Why leave home to work? BEFORE AFTER
There’s no costly commute, and you get to swap suits for sweatpants. What’s not to love?
WHATare you wearing right now?
People email me this question constantly, so I thought I’d finally address it in public. I’m typing this sentence wearing a pair of boardshorts, commando-style (built-in webbing for the boys). I haven’t showered yet, or combed my hair, and my beard is home to a small nest of birds. The professional-ish looking dude in the headshot at the top of this column now resembles a caveman.
While I was never the bestpresented employee, becoming a remote worker has helped me discover new depths of informality. This new chapter of my life has its pros and cons, but on the financial side, it’s definitely a game-changer. Here’s why you should ask your boss whether you too can spend an entire working week in your PJs.
COUCH COMMUTING
Your new commute as a remote worker will take you from your bedroom all the way to your sofa/ kitchen table, or ‘‘home office’’. Occasionally, you will make a bold voyage all the way to the corner coffee shop. There’s no savings for my true Budget Buster followers, who already cycle to work. But public transport users will save a few bucks, and drivers will save megabucks. Let’s say you’re currently a car commuter with a 20km round trip. With gas, parking, and wear-and-tear, you’re easily spending a couple thousand bucks a year. In the dream scenario, you’d be able to get rid of your car altogether, or streamline to a one-car household.
TIME IS MONEY
Commuters in big cities struggle to move much faster than 20kmh in rush hour. This painful crawl easily knocks 30 minutes to an hour off each end of your day. That’s the equivalent of three weeks out of your year, every year – and that’s before you add time spent ironing shirts and doing your hair. Instead of inhaling carbon monoxide and enduring the banal banter of breakfast radio hosts, imagine if you put those hours to good use. Extra time means you can take care of business you previously might have outsourced – cooking, taxes, home maintenance – or start a side-hustle.
LUNCH MONEY
When you’re stressed out in the office, it’s easy to justify a trip to the vending machine or an expensive lunch out. For the remote worker, there’s no food envy or group lunches – it’s straight to the fridge to tackle last night’s leftover spag bol. My rule of thumb is that making your own lunch is twice as cheap as buying it, which saves at least $1000 a year. If you’re a coffee fiend, you could probably double that. I barely qualify as a human being before my third cup, which would be cripplingly expensive if I couldn’t just make a big pot of filter coffee at home.
CHILDCARE
Some heroes somehow manage to juggle looking after sprogs with working from home. That’s potentially a huge saving, given New Zealand’s childcare is among the most expensive in the developed world (once the 20 subsidised hours are tapped out).
UNDRESS FOR SUCCESS
When you’re tucked away at home, no-one knows you’re wearing the t-shirt with the ketchup stains for the third day running. Conservatively, I reckon you can save a few hundred bucks on appearance-related costs yearly.
SWINGS AND ROUNDABOUTS
Working from home is more than just a financial decision. While you get to escape the drudgery of endless meetings and distractions, some people struggle to stay focused at home. You’ll never have to listen to your coworker’s novelty ringtone blaring, but it also gets lonely not having those water-cooler chats and after-work drinks. You will talk to your cat or your potted plant more than is probably healthy.
In this increasingly information-based economy, the opportunities for working remotely are only going to grow, so it’s definitely an idea worth exploring.
I’ve left the biggest advantage until last. If you don’t need to live in the city, you could move to a much cheaper area and save a packet on accommodation. I’ve taken this to an extreme, spending most of my time overseas in countries with ultralow costs of living. This idea is at the heart of a fast-growing movement with big opportunities for the young and the bold. Join me next week, where we’ll meet the tribe of ‘digital nomads’ working on their laptops from anywhere in the world.
Got a money question? Email Budget Buster at richard.meadows@thedeepdish.org, or hit him up on Twitter: @MeadowsRichard.