How much does it cost you to work?

[disneysteve]

From a comment on another thread:

What expenses do you incur as a result of your job?

Think of everything you spend due to working including things like special clothing or uniforms, transportation, parking, food, supplies or equipment, licenses or certifications, continuing education requirements, insurance coverage, etc.

Personally, I spend little to nothing for my job. I live 8 miles from my office so minimal gas usage, under a gallon per day. Parking is free. I pack my lunch but I'd have to eat no matter what so that's not really a job expense. I do have several licenses and certifications I have to maintain but my employer pays those costs.

Every few years, I need to buy a new stethoscope when mine wears out. That's about $200 maybe every 5-7 years.

I do need to go to an education course for credits every 3 years. That runs about $1,000 all together.

That's all I can think of.

[msomnipotent]

I didn't work after I had a baby because the daycare expense would have been almost equal to what I would earn. Thinking about looking for work now that she is older.

I basically just have to pay for a very high speed internet connection for when my husband works at home and a tank of gas every 10 days or so. It is nice now that they changed the dress code and he can wear jeans and semi-casual shoes, which he would wear anyway.

[disneysteve]

daycare expense

That's a biggie for folks with young kids. It's definitely one reason my wife was a SAHM for many years. She didn't have a high-paying job and it didn't make sense for her to work 40 hours a week when a huge chunk of her income would just go for daycare.

[phantom]

I have very few direct work expenses. I wear the same clothes to work that I'd wear around the house and I eat the same lunches I'd eat at home. My employer pays for all the software I need to do my job. So, transportation is pretty much my only cost. I'm not sure how much the wear and tear on my car costs, but gas is around $150/month. Technically, I could cut down the number of days I go into the office, but I like being around my coworkers and playing board games with them at lunch.

Where it gets expensive is when you start adding the costs of things that I use my job as an excuse to spend money on. I started doing iOS development a few years back and started growing a collection of Apple products shortly thereafter. First it was a used iPhone because I didn't have a smart phone at all and wanted to better understand common mobile design patterns. Then it was a used MacBook Pro because I wanted to be able to develop apps on my own and had gotten really used to using a MacBook at work. Then it was a new iPhone when the first one started to get too old and slow. All said, I think I'm averaging $1000-2000/year on Apple products.

Edit: How did I forget about day care? That's another $14000/year right there.

[Mjenn]

I bike to work most days, but not in the snow, so it's about 5 dollars a day for parking on most days and I bought a nice bike for 500 dollars which I probably wouldn't have if I was home.

One kid in daycare, but it is one price per month and then hours dependent on employment situation and I don't think I have what it takes to be a full time sahm so don't know if this is an expense but we pay 150 dollars a month.

I make a salad and bring it or grab a sandwich for between 5-10 dollars a day.

Free coffee at work and fruit so that saves a bit as when I worked at home I drank a lot of coffee.

Clothes are probably the biggest expense, but I'm pretty restrained there by comparison. Makeup is one too that I skip working from home but gets a bit pricy.

[bjl584]

The obvious ones are transportation and lunch.

My truck is paid for, so right now it's gasoline, insurance, and general maintenance costs.

I eat a fair amount, but I do all of my own cooking and meal prep, so it doesn't cost me much on a daily basis.

We have free coffee at work should I have the occasional cup.

No special uniforms required, so no expenses for clothing above normal clothing costs.

I guess the biggest expense is becoming my time, especially as I continue to build my portfolio and look for additional income streams. There are times when I think, "I wish I didn't have to be at work all day. If I were free I could really have time to look into this or that investment or follow a particular stock or piece of real estate more closely."

[97guns]

Another question is how much did it cost you to work?

[disneysteve]

My truck is paid for, so right now it's gasoline, insurance, and general maintenance costs.

Is the vehicle only for work? If not, the insurance and maintenance would have to happen anyway, so that isn't a work expense. Gas is, especially if you have a long commute.

[Sagalamora]

I've got a quite long commute to my workplace and that surely costs me something significant, but that's nothing compared to the pain of being working anyway.

[james.hendrickson]

Great point - there doesn't seem to be any way around some of these basic work expenses.

I work from home...so internet and coffee?

Per month, thats...

$49.99 for internet
$70 bucks for electricity
$50 for coffee

One way to save on these expenses is to only heat and light the areas of the home you live in (e.g. turn off the lights, and close doors to the rooms that you aren't using to avoid heating them). It's best to switch from coffee to water, but if you aren't going to do that, make coffee at home.

[cornfieldj]

My first thought is U-G-H, meaning "too much." I live and work in NYC. It's expensive, kind of. I buy a monthly transit pass for the NYC subways and buses, and I buy it pre-tax. It's $116.50, and it's for unlimited use.

I bring lunch practically every day. On the other hand, I treated myself to lunch out with a friend, and it was $20. (I had a cheeseburger and a diet soda in midtown Manhattan.)

I really have to dress a certain way, and I do hit thrift shops but that's hit or miss. I probably spend less than $400 a year on clothes, but I almost feel it would be worth it to spend a bit more and look better.

I do my own hair. Although I make an occasional TV appearance and I think a professional blow-out is worth the $45. (Also, my accountant says these things could be tax deductible.)

So there you have it. I'm a cheapskate in a super expensive city, and I really try hard not to spend a ton. I mostly succeed. Lunch from home alone is a huge savings. I'm amazed when I see my coworkers spend an average $8 to $15 a day on lunch!

[greenskeeper]

54 cents per mile or whatever the IRS reimbursement rate is what should be used to calculate commuting costs plus tolls, etc.

[Outdoorsygal]

You said insurance so I’ll add that

$37 per mo Medical
$26 Dental Husband & I
$22 Life insurance, accident, dismember combined.

I guess it goes without saying employer pays 90% of the above so that is why the premiums are lower.

My gasoline to and from work is covered by employer at $12.50 per week. Actual cost $9 but there is wear and tear so probably, this isn’t quite enough $$ except my husband always buys cars from auto recyclers, fixes them up, we drive for 2-4 yrs, then he sells at a small profit. So we have no wear and tear costs.

$25 a month buying clients stuff. Coffee, treating to eat once a month, etc..
————————————
$110 per month though realistically, it is about $25 per mo.

[bigdaddybus]

$150 a month in fuel (wife and i commute together), $350 a month for lunch (wife and I both), maybe $120 a month in business casual clothing for both of us.

[disneysteve]

54 cents per mile or whatever the IRS reimbursement rate is what should be used to calculate commuting costs

Or I can use the actual cost which makes more sense.

You said insurance so I’ll add that

When I said insurance, I meant insurance that is required for your job. For example, I'm a physician so I need malpractice insurance. If I stopped working tomorrow, I wouldn't need it anymore. I didn't mean health, dental, or life insurance since you'd have those costs no matter what, working or not.