DUE AND PAYABLE (SOONER THAN YOU THINK)

"The excess of our youth are checks written against our age and they are payable with interest thirty years later."

Charles Caleb Colton (1780-1832) British clergyman/sportsman/author.

And this isn't just about physical health; it applies to business debt as well.

Those debts also come due sooner than you think.

WHAT WILL IT COST YOU?

"Do not bite at the bait of pleasure, till you know there is no hook beneath it."

Thomas Jefferson

Third president of the United States

Less metaphorically, thoroughly understand the potential implications of your plans before you execute them.

Everything has a cost.

The Hidden Cost Of Cheap

"Where quality is the thing sought after, the thing of supreme quality is cheap, whatever the price one has to pay for it."

William James

19th century American psychologist/philosopher

Sometimes the most expensive thing is the one you pay the least for.

How Much?

"The best is the cheapest."

Benjamin Franklin

18th century American statesman/inventor/philosopher

The vast majority of us do not opt for the "best" automobiles, technology, clothes, food, airline seats, nor most anything else you can think of.

So who's wrong here, Mr. Franklin or most everyone else on the planet?

By the way, my take on this is slightly different.

You get what you don't pay for.

How Much?

"You get what you don't pay for."

Bill Matthies

Planning consultant, Business Wisdom guy, serial entrepreneur

I was thinking about quality and the role price plays in our purchase decisions.

(Please forgive the personal indulgence; with more than 800 posts and only this one from me, I thought it wouldn't hurt.)

How much something costs is important but only in relation to value, which in turn does not correlate 100% with low price.

The Cost of Thrift

"Sometimes one pays most for the things one gets for nothing."

Albert Einstein

I bought an office chair this weekend, which, as with so much today, was made in China at close to or at the lowest cost possible.

The price was definitely right but unfortunately the chair wasn't. I had to return the original due to defects, and then opened two replacements at the store before finding one that was right.

My version of Einstein's thought is you get what you don't pay for.

What cost is that to business?