Cost of Working

[Poohforyou]

I've been very fortunate to have been able to structure my career to allow me to be part time when dd was a baby thru middle school. I went back full time when she went into high school. I would have gone full time a bit sooner but it took a bit of time to work out the arrangements.

I never considered being a full time SAHM. My dad died when I was 8 and I saw how fortunate we were that my mom had a career. It would have been a much rougher childhood had she not. Even with life insurance and other benefits from my father.

I actually spend less money working full time than I did part time. I drop dd at school now so no stopping at Starbucks. I don't have as much free time to judgeship for fun. My spending is much more necessity driven now.

I've always brought my lunch to work and I'm only about 5 miles from the office. As for work wardrobe, it's business casual which can even be stretched to nice jeans. I do a lot of mix and match so I don't have a specific clothes that I only wear to work.

 

[LinderInWonderland]

My DH and I have no kids. We both work and we are getting ready to move next month. We just have one car that he uses to commute. My work pays for my transit pass. I bring lunch from home every day (almost always dinner leftovers) and limit my buying coffee out to once a week. I've been the same size for a few years and don't buy super-trendy pieces, so that saves money.

This is not to say that I didn't make a HUGE error moving closer to my job. Yes, I was saving commute time, but our costs increased much more than I planned on. The biggest error? Not asking what the annual rent increases were like here. At our last place, our rent went up a total of $75 over 6 years. At this place, our rent went up $75/mo after one year. Fortunately I had received a promotion last year so we were more easily able to absorb it, but I will cap out in this job in 3 years. We made the decision that we would move back to our old city when this lease was up. I am so glad we did! We got the lease renewal notice and the rent is going up by $145/mo!

By moving back to our old city, we will cut my husband's commute expenses by 2/3. My commute time goes back to what it was, but shorter by one day a week because I work 4 10s now. I can also work at my main office in the mornings and then go to my secondary office in the afternoons, which makes the commute a bit more comfortable (bus in, train home). We will be saving $570/month off of our current rent/utility expenses. I plan on eliminating even my weekly latte by getting an Aeropress for my office.