Ask The Manifestation Maven - Cost vs. Value

Dear Kimberly,

I saw you on TV talking about Cost vs. Value and I wondered if you could talk about that more. I’m still not sure I understand the difference. Therese

Dear Therese,

Cost has to do with the price of an item.

Value has to do with what something is worth to you...what sort of impact it can have on your life.

There's a big difference!

Whether you are thinking about how to cut back on expenses, or where you might want to invest more, your first question should be "What will this service/product/item do for my life?" and the second question is "What would that be worth to me?"

There's no right or wrong here. An item that has high value for one person may seem like a complete waste to someone else. The important thing to remember is that you want to be spending (or deciding NOT to spend) based on YOUR values... not someone else's.

Let me give you some examples. Let's say you keep seeing commercials about the latest "must have" cell phone. You actually like the phone you have, and it works great for everything you need. But everyone keeps saying you HAVE to get this new phone. You can justify it as a work expense, and it would be pretty cool...

Or maybe it's the newest fashion, or that cool container for your plants, or the newest CD from a popular artist. In every case you have to ask: What's it WORTH? (Not to anyone else, just to you). Will it make you feel good for a moment, will it let you avoid those uncomfortable thoughts & feelings you've been pushing away for just a few more hours....or will it make you smile for months?
Or maybe you've always wanted to travel to Spain. You're not sure why....it's just that any time you've seen a movie, or read a book, or heard someone talking about visiting Spain, you feel this incredible longing and excitement. You've toyed with the idea of traveling there, but your first thought when looking at airline tickets and tours is "that costs too much." But what's it worth to you? What's the value of making your soul sing?
At the risk of sounding like a credit card commercial, certain experiences are priceless.

And it doesn't matter whether they make sense to anyone but you.

Do you have a question for Kimberly? Email schneider.kimberly@gmail.com with the subject line: Ask the Manifestation Maven.