What are the financial benefits of working from home?

Many of us started working from home over the last few years. Perhaps it was required to begin with but for many employees, even the lure of the company office and hanging out with colleagues during the day isn’t enough to drag people back. There are so many amazing benefits of working from home, not least the financial gains. In this post, we’re going explore the positives of that stay at home job, including the financial benefits of working from home.

No paying for the commute

How much money did you use to spend getting to and from the workplace every day? Every week? Did you ever do the maths to figure out what it was per month or annually? The results of a survey showed that the average commute in London costs £64.19 a week. That’s over £250 a month. More than £3k a year! Imagine what you could do with that money instead of using it for the bus or train. Consider the additional costs of maintenance and wear and tear that happens to your car if you drive to the office. With the price of everything more expensive now than perhaps a year or so ago, saving money where possible allows us to redirect those funds to other areas of our life. Saving this cash is possibly the most significant of the financial benefits of working from home.

Less temptation to eat out

Consider other things that you spend money on when you are at work. You might pick up a takeaway between the train station and the office. If that costs you £2.50 a day, that’s £12.50 a week. £50 a month and even more shockingly, £650 over 52 weeks of the year! If your coffee of choice costs more, maybe £3.75, that works out to be just shy of a grand a year! On coffee! Perhaps you head to the local sandwich shop or grab a meal deal for your lunch. Even if you do this just once a week on a Friday as a treat, that £5 lunch is another £260 a year you’re spending! Remember the far-too-frequent requests from members of your department to join them for a team meal? It could be because of a birthday or due to a successful month. Even if you find an online code or have a small dish, you can easily spend £20 or more. One of those, every week, at £25 a pop, works out to be £300. That’s £1500 a year we’ve just totted up! By eating at home, sure, you’re going to have to buy and make your lunch, however, batch cooking will allow you to eat proper healthy food on a budget.

Other benefits

There are lots of other benefits of working from home. Consider the amount of time your commute once took. That could be an hour, maybe two, perhaps more! Double it to include getting home again and that is a huge chunk of the 24-hour day gone! By working at home, clocking off time means you are already there for your loved ones. Yes, you might have to walk from the spare bedroom to the living room, but it’s much better than running for a train! If you have kids, this extra time is absolutely invaluable. Imagine what else you can do with that time instead of sitting on a bus. Maybe you can start up that hobby again that you used to enjoy. You could join a team or start a course. Spend time with friends and actually take your kids to their extracurricular activities. If you have kids and were having to commute early to come home late, you might have been paying out for childcare too. That’s another money-saving benefit! Work from home staff often report that they feel more productive and have boosted morale. These WFH jobs offer you a far better work life balance. You can also pop a wash on during your lunch hour!

Benefits for the employer

Of course, the financial benefits of working from home don’t stop with the employee. There are huge benefits to the employer as well. If staff are working from home, the central office can be downsized. Sure, there will be businesses that need a headquarters, with the occasional day of hot desking. However, some companies can completely get rid of their office building. There are lots of businesses that are run completely remotely. Meetings can be done on Zoom, if meeting rooms are required they can be hired by the hour, and company meet-ups can be organised in a rented venue. The lack of an office is a huge chunk of money that the company doesn’t have to shell out for every month. As well as the energy bills to power those computers, boil the kettles and light and heat the office! Businesses will be able to tap into an increased talent pool, retain employees who feel part of the company and also benefit from the increased productivity of the staff. There are huge financial benefits of working from home for employers.

Negatives of working from home

Whilst there are many positives, including the financial benefits of working from home, there will also be negatives. You will notice that your energy bills are higher because you are having to power your devices and heat the room that you work in. This can make a huge difference to energy bills if previously there was no one in the house during the day. There is a lack of social interaction. Whilst video chats and emails are great, there can be a lack of human interaction when you WFH. There are fewer office perks, you have to buy your own teabags and make your own brews. No snack jar unless you put it there. It can be hard to draw a line between home and work, which might make you think that you should reply to emails when you probably shouldn’t! You’re more likely to overwork yourself, whilst also being at risk of distractions! There is no real routine, which requires more self-discipline.

There are always two sides to the story and whilst there are lots of potential cons of stay at home jobs, there are huge positives including the financial benefits of working from home.