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AnteaterEastern2811 t1_jauowbm wrote

Probably a couple hundred a month accounting for transport and food costs.

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New-Vegetable-1274 OP t1_jauthew wrote

That's nice. I wonder if other people are experiencing similar savings. I think we are on the cusp of something big in terms of workplace changes. If it's saving money for the worker it must also save money for the employer. I've read a lot about how people have become more productive and a lot less stressed. The lack of juggling hurried morning routines, child care, commutes, and dealing with office politics are all plusses. Job performance can be more accurately measured. Are the social aspects of the workplace important? I'm retired but I had/have some pretty tight friendships with former coworkers. There's a lot of jobs where that doesn't exist but if you work in a place where relationships are good it probably checks all the other boxes and it's a really good place to work. They do exist. Having exited the work world, as good as it was, the only thing I really miss are the work friends I now see infrequently. Congrats on your savings.

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RedditardedOne t1_javtxtf wrote

Obviously saves money. Now I don’t have to drive two hours round trip. It’s even less about money though and more about having more time in my day that isn’t designated to an employer who doesn’t give a shit

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latinomartino t1_jaxdpuh wrote

And in those two hours you can cook lunch/dinner, make yourself coffee, learn a hobby. So extra savings or more relaxation.

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RedditardedOne t1_jaxfkms wrote

You can use these oats to make oatmeal, bread, whatever you want. I don't care, they're your oats.

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New-Vegetable-1274 OP t1_jaw2iqj wrote

I can see so much good coming out of this. There's nothing worse than a toxic work place. That doesn't even mean bad management or politics it can be a sort of vacuum where every day is a shade of grey. If you have a job like that, working at home with it's pleasant ambience, it makes it a necessary evil rather than the bane of your existence.

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my_ashy_paintbox t1_jauu47q wrote

The answer should be overwhelmingly yes, the only instance I can think of off the top of my head where maybe no is if the office was providing free meals. There is both time and money cost to cooking at home.

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New-Vegetable-1274 OP t1_jaw36en wrote

I read happiness in your reply is that accurate? If so cheers!! Do you eat better now that you're working from home?

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jg429 t1_jaw1tyy wrote

For me, no, but my commute is super short (less than 5 miles), so the use of utilities at home during the day, esp in the winter and summer made it more expensive for me! I also bring my lunch to work so there is no extra food cost, which I see some folks saying in other comments. Still loved every second of being at home, though, lol

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New-Vegetable-1274 OP t1_jaw4yj4 wrote

That's too bad, I think that as work from home becomes more common, employers should be compensating this. It's like they're leasing part of your living space. I just wonder how one goes about framing that conversation with one's employer.

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jg429 t1_jaw9b9z wrote

I’m in education so that’s not in the cards for me lol

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New-Vegetable-1274 OP t1_jawgrhk wrote

Hi, I have friends who are educators who have left the profession for various reasons. Mostly it was over policy issues. They have all found employment doing other things but all agonized over the decision and are dealing with heartbreak. The consensus with them was they hated working from home during the pandemic. Care to add?

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jg429 t1_jawhk45 wrote

I'm in higher ed, so if your friends were in k12, their experience may have been a lot more difficult than mine. I LOVED being at home for myself, but my position was pretty much 100% student facing, and my students really struggled with that modality. The job itself was a lot harder, but remained incredibly challenging even when we came back in person, as our students seem to be facing a lot more barriers after losing so much during remote learning.

I considered leaving higher ed altogether, but recently moved into a new position (QCC to WSU) and I think that change was enough to keep me happy and in the field. My new role is not 100% student facing, which took some of the emotional labor out of the job and that helped a lot! The challenges students face are the same, but I am in a different role and have different responsibilities to try to problem solve. I was at QCC for almost 11 years, so I think I just needed a change overall, too. There's a lot more nuance to it with my specific roles, but I won't get into all of that.

