6 ms·

Really? What expenses have gone up? Food? Unless your company provided a LOT of food? Are you paying more for internet? Paying more for sq footage? Curious

bamboozled 6y ago
One obvious expense for me is cleaning. I used to just be able to go get lunch, and relax / do activities on the weekend and come into a clean office and desk, fresh and ready to work. Now my house, with my partner and I being in it almost permanently, we make a lot of mess that constantly needs cleaning. I find that gets annoying combined with longer hours. Because we weren't home much beforehand, the apartment didn't get so dirty and just needed a light clean once a fortnight.
- mynegation 6y ago
  Absolutely this! Takeout containers or food scraps From cooking alone is a huge factor. And before COVID I could just pay someone to take care of this while we were at work, but where do I go now for even half a day? I honestly considered doing day-by-day coworking space rentals which would be an additional expense. Unfortunately my work involves a lot of talking on the phone and getting a dedicated office, even for a day is getting expensive.
- randycupertino 6y ago
  Also I think just because we're home more I have more chance to notice what slobs we are. I never noticed our baseboards in the house before wfh but now I look at them every time I'm in the bathroom. They're WHITE!! And they're getting dusty!
- asdff 6y ago
  Seemingly my sink is never free of dirty dishes no matter how many times I stop in my tracks in the middle of the day and take 10 minutes to do the dishes, breaking all concentration. Everywhere I look there is something to be done. I take a break to piss then see the bathroom is a mess. I go to grab a granola bar and realize I need to take an hour later to go shop at the grocery store, and return to my workspace hungry and defeated. I spend my days alternating between working on the couch and working on the bed, seemingly constantly doing chores around the clock. The list of things to do never ends, I just decide to put most of it off for the day once I'm too exhausted to do any more thinking or spend any more time on my feet. I can't do any deep work anymore with all the shoehorned zoom meetings I have to show face for. I feel more beat at the end of the day than when I was working 50 hour weeks busting ass as a groundskeeper in the hot humid sun. It's suffocating spending 100% of your time in one place. My apartment feels like a submarine at the bottom of the ocean. My productivity is somewhere down there, too. Despite all this, I drag on, just biding my time for that glorious day when I can get inoculated for COVID.
  - bamboozled 6y ago
    Re the dirty dishes, one killer way I get around this it to put away everything that I don’t use and only have one of each item I need. For example I only have one cup, one bowl and plate. If you have multiple items, you generate more mess and are less incentivised to clean things you don’t need.
- saddestcatever 6y ago
  Is that a time or monetary expense? Are you paying for cleaning service? (More than you would be for the corresponding takeout that cooking from home is replacing?)
mynegation 6y ago
Not OP. There are companies where food is (was) either free or heavily subsidized. For me, fitness expenses went up: I have to pay someone to use their small gym instead of paying flat fee for the chain gym. Car expenses went up, I did not drive to work, and now road trips is one of the very few remaining ways of entertainment. Not me, but some other people had to upgrade their internet connection, buy wifi extenders, and additional monitors (sometimes partially reimbursed by a company). Some had to move to the larger house because they’re DINK and need two offices.
- sokoloff 6y ago
  To be fair, car expenses for road trips for entertainment are pandemic costs but aren’t reasonably work-related expenses.
- saddestcatever 6y ago
  True! I can see a gym membership adding a non-significant monthly expense. Or having to re-locate to accomodate additional working space (rent asides, the cost of moving can be significant). Good insight.

bamboozled 6y ago

One obvious expense for me is cleaning. I used to just be able to go get lunch, and relax / do activities on the weekend and come into a clean office and desk, fresh and ready to work. Now my house, with my partner and I being in it almost permanently, we make a lot of mess that constantly needs cleaning. I find that gets annoying combined with longer hours. Because we weren't home much beforehand, the apartment didn't get so dirty and just needed a light clean once a fortnight.

mynegation 6y ago
Absolutely this! Takeout containers or food scraps From cooking alone is a huge factor. And before COVID I could just pay someone to take care of this while we were at work, but where do I go now for even half a day? I honestly considered doing day-by-day coworking space rentals which would be an additional expense. Unfortunately my work involves a lot of talking on the phone and getting a dedicated office, even for a day is getting expensive.
randycupertino 6y ago
Also I think just because we're home more I have more chance to notice what slobs we are. I never noticed our baseboards in the house before wfh but now I look at them every time I'm in the bathroom. They're WHITE!! And they're getting dusty!
asdff 6y ago
Seemingly my sink is never free of dirty dishes no matter how many times I stop in my tracks in the middle of the day and take 10 minutes to do the dishes, breaking all concentration. Everywhere I look there is something to be done. I take a break to piss then see the bathroom is a mess. I go to grab a granola bar and realize I need to take an hour later to go shop at the grocery store, and return to my workspace hungry and defeated. I spend my days alternating between working on the couch and working on the bed, seemingly constantly doing chores around the clock. The list of things to do never ends, I just decide to put most of it off for the day once I'm too exhausted to do any more thinking or spend any more time on my feet. I can't do any deep work anymore with all the shoehorned zoom meetings I have to show face for. I feel more beat at the end of the day than when I was working 50 hour weeks busting ass as a groundskeeper in the hot humid sun. It's suffocating spending 100% of your time in one place. My apartment feels like a submarine at the bottom of the ocean. My productivity is somewhere down there, too. Despite all this, I drag on, just biding my time for that glorious day when I can get inoculated for COVID.
- bamboozled 6y ago
  Re the dirty dishes, one killer way I get around this it to put away everything that I don’t use and only have one of each item I need. For example I only have one cup, one bowl and plate. If you have multiple items, you generate more mess and are less incentivised to clean things you don’t need.
saddestcatever 6y ago
Is that a time or monetary expense? Are you paying for cleaning service? (More than you would be for the corresponding takeout that cooking from home is replacing?)

mynegation 6y ago

Not OP. There are companies where food is (was) either free or heavily subsidized. For me, fitness expenses went up: I have to pay someone to use their small gym instead of paying flat fee for the chain gym. Car expenses went up, I did not drive to work, and now road trips is one of the very few remaining ways of entertainment. Not me, but some other people had to upgrade their internet connection, buy wifi extenders, and additional monitors (sometimes partially reimbursed by a company). Some had to move to the larger house because they’re DINK and need two offices.

sokoloff 6y ago
To be fair, car expenses for road trips for entertainment are pandemic costs but aren’t reasonably work-related expenses.
saddestcatever 6y ago
True! I can see a gym membership adding a non-significant monthly expense. Or having to re-locate to accomodate additional working space (rent asides, the cost of moving can be significant). Good insight.