Reasons to Not Quit Your Job

The more I freelance, the more excited I get about the possibility of one day working from home. I did this for a year, when my daughter was born to avoid putting her in daycare as an infant, so I’m kind of aware of the upside and the downside of working from home.

But man. Doesn’t it sound nice to wake up whenever and lounge around the house in jammies? You don’t even have to comb your hair if you don’t want to. Well, there are some pretty important things to consider before running into the office and screaming “I quit! I’m outta here!” (with of course a maniacal cackle for effect.)

Do you Really Make Enough Working from Home?

Sure it may seem like it, but you have to factor in all of the ways in which you may be getting paid by dragging your behind into the office everyday. In my case, I receive paid vacation, paid holidays (we are closed on every Federal holiday), paid sick leave and actually paid anytime I’m not at work. If I work from home and I’m sick, who’s going to pay me? If I don’t work, I don’t make money. That’s a hard pill to swallow.

I also have an IRA with my job with contributions matched by the firm. No one’s matching anything if I work from home. It’s all on me. Could I make enough to cover all of the benefits I have at work? Possibly, but that’s somewhat of a gamble.

Job Security

Unfortunately, I personally haven’t been able to put full confidence in freelance work. There is always the possibility that someone I write for either won’t need me or won’t be able to pay me. Then what happens? When everyone in my area was losing jobs and being laid off, I had job security and didn’t have to worry about suddenly being unemployed.

The Work from Home Crazies

Which is similar to cabin fever, I think. Are you a people person? Do you need human interaction? This could be one of the hardest things for me to give up to work from home. I don’t socialize much but sometimes I think I need to be around other people for my own sanity. Working from home can be lonely and boring, even if you do get to lounge around in your p.j.’s all day.

Will You be Able to Get a Job Later?

If you do have to jump back into the workforce, how difficult will it be to find a job and in my case, will I be able to find one with the benefits that I have now? I’m guessing with the way things are going, I may not be able to. Plus, you have to factor in how old you will be when you are jumping back into the workforce. It’s much more difficult to find a job when you’re in your fifties, especially when your resume has a large amount of time under “freelance anything”. Even as a paid writer, many employers will look at that as just “staying at home in p.j.’s”.

Billions of Dollars in Work Attire Wasted

Okay, not billions, but I have accumulated a large amount of clothes and shoes and accessories and whatever else that are specifically for work. I have heard that when you work from home you should still get dressed like you’re going to the office to stay in the right frame of mind, but I’m not going to lie- I’m not doing that. This, of course should go into the “Reasons to Work from Home” file because I would probably save a lot of money on clothes, gas and other work related items if I did work from home.

It is a nice thought though, isn’t it? Who knows, maybe one day all will fall into place and I’ll be able to work from home without worrying about any of these things. For now though, I think I’ll keep my job…and save the p.j.’s for sleeping in.

***Miss Bankrupt was included in the Festival of Frugality and the Carnival of Debt Reduction. Make sure you stop at these sites and find out what everyone else is doing with their money! (And thank you to both for including me!)