The Money Value of Time

Written by Elena Fawkner


You have, no doubt, heardrepparttar phrase "the time value of money". It means that a dollar in your hand today is worth more than a dollar in your hand a year from now. Why? Because of what you can do with that dollar overrepparttar 112793 next year. You can invest that dollar in an interest bearing account and have $1.05 atrepparttar 112794 end ofrepparttar 112795 year. If you decide to take your buck in a year, your opportunity cost (foregone investment) will be five cents. Not to mention what inflation will have done to your purchasing power in repparttar 112796 meantime.

As interesting asrepparttar 112797 time value of money is to economists and financial planners, if you're anything like me, you probably findrepparttar 112798 whole subject just a little short of riveting. So here's something more interesting to think about. The money value of time. Your time, that is.

Why do you need to think aboutrepparttar 112799 money value of time? Because, quite simply, once you truly understand what your time is worth, in dollar terms, you will work your business more productively and efficiently than ever before.

In my other life, I'm an attorney. I work for a downtown Los Angeles law firm and, like any other law firm, what counts is how many billable hours I clock each month. We have software to track it all for us of course. My time is charged out at $250 an hour. In a minimum of six minute increments. This means that if I so much as pick up and read a one paragraph letter from another attorney, my client is billed $25.

Spend enough time tracking your time like this, getting torepparttar 112800 end ofrepparttar 112801 day and needing to see at least seven billable hours totaled on your computer screen and you soon develop a very healthy respect forrepparttar 112802 dollar value of time.

And because I don't want to have to be atrepparttar 112803 office for ten hours before I've generated seven that are billable, let me assure you I work very efficiently indeed.

Inrepparttar 112804 process, I've become an expert at avoiding time wasters and unproductive activities. As a result I can usually generate seven billable hours from being inrepparttar 112805 office for only eight. (The other hour is unavoidable non-billable general admin type stuff.)

My point? Start thinking like an attorney when it comes to how you value and spend your time. Here's how.

First, decide what level of income you need from your business. Forrepparttar 112806 purposes of our example, let's say it's $52,000 per year or $1,000 per week.

Next, decide how many hours you want to work each week. To keeprepparttar 112807 math simple, let's say you're going to work 50 hours a week. Therefore, on average, you need to generate $20 for every hour of time you spend working in your business.

But not all of your time will be revenue-generating (i.e., "billable") time. Any business has its share of non-billable time - those routine administrative tasks that must be done even though they make no contribution to your bottom line.

So, now you have a choice. You can either work more hours each week to cover your non-billable time, or you can increaserepparttar 112808 amount you need to earn from every billable hour. The first option means working longer. The second option means working smarter. Your choice.

Whatever you decide, keep that hourly rate firmly in mind. Every hour of your time is worth $20 (or whatever rate you have calculated for yourself).

Think about that whenrepparttar 112809 phone rings on a work day and it's your sister wanting you to go with her torepparttar 112810 shopping mall this afternoon. There's three hours or $60 you've just thrown away (not to mention what you spend atrepparttar 112811 mall!). Tell her you'll go with her on Saturday instead. You have to work today. Think twice aboutrepparttar 112812 hour and a half it will take you to do your errands this afternoon. Another $30 gone. Do them on your own time, not your business's.

"Who Needs Cash When There's Electronic Money!"

Written by Merle


It's a new world. Gone arerepparttar days of writing paper checks and entering credit card numbers. Now withrepparttar 112792 click of a mouse you can pay anyone anywhere, anytime, or you can receive payments yourself without a merchant account. All you need isrepparttar 112793 right service and an email address.

There are so many "electronic payment" services onrepparttar 112794 Net today, if you're not taking advantage of them you're missing out on a fast, simple way to move money around. If you're selling products or services online, adding one or more of these payment processes to your site will give your visitors more options and possibly result in more sales for you.

Let's examine some ofrepparttar 112795 Top Players a little more closely:

1) PayPal http://www.PayPal.com

PayPal has to berepparttar 112796 most popular ofrepparttar 112797 payment services available by far. They offer three different account types: Personal, which has a limit of 100.00 per month in credit card payments; Premier, for those in need of high transactions (which means you need to accept a large number of credit card payments); and Business accounts, which are intended for business use only. A business account includesrepparttar 112798 ability to accept payment from your website and use of PayPal's shopping cart along with your own ATM/Debit card which allows you to access your funds at any local bank or userepparttar 112799 debit card like a credit card at any store.

Fees: For Premier accounts these are 2.2% of each transaction plus $.30. Business users pay 2.9% per transaction plus $.30. There are no transaction fees for personal accounts. They do allow International payments for some countries; checkrepparttar 112800 site for details.

2) BidPay: http://www.BidPay.com

Owned by Western Union and devised to make paying for online auctions easier. Basically, when you open an account with them you purchase money orders that they send out to pay for any auctions you may have won. Cannot handle transactions over $700.00. The money orders are mailed out within 24 hours. Emails are sent torepparttar 112801 buyer and seller once payment is on its way. All payments under $100.00 are charged a $5.00 flat fee. Money orders between $100.01 and $700.00 are charged $5.00 +2.25% ofrepparttar 112802 face value ofrepparttar 112803 money order. International access allowed but limited to certain areas.

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