Working from home - increased bills

[Sofacat]

My dd is now working from home in the conservatory, the heating is now on all day as it is cold , when it normally would only come on when we get home after work. She has 2 screens and other gizmos plugged in ( she does IT technical stuff) . She’s making hot drinks so the kettle is being used more . I’m worried enough about job and money as it is without my bills going up.

Before anyone jumps on me , I do agree with wfh if it’s possible but I’m also worried about money. Will my bills massively increase? Anyone else worried?

Will her commuting costs be less meaning she can chip in a bit more?

She might need to make some concessions here... not heating the house all day and limiting tea are both pretty easy changes, she won’t suffer. She can wear extra socks and jumpers. I do!

If her equipment is good, the costs from just that won’t be too high.

She only has a 10 minute drive to her office so won’t be making massive savings on petrol. She does pay her way but it’s a shame either of us have to be out of pocket.

She has doubled up on jumpers but the conservatory is freezing without heating. She said she will use a hot water bottle when I mentioned it to her.

I use a flask rather than boiling the kettle all the time because I am too lazy to go down and make tea

Sun should be shining more next week - will that make a difference? Our conservatory gets nicely warm.

As she is an adult you need to talk to her and ask her for some more money towards your increased heating bill. Also worth reminding her that if you have to work from home you can claim a tax allowance of £4 a week or £18 a month if you are paid monthly.

Offset it against her travel cost savings. A 10 min drive costs more than you think.

She can probably claim it from her employer, she can certainly claim it against income tax but really, ftb, in current circumstances, just be glad she's not one of the many 1000s sent home without pay.

I’ll let her know about that , thanks. It’s just a shame that anyone has to be out of pocket whether it’s me or her . Can’t be helped though.

I do realise it’s a very small price to pay and she’s lucky she can work from home. It was just something that crossed my mind.

I work from home 3 days a week. I have not notice a massive increase in my bills. It can get incredibly cold wfh. I have an Oil heater and blankets.

She'll not be going out / clubbing / buying take out coffee or anything so will have extra cash. She's lucky to be able to wfh.

She only has a 10 minute drive to her office so won’t be making massive savings on petrol.

I still think it could be around £20-40 per month depending on mileage and car size etc. which is likely to balance out any bill increase.

Can she work in a warmer room?

Talk to her about it. After petrol + wear + tear on car + coffee/tea at lunch + not going out + not buying as much in the way of clothing, make-up etc she should be at least evens and chip in more for you to cover her costs?

Can’t you buy an electric heater to warm her work area and hot water bottles

We don’t have room anywhere else, I will ask her for some extra money, she’s pretty good at paying her way though, pays for a full food shop every couple of weeks as well as paying rent . We’ll manage and we are luckier than lots of others.

I'm worrying about this too. We're going from no-one being around during the day to all four of us being at home. Extra heating costs, god knows how many electronic devices.

Our travel costs will be nil though, about £20-30 per week at the moment, so I'm hoping it'll balance out.

Surely a kettle and a few extra screens add a negligible amount? Only the heating would really ad more than a couple of pounds?

I was just wondering if people’s bills increased by much- it is what it is , as they say.

I used to WFH and in the winter and would work in my bed with electric blanket on my laptop, cardigan and gloves etc.

We were on one salary and had to cut our cloth.
Luckily I didn't have conference calls!

Dishwasher more frequently used
Kettle more use
Heating on for longer

No lunch on the hop - eating a homemade lunch is cheaper
No fuel costs
No commuting time, straight into work
Less washing, don’t get dressed, stay in pjs and wear dressing gowns - warmer so turn the heating down

I'd say that in the current climate, she should be very grateful to have a job and one in which she can continue working from home and getting paid for it as that's not the case for a lot of people.

I have said that we are luckier than others .