A decision can save money while wasting something more difficult to replace.

Money is the easiest thing to count, which is why decisions drift toward saving it even when the real cost lands somewhere harder to replace. Hours of your life, relationships strained by the arrangement, health worn down by the commute, none of it appears on a statement. Something can be a saving and still be a loss.

When a choice is framed around cost, ask what it spends besides money. Then decide whether you would sell that thing at that price directly.