Is it possible to actually buy time?

The closer to the speed of light you go, the slower time goes by for you, so in a sense, it is possible to actually slow the passage of time, but no one can actually buy bottled time.

sure

I’m buying time with her.

I’m buying time for myself.

I get paid time off.

I get free time, so I do not have to buy that time.

Your time is my time. My hourly rate is steep.

You can buy time when you hire people to help with something….

I chose time over money when I went from 40+ hours in 5 days to working 32–35 hours in 4 days… That day cost me an estimated $8000 per year, but it was well worth it.

Inequities in comfort are proportionate to inequities in material worth, so in that sense, the wealthy may buy time. Because of health care inequities, as one example, they can sometimes buy years of life.

You buy time with a masseuse, you buy time with a personal trainer, you buy time with a lawyer, you buy time with a shrink… hell, you even buy time with a prostitute (if that’s your thing). Anything that requires payment and a time investment = buying time.

If you can afford to work less but still make enough to pay for the best health care, you should live longer thus buying time.

I can get you quality time for just $20 per second.

That is how I looked at it when I used to pay a cleaning company to come in and clean for me. We were hardly what you’d call “well off”, so to a lot of people it seemed extravagant… a luxury we could barely afford. I value time over money, so it was well worth it to me. Sadly, we had to give it up when our finances took a hit.

I think people can buy time, in a sense. Or at least try to buy time. Think about it. We take vitamins to stay healthy longer, we eat good food for the same reason. The richer you are, the more you can spend on things that keep you healthy longer. Rich people are having vitamins tailored to their specific DNA now, so they know the areas they need to work on, before anything even goes wrong.

You can buy some time, at least. As long as you’re rich.

@pdworkin I initially read your response as: ”... iniquities of .. etc.” ; it all still made sense to me! lol

You are condemned.

Surely Stephen King or Brian Aldiss have written short stories about this:

Money buys the trappings of a good life, buying health and long life, with the potential of elongated youthfulness. It all backfires as the heroine regresses to a mewling infant with 6 congenital defects.

You’re absolutely right, an investment in getting things done quicker, or getting other people to do these things for you, is a way of buying time. I never thought of it that way, GQ!

I can’t believe no one mentioned mortgages and loans yet. We can’t wait for everyone to save up till they’re 60 years old and are able to afford a house. We borrow money because we don’t have it yet, paying interest is a way of spending money to buy time. You could even say the US bought time when they invested 800 billion or so in the economy, last year.

Besides investing in your health, you might want to invest in technological advancements that helps you multi-task. Let’s use the example you gave in the question, the car. Wouldn’t you rather invest in a car that allows you to be a passenger rather than a driver. No longer would you have to spent your valuable time watching the road, you just freed up an x amount of time equal to your daily commute. Not to mention the 20 years of your life you waiste sleeping, those 7 years of your life you spend eating, those 92 days in your life you spent on the toilet, etcetera, etcetera. edit:: estimated on a regular lifespan of about 70 years.

You can’t actually buy “time” since that is just a construct of our mind, anyway. What you can do is manage your activities so that you can do the things that are important to you, and pay someone else to do the rest.