The Cost Of A Service vs What You View As A Valued Service

The Cost Of A Service vs What You View As A Valued Service

Nearly everything costs money. Even something as simple as going to the beach sometimes costs people money for parking these days.

 

I found I would didn’t think twice about spending over $30 a fortnight on a gym membership but I hesitated when I had a quote for income protection insurance that would be actually cheaper than a gym membership.

 

The Cost Of A Service vs What You View As A Valued Service

 

The Cost Of A Service vs What You View As A Valued Service

 

I think the thing is we have to look at why are you valuing certain purchases over others.

 

What could help you more in the long term? Is it a gym membership to keep you healthy? Or is it insurance knowing that if you became sick, despite your efforts at health, that you would be able to pay your bills and not resort to the low pay and stress of trying to claim welfare (which of course you are entitled to claim for, I have no problems with that)? But honestly which would you prefer? Money closer to the salary you had at the time, or welfare which has been below the poverty line for the past decades?

 

This is not an ad income protection insurance. It’s not sponsored by anyone. It is “merely” an examination of my thought patterns and spending habits after I went through my big financial setup in the second half of 2017. (My IP insurance saga is still ongoing. I can’t wait for it to be done. I’ve enlisted an adviser to help as I’ve lost all patience and respect for insurers.)

 

Basically when I thought about it as the gym is not the only way to be healthy, it is convenient, it has air con; why was I willing to spend the money on that but not protect my income in the future if anything ever happened!?

 

Of course, there are a few unknown factors here. I’m not comparing a like service with a like service. Cost is the only major variable in common. One is that you never quite know with insurance if they would actually pay out if you ever needed it. A gym membership is there, once you’ve signed up, it’s only up to you if you get value out of it by going. 

 

There is no answer to this post. It’s a record, a thought exercise, and maybe something that will get you to think about how you think about the value and cost of a service.

 

Have you ever questioned the way you value goods/services and what you think is good value and bad value?

 

8 Replies to “The Cost Of A Service vs What You View As A Valued Service”

  1. interesting thought, and so relevant in the online class world. thanks for the food for thought.

    1. Especially relevant in the online world! But I do find it really hard to assess value of some online things – and the slicker the marketing, the less I want to buy it.

  2. I always think about cost vs value. It’s how I justify some purchases over others. Whether it’s a small consideration about bought items (is it going to add more to your life if you buy the more expensive item that may be better quality than buying the cheap one which you’ll need to replace a few times etc) or whether it is about bigger ongoing services. I like to consider time, energy, quality of life, quality of a product or service, what kind of investment you’d be making in your future (short term or long term) and cost as a whole. Sometimes people who think they are being frugal, are in fact spending more over the long term for less and are more stressed.
    Of course in saying that, I realise I come from a fairly privileged point of view at this point in my life.

    1. There is always a level of privilege when we talk about this stuff – in fact, that we can have the cost more but better quality vs absolute cheapest is a massive privilege in the first place.

  3. I had the same reaction to paying my life insurance premium. Happy to pay the dollars for my hair, gym and other ‘necessities’ but baulked at the thing that really is a necessity for me…

    I agree, there is no answer but just thought provoking when we individually review how we spend our money.

    SSG xxx

    1. I think what made me turn down the IP offer I was given was the uncertainty – or lack of trust perhaps – that I have that they would pay out if I ever needed it. I just don’t have trust in the insurance industry.

  4. I love the thought processes as you have enabled us to see what we too may view as valuable or not. Thank you for joining in #lifethisweek 6/52. Next week’s optional prompt is “Who’s a Worrier?”.

    1. I’m not good at blogging answers but I can give people more to think about haha.

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