Chinese-Aussie Mum

I really love a good value-hunt.

Notice I didn’t say bargain-hunt … the difference is subtle but impactful.

An understanding of cost and value is helpful to understanding the difference.

Cost is the expense incurred in producing or acquiring a product or service.

Value is the benefit or worth a customer perceives in relation to the price they pay.

(Don’t worry that’s the end of the economics class for now).

And now, a helpful example to help me explain this.

Say I’m travelling in the city of Melbourne and I see a beautiful pair of Vintage 24 carat gold earrings in an op shop for $0.20AUD.

What a bargain!

The material itself is worth more than that (in pure gold literally).

Sadly, I don’t have pierced ears. The earrings, while a bargain, are not of immediate value to me.

This is because value is dependent on its perceived worth to the subject (which is me, in this case).

I may buy the earrings for someone else … or I may buy the earrings and try to sell it for a profit (and use the money for something else that is of more value to me). My eBay clothes flipping business is a story for another post.

Back to this blog.

TLDR: This blog is about my travels around the world and in my own backyard (Australia), as I seek out experiences of value. Often I’ll be travelling with my young family.

To me … it does not make good sense to stay at a ‘budget’ accommodation that is far out of town, when I have to spend significant time travelling to places I want to see, having to lug our luggage around and having young kids exclaim, ‘I’m tired! i’m hungry!’ all too often. I would rather spend more money in a central and safe location, close to sites we wish to see (and where we can hit more places in one day too!)

Nor will I try and save a few dollars to eat something that serves as a meal (McDonald’s perhaps?), when I paid a $990AUD ticket to travel to Japan with my cousin mostly for the delicious cuisine!

McDonald’s may make sense for someone who does not love Japanese food but have travelled to Japan primarily for the purpose of viewing and purchasing some original Japanese art.

Ramit Sethi (the guy who has a show on Netflix called How to Get Rich) puts it well.

His philosophy is to “Spend confidently on the things you love, and cut back mercilessly on the things you don’t.”

To do this well, I have to know with clarity what I love.

And what I don’t.

And that is the journey I’m on.