Price Comparison Time Value Calculator
Is the cheaper option actually cheaper — once you factor in your time? Enter two prices, your time cost, and get an instant verdict on whether the savings are worth it.
Time Value Price Comparison
Compare two options and find out which is genuinely better value
The higher/easier price (e.g. local shop)
Extra minutes to get/do Option A
The lower/harder price (e.g. further store)
Extra minutes to get/do Option B
What your time is worth to you per hour
Is It Worth It?
Time-adjusted value comparison result
Enter two prices, the time each option requires, and your hourly rate — then click Calculate Value to get the verdict.
Common Examples
Click any example to load it into the calculator instantly.
Nearby vs. Cheaper Supermarket
Local store charges £45 for a weekly shop, but a supermarket 30 minutes away charges only £38. Is it worth the trip?
Airport Taxi vs. Public Transport
A taxi costs £120 and takes zero extra planning time. The bus costs £95 but adds 90 minutes of travel.
Buy Online vs. In-Store
Item costs £18 locally with no wait. Online it’s £11.99 but requires 45 minutes finding, ordering, and returning if wrong.
Petrol Station Detour
Fuel is 5p/litre cheaper at a station that adds 20 minutes to your journey. For a 40-litre fill-up, is the £2 saving worth your time?
Hire a Pro vs. DIY
A handyman charges £85 for a job you could do yourself in 2 hours for £65 in parts. At your hourly rate, which wins?
Coffee Shop vs. Homemade
A flat white costs £4.50 at the café with no effort. Making one at home costs £2.80 but takes 15 minutes. Worth it?
Time Value Reference Table
How much money a given price saving needs to be worth different amounts of extra time, at various hourly rates. Use this to quickly judge whether a deal is worth your effort.
| Extra Time | £10/hr | £20/hr | £30/hr | £50/hr | Verdict (at £20/hr) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 min | £0.83 | £1.67 | £2.50 | £4.17 | Worth >£1.67 |
| 10 min | £1.67 | £3.33 | £5.00 | £8.33 | Worth >£3.33 |
| 15 min | £2.50 | £5.00 | £7.50 | £12.50 | Marginal |
| 20 min | £3.33 | £6.67 | £10.00 | £16.67 | Marginal |
| 30 min | £5.00 | £10.00 | £15.00 | £25.00 | Not <£10 |
| 45 min | £7.50 | £15.00 | £22.50 | £37.50 | Not <£15 |
| 60 min | £10.00 | £20.00 | £30.00 | £50.00 | Not <£20 |
| 90 min | £15.00 | £30.00 | £45.00 | £75.00 | Not <£30 |
| 2 hours | £20.00 | £40.00 | £60.00 | £100.00 | Not <£40 |
| 3 hours | £30.00 | £60.00 | £90.00 | £150.00 | Not <£60 |
Price vs. Time FAQ
Everything you need to know about comparing prices with your time value in mind.
Divide the price difference by your hourly rate, then convert to minutes. That gives you the maximum extra time the cheaper option is worth. Formula: Max Time (minutes) = (Price Difference ÷ Hourly Rate) × 60. If the cheaper option requires less extra time than this, it is worth it. If it requires more, the time cost exceeds the saving.
This is personal. Your work hourly rate is a reasonable starting point — divide your annual salary by 2,080 for a rough figure. However, many people value leisure time differently from work time. If you’d rather be relaxing, you might value your free time at 1.5× or 2× your work rate. If you enjoy errands or the activity involved, a lower figure may feel right. Experiment with different rates in the calculator to see how sensitive the verdict is to your choice.
In everyday decisions, time value means recognising that your time has a monetary worth. Choosing a cheaper but more time-consuming option has a hidden cost: the value of the extra time you spend. If that hidden cost exceeds the price saving, the “cheaper” option is actually more expensive in total. This calculator makes that hidden cost visible so you can make a fully informed comparison.
Opportunity cost is the value of what you give up by making one choice instead of another. In a price comparison, if you spend 45 extra minutes getting a cheaper product, the opportunity cost is what you could have done with those 45 minutes — earned money, rested, or enjoyed yourself. This calculator converts that opportunity cost into pounds so you can compare it directly with the price saving.
It depends on how much you save, how long the extra journey takes, and what your time is worth. Use this calculator to find out: enter the closer price with zero extra time, the further price with the extra round-trip driving time, and your hourly rate. Remember to include return journey time, and consider adding fuel cost to the cheaper option’s price if driving significantly further uses more petrol.
Add the estimated fuel cost for the extra journey to Option B’s price before entering it into the calculator. For example, if Option B costs £38 but the extra round trip costs £3 in fuel, enter £41 as Option B’s price. The calculator then correctly compares total monetary cost including fuel, alongside the time cost of the extra journey.
Break-even time is the maximum number of extra minutes that Option B (the cheaper option) is worth spending. It is calculated as: Break-even Minutes = (Price Difference ÷ Hourly Rate) × 60. If Option B takes less than this amount of extra time, it is worth it. If it takes more, the time cost outweighs the saving. The break-even time helps you quickly judge future decisions with similar savings without running the full calculation.
Yes. You can compare any two options where one is cheaper but requires more time. Common uses include: comparing plumber quotes where a cheaper contractor requires more of your time managing them; deciding whether to cook at home versus order a takeaway; choosing between a faster but pricier delivery and a slower free delivery; or deciding whether to DIY a task or hire a professional.