| There is a subtlety missing from this article. The absolute cost is relaxant as well as the cost per use. The absolute cost is very important because it relates to budgeting and total resources. The cost per use is interesting for making decisions between exclusive alternatives. Should you buy a hot tub (no)? It’s not just the initial cost but also the maintenance cost (chemicals). When you divide total cost by actual use in hours it’s clear it’s a bad deal. I often think of entertainment cost in terms of cost-per-entertainment-hour. AAA video games, for example, provide a much lower cost per entertainment hour than movies or amusement parks, for example. I often think of cost in non monetary terms as well. When you think about the hours required to maintain something per hour of enjoyment, a lot of things that you can afford all of a sudden seem like bad ideas (many kinds of pets, hot tubs, etc.) So thinking about usage in a buying decision is a very helpful tool in making good decisions, although it’s in addition to looking at whether you can afford the total cost. |