army1987 comments on It's the Same Five Dollars! - Less Wrong

23 Post author: Z_M_Davis 08 March 2009 07:23AM

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Comment author: [deleted] 19 November 2013 04:18:17PM 1 point [-]

And why should it be time cost rather than total cost that matters?

Comment author: ephion 19 November 2013 04:34:15PM 0 points [-]

Of course the total cost matters. However, the time cost is the point of the post, and including fuel cost in the calculation would be needlessly complex and generally unhelpful.

A 20 minute drive costs $8.33 in time given $25/hour time valuation. Depending on roads, traffic, etc. that might be about 10-12 miles. My car gets 45mpg on average, and gas costs around $3.30. My fuel cost is about $0.73. If gas cost $8/gallon and I drove a 25mpg car, then my fuel cost is $3.84. This variability makes figuring the total cost highly individual to situation, and not entirely relevant to the point of equating time and money.