Sunk costs. Mike and I tend to use this term a lot in our marriage and family life. It means that if you have already paid for something, there is no reason to pay for it again. I first learned this term when we were dating. Were we out at a restaurant and after eating some of my dinner, I realized that I was full. So I stopped eating. It baffled Mike to see half of my food left on my plate, so we began to talk about it. To me it seemed that I paid a certain price to fill my tummy with a certain meal, just as Mike had done. There is no reason for me to pay for it again using the currency of an uncomfortable stomach it wouldnt bring what I had already paid for it back. Mike (who used to be a CPA) explained that this is the concept of sunk costs, that I made sense, and that he would love to take the leftover food home in a box.
One of our favorite times to use this term (at this point in our lives) is while on vacation. For instance, when we went camping this last weekend, we paid for two nights at the campsite. We knew we only wanted to stay for one night, but we wanted to enjoy the full second day all the way through dinner. Since check out is at 12, the only way we could get what we want was to pay for two nights.
Another example is our trip to the mountains last year. It seems to work best for our family to drive in the evening and get home late. But check out time is always in the early afternoon. And one of the things we enjoy while on vacation is naptime (from 1 to 3 Mike and I get to read, play games just the two of us, etc.). So we leave after dinner the night before we have to check out. At first it was hard to do because we had paid for that night in the condo. Then we remembered the principle of sunk costs. There is nothing we can do about the fact they make us pay for that night we are not there in order to enjoy the evening we are. It would be easy to stay that last night simply because we had paid for it. If we did however it would mean that we would be paying for it twice. Once with money and the second time using the currency of not traveling when it works best for our family.
If your family finds yourself in a circumstance that is not working, be willing to think beyond what you have already paid. I am not saying be wasteful with your money. If there is a way around paying for it in the first place then by all means do, and be careful with your choices initially. But once you are in a circumstance, remember that you do not have to pay for something twice --and money is not the only currency!
~Amy | 