[Pog0]

Despite rambling and not really making any conclusions in your post, I still feel inclined to say "well put."

It'll become very dangerous if we start thinking of all our time in terms of how much money we could have made instead. We don't want to go out because by staying home and working we can make $xx.xx instead. Well we can't work all day, so we shouldn't think of our fun time as money wasted.

As for the converse, the cab vs the bus... I just can't think up any good arguments for one or the other right now.

Only thing I can think of right now is that there are more factors than just money involved in this scenario. Quality of ride, waiting time... pensive time, potential to see something humorous or worthwhile on the bus.. I don't know, I've rambled more in this response than you did in your OP, probably because I'm procrastinating right now.