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A thousand dollar phone is a thousand dollars; we invented money in order to have a universal metric of value when comparing things like "working in the fields"
by dsr_ 8y ago
A thousand dollar phone is a thousand dollars; we invented money in order to have a universal metric of value when comparing things like "working in the fields", "bucket of nails" and "cuckoo clock".
These days, most people, most of the time, can't decide to work 20 hours more in order to afford a new thingy.
If you're on salary, that's it.
If you're an hourly worker with your hours assigned by management, that's it. They are unlikely to assign you overtime, too.
If you're a freelancer with jobs coming in, you might get paid per hour -- but there will be a cap on your hours. Or you get paid per job, in which case there is a cap on the money available, and working faster will enable you to have more free time but not more money.
Very few people always have extra work available for them to do when they decide that they want to work more; those who do tend to either be financially secure or in dire circumstances.
- shhehebehdh 8y agoYou can’t directly increase your income by working one more hour if you are salaried . But you can certainly affect your growth trajectory by working harder/longer/smarter. You trade the marginal hour in a way that has a lagging, probabilistic increase on your salary.
- celeritascelery 8y ago> working harder/longer/smarter. You trade the marginal hour in a way that has a lagging, probabilistic increase on your salary. I feel like that has a really poor ROI when you look at from a time spent perspective. The amount of extra hours/effort you have to put in to get a small increase chance of a promotion seems a very bad trade. Obviously I don’t have any data to back that up, but I feel that a lot of people invest a lot of effort for a minuscule chance of improved future income.
- shhehebehdh 8y agoIf it’s only a small increase in your chance, then yeah the roi is bad.
- UweSchmidt 8y agoWe have invented money, but what is 1000$ really and how can I tell if I can afford something that costs 1000$? Because I get a loan for 1000$? Because I have 1001$ in my account? What is a fair price for a phone anyway, and how am I influenced by marketing and by the people around me, by emotions? Equating time to money is just a small start for 'feeling' the true cost of an expense, and is just a small part of understanding and managing one's finances.
- dsr_ 8y agoWhat is $1000? It's an entire month of work at minimum wage in the USA after taxes. It's about two weeks of minimum wage work in Australia. It's a year of minimum wage work for the government in Afghanistan. It's less than a week of after-tax wages for an average US welder or a Massachusetts high school teacher. It's two weeks of after-tax wages for a high school teacher in Oklahoma. It's the monthly rent of a two bedroom apartment in Phoenix. It's less than two weeks' rent of a one bedroom in New York City, and less than one week of a one bedroom in Manhattan. And that's why we use money to account for these things.
- YayamiOmate 8y agoThat only tells you whether minimum wage people can afford things. What does it matter to me if some folk have to work for a week for a premium steak? Why would a football player care that he earns in a day yearly wage? People buy things based on whether they themselves can afford it, not others. It's nice to appreciate your wealth compared to others but i doubt if anyone makes purchase decisions based on other people salary.