Comments on: Save money by working at home

By: Kenny

Kenny — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 03:37:21 +0000

I have been working from home off and on since 1992, and I can tell you that I have been keeping a tally of the savings (as you mention) above with an update to my numbers every 2-3 years. It is just amazing how much savings I have amassed (and kept) by working at home off and on, esp. with company giving me the expenses to work at home such a dial-up line + 2nd phone line (in 1990’s), migrating to free broadband (Comcast), and then I started testing the Digital Phone lines in Chicago for Comcast (which was fun, since phone calling worldwide was free for 5 months) etc. Printer ink, phone calls, clothes, ironing, dry-cleaning, supplies, phones, lunch, drinks, no-Starbucks, free furniture from one company, no gas/commute/mileage, car maintenance etc etc etc etc was great.

I say was since in 2009, I have now to go back to work to manage my team since this new organization needs people ‘in’ the office. What a backwards way of doing business, and yet they call themselves ‘Green’.

We shall see how long it lasts (my job, or my commute)!!!!!

Good hearing from all of you guys.

Kenny

By: Friday Links Of The Week: 4/10/09 | Man Vs. Debt

Friday Links Of The Week: 4/10/09 | Man Vs. Debt — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 11:15:35 +0000

[...] Little By Little gave me some tips on how to save money working from home. This is sort of new for me, so I need all the help I can [...]

By: Michelle

Michelle — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 02:06:51 +0000

I am too ADD to work from home–there is always cleaning to do, tivo’d shows to watch, my dog to play with, the list goes on and on. As a nurse, I absolutely love the separation that I am able to achieve with my life and my job: I may work 12 hour shifts, but once I clock out, I am OUT, mind and body. When I am home, I AM HOME. My work does not follow me.

I totally understand the financial advantages to working from home, but for me, it would probably end up being a disadvantage as I’d randomly get cabin fever and go out to lunch or shopping on a whim. So for all you home-workers, I admire your discipline–but I do not envy you.:)

By: dramon

dramon — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 14:42:03 +0000

Another comment. I work for a large multinatioal company. There is no argument about the ability to offshore your job if you are never in the office. It means your job can be done by anyone with an internet connection.

While not all companies work like this some do.

By: J. Money

J. Money — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 14:11:23 +0000

Yeah I think i’d go pretty crazy too being inside all the time w/out any face-to-face interaction, but I could totally see the financial benefits from it. Perhaps i’d need to pick up a side gig, say at Starbucks or something, so i can blog full-time but then also see people I think I would be perfectly content with that.

Great post.

By: plonkee

plonkee — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 12:03:36 +0000

I hate it. It costs me money in heating (no one is at home all day normally), I get cabin fever being stuck in the house all day and there’s no social interaction. But most of that is because I live on my own. The only good thing is not having to put nice clothes on, but then I spend as much on my play clothes as I do on my work clothes given half the chance. Whether working from home is good or not probably depends on other lifestyle factors.

By: dramon

dramon — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 21:26:58 +0000

One downside you fail to mention is that you have to be disciplined about working and also not working.

It is tempting to answer the door and chat with neighbors. One the other end of the spectrum it is also temmpting to never leave the office and continue to do the ‘one more thing’.

While overall I like it, I miss the face to face interaction with people.

By: Craig

Craig — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 19:31:45 +0000

Working at home would be ideal for me, for a lot of the reasons you mention. Specifically the fact that you save on gas, and save on time. I know that may not translate into dollars per say, but having more time by not commuting, can give you more time for hobbies, or to get some errands done.

By: Baker @ ManVsDebt

Baker @ ManVsDebt — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 16:54:06 +0000

I’ve recently grown very attached to working at home due to all the reasons you’ve noted. One thing to mention (which could be another post altogether) is making sure that you have a routine that allows you to work as effectively from home as at work. This has been hard for me… I have to make sure to get “dressed” for work even if I’m working from home, etc…

By: Stew

Stew — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 15:23:30 +0000

I would love to work from home, but my children are still pretty young, I don’t think they can understand, “don’t interrupt daddy, he is at work even though he is sitting right there” yet. It might work if I had a sound proof room on a different floor and with its own bathroom.

The eating thing would be a problem too, I keep no food in my office at work because I tend to eat every piece of food within a radius of a two minute walk.