Let's talk about my Sunk Cost Policy, shall we? I've mentioned before that I had a college professor who advocated the use of The Policy as an effective and non-hurtful way to make decisions and to explain those decisions to other people. This is one of those rare educational tidbits that actually stuck, and I use it often. I have A Policy about talking about weight. I have A Policy about making friends at work. And I have a Sunk Cost Policy.
First of all, a sunk cost is just a boring economic term for the time, effort, or money you have already expended on something. The point is that it's gone; you can't get it back. This will not change regardless of what you do. Therefore, you should not make decisions based on a sunk cost.
Well, NO SHIT, right? The reason this requires A Policy, for me, is that in academia this makes perfect sense, but in life? It's hard to apply.
Take that mothereffing book, The Road, which I finished last night and will now never speak of again. I'm not even going to link to its Amazon page, because I don't want to be responsible for any of you buying it. I knew early on that I was not enjoying this book, and that I was not likely to change my mind. The time I spent reading it up to that point, as well as the money I spent to buy the book, were sunk costs. They should not have factored into my decision to finish the book. Yet, I finished it anyway. This was a clear failure of The Policy, so let's move on, shall we?
Another classic example is the checkout line. The Policy rarely fails me here. If I've been waiting in a line for 10 minutes, and there are other lines open, I am willing to move to whichever line looks the fastest. I don't feel committed to the line I've been waiting in, just because I've invested 10 minutes of my life in it. You should apply the Sunk Cost Policy to relationships in a similar manner, but lord knows I've had spotty success with that, so, again...MOVING ALONG.
I am extremely good at applying the Sunk Cost Policy when it comes to money. This is mostly because I'm not cheap, but also because I've been applying the Policy in this area for a long time. I almost never feel that I've "wasted" money on something or that I have to use something just because I've paid for it. I am totally willing to stop a project that I've sunk a lot of money into, or get rid of a product I've paid a lot of money for, if it's not working out for me. THE MONEY IS GONE, people! This is not going to change, regardless of how miserable you make yourself trying to "get your money's worth".
Of course, the downside to having a Sunk Cost Policy is that you may find yourself a member of, say, FOUR gyms for which you have prepaid memberships, with no guilt whatsoever. Ah, well. It's out of my hands now! LONG LIVE THE POLICY!
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19 comments:
Oh god, I'm cheap and always must "get my money's worth" even if it involves being completely miserable for great lengths of time.
Also, with the Miss Connecticut comment? Though I'm a little embarassed, you may have inspired a future post about my pageant days. "I want to be Miss America so I can help all of the fat children not be fat anymore..."
I will give up projects and books that aren't worth it any more to me with no problem but I CANNOT change lines in the grocery store. Not because I'm invested but because I'm the person that will switch and then get stuck behind someone who is price checking tampons and it takes 30 minutes.
What is your Friends at Work Policy? Did I miss that one?
Bananafana-You didn't miss it. I don't socialize with people I work with, unless forced (I have at former jobs, but I don't anymore). This Policy is not particulary exciting, just a personal preference. It's mostly because I don't like people I work with to know too much about me. I have a hard enough time keeping boundaries without being BFFs with everyone. I prefer to be surrounded by an Air of Mystery. Heh.
I apply a similar policy for throwing things away. I don't care if I paid $50 for something, if I never use it, it is cluttering up my house, and no one else wants to have it or buy it from me... it is GONE!
I could live with your policy except with kids sport/activities. It doesn't matter if they are hating the season or getting tired of lessons... if I've paid for them, they're sticking it out to the end. I say it's to teach them dedication, but it's really about the money.
BRILLIANT POLICY. Love it.
I love the policy. I'm to fickle to even have one policy.
This is smart. I will take this policy under advisement and assess whether or not it will be useful.
I surely do not want 4 gym memberships...
I still remember hearing about sunk costs (almost certainly in one of my accounting classes) and having this huge MOMENT about it. I'm SO inclined to think, "I've spent $x so now I must spend $y more in order to get my money's worth out of this bad decision!!!" It has been so helpful to think, "$x is gone NO MATTER WHAT." So do I want to add $y to that, or not?"
I like this policy policy you seem to have. I think I'm going to adopt policies, too. It sounds so much better than "I think." It's more than just a thought or a preference, it's a POLICY.
Great way to think about it! Usually I figure I've put the money into something so I better finish it, but your way is much better.
The only place I use the Sunk Cost policy is with clothing. Even if I just bought something; if it's no longer working for me, it gets donated. (Not that I spend a lot on clothing anyway, but you know.)
P.S. Thanks for the recipes! What temp do I bake the hotdish at? 350?
P.P.S. Are you even coming back to MN? We should meet up sometime!
P&D-Yeah, I do 350. That recipe is so old that I think it originally had the "slow oven/quick oven" descriptor instead of the temp, which...WTF?
Man, I DO NOT KNOW when I will be in MN next! SIGH! Maybe in the spring? I would love to meet so many of you Minnesotans.
Jim and I failed miserably at utilizing The Policy just today! We were in the drive-thru at McDonalds (God help us) and it was one with two lanes. We chose what we thought was the fast lane, but it inevitably ended up being the slow one. We decided not to try to switch though, because, "Hey, we're here now! We've waited this long."
Then, an employee came out and put up signs saying "Order at next window." Apparently their power had gone out momentarily and screwed up something. Both lanes ground to a screeching halt. We debated leaving to try the McDonalds JUST A FEW BLOCKS AWAY but decided, "Hey! We've already wasted twenty minutes, might as well see it through to the bitter end!"
When we finally reached the window, their credit machine was down and we couldn't even flipping order because neither of us had cash. Moral of the story? If only we had followed The Policy, we would have about thirty minutes of our lives back.
Speaking of Minnesotans, I think the sunk cost policy would bode VERY WELL around here- with all the "good lutherans" (read: "guilty lutherans"). People around here feel guilty at 4 way stops! People argue at check out lines- "no you go".
So I assume they feel guilty for EVERY penny they've ever spent and trying to squeeze the very life out of inanimate objects. (In-laws, I'm looking at you, with your furnature that you've had YOUR WHOLE LIVES... and that you admittedly HATE).
Ahhhh, you do need to visit this fine state. BUt remember, spring doesn't arrive here until... May? At least May. =)
This is a great policy for a couople of reasons including that it has a fun name.
I think I use this policy when it comes to nutrition and being late for work. Like, if I've already eaten two cookies, what does it matter if I have a handful of m&ms? The damage is already done; what's a little more?
And also, I'm already 30 minutes late for work, I might as well stop for coffee and make it 45 minutes late. What difference does it make now?
Or wait. Maybe those are clear violations of the Policy. Now I'm confused.
i love the IDEA of this policy, but i know i'll never be able to master it.
God, I am so glad that you hated The Road. I have heard so many people raving about it, and I just despised it!
FOUR gym memberships?!?!? Do you ever visit the 3 supposedly defunct gyms? You know, kind of like visiting your old high school(s)?
Oh man. I love your policies and I think I need to develop a few more of my own. Also, the place where I suck at your Sunk Cost Policy is the bus stop. I can never just tell myself that the bus isn't coming and I should just suck it up and walk to the Metro already, because I've already waited SO LONG. It's BOUND to appear!
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