Yep it has happened...
The $4.00 a gallon price was my tipping point. Instead of putting the $100.00 in my gas tank I opted to buy a Bicycle and will get pay back by riding my Bike to work for the next two weeks! Yep the cost of the bike will be recouped in just two short weeks. I came to this conclusion on Saturday last. It is a pretty cool looking bike too! (If you ask me!) So I have been riding my bike to work since Monday. My trek to work is not a lengthy one so I should have been thinking about this a long time ago, (I live about a mile away from my office). But I figure the benefits in this are threefold; True I am saving fuel, I am saving money in the long run, AND I am getting some exercise that my doctor has been hounding me about for several years! Granted two miles on the bike is not MUCH exercise but never the less, it is more than I was getting! and who knows maybe the next time my daughter says "Dad wanna go for a ride to the Park?" I might think about taking that on my bike instead of jumping in the car! But we get into our habits and we are constantly looking for convenience over economics.
Sound familiar?
We often do the same thing in print procurement. Instead of taking a little extra time to look at the economics of our actions we revert to what has always been the easiest or "because we've always done it that way." Well now is probably a good time to start looking at the economics a little bit harder. Sure it is our job as print buyers to save, Money, Time, Budget, but maybe when we think we are saving in one area we are costing in another. It goes back to the old Time, Money, Functionality equation again. You save Money but it may cost time and functionality in the process. I am betting most of us look at the Time side of this equation more than the others..."How can I save Time?" Well I am betting it is costing a little more and maybe we are so used to saving that time so much, that we have forgotten what it is like to save in the other areas!
Here's my bike...PRETTY COOL HUH?
