If lockdown was your first experience of working from home, the changes in your spending habits may have surprised you. What can we learn from them?
For many people, lockdown is the first time they’ve worked from home. At first, it might have been expensive to make the transition: upgrading your internet and paying for new digital tools to make keeping in touch and collaborating easier.
But once the initial expenses were out of the way, it turned out that there were some surprising savings in working from home. Now as we start heading back into the office, let’s take stock of some of the money-saving hacks we’ve learnt.
Bring your own food.
You might not have thought you ate out as much as you did. The fact is, if you’re not making the food yourself, you’re eating out. Don’t give yourself the option of going out to go get food. For you, that could mean packing your own lunch or deleting the scan-to-pay app on your phone.
Coffee is costly.
It’s the quintessential drink of the office, but buying a daily coffee is costing us. Instead, give yourself an alternative. Bring your good coffee from home. Set yourself up with a plunger and a mug you love.
Claim back from your company.
If you don’t know your company’s claim-back policy, you could be losing out on free money. Some companies allow you to claim for stationery, internet and phone bills if they’re things that help you to do your job. Even if you’re only claiming a percentage, it’s worth the effort of asking.
Transport is expensive
Petrol, parking, public transport – it’s the daily cost of doing our jobs. Of course, sometimes being in the office is essential. There’s also a great benefit to being able to socialise with colleagues. But if you were able to continue working from home during lockdown levels 5 and 4, it may be a good idea to sit down with your boss to discuss working from home for one or two days a week.
