Freakonomics: How to lose money by saving

I am never going to understand why some people don't value their time properly. If you work for yourself, or if you plan to do so in the future, one of the first things you need to learn is to charge yourself an hourly rate—the higher the better. Why? Because affording yourself the maximum rate will prevent you from wasting your precious time on things that are not worth it.

Let me give you a recent example. My top developer, Harold, was hired by a big local telecom here in the Dominican Republic for a freelance programming gig. While working for another company as a consultant he had created a piece of code and now that code needed maintenance. He quoted them a few thousand dollars for the whole project and they went back and forth for several months trying to get the lowest possible price. In the end, their relentless penny pinching saved them the astonishing amount of $800.

I have to say that saving is good and I like to save as much as possible, but read the rest of the story to learn when you lose by saving.

Time is money

Harold finished the project, and the telecom happily paid the final amount. Later on, it came to Harold’s ears that the fix he had provided is saving the company something to the tune of 500,000 Dominican pesos per month (US$14,700). The company had wasted at least three months trying to get the lowest price out of him. In the end, they saved $800—but they lost $44,100 by not getting the fix sooner.

It is important that you value both your time—and your timing. During the day I try to spend more time on the things that will give me the most results. I don't neglect other duties and projects, but I prefer to let others take care of them as much as possible. Opportunities are hard to find and you need to be ready to take them when they arrive.

Ask yourself this: Do you spend more money on gas going around the whole city looking for the cheapest price than you would if you stopped at the first gas station?