Opportunity Cost

     Opportunity Cost in My Life.

     When I was about 14 years old I had saved up about $100. I wanted to save this money so I would be able to buy my own Ipod; however, I also wanted to buy books because I love reading. Then, one day my father saw an add in the Sunday Oregonian for a Xbox 360 on sale for $199.99, so he offered to pay the other half of the price right then for me if I decided to stop my incoming allowing until I had paid off what my dad had pitched in to help me get the Xbox 360. I chose to get the Xbox 360.

     The opportunity cost of this was that I wasn't able to get the Ipod, and because of that I had to wait until Christmas until I received my first Ipod Shuffle. The other cost of this was I didn't become familiar with I-Tunes until I had the Ipod; additionally, during that summer I didn't receive my allowance (*and stopped permanently afterwards). I wasn't able to buy small things like candy, etc.; however, during that summer I was able to read more (without an Ipod for distraction) and kept my mind sharp, I also started to understand the concept of buying only what you need, not always spending money on items I wanted. Another opportunity cost, I wan't able to buy the books, and lost out on the opportunity to learn more from the books I might have found when I browsed in the store.

      When I look back on the decision, I believed I made a good one because I can always checkout books from the library both school and public (this summer I finally made excellent use of the public library-I read over 30 books, probably more....). And I received an Ipod for Christmas later that year. And I also received a newer Ipod Nano the following Christmas, and finally my Ipod Touch the febuary following the next Christmas by "working" (cleaning). And in the time since I bought my Xbox 360 I've had probably thousands of hours of fun playing it. I have also learned that when it comes to games I have excellent memory. But I have also had numerous problems arise from having the Xbox 360, like only playing it on the weekends because it is very distracting when one needs to do homework. But I have also learned that I like reading and learning more than  videogames (this summer, this concept finally took hold in me). 

Question: But I also wonder if I had chosen to save the money instead of spend it (which at 14, it was hard for me to save at all because I always wanted something new), what I would have been able to buy, and if it would have affected my life like the Xbox has. I would also like to know why items are priced the way they are today, even when I was younger because I want to know how those prices have affected me today.