If time is truly more precious than money, then spending money to buy back your time is the wisest trade of all. Here’s an example of overcoming my frugality to live a better life.
Initially, I hesitated to go on a family vacation to LegoLand and SeaWorld due to the hefty price tag—around $5,000 for just three days. As someone who enjoys investing more than spending, it felt uncomfortable to part with that amount, especially when I already feel like I’m on vacation at home as a semi-retiree.
However, since turning 45 in 2022, I’ve been actively trying to spend more money on experiences. I thought, let’s give this trip a go. Spending money on family is much easier than spending on myself—baby steps toward decumulation!
Spending Money On Saving Time Is The Best
Visiting LegoLand in Carlsbad for the first time, we were unsure what to expect. We consulted other parents and newsletter readers about whether to purchase fast passes for $99 per person to skip long lines.
About 75% advised against it, suggesting that our visit on an off-peak Thursday in October would be manageable. Taking their advice, we decided to hold off on the fast passes, thinking we could buy them later if needed.
However, upon arriving at the Coastersaurus ride at 10:10 a.m., we were met with an absurdly long line! One of the ushers suggested we head toward the back of the park, where rides were still relatively empty.
We followed her advice and headed to Emmet’s Flying Adventure ride, only to find another long line. At that moment, I decided, screw it. I wasn’t about to spend 30–40 minutes per ride standing in line with a 5- and 8-year-old. Life’s too short. I bought the $396 worth of fast passes for the four of us.
Initially, I felt guilty walking past everyone waiting in line, especially the kids. I wondered if I was setting a bad example for my children by not practicing patience. But then I reminded myself—$396 is a lot of money!—and I got over it. We didn’t live in Southern California and couldn’t easily return to LegoLand whenever we wanted.
The kids were thrilled to go on more rides, and as any parent knows, happy kids (and a happy spouse) make for a happier life.
Probably Didn’t Need The Most Expensive Fast Pass
Now that we’ve been to LegoLand once, I realize there’s no need to splurge on the $99-per-person Ultimate fast pass again during off-peak season. The Deluxe or even Regular fast pass would have sufficed, as every ride only has two lines: the regular line and the fast pass line. The ushers don’t seem to differentiate between which tier you bought.
We also discovered that a couple of rides—Ninjago and Lost Kingdom Adventure—had no wait times at all. By the end of the day, I almost wished the lines were longer just to feel like we got more value from the upgrade.
I’ll chalk up that extra $196 to inexperience. At the time, we were worried about getting nickel-and-dimed by the park if we didn’t buy the top-tier pass. At least now we know, and now thousands of you who’ve never been know too.
Spending On Ubers Instead Of A Rental Car Was Great
Another time-saving decision was to use Ubers instead of renting a car. An Uber ride from our house to SFO costs about $30 one way, while long-term parking costs $25 per day, and we’d be gone for three days. Plus, it takes an extra 20 minutes to get from the parking lot to security. So taking an Uber was a no-brainer for both time and cost savings. We picked up our kids from school at 3:50 p.m. on Wednesday to catch a 5:30 p.m. flight.
We could have rented a midsize car in San Diego for about $70 per day ($210 total), but I wanted to avoid the hassle of pickup, parking, and drop-off. In total, we spent about $300 on Uber rides, which felt totally worth it, especially compared to the $396 we spent on fast passes.
There’s also something freeing about not being responsible for a large, expensive asset that could get dinged up or stolen. That mental relief alone made the vacation feel lighter. When you factor in the value of time and reduced stress, spending on rideshare services over rentals starts to look like a solid tradeoff.
No Time Saved Flying Business Or First, So We Didn’t
I still can’t justify paying a 50%–200% premium for Business or First Class on short domestic flights, especially when everyone arrives at the same time. If I was going to Hawaii by myself, then maybe.
At 5’10” and ~168 pounds, I can still fit comfortably in Economy seats. My wife and kids fit easily, too, since they are much smaller. If we get to sit together in a row of four, or two and two, then even better. My economy seat effectively expands by 25%–50% when I can snuggle next to my loved ones.
Our flight had a 3-and-3 configuration, so I drew the short straw and sat next to strangers both ways. The flight down was fine, but on the way back, I sat beside a fidgety 14-year-old who kept bumping me and waving his arm in front of my face to point out the window. Still, no big deal. I typed up my free weekly newsletter on the short 70-minute flight.
When we landed, our first Uber kept delaying pickup, so I canceled and called a Lyft, which arrived in two minutes. It felt great not having to wait for an airport shuttle or hunt down our car in long-term parking. Time saved once again.
Still Doesn’t Feel Great Spending $5,000
The investor in me still winces at the thought of spending $5,000 on pleasure instead of investing it in the S&P 500 or a venture fund for my kids. I can’t help but run the numbers:
- In 13 years, when my daughter heads to college, that $5,000 could’ve grown to $17,000 if invested in the S&P 500 earning a 10% annual return.
- In 10 years, when my son heads to college, that same $5,000 could’ve compounded to $31,000 if invested in Fundrise Venture earning 20% a year. I’ve invested about $200,000 earmarked for both kids so far, which means I’ve got another $150,000 to go to save them from AI.
- Or, it could’ve paid for a weeklong music or sports camp that builds lasting skills and confidence.
As an investor, there’s always a risk when spending money on something new. You never know if it’ll be worth it until afterward. But since we all had such a great time in San Diego, I’m at peace with it.
FIRE Is All About Reducing Time Spent on Suboptimal Experiences
After writing about FIRE since 2009, this lesson feels full circle. The whole point of achieving financial independence is to free up our time—to do less of what we don’t enjoy and more of what we love. The more we dislike our jobs or feel that our work lacks purpose, the stronger our desire to FIRE naturally becomes. The same goes for if we’re more sensitive to time’s passing.
The key is to use money as a tool to buy back time, by saving and investing aggressively until we reach our Minimum Investment Threshold. Once we hit that point, work becomes more optional and life becomes more intentional.
Buying back time can mean skipping long lines, avoiding parking headaches, or simply cutting out the small annoyances that drain our energy. Because once time is gone, we can’t buy it back. Now that I’m a parent, the return on all the “sacrifices” I made in my 20s and 30s to build passive income feels absolutely worth it.
When it comes to FIRE, giving up active income by not working is essentially the same as spending money to save time. They’re two sides of the same coin. Accepting this reality makes it much easier to spend once you’re retired.
After all, what’s $5,000 when you’ve already given up earning $50,000, $100,000, $500,000, or even $1+ million a year because you no longer want to trade time for money? In that context, $5,000 is nothing.
Final Thoughts on Spending for Time Freedom
Spending money doesn’t always have to feel bad, as long as it’s purposeful. Spending to save time, create memories, or reduce stress is money well spent.
Given time is more valuable than money, spending money to save time is the logical thing to do. You can always make more money, but you can’t make more time. The trick is finding the balance between the investor in you who wants compounding returns and the human in you who wants to enjoy life while you can.
So, the next time you hesitate to spend on convenience or experience, ask yourself: Will this purchase help me reclaim time or create lasting joy? If the answer is yes, then it’s probably worth it.
Readers, what are your thoughts on spending more money to save time? What are things to spend money on that could rival or surpass the value of saving time?
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