Save Big On Commuting Costs
First, let's figure out how much a typical commute really
costs. Let's say you're commuting 30 miles to work (and 30 miles
back home), 250 days per year, and it takes one hour each
way. That's 60 miles and 2 hours per day, 15,000 miles and 500 hours per year. At the standard IRS
expense rate of
34.5 cents per mile in the year 2001, that's $4,650.
But wait: That money
comes out of your salary, unavailable for you to spend on other stuff... and
yet you're taxed on that $5,175, because commuting expenses aren't
usually deductible. If your combined state/federal income tax and
payroll tax (Social Security tax) is 40%, you're losing
another $1860 in taxes. Now, how much is your time worth? If it's worth
$15 per hour, your daily two-hour commute is costing you another $7,500.
If you'd been working those two hours each day, that's what you would have earned.
So far, the costs in this hypothetical example total $14,535 per year. In your situation, you may
need to consider other costs: parking fees, business luncheons, business
attire, and perhaps day care costs. There are also hidden costs:
exposure to unhealthy smog, time spent away from your family, and the
possibility of a traffic accident.
Is your commute a virtual Darth Vader, sucking the
life out of your financial future? Here are some ways to
take control of your destiny:
- Work at home, telecommuting for a few days each week.
- How about forming a telecommuting tag team with a co-worker? Each of you
could take turns working at home, and covering for the other in the workplace. If communication is necessary, do it
with Email, phone calls or Web-cams.
- Ride the bus, car-pool with other workers or van-pool. You
can eat or do career-related paperwork while another person is driving. Keep
a record of time spent and work done. If you work efficiently while
commuting, your boss might say, "Okay, I'll let you spend more time working
at home and less time in the office."
- Adjust the timing of your commute to avoid traffic jams.
- Move your home closer to work, or change to a job closer to home.
- Buy a light, durable used car to use for your commute. That will
save on gas, insurance and wear-and-tear of your first car.
- Turn this problem into a profit opportunity by starting a van-pooling
business. Buy a used minivan, and charge passengers to take them to
work. Van-pooling is the
cheapest way to go to work, and almost as convenient as driving there
yourself.
- Mileage is deductible if it's associated with charity, medical needs or
driving from from one workplace to another. If you have your own "sideline"
business, you can work in your home office an hour each morning, go
to work, come home, work
another hour, and all that mileage becomes deductible. Or, you could
drive to a workplace near your home, where you perform a part-time job or
charitable work. The "charity mileage rate" is lower, about half the
31-cent business rate.
Should you buy a hybrid gas/electric car? You'd spend about 40%
less for gas. An all-electric car would have fewer moving
parts for less repair costs and a longer life, so you might save another
few thousand dollars that way. Electric cars are also environmentally clean, nice
and quiet. For more up-to-date news on electric cars, visit
EVWorld.com.
Trouble is, electric cars can't go any farther than 100 miles. Some
of them can only go 70 miles. For that reason, an electric car is
not a good choice for a first car, although it's an excellent choice for
a second car or a car that you use only for commuting. Prices are high
at this time (around $30,000 to $40,000) but watch for them to come down in the next
few years. Fuel-cell cars should also become available within a decade.
Perhaps your highest hurdle will be persuading the boss that this
telecommuting stuff is a good idea. You might be told, "Sorry, but
I need you here." To overcome resistance, be kind and tactful to your boss while
pointing out the benefits of telecommuting. Here's how to start telecommuting to save yourself time
and money:
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Save Big On Commuting Costs 
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Time to complete:
| Days to weeks |
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Money you'll spend:
| Consider telecommuting equipment costs (computer, software, second phone line, etc.) |
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What you'll get:
| Thousands of dollars in cost savings, and many hours saved too. |
Step-by-step instructions:
- Research telecommuting for a few days, until you are confident that you
understand the subject.
- Observe the work patterns in your workplace, to see how much of it could
be done at home. While
you're at work, keep track of what you do. How much of it really
requires your presence there? Could you do some clerical stuff at home,
then commute to work on the tasks that require your presence? Could a
co-worker "cover for you" while you're at home?
- Talk about telecommuting with the people in your office who you know are reasonable and
progressive. See what they think.
- Write down all of the ways that telecommuting can benefit your
organization, including:
- Workers will like it, which will help improve personnel recruitment and
retention. Women are less likely to leave the organization when they
start a family.
- There could be cost savings to the business: less need for office space, office
day-care facilities, and so forth.
- Improved worker health: no smog exposure, fewer traffic accidents.
- Outline a telecommuting plan for your workplace. Show it to
someone you trust, to get a second opinion. Then show the plan to
management.
- If your boss says no, ask for his or her objections. Then say
that you'll try to come up with solutions and/or offsetting advantages, and that you
might re-submit your proposal in a week or so. Another alternative
is to find a work-at-home job (that's covered later in the Careers section.)
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Further Reading:
 This AnchorDesk Telecommuter's Toolkit gives you the advice you need to
declare your independence from your office or cubicle. It tells you
what you'll need: a power notebook, fast internet connection, instant
messaging, comfortable ergonomics, and contact managaement. It finishes
up by discussing potential pitfalls, such as safety and liability issues.
- There is a listing of Telecommute-Friendly Companies at 2Work-At-Home.com.
- For more telecommuting resources, click: Telecommuting Jobs. You
can find telecommuting job opportunities at this site, in the
careers of Artist, Data Entry, Desktop Publisher, Engineer,
Photographer, Programmer, Sales, Web Designer, Writer and Other
Skills.
 Trade Journals, free trials available
 Working from Home : Everything You Need to Know About Living
and Working Under the Same Roof, a top-rated book at Amazon.com that
tells you everything you need to know about how to find telecommuting work
and manage a home office.
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