There’s an old saying that goes, “you can do things fast, well and cheap, but only in combinations of two.” Um. Yeah. Something like that.

So you can do things fast and well, but they won’t be cheap. You can do things fast and cheap, but the results are not gonna be good.

The one I want to focus on is that you can also do things well and cheap, but they won’t be fast. Honestly, though, sometimes they’re not as slow as you’d think.

Example #1 – Lunch 

If I want to do things good and cheap, I need to prepare my lunch the night before (because I am not a morning person). I need to take 10 minutes out of my evening to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or cook up some chicken and vegetables.

The other alternatives, sans preparation, include grabbing a yogurt out of the fridge and a handful of Reese Cups (not exactly doing lunch “well” that way) or running out to pick something up at work (definitely not “cheap” – there are no cheap eats in Midtown, as far as I can tell, although I’ve got a pretty solid love affair going on with Chop’t).

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

-Benjamin Franklin

Example #2 – Utilities

If I want my utilities to be good and cheap, I’ve got to spend a few hours researching the local options. Then, once I’ve got the service chosen, it’s still in my best interest to actually call and talk with the service provider and try to negotiate an even better deal.

If I don’t want to prepare for my utility bills, then I’m likely to wind up with the best deal, but really crappy service or completely gouged for good service.

I bought an oxygen tank, because with the global population at over seven billion people and rising, what if the world were to suddenly run out of air? And while the people will be suffocating, I’ll be the only guy prepared to pillage and loot.

-Jarod Kintz

Example #3 – Travel

To maximize a vacation and keep the budget intact, it takes a lot of planning. Personally, I’ve always enjoyed planning my vacations and looking for the best deals. Travel blogs make this easier than ever to do.

If you can’t be bothered with all that preparation, you can either pay extra for a travel guide to sort it all out for you and still have the trip of a lifetime or you can just head to the destination and hope for the best – you’ll probably miss out on a lot of must see stops or you’ll wind up paying and arm and leg for them.

Spectacular achievement is always preceded by unspectacular preparation.

-Robert H. Schuller

Example #4 – Education

Preparation is the key to a great education. It starts by actually preparing your schoolwork while you’re in high school, to get the grades and involvement in the activities that will get you the scholarships that you’re clearing going to apply for. Researching and applying for lots of scholarships will increase your odds of obtaining them, thereby reducing the costs of college.

If you don’t prepare for college in any way, then you can either expect a hefty bill when you just go to any college you managed to get into, all willy nilly about their tuition costs, or you can expect to attend community college – if that. And while there’s certainly nothing wrong with a community college degree, an A.A. alone doesn’t really open that many career doors. On the flip side, using community college as a stepping stone to a 4 year institution is a great financial plan.

And one more from old Benny to round out the post:

By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.

-Benjamin Franklin