One financial lesson they should teach in school is that most of the things we buy have to be paid for twice. There’s the first price, usually paid in dollars, just to gain possession of the desired thing, whatever it is: a book, a budgeting app, a unicycle, a bundle of kale. But then, in order to make use of the thing, you must also pay a second price. This is the effort and initiative required to gain its benefits, and it can be much higher than the first price.

  • kakes@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    Anecdote: As a younger adult, I amassed a decent library of books, and at the time I felt it was worth the ongoing “cost” (and, for that time, it was). As an older adult though, having had to move this collection from house to house several times, I’m very much feeling that secondary cost to the point it’s starting to not feel worth it for me to keep them.

    I haven’t gotten rid of any books yet, but I’ve stopped buying new books and I’ve been going to the library instead. That way, I get all the benefit of the book without any of the space/weight considerations.