How to Save Money Working Remotely from Home

In this post, we’ll talk about how to save money working remotely from home. At some point in our lives, we’ve all thought about the benefits of working from home. It would give you a lot more freedom, and the ability to schedule your day in a way that works for you. It would give you more time to devote to your pets and family. And of course, no overbearing bosses, no annoying colleagues, no never-ending meetings…But did you know that working from home could actually save you a whole bunch of money too?

One of the best, unexpected advantages of working remotely is that it can save you some serious money on transport, food, clothing and many other things. In this article, we dive into all the ways that working from home can save you money, from small expenses to much larger ones.

How to Save Money Working Remotely from Home

1. Commuting to work

One of the things which you can save the most money on when working from home is transport. Not only is a daily commute a chore which can weigh on you physically and mentally, it also tends to be quite expensive. Whether you commute by car or public transport, the daily cost of transport can amount to thousands of dollars over the course of a year. Here’s how:

Owning a car costs a lot of money. First of all, there is the initial price of the car. Next, you have to pay for insurance and regular check ups. Finally, the price of gas shows no signs of decreasing, and can amount to hundreds of dollars each month, depending on the length of your commute. Now, depending on where you live, you may or may not be able to live altogether without a car. But there is no denying that you’ll save a lot of money on gas by not driving your car for an hour each day. According to estimates, a daily commute in a car could cost you over $200/month, or $2,500 each year.

Public transport does tend to be cheaper but again, it still comes at a price. Commuting with public transport in major cities could cost you as much as $2,184/year in London, $1,452/year in New York or $1,200/year in Los Angeles. Again, not a negligible expense.

2. Deductible expenses

People who have been freelancing for a while know that you can save a lot of money by getting tax deductions on things that you use for your work like a laptop, a camera or office supplies. Well, guess what? This can apply to your home as well.

If you have a room in your house or flat that you are able to use solely for the purpose of working, you can categorize it as a “home office”. Next, you’ll be able to calculate how much of your rent it costs you based on the number of square feet. And that’s it, this room is now a home office and officially tax deductible! This can save you a significant chunk of money on rent, and over $500/year.

3. Child care and pet sitting

Parents who decide to work from home to be able to take better care of their children generally find it hard to combine a full-time job with looking after kids. After a few months, many are those who end up hiring a nanny or babysitter for at least a few hours each day. But that doesn’t mean that working from home won’t save you money on child care.

With a very young child who needs constant attention, you’ll probably have to hire a nanny for a couple of hours out of the day. These are the hours where you’ll be able to do your most focused work. But because working from home also saves you time (commuting and getting ready among others), you may find that you simply have more hours in the day to devote to your young child. Not only can spending more time with your child make your work days more meaningful, but working during naps can also be a great way to increase your productivity: knowing that you have to finish an assignment before your child wakes up can give you a real boost of motivation you might not otherwise have.

With older children who are largely capable of looking after themselves, you can save a lot of money by not needing a babysitter for after school hours. Consider the number of hours in a week that you hire your sitter, and their hourly wage: that’s how much you will be saving!

Similarly, working from home can mean spending more time with your pets. If you were used to hire a dog-walker, that’s an expense you can save easily. Instead, just use the time that you would normally spend on commuting to take your dog for walks.

4. Buying lunch

If you’re used to buying lunch at work, you probably know that you could save money by bringing your own. But do you realize just how much? On average, people spend around $2,000 a year buying lunch at their workplace!

Working from home gives you the freedom to eat whenever you want to, and make the most out of the food that you have at home. You might find that you like to eat leftovers from last night’s dinner for lunch. Or you might realize that spending a few minutes cooking yourself something nice provides the perfect opportunity to take a break in the middle of your work day. Whatever you do, there’s no denying that you can save a lot of money on food by working from home.

And when you realize that a home-cooked lunch also tends to be a lot healthier, there are added benefits that could save you even more money. For starters, a home-prepared salad will probably give you a lot more energy than a sandwich from your workplace’s cafeteria. And more energy also means more productive work, and ultimately more money. Secondly, eating healthy lunches day to day could save you some serious money on healthcare in the long-term. Studies find that diet-related illnesses are becoming more prevalent each year, and making up a larger portion of all health-related expenses. So with a long-term view, it’s easy to see how eating homemade meals can save you quite a bit of money over time.

