For most of us, working from home has become the new norm. However, we can’t ignore some of the added benefits that have come along with it. It has allowed us to have more time, save money and avoid a stressful commute each morning.
While working from home has its perks, it may have generated some extra expenses.
Here are some small changes that you can make to help you keep your cost down and your savings up.
Review your subscriptions.
Take a good look through all of the paid subscription services you have signed up to. There may be some that you no longer need since you are working from home. This could be anything from an application you used while working in the office and no longer need to claiming a refund on your season train or bus tickets. There may even be subscriptions that you have forgotten about.
This is also something you can do in your personal life too. For example, if you only listen to audiobooks on the way to work. Cancel your membership until you start to commute again.
Food.
Working from home; especially during lockdown, can be difficult. We are so restricted to the things we can do and ordering a takeaway seems like one of the only ‘fun’ things we can still do. However, ordering a coffee here and a sandwich there can really add up especially if it’s part of your daily routine.
A great alternative to ordering lunch is meal prep. This is great because not only does it save you money and give you a healthier option, it means when it comes to lunch you can have a tasty meal without much effort since you have already prepped it. This can easily be prepared while cooking your evening meal the night before.
Remember, you don’t have to fully restrict yourself from takeaways. Having one or two takeaways a week is a great way to treat yourself. This can motivate you by giving you something to look forward to and this.
This way you can still support your local businesses.
Remember there are other helpful and efficient ways to support local businesses – we wrote about them in this blog post.
Claim tax relief.
You can now claim tax relief for additional charges from working from home. This can be on anything that has increased your bills due to working from home, from your heating and water bills to your broadband. You may also be able to claim back on any equipment you’ve had to purchase due to working from home.
This will offer you a small contribution to help you cover those extra costs and can be done through the GOV.UK website.
Review your home efficiency.
NowThis is the perfect time to review your household bills and ensure you are getting the best deal. Do your research to make sure you have the best plans and tariffs for your situation, switching providers may save you some money.
Along with that, there are small changes that can help you make a difference. For example, turning the heating down in your house for a few hours during the day or only putting enough water in the kettle for what you’re going to use, rather than filling it right up. These small changes can help you save energy and cost.
Restrict yourself.
Finally, have some self-discipline. It’s so easy for us to have that mentality of telling ourselves that working from home is difficult but only temporary, so to help with it treat yourself with takeaways, new gadgets, or even unnecessary office equipment. It may be temporary but it’s also long term, therefore that kind of mindset is not efficient or practical for you or your business.
If you have any questions about how you could manage your money as a small business or Sole Trader, get in touch with us today.
