People Face Trade-Offs

There are so many people that will tell you that "There ain't no such thing as free lunch." The saying, while grammatically incorrect, has its own fraction of truth. When you find something you like, you are forced to give it up for something else that you--hopefully--like. This includes putting two things that you like against each other.

Think of a friend that is having trouble finding out how to spend her time wisely: she needs to study economics and psychology, so she can study one at a time or do both. As a result, she spends every other hour studying and the hours in between doing activities outside of studying.

Principles of Economics, AP® Edition, 8th Edition

Now, think of parents, and how they have to think of their family's income. They work to spend money on food, clothing, and vacations. Alongside this, they have to save money to send their children to college (if their children are successful enough to get in). Because parents save and spend money, they have to deal with the effects of having one less dollar or having one more dollar.

These are examples of trade-offs: the parents and your friend that need to make sacrifices for things they need and things they like. A classic example of trade-offs is "guns and butter." This saying shows how when more money is spent on protecting the people (guns), less money is spent on indulge-able items (butter). In modern society, a clean living space and a high level income are also trade-offs: a clean living space often comes with a more expensive lifestyle.