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squid1980 t1_jaw3051 wrote

Yea because people always want to go out for lunch or after work drinks. Also my office was moved to TD garden so it’s a 4 hour round trip commute by train, $24. I love spending every minute with my dog. BUT there are bits of loneliness and missing shooting the shit with people

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New-Vegetable-1274 OP t1_jaw4b0b wrote

Dogs are a gift for sure and I'm sure yours appreciates your increased presence. Lot's of folks to shoot the shit with at dog parks. You should take some of that savings and spoil yourself and doggo on an adventure.

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squid1980 t1_jawc141 wrote

Thank you but dog parks are no bueno. A lot of un trained dogs and distracted owners. Also I have a pit so he’ll be blamed for anything even though he doesn’t have an aggressive bone in his body

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jg429 t1_jaw9gbf wrote

Yes! I lost my dog in September and I’m so thankful I was home for 18 months with him during COVID. Best years of his life for sure

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squid1980 t1_jawbt2p wrote

I’m so sorry 😢 I hope he’s living his best angel life

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MARetro t1_jaw4iye wrote

Up front, no. Because I needed to buy a bunch of stuff to set up office at home. Work issued laptop on the kitchen table isn't good long term. Needed a desk, second monitor, monitor stands, chair, etc.

But now? Absolutely. I used to commute to Providence daily. Now it's a 1x per month trip. I filled up every 4 days, and now I fill up monthly.

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New-Vegetable-1274 OP t1_jaw6gkg wrote

Good for you. Tethered to guaranteed income but working and equipped like a freelancer. The savings is the icing on the cake. I'm retired but commuting got so I had to have a second car, a work car, smaller more economical. I bought my "last" car in 2020, so far I've put only 15 thousand miles on it. So far responses to this post have been positive, Cheers!

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MARetro t1_jaw8yzr wrote

Yep. Add making my own coffee and eating lunch at home, I've probably saved thousands. If you figure $20 a day for breakfast + lunch out, *200 or so days in the office, that's $4k a year. Minus a few days off, add in a few happy hours, roughly that much I'd assume.

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New-Vegetable-1274 OP t1_jawhi9r wrote

Wow, good for you. 4k buys a really nice vacation or a lot of smaller fun adventures. Cheers and Blue Skies!

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Lil_Brown_Bat t1_jaw6b5a wrote

Hasn't really saved me much money considering inflation in the last 2 years.

However, it HAS given me more sleep and more time to do things like laundry, grocery runs, etc. So I am more refreshed and have more me time on the weekends.

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New-Vegetable-1274 OP t1_jaw7fdb wrote

Well, it's savings on your health. I never realized how sleep deprived I was until I retired. It's so important and ranks up there with nourishment and exercise. It isn't just sleep but the absence of stress related to hurried morning routines. Check those boxes, eventually inflation will abate.

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my_ashy_paintbox t1_jaxbjut wrote

Why do I get the feeling the OP is just a AI chatbot scraping data? The replies seem very robotic. Some data scientist working for City Hall is just gathering data to see if they should make municipal employees return to the office.

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New-Vegetable-1274 OP t1_jaxl809 wrote

I'm 100% human and sort of a work voyeur. I retired when Covid became an issue because being a senior I was in a risk group. So I missed out on telecommuting and am curious about what seems to be the dawn of a new and exciting change in the work world. My career began before the age of the PCs. We had large, slow and limited main frame computers. The closest thing to a printer were the plotters that generated something like blueprints. We didn't have virtual anything and if something couldn't be resolved by a phone it meant traveling to meet with the customer. I love to travel but business travel sucks. So what I'm getting at is that I and some of you are witnesses to the end of the way we have done business for quite a long time. You are on the edge of something very different, exciting and with so much potential. If that doesn't spin your wheels, I'll be excited for you.

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vacation_forever t1_jaw713i wrote

Have any employers taken advantage of this by demanding more of your time now that if you work from home you are always at work?

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New-Vegetable-1274 OP t1_jaw85qf wrote

I think there needs to be some ground rules laid here. Extra work should mean extra compensation. Working from home is fairly new and I think it could go off the rails if there isn't some contractual elements added.

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InevitableOne8421 t1_jawlxb0 wrote

Parking is 40 a day and commuter rail is 26 between fare and parking. My office is near DTX in Boston so that’s a good 3 hrs as well round trip. It is a ton of money but we also live in a cheaper house so the savings are massive when you factor in housing costs.

