In order to increase productivity we have cut our cable from expanded basic to basic and rented an office. Cutting our cable from expanded basic to basic will save us about $33 a month. Our savings should be more than that since we will be losing most of our channels and no longer be able to watch on demand programs. We are paying a lot more per channel than we were before. I would cut cable out completely but we still have a tube TV and can’t receive over the air signals. We will likely get a new TV during the holiday season and if it is able to pick up the local channels we will completely cut the cable. That way our new TV could pay for itself. 🙂 We will also be staying in hotels two or three times a month and can get our cable fix then if we need it.
We also rented an office. I’m going to allocate 50% of the rent to my web business and 50% to our offline business. We don’t have to have an office but we are getting this for only $120 a month. It is basically just a 12×12 room but it is all we need. If I’m able to improve my productivity enough to make an extra $60 a month then the office will be worth it. I’m confident that the office will make me more productive. We will know for sure at the end of the month.
Related
That sounds like a crazy good deal for the office, but will you have other out of pocket costs? Does it include electricity? Is there a bathroom you can use? The frugal miser in me also wonders if there are any restrictions about when you can be there – can you be there overnight if needed? It would be really cheap if you could sleep there, too!
Electric is included and there is a bathroom to use. The main extra cost is internet which will run us another $50 a month. We can be there at night but the property manager would probably frown on us sleeping there.
If someone were in a financially desperate situation they probably could live at the office if they weren’t obvious about it. The bathroom doesn’t have a shower so that would be a bit of a problem. Hopefully, I’ll never be in a situation where I have to consider living at the office.
Good luck with the productivity increase. Good questions in the above comment. What about transportation costs? It must be close to home.
It isn’t that close to home so there will be transportation costs but we usually are in the office area several times a week anyway so it won’t increase our transportation costs that much. Considering all the associated costs of the office it will be hard to recoup the costs with increased productivity but for the price the office is an affordable extra expense.
Your old TV may still have life.
Sounds like you just need a digital to analog converter box.
http://www.amazon.com/Magnavox-DTV-Digital-Analog-Converter/dp/B0045Y1IMQ/ref=pd_sxp_grid_pt_1_0
We live in the boondocks so we get no signal without cable.
But we use netflix and hulu over our DSL connection instead.
The office sounds like it is reasonable. Do you have to commit to a lease? Is it walking distance?
To me, it would be worthwhile to have a “work” place that is separate from my “play” space. But to some people it doesn’t seem to matter.
Sounds like you’re finding success. Good luck !
Good luck with the office. I’m curious to see if it will really help with the productivity.
I have had this exact convo with The Wife – if I ever left my current day job I would 100% get a small office as well. I think you are going to find the act of “going to work” will make you much more productive.