Nov 23rd, 2008
Opportunities Lost
As chronicled a couple of days ago, my out of pocket cost for the damage done to my truck is at least $724–$500 for the deductible, the rest for the rental car–so far. My truck is out of commission until next week Friday, and possibly longer (does anyone think that the truck will actually be ready the day after American Thanksgiving?).
The real issue regarding the money isn’t so much the $724 being spent (although it’s not like that doesn’t hurt), but the fact that that $724 can’t be spent on anything else. I was hoping to get a head start on my 2009 Roth IRA contribution, but that’s out the window; I was thinking I could pad my emergency fund a little, but instead, I’m needing to dip into it a bit; and I was hoping it would allow for a little more to be spent on holiday presents, but now it might cause a little less on them.
This is real life opportunity cost–I’ve lost the opportunity, at least for now, to use the money for things I’d like to and instead for things I have to. Often, however, opportunity cost is time, and while more money can be made, once time is gone, it’s gone, and it’ll never be recouped.
For me, time that’s been lost has been the time I spent waiting for the police and the tow truck on Monday night; time trading phone calls with GEICO and the shop; time I spent taking off early from work on Thursday to pick up the rental, including waiting in line and waiting for shuttles; and time I’ve spent figuring out what items I’ve lost or been unable to use because of the whole incident. That’s time I’ll never get back, and time I could have spent on all kinds of projects, personal and professional–that’s real opportunity cost, or, more to the point, opportunity lost.
While I wish this whole thing had never happened, it has–I can’t change that. But the $724 (and counting) is just part of what the incident is costing me; the time, which I can never get back, is the other part of it, and that is the much bigger loss.
[...] Uncommon Cents discusses personal opportunity cost. [...]