One of the categories we touch on here in the Home Business blog is all the things we LIKE about working at a home-based business. Other than flexibility and being in charge of our own work destiny—one of the things that comes up is how those of us who make the shift to a home business are able to eliminate some of the expenses we had when we were working more traditional jobs.
Expenses that can be eliminated, or at least diminished, by NOT going out to work outside the home office include day care, transportation and commuting, clothing and wardrobe, parking, meals and food, and “office” costs such as contributing to birthdays, gifts, the coffee fund, etc. For many folks with families, all the expenses of getting everyone where they need to be and getting to work can be shocking. Once you write everything out on paper and tally the expenses, you may find you can actually save money by working from home.
This is not to say that there aren’t expenses associated with running a home business—there are. In addition to furnishing your office or work space, you may have to buy additional supplies, pay your own equipment and operating costs, and possibly pay for your own health and life insurance. However, many of these expenses can also be deducted from your taxes, whereas everyday expenses of going to a more traditional job are not usually deductible.
Day care and child care costs can be the single largest expense that can be “saved” when a parent starts working from home. Even though you may still need some child care in order to accomplish the operation of your business, it will not likely be the same as when children are going to child care full time in order to accommodate the traditional full-time job. For many, learning to juggle the time constraints and a new way of “doing business” are well worth the savings to the family pocketbook.
See Also: A Few Things I Like About Being Home-Based–My Income = My Efforts