The Cost of Convenience
I remember listening to the radio one morning and BJ and Bobby Mac (The Q104 Morning Crew) were discussing the purchase of a new fridge. Apparently Bobby Macs ice cube maker wasn’t working. Bobby Mac decided he could (are you sitting down) use ice cube trays, make his own ice, and keep his otherwise perfectly fine fridge. What a concept!! I recall mention of a new fridge costing $2-3,000 and my initial thought was, what kind of fridge costs $2-3,000.00. I’m an $800 no frills fridge from sears bargain basement kinda gal. Needs to have a freezer and keep everything cold. That’s pretty much it.
This got me thinking just how far we will go, how much money we will spend, for convenience.
How much did you spend to have your fridge make ice cubes for you? What do you spend on fast food/coffees because it’s more convenient than making your own? Throw in the cost of smart phones so you can conveniently search the web on the go, or write your blog when your away from your computer (doing that now). One could argue that almost everything is a cost of convenience. Let’s eliminate some basics: food, clothing, shelter, vehicle costs , utilities.
I decided to look at my expenses in the last month to see what “convenience” had cost me. Here’s what I found:
- Bought a few coffees on the go
- Purchased a few deals from a Email Deals because the conveniently showed up in my inbox
- Bought lunch at the local cafe once
- Bought some sticky tack because it’s more convenient than tape
- Filled my car with supreme because the regular pump was busy and I didn’t want to wait
- Bought windshield washer fluid at the gas station (so much more expensive)
Overall I probably spent a couple hundred bucks. Some of that would have been spent anyway.
I’m not a big convenience shopper but I have my weaknesses (my convenient kitchen gadgets, micro fiber cleaning cloths and buying bottled water on the go) but I’ve been working hard over the years to break this expensive wasteful habit.
Some of my family’s accomplishments include:
- Taking travel mugs on the go
- Packing snacks whenever I take the kids anywhere for more than an hour
- Not replacing our broken dishwasher (see blog post: I’m making a stand with wet hands)
- Making most meals from scratch
- Using recycled grocery bags
- Making my own windshield washer fluid
- Soaking smelly sneakers
- Mending clothes
- Washing out and reusing baggies
- Using produce bags as garbage bags
What does it cost you for “convenience”?
