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Working from home can help reduce the expense of commuting, decrease daily costs and provide extra time for additional side hustles.
In 2023, we have seen quite a few new trends surge in popularity, like taking advantage of social media marketing and employers investing time to prioritize their employees’ mental health. Working from home is just another trend that is taking over how many approach their work life.
Many have already adapted to a new way of working. According to Forbes, 12.7% of full-time employees now work from home, while 28.2% are dedicated to working in a hybrid model. So why is this such an exciting trend right now?
The benefits, particularly the financial ones, are a bottom-line bonus. Most individuals would jump at the opportunity to reduce the expense of commuting, decrease daily costs and have extra time for additional side hustles. Moreover, companies often benefit by cutting down on their overhead costs.
Reduce the cost of commuting
Do you dread forking over your hard-earned money on gas just to get you to and from work? On average, Americans are spending around $150 to $200 on gas every month, and a huge chunk of that comes from the miles it takes to drive to and from work — especially considering employees average a 41-mile round trip to work. Furthermore, the amount of wear and tear exacted on your vehicle can lead to additional maintenance costs, such as rotating your tires, changing your oil and making wheel alignments.
If you are one of the many who rely on services like Uber for transportation, their prices face an annual average increase of 17.5%. Ultimately, not having the requirement of traveling to work will save you a good chunk of cash.
Decrease daily expenses
Daily costs often get swept under the rug since they seem small, but over time, things like day care, eating out for lunch, work clothes and the extra cost of prime living locations can add up. Let’s go through how much each of these items ends up costing an average employee:
- Day care centers can cost around $300 per week.
- Employees usually spend around $3,000 per year buying lunch or coffee for work.
- Women spend close to $342 per year on work clothes, while men spend about $307.
- Prime living locations can drop by $578 per month when living on the outskirts of a big city.
Saving on your everyday expenses can be your way to a bigger savings account. Take advantage of working around your children’s schedules, eating at home, lounging in comfortable clothes and living in rural areas.
Time is (extra) money
Do you find it hard to pursue side hustles or passions with your busy work schedule? If you consider that most people who work spend time getting ready, driving an average of 55 minutes to and from work, working eight hours and taking a mandatory lunch hour, then working from home could save a substantial amount of time. Just cutting drive time saves almost an hour. That gives employees an additional five hours each week to start a new side hustle that can help them with a few of those daunting bills.
Cut down overhead company costs
Working from home doesn’t just benefit the employees! In fact, companies can see a massive decrease in their overhead costs when they send their employees home to work. Some of the costs that employers wouldn’t need to worry about would include office space, office supplies and utilities. On average, overhead costs can account for 20% to 50% of sale profits, so you can see why many employers would want to lower it any way they can. An added bonus is that companies can have a wider range of talent to choose from since employees wouldn’t need to live within driving distance.
If you are interested in saving money and cutting back on unnecessary costs like commuting, work clothes, lunch or day care costs, working from home just could be your answer. Start applying on websites like Indeed or ZipRecruiter to see what opportunities might be on your horizon.
Lindsey Certonio is a project manager at Stage Marketing, a full-service content marketing agency based in Provo.
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