Economics in One Lesson · Henry Hazlitt

Opportunity cost examples

Curated by · reviewed 2026-05-31

Opportunity cost is the real price of any choice — not the money you spend, but the best thing you gave up to get it. Examples:

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5 examples of opportunity cost

  1. The 'free' seminar that isn't free

    It costs nothing in cash, but the Saturday it eats could have been your best day of the month with the kids.

  2. Saying yes to a meeting

    Every yes is a silent no to whatever you'd otherwise have done with that hour.

  3. Cheap but slow

    Driving an hour to save $5 ignores what that hour was actually worth to you.

  4. Money sitting in cash

    'Safe' savings carry an opportunity cost: the returns they're not earning anywhere else.

  5. A comfortable job

    The salary is visible. The opportunity cost — the career or business you didn't pursue — is invisible but real.

How to spot it in yourself

You'll forget most of this by next week.

That's just how memory works. Lock opportunity cost in with a 5-minute active-recall session — spaced repetition, no signup.

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