Jim Henry

__These days, people often focus on two things when buying goods and services: How easily can I get it and how much does it cost?__

What they may fail to consider is that the first one has a big impact on the second. Convenience isn’t free. You have to pay for it.

The word “convenience” has even worked its way into our lexicon for buying stuff. Think convenience foods and convenience stores. Convenience *__foods__* are easy to fix. You may just have to heat them up or get them from a fast food restaurant.

Convenience stores sell all kinds of things from soft drinks to diapers. We want them a hurry and without the hassle of going into a bigger grocery store. These items will almost always cost a bit more for the convenience and often at the expense of taste and nutrition.

## We want to be good stewards of the resources God entrusts to us, but if you have the money in your budget for a convenience purchase, is it wrong to buy it?

Not necessarily. We have to budget our time as well as our money. There are only 24 hours in a day and sometimes getting fast food for the family makes sense, as long as it fits within your spending plan.

But sometimes you may get caught paying for convenience that isn’t in the budget. You may be hungry while you’re out doing errands, so you grab a burger on the way. Maybe you don’t have time to cook at home, so you opt for pizza delivery, but again, it’s not in the budget.

Or, instead of waiting for an item to go on sale at a local store, you simply go online and buy it. Now you’re paying for shipping, too. And if you really need it in a hurry, you pay extra for expedited shipping. You ignore the fact that convenience costs money and your budget is blown again.

Don’t fall for the myth that Amazon Prime shipping is free. You pay an annual fee for that service and the true cost is probably still factored into the price. If it were really free, they wouldn’t do it.

Opportunities to sacrifice stewardship for convenience abound. An unlimited data plan on your cell phone may be a convenience because it frees you from keeping track of your usage. You may not even need it if you’re mainly on wi-fi at home and don’t use that much phone company data. 

Maybe the worst example of paying for convenience is the dreaded payday loan. Payday loan outlets offer you some or all of the money in your next paycheck, but at extremely high interest rates. 

In many cases the interest rate is so high that after you pay off the loan, you don’t have enough money left to get to the next payday and you have to take out another loan and the vicious circle continues. It becomes impossible to break the habit. Never take out a payday loan.

## Since God owns everything and we are only stewards, we should always ask ourselves, “Am I using God’s money to glorify Him?” 

God wants us to enjoy His abundance. There’s nothing wrong with that, within reason. Even if you have the money to pay for a convenience, it doesn’t mean you always should, especially if it results in saving or giving less. JH

__You can also listen to the [podcast](https://www.moneywise.org/moneywise/series/moneywise-with-rob-west) on this topic. __

FaithFi

Articles

Convenience isn’t free. You have to pay for it. But what's the real cost?

SPENDING | Aug 5, 2021

Paying for Convenience

By: Jim Henry

Where Faith Meets Finance

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