Everyone needs to make money, right? The majority of adults in the UK are employed by someone else, although that number is changing as more and more people take on self employment. However, even though you receive a pay check every month, the actual cost of going to work can be surprisingly high! When you start a job, there are lots of additional costs to factor in, which can make a big difference to your overall budget.
Getting up, getting dressed, travelling to work and eating lunch out are all expenses that can quickly add up over the year, but, for some, these are all necessities in order to actually do your job. Different jobs have different demands, depending on which sector you work for, as some have more strict policies than others.
Petrol/travel costs.
Filling your car up each week with petrol, or buying a weekly ticket for the train or bus soon adds up. Even if you buy your train tickets in advance, which you should do if you know you need it every week, you are still paying a hefty sum for actually being able to get to your place of work every morning. Average monthly cost – £250.
Wear and tear on your car.
This links to the first one, but if you’re covering lots of miles each day/week to get to work, you inevitably cause some wear and tear on your vehicle. You wear down the tyres, you’re adding lots of mileage, and this has a long term effect on the efficiency of your vehicle. Average monthly cost – £40.
Childcare costs.
Those cute little darlings you’re leaving each day to work and who has someone else looking after them? Yes, that costs. A lot in some places. According to the Family and Child Care Trust:
The cost of sending a child under two to nursery part- time (25 hours) is now £115.45 per week in Britain, or £6,000 per year. Part-time care from a childminder now costs £104.06 per week or £5,400 per year.
That’s a hefty chunk of change each week, or month for having someone else look after your child. Have more than one, and you are looking at a serious percentage of your take-home pay each month go towards childcare costs. This night be higher, depending on where you live as well, especially if you live in a big city. Average monthly cost (for one child) – £462.
Work related clothing.
Where I work, the dress code for employees is “professional business dress” which means smart. It means having to wear suit trousers, skirts, heels (although I don’t!) and be appropriate. These are all items of clothing I would never buy if I wasn’t at work. At the end of the day, I cannot wait to get home and get changed into something more comfortable. Even if you have a business wardrobe, you still need to replace items after a while. And, these items of clothing are usually more expensive than your everyday wear. I wonder why that is? One of the best things I’ve bought is this blazer from New Look, though often smart jackets can cost a lot. Average monthly cost – £50.
Work lunches/coffee.
Even the most organised person forgets their lunch occasionally. Or needs (?) that caffeine hit at some point during the day to continue, You might work in a place where there’s a staff canteen, or you go out for lunch with clients to talk business. You might take your lunch in every day in a nice lunchbox
Turning them into annual costs, this is what you might be spending in order to go to work:
- Commuting costs – £3,000
- Vehicle maintenance – £480
- Childcare – £6,000
- Work clothing – £600
- Food – £600
Total: £10,680
Suddenly, going to work seems to be quite an expensive option! And what about the things you can’t measure in monetary terms? What about your time? Your health and well-being? The things you miss out on? All of these things are so important, but cannot be measured by money. In fact, these things could be considered priceless, in the grand scheme of things.
When you’re working out your household budget, all of these things have to be taken into account. The expense of going to work means that your hourly rate can be quite low, once these have been factored in. In fact, many people could have a higher standard of living if they didn’t work, purely due to the fact that they wouldn’t have to spend so much money on going to work. You wouldn’t need so much income to cover all of your expenses, therefore you could work less and then your overall wellbeing might be higher. That’s why we should all be aiming for early retirement! 😉
How much does your job cost you?
Yes, when I worked full-time in an office, I had to cut back!
It was ridiculous what I was paying out in lunches etc.
My last job, in a shop, supplied a uniform. Ironically I missed my smart blouses and skirts!
Good post
I definitely think that costs can creep up really easily whilst at work.
Great summary-have you read the book Your Money or Your Life (Vicki Robin)? In the discussion in her book about job costs she includes job-related illness and extra decompression/escape entertainment. She also goes through a calculation to see what your “real hourly wage” is if you take the total of all of these costs, subtract them from your income and divide it by all the hours you actually spend on your job (including commute, etc.). It’s a great book!
Childcare is my number one reason I won’t be going back to work anytime soon. If I ever decide to go back to the office, I will definitely be factoring in all the things you mentioned!
Thanks for stopping by! I haven’t read it, although you’re not he first person to mention that book. I shall look into it 🙂
Very interesting way to think about it! I have never thought about work in that context before. I have always thought about the cost of child care, but never really thought about the other costs. Great read!
Thank you! It is a different way of thinking about things 🙂
Yes, the hourly rate can be quite low at times, especially if you would qualify for public assistance without the job.
It is low, especially when you factor in all of the additional costs.
It’s very true that you job can cost you more than you think. I made this calculation once and it was quite shocking haha!
It is definitely more than I would have thought!
This is the reason why I do side hustles to make up with the costs I pay for my full-time job. Hopefully, I can be self-employed this year to cut these trivial expenses.
Ugh, work definitely does cost a bit, especially when I need to commute into NYC. I get a small travel stipend with my current gig, but even that doesn’t completely cover it.
This is a great article with some insights most people forget about. Having a job can certainly be costly. I quit my job in January to freelance and, even if I don’t quite make as much, the savings in clothes, gas, etc., certainly help make it a wash. Plus, I get a lot more flexibility!
Awesome blog and I look forward to reading more.
This is such a good post – I realised this when I became self employed, because even though I wasn’t earning a great deal, I was actually saving so much more than before by not having to pay for all that stuff!
Like the post. Although I don’t have the commuting costs (I cycle) or the professional clothing costs I still find that the busier I am at work the more money flies out of my purse on lunch food and more expensive quick cook food in the evening. I work 4 days a week and like my day off doing useful things – making clothes or something for the house, in my allotment tending vegetable crops. I hanker after a three day working week!
Some need to factor in dog care!