As you think about your financial goals, you’ve likely begun to realize something—you often have to give up something in order to achieve something else. Every monetary decision we make involves a level of choice, usually of one thing over another. This can be a painfully hard decision at times but one we must learn to make. If you choose to save up for a car instead of traveling around Europe with friends, that is your decision. If you choose to buy an expensive pair of shoes because they’re irresistible, that decision may translate into less restaurant visits that month. Everything has a financial trade off, a reality known as an opportunity cost. These are things you gave up the opportunity of buying when you chose to pay the cost for something else. While they are unavoidable in most situations, they are always worth noting.