If you're a business owner, you make a trade-off every time you buy new equipment or a company vehicle . The owner evaluates how much money he or she is going to spend and likely how much revenue or sales will be earned as a result of that investment. What is the trade-off? It may be the opportunity to take the money he or she would have spent and put it in a CD at the bank making five percent interest. It may be the opportunity of going on a vacation with his or her family. These are both trade-offs the owner may consider before he or she buys that new piece of equipment.
In economics, the term trade-off is often expressed as opportunity cost. A trade-off involves a sacrifice that must be made to obtain a desired product or experience. Understanding the trade-off for every decision you make helps ensure that you are using your resources (whether it's time, money or energy) wisely.
As a grocery store shopper, you make a trade-off every time you put an item in your cart. Wow, those are a lot of trade-offs! For example, when you buy the name brand cereal, you are making a trade-off against purchasing the generic brand and using the additional savings to buy another item you may not have been able to afford otherwise. Only you can reason whether sacrificing a name brand item to buy an additional snack is worth it to you.
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After completing your undergraduate studies, you are trying to decide if you should enter the workforce or continue your education in graduate school. By going into the workforce, you know that you will potentially be missing out on higher earnings in the future. However, by staying in school, you are not only going to have to pay thousands of dollars in tuition and book costs, but you are also going to miss out on earning whatever pay you would have made at the job you could have worked at.
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