As a teen I worked at Albertsons for a year or two (and frankly sometimes I still feel like I work for them in a different, manufactured-spend like, capacity). One day on the job I loaded groceries into the trunk of a new car for a finance guy in a snazzy suit. He offered some life advice from the world of finance:
It takes just as long to do a big deal as it does to do a small deal.
– Snazzy suited finance guy
That’s absolutely true in most business deals, but often it’s not true in manufactured spend. For example:
- You can sometimes send well into five figures using a bill pay service in 30 seconds
- Waiting in line at Walmart to buy a $500 money order can take 10 minutes
- Talking to a credit card company’s robot to try and push a payment through can take 6 minutes
- Scrolling through a bunch of lame BankAmeriDeals double cash back offers for one that’s gameable (and will be hard to find) might take 5 minutes
So, I’d like to offer a suggestion: For any manufactured spend techniques you’re active in, start to build a mental model for two things:
- How much time it’ll take
- How much you’ll earn
With that mental model, you’re in a good position to know roughly what you’re wage per minute is for any given activity, and you’ve got a quick way to decide whether something is worth scaling or even worth your time.
Happy Tuesday!
Taking advice from a snazzy suited finance guy is never a bad idea right?