How many of you would turn down free money? If someone just walked up to you in the middle of the street and offered you some money? How about if the Publishers Clearinghouse van pulled up in front of your house, and they presented you with a big ol’ check with your name on it for $5000 a week for life!? Would you turn it down and walk away?
Not many would. Heck, I don’t know if anyone would actually say no. I know I probably wouldn’t. And, if I had to guess, I’d say you wouldn’t either. The fact of the matter is that we all like stuff for free. Free money is great (although rare), but we hunt down free products, free trips, and anything else that someone might be giving away for free. Some of us spend entirely too much time hunting down free. But, is free money (or items) really the best money?
What we obtain too cheap, we esteem to lightly; it is dearness only that gives everything it’s value.
-Thomas Paine
Paine was on to something, I think. After all, how many stories have you heard about lottery winners spending all their millions only to end up on the docket at the local bankruptcy court? The truth, should we really think about it, is that we do assess a portion (at least) of a things value based on how much effort it took to get it. For you and I, a nice sandwich at the corner deli might not be something of great value simply because it can be easily attained. An hour or so of work, and a short walk down the road and there you have it. Those starving kids in Ethiopia that our mothers were always telling us about, on the other hand, would likely value that sandwich a little higher. It’s not every day that they have the opportunity to eat bread or meat. They may have to work for days in order to actually afford something like that. If they can find work.
Don’t get so carried away in your search for free money that you forget the true value of the thing. A dollar bill still has the same value no matter the method of getting. Or, maybe spend some time assessing the value that you have for things, and making adjustments. Maybe it’s not the thing you want, so much as the feeling it gives. Freedom doesn’t have a price. Freedom is free, but you have to be unchained from your debts and you desk in order to attain it. It’s the long battle to unchain ourselves that gives freedom it’s value, even if it’s price is free.
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I’ve learned a lot about the value of paying for things as a freelancer, but in the opposite direction. When I initially decided to offer web design, I started out doing things cheap/free for my friends to get some of my work out there. My initial rates for “real” clients were also very low. After awhile, I learned that the more I discounted my rates, the pickier my clients were – some of them expected the moon for that low rate! As my rates have increased to better match the going prices, I’ve noticed that people seem to value what I do much more. There’s something to be said for getting things for free, but I’m a firm believer that VERY few things are truly free.
I wouldn’t turn down free money or stuff, but I also wouldn’t feel as good about it. There’s just something about putting in effort and work to accomplish something rather than just having it handed to you. It could just be me though. All you have to do is look at people who have everything handed to them. So many are maladjusted and have no sense as to the value of a dollar, and I’m pretty sure they don’t even know what an honest day’s work even feels like.
@Andrea Absolutely. There’s a cost to free. Well, it has more to do with value than cost, I think, but it’s the value we assess to something that really determines the real price. And, as you noted, sometimes the price of something can affect it’s value.
@Eric I knew you wouldn’t turn it down. 😉 A sense of accomplishment, or having earned something does add to the value of what you’ve attained, that’s for sure!