You know how we think that one little grain of sand ‘probably’ isn’t important in the whole scheme of things?

Well, what about a paper towel? Is there value in one paper towel? Will it really make a difference in our overall financial situation if you choose to use paper towels for things like drying a dishes or drying your hands after washing them?

The Value of a Paper Towel

OF COURSE IT DOES! And here’s why…

We constantly forget that the little things MAKE UP the big things. So, let’s look at this in terms of a lowly paper towel…

You can go to Costo and buy a roll of Bounty paper towels for $1.91. If you add a little sales tax and divide by the 52 sheets that are in the roll, you get about 4 cents per sheet. Doesn’t seem like that big of a deal to have to worry about one 4 cent sheet of paper towel.

But the problem is that it ISN’T just one sheet…it’s the HABIT of THINKING it’s OK to use paper towels for things you COULD be using a towel for. And don’t even get me started on the germ thing. Studies are showing that we are such germaphobes now that our children aren’t being exposed to the germs they NEED to develop antibodies when they’re young. But I digress…

Let’s say that you wash your hands 10 times a day. That’s 10 sheets.

Let’s say at least one other person in your household also have this same habit (perhaps they learned it by watching you)…so that’s another 10 sheets.

Let’s say you dry a few dishes and use a few sheets to clean up a spill (that could have been cleaned up with a rag that can be washed and reused) so let’s add 5 more sheets.

Total for one day could be as much as 25 sheet. If there’s 52 sheets in the rolls you buy, you’d use one roll of paper towels every 2-3 days!!!

At $2.07, conservatively, if you have a ‘paper towel’ habit, you might go through 8 rolls a month which is about $16.50!

So I want you to see that your little 4 cent ‘habit’ adds up to a nice little $16.50 chuck of hard earned cash (if you are still trading your time and energy for money in a job).

So back to the initial pondering…what IS the value of a paper towel? Well, like everything else, it requires looking at the long-term value, also called The Time Value of Money with a little interest tacked on.

If you invested, rather than wasted, that $16.50 each month in an investment that returned an average of 6% starting at age 25, at age 60 you would have $23,721.27!

Now THAT’S a lot of paper towels, or anything else you might need when you’re 60.

It’s all in our habits. Our little habits result in our big result, i.e., our life. Watch out for the habits that are eating up your future retirement money.

So…go out an buy some rags already or rip up a few old t-shirts!

Just something to think about…