In my blog yesterday, I talked about the expenses to consider when working outside of the home. Many people are able to rattle off a list of expenses that people incur while working in an office, but some people don’t realize there are also (sometimes considerable) expenses when working at home. Here are a few I have come up with:
Expenses when Working at Home:
~ Higher utility bills because you are home all day long. Many times, people will be able to turn their heat or AC down during the day while they’re gone. If you work at home, you can’t do this. Also, when you work at home, you are on the computer, using the phone, faxing items, you have lights on, etc…No matter how you look at it, there is always going to be an increase in your electricity bill when you work at home, which may or may not be a big deal for you.
~ Depending on what equipment you already have, there may be a one-time investment cost for more or better equipment, such as a computer, printer, fax, and scanner. There may even be a need for other equipment depending on your business, such as a postage meter, paper folding machine, etc.
~ On top of the equipment itself, many times you will be required to buy programs such as Word, Excel, Power Point, Access, etc, and Microsoft doesn’t give these away cheaply. Then you have the ongoing cost of supplying your own print cartridges, paper, stamps, envelopes, and all other office supplies.
~ You may also end up paying to have either a second phone line installed, or having the first one put in if you didn’t have one before. Also, many companies require high-speed Internet, so if you were able to get away with dial-up before, you will most likely be required to pay the higher price for high-speed.
Both working at home and working in an office have their expenses, and if you’re wanting to do one or the other in an effort to get away with spending no money at all, you’re going to quickly find that that is going to be next to impossible. The old adage is true: It takes money to make money, unfortunately. Please check out my blog on the Top 10 Thing You Must Do if You’re Going to Work at Home–it has some ideas on how to manage these expenses.
I hope these blogs helped you along in your decision. Make sure to leave any comments or thoughts below!