Step 3: Monthly Tabulation
Should I include taxes?
Yes. (Vicki Robin)
If I calculate life energy based on net, will the hours total more than I have in my life?
Yes, they will. This is not an accounting category; the purpose is to become aware of the costs. (Vicki Robin)
From a mathematical point of view, there is a problem with using the real hourly wage to calculate the amount of life energy put into work-related expenses. For example, if you include the cost of work-related dry cleaning in the calculation of your real hourly wage, you're double-counting the cost of the dry cleaning when you use that real hourly wage to calculate hours of life energy spent on the dry cleaning. The best way to see this is to note that you're using the same real hourly wage to calculate hours of life energy for dry cleaning as you are for groceries. But while you used the cost of the dry cleaning to calculate that real hourly wage, you did not use the cost of the groceries.
The only way to be perfectly accurate with respect to real hourly wage is to calculate a separate real hourly wage figure for each category that went into calculating the real hourly wage. For example, calculate one real hourly wage that includes all work-related expenses except dry cleaning, and use that for the dry cleaning. Then calculate another real hourly wage that includes all the work-related expenses except gas used to travel to and from work, and use that for gas to and from work, etc. Clearly, this is impractical!
However, Your Money Or Your Life states that you should strive for impeccability in doing all the steps. Page 74: "One of the keys to your success in this program (and in life) is a shift in attitude from one of laxity and leeway to one of accuracy, precision and impeccability." It's a little dicey to say, "strive for accuracy, precision and impeccability" on one page and then on another page to espouse a mathematical calculation that is technically incorrect. This sort of inconsistency can bother some people.
In the end, I agree with Penny (and Vicki Robin) that this is not an accounting class, and that the point is to become more aware. And from a practical point of view, we're only talking about a few cents of inaccuracy in most cases. So, the number is slightly inaccurate, but it serves the greater purpose of becoming more aware of one's spending. (David Bogartz)
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