Ask HN: Advice that changed your life?
Most people will use time to save money. However, your time on earth is limited unless the Silicon Valley weirdos happen to be right.<p>Money is infinite in that you can earn more or get a second job or get a better paying job or whatever. (Obviously only to a point but stay with me).<p>Also: your time does have value or it should since it is limited.<p>What would you pay for an hour of your life &quot;back&quot;? Or an hour to do whatever you wanted?<p>The truly smart play is trading money for <i>time</i>.<p>I&#x27;ve been a freelancer for a while but there was a point when I got laid off from my full time job so I ramped up to make ends meet. And I was fortunate enough that I was basically able to work for myself full time...<p>But when you are doing that, especially in the early stage...like I <i>know</i> that if I burn a couple hours at my billing rate of $50 an hour trying to save a few dollarydoos on a TV by standing in line for a big sale, am I really saving <i>that much money</i> when I effectively paid $100 to stand in line for two hours, something I don&#x27;t like doing anyway, instead of just paying a bit more and getting a TV right away and not having to do that?<p>Another example. Changing the oil on my car. <i>Could I?</i> I&#x27;m pretty sure I could. I know the process. I&#x27;d probably want to watch some YouTube videos and there&#x27;s tools I&#x27;d need to pick up, but I could be a real manly man and change my own oil and not get screwed by the shop.<p>But...<p>Let&#x27;s say it costs me $40 at Autozone for oil and filter.<p>Let&#x27;s say it costs $80 at the shop. A real shop not a jiffy lube. PFFT THOSE GUYS ARE SCREWING YA JUST DO IT YOURSELF.<p>I&#x27;d save $40 doing it DIY.<p>Most people would be on their way to Autozone...but on the other hand, I am not a mechanic that does 20 of these a day. Between watching videos and trying to figure out where everything is and inevitably covering myself in oil and whatnot.<p>Let&#x27;s say it takes me 2 hours and the shop 1 hour. Doesn&#x27;t matter, I saved 40 bucks! Whadda ripoff!<p>Would you pay 40 bucks for an hour of your life back? Maybe you like tinkering on cars and thats legit. Satisfaction is another benefit.<p>But <i>for me</i>, I am effectively paying some other person $40 to get dirty and bang his knuckles and whatnot while I sit in the AC and watch cable and dick around on my phone (which I enjoy much more) AND a lot of places will check and top up your other fluids and top off your tires and do an inspection to see if anything else will need work, which I don&#x27;t know how to do and obviously they know what they are looking for.<p>AND because the guy knows what he&#x27;s doing, it&#x27;s done faster.<p>So effectively, yes, I will absolutely pay 40 bucks to hang out and watch basic cable in the air conditioning and make sure my car is good to go and all my fluids are topped off <i>and also I get a whole hour of my life for doing whatever I want</i>.<p>Don&#x27;t trade time for money. Trade money for time.