Opportunity cost is the potential benefit or value forgone from the next-best alternative when making a decision. It represents the trade-off between choices due to limited resources (like time or money), acting as a fundamental economic concept for evaluating decisions. It is not just financial, but also involves missed opportunities in time and labor.

 

Simply fill in the past or future calculator to see the opportunity cost of a purchase. 

Historical data uses a monthly average.  The calculator can go back as far as 2013.