Working in the New Year: Could You Save By Telecommuting? [Infographic]

One of the realities associated work is that getting there costs money. Your commute can be costly, resulting in money spent in gas, and time spent behind the wheel. Even if you don’t own a home business, you might be able to work from home. With the right home office set up, you might be able to telecommute to your job — even if it is only two or three days a week.

Could Telecommuting Save You Money?

You could save quite a bit of money just by telecommuting, according to the following infographic from Streamline Refinance:

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Via: Streamline RefinanceAs you can see, the average person spends close to $20 per day on commuting. And, unlike travel for business purposes, you can’t deduct the mileage associated with your daily commute. This means that it’s all cost to you, reducing the total amount of money that you make each day. Other costs can be added to your requirement to head in to the office each day. The cost of your wardrobe and its upkeep, as well as the possible cost of snacks, lunches and more. All of it starts to add up, costing you money.

On top of that, there is no getting back the amount of time you spend on your commute. The longer your commute, the less time you have to spend with your family, or to do things that you enjoy doing. You might miss out on putting your kids to bed, or seeing them off in the morning. Plus, that commute might be unproductive time. While you can make a train commute more productive by doing some work during the ride, or you can improve yourself on a car ride by listening to audiobooks, by and large the time you spend on the commute is wasted.

Telecommuting to Work

Instead, you might be able to telecommute. While some employers won’t let you telecommute 40 hours a week, some will let you telecommute two or three days a week. Even telecommuting two days a week can result in big savings over the course of a decade or two.

However, you do have to be prepared for some of the realities associated with telecommuting. First of all, you need to make sure that your home is equipped for telecommuting. You need to have the right equipment for your home office, as well as necessary software for your computer. You might need to purchase special items to make your home office compatible with what is happening at work.

Additionally, you will also need to be able to focus on what you are doing. Initially, it can be hard to be productive when you are working from home. However, as you learn to schedule your work time and keep out distractions, you might find that you get more done at home. And that’s a win for you and your employer. Make sure, though, that you can handle working at a distance, and that you are able to handle the feelings of isolation that sometimes come when you no longer have the same level of coworker interaction.

What do you think? Is telecommuting a good idea?