When Saving Money Costs You More: Why I No Longer Chase Cheap
Part 2 of Time vs Money
Your goals are constantly just beyond your reach because you’re caught in invisible time traps.
You’ve been trained to hunt for deals, clip coupons, and chase discounts—only to find your most important work still undone.
At the end of the day, we look back and wonder what went wrong, never realizing that our systems we’ve established to save a buck or two have cost us 10x as much.
Instead of results, we end the day with frustrations.
Most savings are lies.
You get what you pay for
This was a tough lesson for me starting out as a solopreneur. I didn’t think of what I was doing as a business, so I didn’t think to approach learning how to do things from that perspective. I was just helping other people learn more about the cultural context of the Bible and had a membership option for those who wanted to help support my efforts.
I’d started producing videos weekly, and had painted my office wall chroma-key green so I could have a professional look. Problem was, it took me about an hour per video of fiddling with settings to remove the green background perfectly. Editing a one hour video ended up taking 4-5 hours.
Everything changed in 2015 on an Israel tour. I mentioned my editing frustrations to a fellow tourist. He pulled out his MacBook Air and added my unedited footage to Final Cut Pro (a Mac-exclusive). With a single click-and-drag, the green background was removed perfectly.
That moment I realized how true the cliche “you get what you pay for” is. I’d tried to save money with the cheapest tools for the job. It cost me dearly.
It was a hard transition to Apple products because I love to customize things. I built my first computer. But when it comes to business, I need to spend time producing content, not tinkering with systems.
Focus on the goal
Distractions are the death of delivery.
Your audience’s attention is maintained by your ability to deliver consistently. So stop being a cheapskate and get the tools necessary for the job.
As a bonus, when something costs you more, you appreciate it more. If you paid premium for software, you’re more likely to use it than a program you got in the bargain bin.
Count the Cost
Whether it’s society wiring us this way or just the dopamine rush of saving money, there are landmines littering the landscape waiting to suck away precious moments of your life.
Here are some things to consider:
How much time will be wasted trying out that cheaper version?
What is the cost of replacing once you’ve determined the cheaper item doesn’t meet your needs?
How long will it delay accomplishing your goals if you stick with the slower process?
How much more could you produce if your process was streamlined?
We look for savings, but we miss:
Money is an unlimited resource—you can always make more money.
Time is a finite resource—you cannot gain back lost opportunity.
Challenge
The biggest challenge is identifying these hidden time traps. They disguise themselves as feel-good opportunities. So what can you do to turn things around?
Track your low-return time trades for one day.
Get a notepad and write down each task you do, along with the approximate time. At the end of the day, do a simple review and see if anything stands out that could be optimized.
What feels like there’s a better way of doing it? That’s an opportunity to look for better software, better hardware, or a way to delegate.
Then, find a way to share your discovery with others. Share in the comments below how you’ve overcome time traps so we can learn from each other.
Stop buying cheap. You can never get a refund on your time.
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