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Birth
Realizing that my mom was pregnate was the incentive that made my parents choose to get married. This choice had many long term effects because my life would be completely different if my parents weren't together and there's a chance my little brother wouldn't even exist. Having me also forced my parents to become more efficent with their money and "try to get more bang for their buck" since they now had to pay for all the expenses that come with having a child. -
My brother was born
Two years after I was born my parents had my little brother. Having another child came with many implicit costs for having a second baby is expensive. There were also explicit costs because instead of working my mom had to spend her time watching after us kids. My mom had a tough choice to make because if she did work then she would make more money but she would be giving up time with us and she would have to pay for day care; however, if she stays at home then the cost is not making money. -
Moving to Tennessee
My dad lost his job in California and got a new one in Memphis which required my family to move with him. Since my dad didn't have a job for a short while the economic goal of full employment had a big impact on my family. When my dad did get offered a job, he took it even though it was across the country because he realized that there's a low supply of jobs and it's scarce to get one. -
Moving to Colorado
My dad decided that he wanted to leave his job in Tennessee for a better in Colorado. My dad used benefit-cost analysis to compare the long term versus short term effects and realized that this new job would be a better opportunity for his job and my family in the long run. However, the cost of this choice was that it made my family move again after only living in Tennessee for two years. -
Getting my dog
Although we didn't need a dog, my brother and I wanted one and my mom made the choice to let us get one. When we picked out our dog, Murphy, the opportunity cost was the other dog that we were considering getting but didn't. The explicit costs of a dog are you had to pay to get it and then pay for its food and medical expenses. The implicit costs of agetting my dog dog were it took a lot of work to take care of him, feed him, play with him, and take him on walks. -
Playing Basketball
When I started high school I had to make a choice on which sports I should play and I chose to play basketball. The implicit cost of playing basketball was that it took up a lot of time which could have been used for homework and hanging out with friends. However, there were many long term benetfits because I met most of my best friends through playing basketball and I had a lot of fun. -
Meeting my boyfriend
In Feburary I started dating my boyfriend which has shaped who I have become because he is now a big part of my life and I spend a lot of time with him. The explicit cost of us dating is that he has to pay for most of our dates which can be expensive. The implicit cost of dating is that we spend a lot of time together so we have less time to spend with our friends. -
Mission Trip to Haiti
This summer I went to Haiti and volunteered at a summer camp and it shaped who I've become because it changed my perspective and made me appreciate everything I have more. I was origionally signed up to go on a trip to Augstralia at this same time but I made the choice to go to Haiti instead so the Australia trip was my opportunity cost. I choose Haiti because it was much cheaper (explicit cost) and because I thought helping others was a better way to spend my time (implicit cost). -
Dad moves to New York
My dad again lost his job, but he was still under contract for another year so he had the choice to just not work for this upcoming year or ifind another job. My dad knows that NBA basketball coaching jobs are very scarce and in high demand so when he was offered a job in Brooklyn he took it, but since it's my senior year in high school my family won't move out until next year. My dad's opportunity cost is being able to stay at home and spend time with our family. -
Starting 12th grade
Going into my senior year of high school I had a lot of big decisions to make especially regarding to college and school. I used benefit-cost analysis when decieding my classes because in the short run I would like to take easy classes but I knew that I would need to take more challenging courses to be able to get into good colleges in the long run. The incentive to go to a good college keeps me from getting senioritis because I know that getting acceped into selective schools is scarce.
