The Buying Power of $760

Ahem.. where were we? Oh yes!

Last posting I posed the question “Is The Great Suit worth spending $760?” I also offered an answer: yes. To put this in a different perspective, I would like to compare the cost of The Great Suit with other items of importance or interest to me and potentially to my readers.

$760 will buy 190 Starbucks Grande Mochas. This is usually my drink of choice when visiting Starbucks (one pump mocha, no whip). That’s one mocha every other day for a year.

Recently my husband and I celebrated our 7^th anniversary. As a young woman, I felt it was necessary to spend thousands of dollars on a day’s events that is long forgotten and completely irrelevant to the last seven years. Yet I still do not have a headboard. For $760 I could purchase a headboard.

According to statistics provided by Angel Food Ministries, $760 can feed a family of four for five months or a senior citizen for almost two years.

For $760 a couple considering divorce can receive eight counseling sessions wherein they can determine what the problem is, if it is solvable, how to solve it, and the appropriate steps to healthy relationships in the future.

For $760 I can buy the top luxury stroller for my newborn nephew, making me my sister-in-law’s favorite sister-in-law.

With $760 I could buy my friends car so he can move to New York City. I could give this car to my baby sister to help her obtain a full-time job with decent benefits. Once she has this job, she can solidify plans for a wedding in June.

$760 is approximately one-and-a-half months worth of child care for my friend who would rather be a stay-at-home-mom.

At the Missouri Minimum wage of $7.25, one would have to work two-and-a-half weeks full-time (or 104 hours) to earn $760 before taxes.

I could also spend $760 on a round-trip flight to see my brother who will be stationed with the Navy in Hawaii.

As I argued in previous postings, the “investment” that comes with The Great Suit could bring dividends of a well-paying job, promotion, or favor of your boss and co-workers.

But investments are risky.