4 Simple Ways To Save Money When You Are Working From Home
More and more people are joining the new wave of working from home, thanks partly to the Coronavirus’s effects. Even a growing number of office workers are beginning to find remote working as part of their new long-term reality. Although working at home is a cost-saving undertaking for most people, there are also some hidden expenses to avoid. If you are looking for ways to cut costs when working from home, the following tips should help.
More and more people are joining the new wave of working from home, thanks partly to the Coronavirus’s effects. Even a growing number of office workers are beginning to find remote working as part of their new long-term reality.
Although working at home is a cost-saving undertaking for most people, there are also some hidden expenses to avoid. If you are looking for ways to cut costs when working from home, the following tips should help.
1. Alternative means of travel
Working from home means that you’re probably only walking a few meters from your bedroom to your workstation. That’s already a lot of money saved on commuting to work. But there may be days when you will need to travel to meet a client or complete certain business transactions.
You can help save travel costs to work out how many days of travel you will be doing each month. For example, instead of purchasing a monthly travel pass when you’ll only be traveling for less than five days in the week, you can buy a weekly travel pass instead to save money.
2. Cut business costs
If you’re running your own small business from home, it is impossible to avoid certain business costs. However, there are several steps you can take to cut down on those costs.
For example, instead of printing out marketing flyers and brochures, you can make QR code options available for people you want to send those fliers. You can also use the help of virtual assistants and automatic software to handle a lot of your repetitive administrative tasks. Fortunately, there are several kinds of software and tools available – from accounting software to management tools; there are various options to choose from.
3. Internet calling
One thing you will probably be doing a lot of when working from home is making calls. With the proliferation of mobile phones, landlines are becoming obsolete and slowly washing out of the system. Therefore, it makes little sense to use your landline for business calls – plus, it is also more costly.
Instead, you can take advantage of several free internet call apps such as Skype and Zoom. Fortunately, so many clients and agencies already have Skype and other internet call accounts. So, no need to drown yourself in phone bills when internet calling can help transform your business.
4. Energy efficiency
Working from home daily also means using more electricity or energy as compared with working outside from home. The chances are that your lights may remain on for hours during the day. Depending on the weather, either your heating system or air-conditioning will also remain on for longer hours. All these will translate into high energy bills and more money lost. Thus, it is essential to look for more energy-efficient ways.
For example, if the weather is freezing, wear layers of comfortable clothing or insulate your home if possible. If the weather is hot, you can also open your windows to usher in some fresh breeze. Opening your windows also means you’ll let some natural light in.