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Have you ever thought that you buy things with your life and not necessarily money or, to put it another way, you buy things with the hours of your life spent? I understand that it is a radical notion to think that when you make a purchase, let’s say something really big like an 82 “flat screen TV, what you are actually doing is trading a part of your life for it.

Before you dismiss my statement, listen to me.

Assuming you work hourly pay and receive no royalties or some form of passive or residual income, consider the following question: If you stopped doing what you currently do for a living, would you stop paying too? For most people, the answer would be yes because, in essence, you are trading time for money, which is a topic I discuss in my article “Pajama Money: Earn Passive Residual Income and Live the Lifestyle You Really Want” . goal, I digress. By exchanging time for money, this brings me back to my initial statement of “you for things with the hours spent in your life.” You may be wondering how I came to this conclusion, so let’s get down to business.

According to Wikipedia, the median household income in the United States in January 2019 was $ 63,688. In an effort not to get into complex formulas, I will use the simplest numbers possible and refrain from using taxes and interest in my equations. So for the sake of this conversation, I’ll use conservative numbers rounding down to balance this number at $ 63,000, which would be $ 1,211.54 per week and $ 30.29 per hour.

Now let’s say you want to buy that TV mentioned above. After doing a quick search for the “average price of an 82-inch TV in America today,” I found the price to be over $ 4,000. So how much would it cost you in hours worked?

Samsung 82 “flat screen TV ($ 4,000) = 132 hours of work or 5.5 days

So let’s say you and I work together and one day you came to work and heard me talking to another colleague saying, “Hey Jim, guess what ?! For the next five and a half days, I’ll be working 132 countdown hours just to to be able to afford my new 82 “flat screen TV. It’s not exciting? !! “

Forgive me, I know it was a bit hyperbolic, but it proves my point more clearly and I don’t know about you, but doesn’t that statement sound strange? Still, taking this approach can help put things in perspective, or at least start to raise awareness. Of course, you don’t have to change your lifestyle or habits if you don’t want to; however, it is good advice to be more aware, that is all.

Let’s take a quick moment now to look at some other common purchases:

Large Starbucks Cappuccino ($ 4.00) = 0.13 work hours or, 8 minutes

Apple iPhone 11 ($ 700) = 23 hours of work or 1,380 minutes

New Ford F-150 Pickup ($ 28,000) = 3,864 labor hours or 5.3 months

Median home listing price in the U.S. ($ 226,800) = 31,536 hours of work or 3.6 years

Remember, these numbers reflect the time spent earning the amount necessary to make the purchase where daily expenses and the like have not been considered. And with this new perspective I would also like you to consider that over time, as inflation increases and prices continue to rise, your “sweat capital” starts to buy less, which means that its value over time decreases. When you consider that prices on average have risen almost 50% in the last two decades, it is easy to understand why so many people are struggling under mountains of debt, from financial loans and credit cards to mortgages over 30 years old.

The real numbers are amazing to see, but I have produced a short report entitled “Inflation: The Hidden Fiscal Agenda That Steals You Quietly and Confiscates Your Wealth.” highlighting 3 agendas that deplete your money’s worth without you even noticing.

For more information, and even how you can hedge against inflation, check out my free report by clicking here!

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