Spending More Money for Your Sanity

An Executive Assistant's constant internal battle

I took my kids to watch Inside Out 2 today.

They wanted to go see it, and while I typically may say “no” to “can we please do X?” because I always have so much to do, for the movie, I gladly agreed.

Why? Because I am essentially paying $14 for me ($36 total including the kiddos) to go into a large, dark, air conditioned room where I can close my eyes and semi-sleep (because moms never actually really sleep) for 2 hours while my kids get to watch the movie they wanted to watch. It is a win-win-kill-two-birds-with-one-stone kind of situation.

This reminded me that sometimes, it is worth paying for or paying extra for things, and often times necessary actually, in order to get a peace of mind.

As an Executive Assistant, we come across countless situations where we have to sit and wonder whether choosing to pay more and choosing to do A over B is worth it in that moment.

Is it worth paying $700 extra for a refundable fare, or is it better to save money and book the non-refundable fare and sit with anxiety praying everyday that your executive doesn’t change their mind about their flight?

Is it worth paying $20 extra per person for the highest tier catering option so that the team has more variety in food and everyone’s taste buds are satisfied (and you have less worries), or is it better to save money and go with the cheapest option?

Is it worth spending a little extra to have an on-site coordinator for your offsite in lieu of you or as additional help, or is it better to save money and have YOU act as the on-site coordinator?

Is it worth spending more to hire a reputable car service company who will take care of your executive’s ride in another country to and from the airport and hotel without a hitch, or is it better to save money and google a cheaper option?

The answer is not always clear. And the answer is not always to spend more. Sometimes, it makes sense to stay within budget (or maybe we don’t have the budget) and research different options.

But many times, it does makes sense to choose to spend more… not only for our own sanity, but for our executive’s safety and security in another country, for a memorable experience for our team, and for efficiency in our work, among many other reasons. You just have to ask yourself the right questions. And you have to figure out if the pros of spending more outweigh the cons.

With all that said, I didn’t end up sleeping during Inside Out 2. I went into the theater gung-ho about being able to nod off to sleep, but my kids talk too much and ask too many questions during movies. Also, no matter how many times I tell them to use the bathroom before the movie starts or during the previews, they never listen and always seem to have to go at the most important part of the movie.

No lie though (sorry, I mean “no cap”), the movie was pretty good and had me engaged throughout and sobbing at one point, so sleeping was just out of the picture. It was still a win-win I guess, since I got to enjoy the movie with my kids and had great conversations with them coming out of it. Still tired AF, but $14 well spent.