Value added time

These days I seem to be quite a bit busier than I would like, and that got me thinking again about what my time is worth. If I wasn't so busy, I could do a lot of things that have positive impact on either my cash flow or net worth such as:

• house fixes that take more time than material cost
• wiser shopping and eating
• organize my home and finances better to avoid stupid costs like late fees
• sell some items that are just sitting around

And these are just the broad categories. In each bullet there could be as many as 5-10 specific things I could do. Also, there could be other side effects such as:

• if I got my house fixed up I could probably rent out another room
• better eating might be healthier or inspire me to exercise :)
• when I organize or clean I often find items of value that I might have otherwise gone and bought
• getting rid of excess stuff makes me feel better about my home and more likely to continue the positive circle of doing good things to it

If I had more time I would also do more learning and volunteering. There might not be positive financial consequences to those, but sometimes life will surprise you with what you are rewarded for.

So for now, I don't have enough time to do all of these things, but I am slowly starting into the house fixes and I will make a goal to sell my old car in March. And one day, when I am able to work less, more of these options will open to make retirement financially advantageous in certain ways, perhaps offsetting some of its costs.

Today's billable hours: 5.5
Today's contracted hours: 3.0