10 Ways To Save On A Home Office

1.   Bookkeeping for Office Expenses.  Keeping track of the expenses accrued in running a home office is vital.  Carry a pad of paper and pen with you at all times and write down everything that you buy or barter for no matter how small the price.  A ream of paper that you catch on sale at a department store while shopping for groceries, light bulbs, or batteries for your phone may seem like a couple of bucks at the time but it all adds up.  At the end of the year, you can determine the total amount spent and where you can cut more in your office expenses. If you're not proficient at recordkeeping, a business credit card can also help you track your office expenses.

2.   Lower your Electric Bill.  One of the first things that you will notice in starting up a home office is an increase in your electric bill.  That's because you are running lights, heat and equipment more than when you were away at another location.  Be mindful of other areas of the house that may not require lights or heat and cut back these areas.  Use energy efficient products when possible.

3.   Visit Auctions for Furnishings.  Take advantage of businesses that are going under by visiting commercial auctions to pick up some cheap furnishings.  An expensive desk isn't necessary in a home office startup.  Perhaps you can locate a long table and office chair that no one else wants.  All you really need is a flat, sturdy surface and a comfortable chair.

4.   Freebies.  Always keep your eyes open for the opportunity to pick up pens, pencils, paper and calendars at banks, dry cleaners or any other store you happen to visit.  Even though you may not need these things are the moment, it's always good to start your stash of extra supplies.  Save your rubber bands and paper clips from junk mail and newspapers to prevent having to buy.

5.   Back up everything to disc.  Starting a backup system to disc can save you hundreds if not thousands of dollars if your computer decides to crash one day.  Discs can be found cheap in office supply houses, department stores, auctions and garage sales and are well worth stocking up on.  After a time, you can even reuse when your stored information is no longer needed.

6.   Phone and Internet expense.  The phone and the Internet are a must in today's business world and competition is getting fierce with an abundance of communication companies springing up so shop around and get the best deal possible for the longest period of time.  Unlimited long distance phone calls is one feature that is now being offered that can save hundreds.  Special discounts to new customers are an angle used today.  Sign up and negotiate with them into stretching out the contract.

7.   Ebay for Replacement Items.  Ink cartridges, keyboards, a mouse or computer monitor are high cost items but you can find these office products cheap by visiting Ebay.  People are continually upgrading and just want to get rid of what they have or some individuals make it their career to pick up resalable office suppliers at area auctions to place on Ebay.

8.   Lighting Options.  If you are like most home business owners, you will find yourself working in the middle of the night and need a good source of light and powering that light can be expensive.  There are new LED options that run on less than 1/3 the cost of light bulbs plus new solar powered skylights that you don't have to pay for at all.  These are worth looking into.

9.   Scrap paper.  This sounds like a no brainer but the day that you cannot find anything to write on, you will remember all of that precious paper that was thrown out in the garbage.  Start an area for discarded paper to prevent you from having to buy.  You will be using a lot more paper than you realize.

10.  Travel expenses.  The Internet has many new ideas for keeping all of your meetings contained to your workspace.  Gotomeeting.com is one such place where several members can hold a discussion simultaneously.  Find out what your business associates may be using and check out these options too before jumping in your car and using up precious gasoline and time for something that could have been handled from your home office.