Today we are going to add 125$ a month to our monthly apartment fees. There is an indoor parking spot available and I couldn’t be more excited. The day has come I can stop playing the awful game of finding street parking and rest assured that when I am home, I am home. This is a luxury cost but one I feel is worth every dollar.
One of the key components to value is whether or not something feels worth it. You are being asked to pay a price, which combines production costs with a profit margin to create something of value for the seller. As the buyer, regardless of the fairness of the price, you need to run some calculations and decide for yourself if you should spend the money.
Today we’ll be going through my thought process behind why I felt it appropriate to take on another 1’500$ (CAD) in bills a year. This one is about why I feel indoor parking is worth it. This regular luxury cost is a good way to think about potential costs your entrepreneurial self takes on.
Parking in my neighbourhood at night is miserable
As I conquest to pay off debt and restore my financial state to a place of investing glory, I Uber Drive. There have been many days lately where I get home at 4 in the morning, tired from driving people around all night only to find no spots.
I circle the block, lowering my standards of accepted walking distance until I find somewhere. Often it takes 10-15 minutes to find a suitable spot followed by another 3-4 minutes to walk back to my apartment. Part of the suitable spot equation is avoiding a 10 minute walk back to my car the next day.
The next day will come and let’s hope I remember where I parked. The other day that became a 7 minute walk since I went the wrong way at first. Given I head out 3-5 days a week to Uber, and may need to find parking up to 3 times in a day, this can literally turn into 2 hours a week dedicated to parking my car.
I think saving 1-2 hours a week is 100% worth 125$ a month. My time is worth money. On average I can make 20$-25$ an hour doing Uber. When I freelance it’s 25$-35$ an hour depending on what you need. Obviously I can’t guarantee those lost hours will turn into money. I will rest assured knowing I prevented all the hours spent parking turn into frustration.
There have been several moments lately where the girlfriend was staying up for me. The GPS would say 11:30 PM. By the time I’d get in it’d be 11:52 PM and she’d be crashing. Losing that 20 minutes of spending time with her has a much higher cost to me than what money can really bring forth.What’s really important when making this type of decision is really understanding what you are paying for.
The peace of mind is worth it
When it comes to the cost, I can assure you that in the past, we’ve wasted far more money on far less. I’m in a privileged enough position in life to say I can afford indoor parking. Having the money to pay for something doesn’t mean you need to spend it.
I’ve already touched on how time loss works with parking. The thing is, it impacts my habits even further. Throughout the day while working from home, I’m less inclined to go out and deal with a chore. What should take 10 minutes can turn into 25 real quick over this parking conundrum. I once nearly missed a call over trying to sneak a chore in.
Another level of agility I seek is to jump at surge pricing in Uber. I’m never really going to be a morning person for the Uber game, however there is a lot of surge pricing in the morning. If I know my car is downstairs, I can accept a trip and rush to my car, knowing it’s ready to drive. Jumping at opportunities to get 2-3 times the normal fare.
The other thing about looking for parking, it is awfully annoying. Watching the clock tick, especially when you need to use the toilet, is one of my least favourite activities. I’ve had several good moods soured by parking. When you think about how much you make per hour doing Uber, you have to include the parking time, otherwise you aren’t really doing the maths correctly.
Whether or not I focus on money making, I think the peace of mind is worth 125$ a month. I want to know when I am home when the GPS says, not 15 minutes later.
Applying this to other costs in your life
To me Spotify is worth the monthly fee. The convenience of all that music in one place, that I can use across devices, is amazing. I remember vividly the hours spent ripping MP3s off YouTube and transferring them to my phone. Spotify is convenient and I like it.
ChatGPT has proven to be quite useful. I haven’t used it to touch the words I write for these articles much, it does generate the thumbnails though. I also use it when approaching sales pitches and other projects. It’s proven to be better than Google.
There’s another service I will pay for that will create podcast transcripts and then promo material for the show, based on those transcripts. Stuff like newsletters and website copy. That may cost me another 30$ a month, but wowza the hours behind transcribing a podcast are insane. Spending money to make your life easier will only help you make that money back.
In this era of technological wonder there are a lot of things that will create conveniences in your life. Sometimes, they are fluffy and will not help you. Think of that trope of an unused gym membership. Don’t just buy things because you think they are cool. Determine what your real life use cases will be. You want to make sure that when you pay for that service you will actually use it.
I’ve had my car since November. I am hyper aware of how much use I will get out of that parking spot. Most importantly, I know I will use it and that my life will be better for having it. When you encounter those kinds of moments, spend the money. Don’t be cheap.
Let me know if you would pay 125$ a month for indoor parking.Live Long and Prosper Everyone
Comentarios