How to price a purchase – in life hours?
Peter McGahan
Monday 5th January, 2026.
“HOW many hours of your life will this cost you"? That’s a better way of looking at the price of a purchase – those irreplaceable hours of your life spent earning that money. Once you begin to see money as time, everything changes.
We often think we’re buying an object. A top for £90. A new phone. Dinner out. But what we’re often buying is a feeling of confidence, comfort, status, belonging, even control.
Imagine you earn £13 an hour after tax. That £90 top now costs you seven hours of work – nearly a full day of your life. Ask yourself: would I still want it if I had to work the hours first, then choose whether to spend them?
That’s called “time-cost framing.” It’s a way to sidestep impulse and willpower and instead invite empathy for your future self, seven hours from now.
The real value question is this: what else could those seven hours have given me?
Could they have meant a dinner with your partner, unhurried and phone-free? A few unrushed bedtime stories with your kids?
We all get the same 168 hours a week. What we swap them for is what matters. If you think of the purchase as ‘this will cost me seven hours with a friend, the golf course or a hammock’, it gives it real context.
Most of us don’t overspend because we’re greedy. We do it because we’re human. We want to belong, to feel seen, to be part of something. And when those needs aren’t met in healthy ways, spending becomes the shortcut.
It’s a psychology thing - Social Comparison Theory tells us we constantly measure ourselves against others, usually the filtered versions we see online. And when we feel we’re falling short, we try to “buy up” to catch up. New clothes to blend in, holidays to prove we’re not missing out, tech upgrades to signal we're in the same game, new house to manage our status.
Two psychologists, Walton and Cohen, coined the term “belonging uncertainty”. That’s the anxious sense that you might not really belong in a group. When that fear creeps in, people are more likely to conform, and spending becomes a way to soothe the unease. Fitting into what?
If our spending patterns are shaped by fear of exclusion or shame (what’s called ‘away from’ motivation rather than ‘toward’), they’re no longer conscious choices. They’re coping mechanisms.
You may have heard your gran say: “If you can’t pay for it twice, you can’t afford it.” She was right.
Older generations saw money through a lens of function and durability. “Make do and mend” wasn’t stingy, it was wise. This protected those life hours. It made space for what mattered. It delayed gratification in favour of long-term wellbeing.
What values did we inherit? Were they about dignity, survival, generosity, appearance? And what values do you want to pass down?
Every purchase is a yes to one thing, and a no to another.
We often think of purchases as isolated decisions. But every yes is also a no.
“I bought the jacket” can mean “I missed a night playing board games with the children.”
“I upgraded the phone” might delay becoming debt-free.
“I grabbed lunch out every day this week” might mean “I can’t afford that weekend I said I was craving.”
Behavioural research by Hal Hershfield shows that people who feel emotionally connected to their future selves make better financial decisions. The trouble is, most of us see our future self as a stranger. And strangers are easier to sabotage.
Here’s a practical trick: before you spend, ask yourself: “Would I still want this in seven hours’ time, after earning it?” or “What will my ‘future me’ thank me for?”
So, what happens when we remove spending as our route to connection? What takes its place? Skills, stories, and experiences that grow who we are, not just what we own.
It might be shared experiences like Sunday roasts, shared playlists, making bread, or making spiders with pipe cleaners – my daughter’s memory of her gran.
As parents, we can involve children in this. When they ask for something, don’t just say it’s expensive. Say: “That toy is three hours of work.” Or ask them to calculate what it really costs and what it might cost you together.
Spend your money in line with what matters most. Not to impress. Not to catch up. But to reflect who you are and what you value. Because you’re not just spending money. You’re spending your life hours. And that’s worth getting right.
If you have a financial question, please call 01872 222422 or email info@wwfp.net
Peter McGahan is the Chief Executive Officer of Independent Financial Adviser firm, Worldwide Financial Planning. Worldwide Financial Planning is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
