According to the article, what is the opportunity cost of attending a free lunch seminar?

The value of what you would have done instead, like landing a $500 client

The price of the food served at the seminar

The value of what you would have done instead, like landing a $500 client

The time it takes to walk to the seminar room

The cost of the company hosting the event

🍽️ That "free" lunch is costing you more than you think

Every time you choose to do something, you're quietly giving something else up. Economists call this opportunity cost — the value of the next best thing you didn't pick. And it's hiding in almost every decision you make.

Say your boss offers you a free lunch seminar on a Friday. Sounds great — it's free food! But what if you would have spent that hour landing a new client worth $500? The lunch isn't really free. Its opportunity cost is whatever you sacrificed to attend. The price tag says $0, but the real cost is $500.

This is why economists get twitchy when people say something is "free." There's always a trade-off. A government that spends $10 billion on a new highway didn't just spend money — it also chose not to spend that $10 billion on schools, hospitals, or tax cuts. The road might be worth it, but pretending the other options don't exist leads to bad decisions.

Once you start seeing opportunity costs, you can't unsee them. That hour of scrolling social media? It cost you an hour of sleep, exercise, or reading. Every yes is a hidden no.