Work At Home . . . Or Not?

This is the question that I constantly ask myself . . . every single day . . .ever since I started to work as a full-time online freelance worker. 

Working Outside

Working at home brings a lot of advantages, particularly when it comes to expenses. Yes, the big E for those who are not quite well-off in life . . . well for those who cannot control the urge to take out the wallet and fish for their hard-earned cash, or worse, their plastic.

Expenses will definitely go down when you work at home. This is particularly important for people who have a family to feed. Be it one or two or even more mouths to feed. 

I know of a number of online freelance workers who would rather work at home since they feel that they can be more productive at home. They also have to save up on expenses. When you work at home, the only thing that may increase to a significant degree is the electricity bill. Your food expenses, clothing expenses, transportation expenses and other similar expenses associated with being employed in a regular company will go down. 

Eating at home is cheaper compared to eating at the company canteen or even the friendly neighborhood carenderia of Nang Rosa. You may even forego full meals since you would take small snacks while working, which would take a big part of your appetite. Nothing beats spending P25 for a whole meal at home especially if you frequently visit that clown or fat bee at the mall for your meals.

Another thing that would go down to a significant degree are your expenses for clothing. You do not have to update your wardrobe every month or every quarter or even every year for that matter. You can start working straight out of bed, even before your morning rituals (you can do this in between your online tasks) I'm sure there are some online freelance workers who do this, some may even be tempted to work in their birthday suit (that is if they keep their doors locked and window shades down).

Since you are working at home, you can save at least P16 from your transportation expenses every single day, that is if your workplace is only one ride away and you do can bear the heat and crowd every morning and afternoon trying to catch that ever-familiar King of the Philippine roads. Although it may not sound that much, if you add up what you spend for your fare for the whole year, you can probably be able to change your wardrobe for work. These expenses will up if you take multiple rides or you take the taxi every day. It will be worse if you own a vehicle, with the continuing increase in gas prices, it may soon become cheaper to sell your car and use the money for your fare every day.

You may also have some other expenses associated with working in a regular 8-to-5 job that I may have failed to mention, but these are probably the most basic expenses that you can do away with if you work at home as an online freelance worker.

The only expense that may increase if you work at home is your electric bill. I don't think I have to explain this unless you have just woken up from a two-century coma and never heard of what Benjamin Franklin did with his kite and key in the middle of a lightning storm.

Working At Home

All the other expenses actually do not increase or decrease if you start to work at home. Your internet bill will remain the same since the bill is fixed for the entire month. You pay for it even if you do not use it. You also pay the same amount even if you use it 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 4 weeks each month, and 12 months each year.

Now back to the original question, work at home or not? If you ask me, I would rather work outside the house. Since I do not have any other mouth to feed besides my own, I can afford to do this. However, it is more than just the expenses that made me decide to work outside the house even if I can work at home as an online freelance worker. I work outside the house since I want to be able to mingle with other people. It may sound absurd to some online freelance workers but I would rather work in a place that is teeming with people, anyway I can block off all the noise by listening to the Rhythm of the City. 

Working outside the house also gives me the opportunity to see some old friends who may be in the neighborhood. This week alone, I was able to see at least two people whom I haven't seen ever since college, which is a very loooooooooong time ago.

However when I work outside the house, I make sure that the internet connection in the place where I work is suitable enough for my work or at least there is an internet connection. I also make sure that the people in the place where I work are used to people like me who spend the whole day in front of a netbook or a laptop. This way I do not get rather uncouth stares from them. I normally work in a coffee shop with a number of branches around the city. The baristas at this coffee shop are rather welcoming and they make you feel at home, unlike another coffee shop that I used to frequent in the past. I also work in a resto-bar where the internet connection is rather fast and the beer is cold (I would need it sometimes to bring out the creative juices, just as long as I do not overdo it).

I also decided to work outside the house since I normally become sleepy when I work at home. The fact that the bed just two steps away from my workstation does not make it any easier.

It really depends on you whether you want to work at home or not if you become a full-time online freelance worker. IF you decide to work at home, good for you. But, if you decide to work outside the house, just make sure you can afford to do it and you find a place nice enough to work in. The internet connection should be stable and the ambiance is nice. And of course, the people are friendly and warm to an online freelance worker.