Frugal & Fabulous: Rethinking Your Commute Could Save More than $$$

Now who was it who said “Time is money”?

It was of course Ben Franklin, my new post-mortem BFF and role model, a man whose ideas were as fabulous, as he was frugal.

So let’s take a page from Ben’s notebook again, and think about the time spent and the expenses involved in commuting to work versus working from home.

When you consider the cost of gasoline, car maintenance, train tickets, lunch in the cafeteria or a local restaurant, expensive and not-so-expensive bagels, snacks, coffee, a professional wardrobe and the services of a dog walker, you might wonder, with calculator in hand, how much am I really netting at the end of the day?

With our current communication technology, wouldn’t it make sense to simply – log-in from home?

Financial Advisor Eve Kaplan, a resident of Berkeley Heights, who established her own home-based business in 2003, said the three and a half hour round trip commute from Berkeley Heights to Water Street in New York City became untenable.

“For me, the biggest expense was the time I was wasting commuting back and forth,” said Kaplan who worked as a consultant to Standard & Poor’s until four days prior to September 11, 2001.

She said her main objective was to launch her own financial planning business, but dodging the drudgery and wasteful commute was definitely a factor.

Now she offers “fee-only” financial planning services through her company, Kaplan Financial Advisers, and is able to enjoy a flexible work-life balance with high productivity.

“Time is our livelihood. There’s a better way to spend our time than three and a half hours a day in transit,” said Kaplan.

“While I do work many evenings, which makes it more convenient for clients, I can take time for dinner at home and then walk a few steps back to my office,” said Kaplan.

Employers Should Be Asking: Where Are You Most Productive? 

“We are seeing a much more fluid workforce now,” said Gil Gordon, Telework Consultant, based in Monmouth Junction, NJ, who began educating businesses and organizations about telework in 1982.

He said, employers should be asking employees -- Where are you most productive? Which workspace environment allows you to add the most value -- at home, the office, or somewhere else?

According to Gordon, not only can telework help employees balance their work life and personal lives, but companies that are receptive to telework arrangements are more likely to attract the most talented workforce.

“The companies that have benefitted the most, have understood that telework provides a variety of business solutions and often increases productivity, and that it’s not just of benefit to employees,” said Gordon.

“A company is more likely to attract the best of the best talent, if it creates an environment that rewards work productivity and not just presence,” said Gordon.

Alcatel-Lucent Embraces Telework 

Alcatel-Lucent has made a commitment to offering teleworking and virtual office arrangements, according to Mary Ward, Corporate Public Relations Manager, based in Berkeley Heights.

“We feel these options provide employees with a productive work environment that offers work place flexibility, promotes the use of our products and technology solutions, and has a positive impact on the environment by reducing fuel emissions,” said Ward. 

Ward said that on any given day, nearly one-quarter of Alcatel-Lucent’s U.S. employees are teleworking. 

“Many employees telework one or two days a week, and others do it throughout the week. For those employees who telework most of the time, when they do need to come to our offices, there are ‘flex offices’ available so they have a place to work when here,” said Ward. 

She said, teleworking is a large part of everyday life in Alcatel-Lucent offices in Australia, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, New-Zealand, Norway, Spain, the UK and elsewhere.  

Teleworking, or working from home, not only offers individuals the opportunity to cut back on a variety of expenses, it also reduces auto emissions.  

Ward said, “We also see it as a way to help the company reduce its carbon footprint because teleworking reduces the number of cars on the road as well as helps us reduce and consolidate our office space, and therefore the amount of buildings we have to light, heat and air condition.”

She said, the company conducted an analysis a few years ago and found that by reducing commuting, Alcatel-Lucent employees prevented more than 13,000 metric tons of CO2 from being emitted into the atmosphere on an annual basis.

So, not only is telework and working from home a frugal and fabulous way to work, we also have an opportunity to save our fabulous planet. 

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For more information about our interviewees:  

Kaplan Financial Advisors - http://www.kaplanfinancialadvisors.com 
Alcatel-Lucent - http://www.alcatel-lucent.com