Debt Free

168 hours. It's all you get. No matter how far behind you are, or how you badly may need them, 168 is the maximum number of hours you can cram into a week. Come to think of it, it's the minimum number of hours in a week as well. How you use each of the 168 is up to you. In theory, you'll have a healthy balance of work and family, office and fun. Too many people are not only trying to cram more into those 168 hours than is humanly possible, they're failing miserably at it.

Here is one place where it's possible to be too frugal. There, I said it; “Too Frugal”. It's too often the other way around. Most of us aren't frugal enough, and consequently, waste money. In this case though, you've got to include the value of your time. It seems, in this all-to-busy modern life we find ourselves in, some of us tend to undervalue our time. To wit, they spend hours fixing, restoring, or recovering things that, while they may be technically reusable or repairable, are not really worth the salvage effort. In this day and age, when you can get more for your money in many product categories than at any point in history, some things are just not worth the trouble.

If you enjoy the thrill of taking something that was once a fine example of whatever, and restoring it to it's former glory, that's different. If your idea of a fantastic Saturday evening is reclaiming something that they “just don't make it like” anymore, go for it! That's a great hobby, and everybody should have at least one. If you've found a way to turn a handsome profit on eBay polishing, scrubbing or repairing other's junk, that's a business. Everyone should have a profitable one of those, if only for the tax benefits. However, if you're caught in the trap of spending countless hours making something serviceable that was never all that great to begin with, and doing it only in the name of saving the few dollars it would cost to buy a new or good used one, you're wasting your time.

Time and family are the two resources that can never be replaced. No matter how smart, clever, or resourceful you may be, time is like real estate; they're just not makin' any more of the stuff. You should value your time, each and every second of it. If seen friends and family work all weekend, forsaking family, business, and good football games, to reclaim a total P.O.S. that was dime store garbage to begin with. It's just not worth it. They trumpet the savings, but after spending 9 hours to repair something that only cost $14.95 to replace, one can see they did, in fact, throw their time into the black hole of despair. Even if you work at Mickey D's, that's just not a good trade. Work a couple of extra hours and then spend the other 7 hours doing something that will bring your family closer together, help you blow off some steam, or prove more profitable in the end.

Money does not grow on trees, it's true (unless your investments are producing a good positive cash flow, or your business has a nice recurring revenue stream). But, money can be earned or replaced. You can always earn more of it, often at a higher rate by being more efficient. Time, on the other hand, is a one-shot deal. Once it's gone, there it goes. Kiss it goodbye. So, make sure you use it wisely. For some, repair or replace is a question they may need help answering.