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Lesson 8 · Written for kid, teen, and little

The Hidden Cost of Choosing

Every yes to one thing is a quiet no to something else.

The idea

Every dollar can only do one job. When you use $20 on a hoodie, the real cost isn't just the $20 — it's the next-best thing that $20 could have done, like three lunches or money added to your investing account. That skipped option is called the opportunity cost, and it's hidden because you never see the thing you didn't choose. Choosing isn't bad; choosing without noticing what you gave up is what gets expensive ⚖️

A

Words to know

4

Opportunity cost

The next-best thing you gave up when you picked something else. Buy the $15 game and the opportunity cost is the $15 book you did not buy.

Trade-off

Getting one thing by giving up another, because you cannot have both. More hours on the bike means fewer hours on the guitar.

Alternative

The other choice you could have made instead. If you bought the blue shoes, the red ones were the alternative.

Limited

There is only so much of it. Your money and your time are both limited — a day has 24 hours no matter what you do.

Try it — no accountMatch the pairs

Match each choice to what it costs you.

0 / 4 matched

In the full lesson

  1. 1Match the pairs
  2. 2Work out the number
  3. 3Make the call

Vine has 107 lessons like this one, each written three ways so a 7-year-old and a 17-year-old both get a version that fits.

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