Say you take a spin around Target. How long would you have to work to pay for the entire cart? The next time you find yourself with a full cart or basket, take the items out one by one and ask yourself how long you’d have to work to pay for each one. If that new book costs $25 and you make $18 per hour, is it worth one hour and twenty-four minutes to “earn” it? If you lose 25 percent of your pay to taxes, you’d probably have to work more like one hour and forty-eight minutes to earn the book.
Thinking of prices in terms of your time isn’t always effective—for instance, if you start doing it at the grocery store, you’ll be there all night. Try it at big-box or specialty stores where the items you’re eyeing aren’t considered essentials.