Wednesday, November 2, 2011

$avings

I wrote a post a while ago asking for help coming up with a list financial perqs that people lose when they leave their jobs. I guess it was pretty complete, because I received only one addition (stock options).

How about the flip side—the savings you’ll reap when you’re no longer going to a day job? Again, I’m looking for a complete list, so I’ve included items here that aren’t relevant to me. For example, anyone who has been on a college campus lately knows that my savings in the wardrobe line will be minimal. While some professors do dress up, “business casual” is a bit more formal than what most of us aspire to. Transportation for me means a new pair of walking shoes every six months. It could help my colleagues, though, as the cost of parking at my university is over $300 a year!

So—most people who quit their day jobs might expend to spend less money on:
  • day care
  • pet care
  • wardrobe
  • transportation
  • meals
  • Depending on how stressful your job is, you might be able to cut down on your drinking once you're no longer going there every day (oh, I'm kidding)

Wow, that list is a lot shorter than the one detailing what perqs people stand to lose! I suppose I could add that every time that work commitments force me to turn down a speaking engagement or postpone writing I'm losing money, but that hardly seems fair; until I trade one kind of work for another, of course I'm not availing myself of the income from the second.

So what am I forgetting? Please help!



4 comments:

  1. You can save on grooming and personal care supplies. Who needs to look good sitting in your bathrobe, drinking coffee? (That is what I am doing right now.) Save on a gym membership, because being at home means I can walk my three dogs. Save on ordering out for dinner, because being at home means my afternoon break can be used for getting dinner started. Save on the water bill doing laundry, because of aforementioned bathrobe. Also, you can wear the same pair of jeans for days and no one cares.(I am probably beginning to sound like all personal hygiene has gone out the window, but it's just more relaxed.

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  2. I second on the meals. Since I'm home I have the whole day to think about what to make for dinner (that or throw something in the crockpot or fall back on the old standby/kids' favorite: chocolate chip pancakes.) We haven't gone out to dinner in ages.

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  3. I actually had "gym membership" as one of the things I'm going to lose when I leave my day job! I walk the dogs anyway, and I need to lift weights too (fending off osteoporosis any way I can!). Grooming is already pretty minimal (go to a college campus and you'll believe me).

    Meals are definitely going to be a saver for a lot of people. I bring leftovers from home 99% of the time, but many people don't, so eating at home will be a money-saver for them. I'll be able to mull over plot points or character arcs while chopping and stirring, like Jody, or do it during my afternoon break, like the Jensen girls.

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  4. Not just lunches but dinners. When I was working full time I wound up ordering in or seem-ordering in all the time. That gets even more expensive if you buy food with the good intention of preparing it, only to wind up throwing it out and ordering in.

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