Canadian Personal Finance Blog

Archive for December 17th, 2007

So far in Ottawa we have more snow on the ground by today (December 17th) than we have had most years for the entire year, and we have had days where I can’t get to (or don’t want to) go to work, which made me think about the economics of “working at home” (I put quotes around it because I have far too many distractions at home, so for me it is rare that I actually get a lot done).

Economics of Telecommuting?

I know a few “telecommuters” and when the whole idea started some 15 years ago or so, the tools available were very primitive and it usually meant a significant outlay of cash by someone to set up elaborate high speed access (at the time my company gave you an ISDN line, which was incredibly slow by today’s standards, but not back then).

Today the technology to work at home is quite simple and setting up a home office is simply a matter of:

• Gettting high speed Internet access (ADSL, Cable, or even dial in)
• Your company needs to have a Virtual Private Network policy of some kind or another (if you need to access their network while you work)
• A spare phone, but that doesn’t even have to be an extra phone line any more, you can simply use a Voice Over IP client on your PC or have a Voice Over IP phone.

Voila, you are now set up to do the same work you do in your cube at work.

Is it cheaper for you to work at home? I won’t worry about whether it is worthwhile for your company since I would guess they won’t let you do it, if they don’t get something out of the deal.

• Automobile and travel expenses. With the current cost of gas, that in itself is a HUGE savings to you if you don’t have to travel to get to work.
• Travel time saved as well, you are starting work when you plunk yourself down in your office, commute time is very short, and when you decide to finish work, you simply walk away. On a day like today with lots of snow and lots of idiots on the roads, you cannot discount the value of this in my mind.
• Don’t have to eat lunch or dinner in the cafeteria or at a restaurant, and won’t buy coffees or snacks as well.

To my mind these are really only things that make working at home attractive financially.

If any home workers want to chime in on other financial points where working at home is better, please feel free to comment.

Snow!

My snowblower is now much cheaper per use, given I have used it about 10 times so far this year, just as an update to my on going discussions of “What is cheaper, snowblower or snow removal service“.

Self Directed RESPs

Larry McDonald has been posting a series of interesting articles on RESPs and their pitfalls and things to watch for. I have 4 RESPs going right now and I am going to investigate the viability and economics of setting up a self directed RESP for my youngest child, just to see whether I can get better control of the investing in this area. Stay tuned, I will be posting more as I learn. I already spoke to Michael James on money about it, so he may have something to say in that area some time soon as well. Canadian Capitalist also has postings in this area, that are worth reading.