Opportunity Cost – Daily Edition

Posted: January 14th, 2014 | Author: Ryan | Filed under: Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Today in Economics we were discussing the proper definition of Opportunity Cost*, so I thought I’d do a personal analysis of the things I’d done today and imagine what my next-best alternatives could have been.

6am
What I did: kept sleeping (and enjoyed it)
What I could have done: gotten up at the same time Anie did, and gotten ready earlier, clearing time later in the day
Gain: 60 minutes of sleep, potentially one enjoyable dream, not sure how to measure the health affects
Loss: Leisurely breakfast or morning workout

7am
What I did: drove Anie to work so I could keep the car for my errands
What I could have done: let her take the car, using my bike and Light Rail for the errands I need to run.
Gain: convenient mobility for 10 hours
Loss: fitness that would have been gained from biking/walking

8am
What I did: Showered & got ready for the dentist appointment
What I could have done: not showered and lounged around until the appointment
Gain: self-respect and hygiene
Loss: n/a

9am – 10am
What I did: Dentist appointment to get two crowns set
What I could have done: not engaged in dental care and gone to work instead
Gain: vanity and oral health
Loss: Had to use a personal day at work, expending a finite resource of PTO, and intangibles from business opportunities that I was unaware of by not attending work

11am
What I did: went home after the dentist, played with the dog
What I could have done: studied or done client work
Gain: mental health from reducing personal stress and exercising the dog.
Loss: may not excel as much at class, or will have to take time away from other options later

12pm
What I did: Doctors Appointment
What I could have done: stayed home and watched MLB Network
Gain: Renewed my prescriptions and received good news about my latest labs
Loss: Will probably never know the official ranking of the 9 best infield combinations of the last 30 years

1pm
What I did: Filled prescriptions and had tacos for lunch
What I could have done: gone to the movies
Gain: Tacos, duh.  The most delicious method of food conveyance
Loss: Didn’t get to see 12 Years a Slave or Anchorman 2 for another couple of days.

2pm – 5pm
What I did: Went home, responded to emails and played Hearthstone
What I could have done: gone to Lux, responded to emails and played Hearthstone
Gain: saved $4 – $10 I would have spent on coffee & snacks
Loss:  did not get any coffee or snacks, which pretty much sucks

6pm
What I did: went to class
What I could have done: ditched class and watched YouTube
Gain: knowledge and progress towards my degree
Loss: may never catch up on my subscription feed. (What is Hannah Hart cooking? What game is on TableTop this week? EU LCS? SCII Pros? The list goes on.)

8pm
What I did: biked home from class
What I could have done: taken the Light Rail or stopped somewhere for dinner
Gain: fitness, progress toward my goals,  and saved whatever I would have spent eating in a pub or something
Loss: sweat and serendipity

9pm
What I did: wrote this blog
What I could have done: finished the calculus homework I was doing last night
Gain: progress towards one goal (blogging)
Loss: progress towards another goal (excelling at school)

10pm – 1am
What I will be doing: Playing video games while watching MLBTV or HBO in the background
What I could be doing instead: Going to bed like a normal (boring) person
Gain: entertainment and joy
Loss: 3 hours of sleep.

1am – 7am
What I will be doing: dreaming about Miranda Kerr
What I could be doing instead: dreaming about Tina Fey
Gain/Loss: There really are no losers here, unless I get stuck in this loop:

* whereas I’d most often used the inproper definition to mean goods that I kept in my limited bag space within MMOs when profiteering the auction house markets. I blame Chris from Traffic Blogger for this concept occupying my brain space.

Related articles

• Opportunity Cost (theopinionatedbroker.wordpress.com)
• Opportunity Cost Analysis – How Much Will You Give to Get? (krispennella.com)

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