Opportunity Cost In Everyday Life

Everyday we are forced to make decisions and deal with opportunity cost, which is what must be sacrificed in order to get what we want. Whether it's a big, important decision or a small one, we are constantly faced with situations in which we have to choose one option. Earlier today I was driving to school when I realized that I had forgotten my parking pass at home. The parking spots in second lot usually fill up pretty early in the morning so I knew that I couldn't park there, which meant I had two options. I could either turn around and drive back home to get my pass, or I could go to school without it and risk getting a parking ticket. After weighing the options, I eventually decided to turn around and go home to get my pass. Even though it cost me extra time to drive home and then back to school, it saved me from having to pay a fine for parking without a pass and saving the money was ultimately my biggest priority in that situation. I had to make the same type of decision earlier this week when my dance teacher got sick and asked me if I could substitute teach for her classes for four hours. This was my only week off of dance and I had a lot of homework that night so I was tempted to ask someone else to take over, but she also said she would pay me sixty dollars for subbing. When it came down to it, I decided to teach the classes, do my homework when I got home, and sacrifice some of my sleep for that night. Even though that wasn't what I really wanted to, the sixty dollars I got from teaching was more important to me than my sleep. These are the kinds of choices I make on a daily basis. Things like opportunity cost and making economic decisions show how prevalent economics is in our everyday lives.