How Much Does it Cost?

I was walking around the other day and I noticed a homeless person asking for money. I live in a big city, so this happens pretty frequently. At that moment though, I began to wonder, how much would it cost me? How much would it cost me to have a conversation or to give my spare change? When I really thought about it, I realized that it was probably not a lot. Then, I asked myself, "why don't I do it then?". You see, I began to realize how frugal I can truly be. Frugal with money, frugal with my time, frugal with my dreams. 

So, I began an experiment. Every day for the past week I took the time to ask myself how much would it cost for various situations. Each day I realized that I had to pay a price to live, but the price would determine the quality of my day. On the day when I gave up my office space for someone who did not have a space, I paid with comfort, but was refunded tenfold by the appreciation displayed by my co-worker. When I took the time to call a family member back, I paid with thirty minutes of Hulu time. However, I received happiness from investing in my relationship with family members. I took a road trip with friends and paid a few hours of my day. but I gained intimacy. I gambled not being liked by getting to know strangers, However, I gained strength in vulnerability and connected with others.

Each day, we have a choice. we can hold on to all of our pennies. We can decide that we will stay comfortable and we will hustle all that we can. We may rush past people throughout the day, thinking that it would cost us too much to stop and be in the moment. But, there is a difference between spending and investing. Investing may cause us to pay a price in the short-tem, but the gains far outweigh those costs.

This week, try to evaluate the costs of a situation. What happened? Did you gain more than you spent? How did you know? Share your story with us below!