07-31-2008, 04:40 PM

My time is worth money. If I save money by clipping coupons or doing a project myself, then I am "making" money by not spending money and I'm not having to earn that money working for someone else. I think that makes sense. Sounds good in my head anyway.

**elphie** · 07-31-2008, 05:09 PM

I was worried when I decided to become a SAHM that I wouldn't be contributing to the monetary value of our family but I was wrong. Dh and I both agree that if what I'm doing allows us to stretch his paycheck in ways he never could alone then my contribution has just as much monetary value as his.

I think of finding ways to save money as my job. I recently quit working outside the home but we hardly miss the income because I have found so many creative ways to trim our budget. Our overall lifestyle has not changed. These are some of the ways I spend a lot of time to save money.

1. We don't eat out or have convience foods anymore but I have time to prepare things we enjoy that are probably far healthier for us anyway.

2. I was only interested in one stop shopping for groceries before... I bought everything at Wal-mart, regardless of price, just so I didn't have to go anywhere else. Now I have a price book, a list, and a plan.

3. I had to run errands sporadically before so I could squeeze them into a tight schedule, now I can plan my errands for the most efficient use of gas and mileage on the car.

4. We dropped Netflix and premium movie channels but we have time to look for great movies at the library which was always closed by the time I got home from work.

5. I never had time when I was working full time to search garage sales for clothes but now I do.

6. I quit paying for a lot of things to help me clean fast and easy and now I just use time and elbow grease for the same results w/o dangerous chemicals.

7. I have time to read frugal books, blogs, and forums looking for new ways to stretch our dollar without compromising the essence of our lifestyle.

With the changes we have made we actually have A LOT more in savings than we ever have before. My time is worth a lot of money and it is drawing a pretty nice interest rate too.

Do not misunderstand me, I have a lot of respect for parents working outside the home... I was one for 9 years. I worked hard then and I work hard now. It is just a different type of work; I don't judge working parents who don't have the time or energy to do the things I do. If you are doing these things and working outside the home then I applaude you. For me, this was just what had to be done in order for me and, through me, my family to be our happiest most productive selves.

**Jskell911** · 07-31-2008, 06:03 PM

I have heard people say this to me too. I do work FT outside the home, but still saving $60 using coupons that took me an hour to clip and a half hr to prepare my trip to the store: Well, I'll say I have been paid handsomely for that hour and a half