Working mom, editor, and writer Lylah M. Alphonse had an excellent post as part of her 36-Hour Day column at Work It, Mom! recently about steps she has taken to save money.
Thankfully I telecommute on Fridays, but I drive an SUV and gas…well, in case you've been living under a rock, it's not exactly cheap. Although I just have an 18-mile round trip commute Monday through Thursday, it cost me nearly $60 to fill up my Ford Explorer's tank last week.
Here are some small ways I've found I can save money specifically related to work:
Drive directly past Starbucks and drink the free stuff. Although Lylah's office cup of joe sounds pretty revolting, mine is actually pretty good and the powers that be at work have invested in a fancy pimped out coffee maker that utilizes those small coffee pods. Lo and behold, I also sit directly across from the break room. Huzzah!
Make and take your lunch. I had to add "and take" as there have been many mornings I've left my lunch at home on the kitchen counter only to realize it once I'm about to turn into my office parking lot.
Bring your own snacks. We have a snack machine on the first floor of my building, but with the crack temptresses of chocolate like Snickers and Twix bars calling my name, it helps if I have something like microwave popcorn in my desk drawer to help me make it through the early afternoon.
Put an emergency frozen lunch or two in the freezer. If you're lucky to have a community refrigerator at work (and you can claim a corner), buy a couple of frozen lunches and stash them in the freezer. Just make sure you autograph them with a Sharpie. We've nearly had blood shed in front of the water cooler over a pepperoni Lean Pocket. On the days you've left your brain, and your turkey on whole wheat sandwich, at home, you won't have to resort to forking over several dollars for lunch for an overpriced chicken sandwich.
Don't buy or wear dry clean only clothes. I can't remember the last time I had something dry cleaned. I'm thinking it was last fall for my husband's dress shirts. Thankfully my office has a casual dress code. Most of my nicer items can be washed on delicate and line dried. I'm sure 15 years ago when I was in the power suits and pantyhose days I was spending at least $25 a month on dry cleaning.
Use your lunch break to run errands online. With gas prices teetering over $4 a gallon, it's helpful to knock out errands online. I like to buy stamps online using my debit card, which saves me a trip to the post office, which is not in my direct line of commute. I'll scope out grocery sales fliers online and map out my grocery list. Basically anything that can be purchased online (especially with free shipping specials) is a bonus in my book. I do a lot of my Christmas shopping at Amazon.com.
Share books and magazines with co-workers. Our human resources manager brings in all her People and Health magazines to the break room. Between that great free resource of magazines and the ones that my mother shares with me, I can't recall the last actual magazine subscription I paid for. We also have a ton of readers at my office and there have been times I've borrowed a paperback from a co-worker.
Carpool. I don't have the opportunity to carpool for work, but my 6-year-old rides with my neighbor every morning during the school year. In turn, I pick up her daughter and mine every afternoon.
Share coupons. Our receptionist cuts out coupons for local area restaurants and puts them in a basket in our break room.
Utilize work discounts. In the 90s I worked for a large university that kept a running list of employee discounts for various local businesses. All you needed to do was show your university employee ID.
What are some of the ways you save money during the work week?
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I love the idea about sharing magazines rather than buying a subscription. Although, if you find that you're the person who always seems to be grabbing your favorite magazine at the checkout stand (and paying $3-$4 per issue) then it will actually save you money to buy a subscription, especially if you can find a deal. I read Parents magazine all the time and was able to get a great deal on a subscription so right now I'm paying only 33 cents per issue.
Great ideas. Normaly you hear ideas & they are a tad out there, but I could try almost every single one of these. Thanks!
Bonus breakroom find for the morning…one of my co-workers brought in some Minute Maid OJ juice boxes for the first taker!!! She doesn't have children and is single, but had a friend and her kids in town over the weekend. I couldn't believe she was just giving juice boxes away.
Yeah I lead an exciting life.
I make my own coffee to take to work with flavored creamer. Waayyy better than what's in our breakroom and cheaper that Caribou
I wish my office had the cool pod coffee
. Your points about dry cleaning and sharing magazines are great — thanks for the tips (and the link!)
Go to the local public library on your lunch hour. It’s a refreshing break and you can load up on books, magazines, music and movies all for free!