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New-Vegetable-1274 OP t1_jaxtb3s wrote

Yikes!!! Sounds like a grind, I'll bet working from home is like a dream come true. It's insane what things cost now.

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KadenKraw t1_jax1p94 wrote

Oh yeah. Less money on gas and car maintenance. Instead of driving every single day I drive maybe a few miles on average per weekend for errands.

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New-Vegetable-1274 OP t1_jaxn8p2 wrote

That kind of makes the case for EVs.

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KadenKraw t1_jaxok0k wrote

Yeah except they are too expensive still. Would if I could.

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New-Vegetable-1274 OP t1_jaxrvaf wrote

Yeah the price is a little steep but I bought a vehicle a few years ago that was nothing special and it was $40,000. I think the EV presently makes sense as an urban, short trip vehicle but the logistics involved for all the long range stuff is years away from being workable. Also the fact that electricity is generated from fossil fuels makes it a zero sum thing environmentally. What's not coming out of a tail pipe here is still coming out where ever electricity is generated. My hope is that AI will solve our energy problems.

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KadenKraw t1_jaxtyqs wrote

>$40,000

Yeah I have never in my life paid more than 15k for a used car. 40k is not even close to worth the price or what I would be willing to pay for a rarely used vehicle. It would need to be way cheaper to make economic sense for me and most people. Don't get me wrong think evs are very cool but it's just not worth it yet.

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New-Vegetable-1274 OP t1_jay8i73 wrote

I normally wouldn't pay that much but it's my retirement car, I'm never buying another vehicle.

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KadenKraw t1_jaydu7j wrote

Yeah totally makes sense at that point. I'm 30 so still quite away from my last car. Once my 2017 Corolla dies I'm eyeing a rav 4 hybrid or maybe full eclectic will be cheap by that point if I get the average 10 years of a car 2027 will hopefully have much better options and prices.

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Girlwithpen t1_jax866e wrote

I have noticed global companies are creating hybrid work requirements, most 3 office days, and that this appears to be exponentially trending.

I work with CEOs and senior leaders and they are all now using the same catch phrases and ideology around the benefits of onsite presence. This trending is common, we see it in all areas of social business decisions.

But employees with options are simply choosing to find other opportunities or simply point out they will visit the office as they deem necessary which means companies have to decide where they draw the line.

With global footprints and technology the whole concept of an office space is no longer contemporary, and over time, for office work, the space will disappear. The hybrid model is part of that transformation as is employees with options (experience, educated) saying uh-huh, no thank you.

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New-Vegetable-1274 OP t1_jaxn2qb wrote

I can see their point from a business perspective but also a social one. Good execs know their people and how to get the most from them. Will the day come when your employment from hire to the end occurs without ever having been in the physical presence of those with whom you work?

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ShareFearless8434 t1_jaxfx5x wrote

Although I work hybrid at times, working from home definitely saves time and transportation costs. However, depending on your role and home situation, working from home while making you more productive isolates you from the office herd. In my case, I end up feeling disconnected and also, missing out on ideas that I come up with from conversations and discussions with my teammates.

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New-Vegetable-1274 OP t1_jaxhpba wrote

Are all your teammates also remote? If so why not have a work chat room, a virtual place where you can discuss business and socialize.

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ShareFearless8434 t1_jaxlayu wrote

Due to low staffing issues (reqs have been open for a while but not many applicants), we are working long hours and busy solving problems with new product development issues (multiple product lines). So, getting together virtually becomes very difficult. If we were on site, then I/we could discuss something by simply walking over to my/our colleague’s cubicle. This convenience is what is lacking for me in a virtual/hybrid work environment. Emails and IM’s, as many of us know, are not effective due to the sheer volume of messages most of us receive.

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Speedwagon1935 t1_jaxqhd0 wrote

I was suppose to go to fashion school in boston but COVID canceled any hopes of that even now. Became my own boss and I make $12k a month sitting at home because I refuse to ever work in a retail or office environment again with those dunces that drove me to the brink of insanity.

If what I am doing ever fails I can just sign up for the fire department and work 3x more for less with somewhat decent people.

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