Saving Money, Saving Time

In 1980 two UC Berkeley linguists, George Lakoff and Mark Johnson published a book that changed the way we think about language.  The book (Metaphors We Live By) was a study of the use of metaphors in language.  What the authors discovered was that metaphors are more than just convenient ways of expressing ourselves.  Languages contain entire systems of metaphors, categories of metaphors that center on a common theme.  Moreover, these themes represent deeply-held beliefs of a language’s culture. One example they give in the book is a category of metaphors reflecting the idea that “time is money”.  Even through this phrase is part of our common usage, we also have several metaphors that express this same idea.  For example, we “spend” time, “save” time, “invest” time and, on occasion some of us live on “borrowed” time.

Although it’s easy to dismiss the metaphor of “time is money” as an artifact of the employment we desperately seek or the rat-race we just as desperately want to escape, there are some important ideas hidden in this metaphor for those of us who are trying to simplify our lives.  It comes down to a question:

What are you trying to save?

Most of us want to save money, but thinking in those terms is not sufficient.  You want to save time as well.  Imagine you found a way to meet your needs for the monthly cost of $0.00.  Assuming you don’t have a job love so much you’d do it for free, how much time would you spend at work?  By saving money, you save time.  Quite a few people do this; they systematically reduce their expenses to lower their overhead and thus their earning needs.  With the reduced need for money comes the reduced need to work, and they use their newly found time volunteering, traveling, pursuing hobbies or whatever.

Then there is the option of money saving activities.  Taking cans to a recycling center, repairing worn clothing or small appliances, etc.  You may get ten bucks for the cans and bottles you took to the recycling center, but what was the time cost?  This is where things get a little more abstract and harder to see.

How much time do you spend saving money? The web is filled with tips for saving money but cost you even more time.  Thinking of savings of time, or money saved for the amount of time spent can help you evaluate your strategy for economizing.

Does that mean stop clipping coupons?  No, but only if the amount you save makes it worth the time you spend clipping them.  So this raises questions of how to increase the efficiency of using coupons.  There’s a lot out there on what a recent article in Wired dubbed “retail hacking”.  Getting together with friends to clip and swap coupons can make your clipping more efficient, and more fun.  The social experience adds value, so don’t leave out the “intangibles” from your calculations.

Another example is that you can save money by reconfiguring your insurance costs.  Have you over-insured your car?  A ten-minute phone call to your insurance agent to reduce the insurance to the absolute minimum required by law (if that’s what you want to do) will save you money every month from now until you cancel the policy.

Saving money really is about saving time, making time your own and getting back as much of it as you can.  There’s another word for having control of your time: Freedom.