Don't Let the "F" Word Get To You

What word were you thinking?  I was referring to the 4-letter word, FREE!

I remember in econ class, I was taught “TANSTAAFL” which stands for “There Ain’t No Such Thing As a Free Lunch.”  This phrase was used in the 1930’s, and got popularized in the science fiction novel, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, written by Robert Heinlein in 1966.  Milton Friedman, a free-market economist, increased the use of this phrase in 1975 to describe “opportunity cost.” 

My teacher would say the grammatically correct version of the phrase would be “There IS No Such Thing As a Free Lunch.” This is such an insightful statement to keep in the back of your mind. 

Being young, I hope you understand that your time is valuable, more valuable than to exchange it for cheap unworthy monetary-like exchanges, such as watching ads to get extra points for free views, or free items in a free mobile game you play, etc. So how you spend your time will make or break your future. The earlier you can understand this, the more you can make better decisions for yourself.  Free or discounted things are given with the intention to create tradeoffs that usually benefit the person that is giving the “free” things more than the receiver.    

Just don’t be a sucker for “FREE.” Free games. Free samples. Free car washes. Free games, free casino chips to play, free food.  These all want the tradeoffs from your time (or feedback or more spending) and hoping you'd possibly be “hooked” on the product(s), which will make you want to now “spend” more for the item(s) or other item(s). 

None of these are truly free.  We exchange our time, our ideas, our tips, our data, our support, and such, for such “free” things.  Also, you can’t forget, those “free” consultations! 

There are a few things you should be aware of with “free” things.  Everything in life has scarcity, and everything that is done in a “free/discounted” manner usually has a catch.  

Everyone has only 24 hours a day.  Whether you are the President, a Millionaire, or a farmer.  Time is scarce.  However, how many 24-hour days we have remaining is uncertain.  

A free used car may cost you more on fixing it. 

A free gift card will get you to buy more from the seller, because the “free gift” got you into the store so you can “potentially” buy more than what you need to.

A discounted cost could come from a higher artificial price so it can be discounted down to their desired selling price.

Rebates and such will get people to buy, but very few actually will submit the rebate.

No cost banking accounts will have tradeoffs of lower yields.

There’s always some sort of tradeoffs to free or discounted things. 

Don’t be penny-wise but pound-foolish.

The best thing you can do is to invest the money and time you have towards yourself, knowledge is power, and the more you learn and know, the better your chances of success in the future. 

Be self-aware, be prepared, be wise. :)

And here's the Tube Video I did that also discuss this optic: https://youtu.be/AibDLKiCtag