Time prices are dependent on a person's circumstance and are not as generalizable as inflation. Different working classes (e.g.,
blue-collar vs
white-collar wages) affect time prices because of salary differences. For example, if a person makes $20 an hour of
net income and wants to buy a television that costs $500 then the television will have a time price of 25 hours (). However, if that same person gets an increase in salary and now makes $40 an hour of net income then the time price is halved (). Time prices can help make personal decisions. For example, consider a person who has decided to rent an apartment but needs to decide between two apartment rent prices. The exact amount in rent difference between the two choices can be skipped by considering the time cost difference instead of the monetary cost. Also, a time price calculation can be used to help determine the
opportunity cost of
do it yourself projects. For example, a person might need an oil change for a vehicle. Determining the time price of paying a professional will help the person compare that time to the time required to buy the replacement oil, remove the used oil from the vehicle, properly dispose the oil, etc. == 1 hour of light example ==