[whitelime]

From most of the responses, it appears like my original post wasn't very clear. I'll try to clarify it through a few examples. Assume for argument's sake that my hourly rate is $200/hr.

Decision 1: I'm at a computer store shopping for an Ipod. I find the particular model I want and notice that I can get it at another store for $50 cheaper. Going to that other store would cost me about 30 minutes of my time. Given that I would rather be playing poker than shopping for an Ipod, it would logically never make sense to save $50 and buy it from the other store.

Decision 2: I have an overdue movie out that will cost me $20 if I never return it. Given that at the time of the decision, I would rather play poker than drive in NJ traffic for 20 minutes, it would never logically make sense to return the movie.

Decision 3: My lawn needs to be mowed. Let's assume that this will take one hour and would cost $60 for me to hire someone to do it. Again, assuming that I would prefer to play poker at the time, I would never logically want to mow the lawn myself.

Decision 4: My lawn needs to be mowed. Let's assume that this will take one hour and would cost $260 for me to hire someone to do it. Again, let's assume that I would prefer to play poker at the time. This one isn't so clear cut. It involves balancing out $60 against my personal preference of playing poker over mowing my lawn.

Decision 5: My lawn needs to be mowed. Let's assume that this will take one hour and would cost $60 for me to hire someone to do it. In this case, let's assume that for some odd reason, I need the exercise and would prefer to mow the lawn rather than play poker. We have another decision that isn't clear-cut. We have to balance $140 against my preference to mowing my lawn over playing poker.

As you can see, using this philosophy of thinking isn't purely about the money. There's a reason I still go out drinking on Thu/Fri/Sat nights. I value my social life over that additional 4-6 hours of poker/profits. However, my main point with this post is that certain odd decisions like spending more money to save time can often be correct.