5. The cost of coffee

Are you into the habit of buying a couple of cups of coffee at work to get you through your day? These days, it’s hard to find a working professional who hasn’t developed some kind of a caffeine addiction! But when you consider how the dollars from a cup of coffee add up, it can be a costly habit. On average, you may spend around $3 for each cup of coffee. Even if you were to drink just one a day (which is unlikely for some), this would amount to over $600 a year.

Drinking coffee at home is definitely cheaper, costing under $100 a year on average, and it might be better for you too. When making your own coffee, you see exactly what goes into it, and you can avoid adding too many ingredients like sweeteners and creamers. Again, there are some health-related expenses that can be saved here!

6. Looking “professional”

This may or may not apply to you, depending on the character of your workplace. But at some point in our lives, many of us have had to work for companies where looking professional each day was crucial. And we know just how expensive that requirement can get.

Professional-looking clothes like suits, shirts and ties or shiny leather shoes tend to be a lot more expensive than casual clothes. Not to mention, they usually also incur costs related to maintenance. For example, your business jacket may need to be dry-cleaned, your shirt will need to be ironed, and your shoes will need to be shined and polished several times a week. All in all, this is a massive expense in both time and money.

A “professional” look also applies to personal grooming, haircuts and makeup. To fit in with your work’s standards of appearance, you may need to spend more money on a few things, including:

• regular hair cuts
• hair products like wax, styling cream or hairspray
• expensive makeup products

Not only does it feel better to be able to wear whatever you want and feel comfortable in when working, it’s also a lot less expensive!

The stereotype that people working from home can work in a bathrobe or in their pyjamas is largely inaccurate. Generally, remote workers find that it helps them to get changed into a somewhat professional attire before starting their work day. But more often than not, this attire will be simple trousers and jeans and a jumper, rather than a suit or blouse and blazer. And that can mean saving a few hundreds dollars every year.

7. Mental health

Now that we’ve had a look at more direct ways in which working from home can save you money, let’s look at a couple of other factors that are often overlooked. There are a lot of things about regularly going to work for a company that can damage your mental health. For example, you may find that your daily commute in constant traffic is causing you a lot of stress. Or maybe workplace gossip is weighing on you and you want to get away from toxic coworkers. Perhaps seeing your boss check up on you while you’re working causes you anxiety. Whatever it might be, working in a physical workplace can be incredibly detrimental to your nerves.

In turn, this weight on your mental health might mean:

• feeling demotivated to work
• a decrease in productivity
• less creativity, less ideas coming to you
• feelings of depression and anxiety
• the need to consult a specialist about these feelings

This is not to say that every workplace causes employees to burn out or feel depressed. Or that nobody working from home ever struggles with mental health issues. But starting to work remotely does tend to alleviate stress, and give you a renewal of motivation and enthusiasm to do your job.

This increase in productivity and decrease in the need for mental-health related expenses can save you a lot of money each year.

8. Time is money

Finally, remote workers tend to be a lot more efficient. You may be used to leaving home at 8 and returning back from work at around 7. But out of these 11 hours, how many were actually spent doing productive work? It may be that you spent 2 hours commuting, 1 hour on breaks and another hour chatting with colleagues or attending unnecessary company meeting. This leaves you with just 7 hours of work each day.

Now, if you were home and woke up at the same time, you could have started your work by 8 and finished it by 4, including one hour of breaks. Either you will feel that you are working a lot less, and have more time for your hobbies, which is brilliant. Or more likely, you will find yourself working one or two additional hours each day, resulting in a considerable increase in your yearly income.

Time is money. And with the flexibility that working from home offers you, you can be as productive as you like and find new and better ways to avoid wasting your time. In turn, you’ll end up not only richer, but also happier.

Final Words

Working from home is not all sunshine and roses. It’s something that you have to get used to, and something that not everyone is built for. But on average, remote workers tend to be a lot more satisfied with their jobs, and are completely unwilling to get back to a traditional workplace. It’s something that can make your life feel more free and more fulfilling, but also something that can save you a lot of money! To sum things up, working from home means saving thousands of dollars each year on:

• Transportation
• Food and drinks
• Rent
• Childcare
• Clothes and beauty/grooming
• Mental and physical health

We think that it’s something that is not discussed nearly enough, and should be included as an important part of the conversation on the digital nomad lifestyle. We hope this article on how to save money working remotely from home was helpful for you, and that it showed you just how much money you stand to save by choosing to become a remote worker.