Meklet Blog:

Project Costs

Robert J. Tomsons, Fri, 9. Dec 2022

Meklet Blog: Project Costs

Since a few weeks I'm working on my Meklet project and had a move in between. So I'm still waiting for my internet connection, which unfortunately takes a bit longer in Germany. In the meantime, I found Starbucks as an alternative for a home office. Why? Costs!

In recent months, the global economy is in crunch mode and it is the self-employed who notice this most quickly. They usually have not only running costs that they have to pay, but also a lot of investments until the project is completed. Anything that can be saved will pay off in the end.

When I work from home I have fixed costs. The rent of my apartment, for example. These are always there and are not included in our calculation. Water is included in the rent in Germany. Electricity and heating I have to pay myself. Internet. Food and coffee too. But these are flexible costs that can change, if you try to save a little money you should save on the flexible costs.

Anything I don't use at home, I don't charge for. As a simple example. If I don't have an Internet connection, these costs are not charged either. This should be clear to everyone, but I'll say it here again anyway so that everyone has the same basic understanding of my thought process. If I eat less at home or drink less coffee, I will also be charged less at this point.

When I work in Starbucks, I have no costs in electricity and heat. Ergo. At home, I'm charged less and pay less. Nevertheless, I drink coffee or eat something at Starbucks. I compare these costs to the costs I have in my home office. If the cost of coffee and food at home is > than the cost at Starbucks, I should rather work at Starbucks. I also don't pay for internet, and that is quite a cost.

As an example calculation: A coffee at Starbucks costs 2.99€ (refill 0.99€). The coffee is by far more expensive than my Fairtrade organic coffee at home (per cup 1,24€). Internet costs nothing. Seat costs nothing. Water costs nothing (at home also not). Service costs only if I order it. I don't pay rent (which is also fixed in my apartment, so I do pay it). I have ultra few costs, if you compare that over a period of e.g. one year 365*5€=1825€ (just for coffee and Snacks).

Yes, it might have been different before the pandemic, but now the costs in Germany have exploded so massively that in the long run it will be profitable again to program outside your own apartment. There are also other advantages. I sit here with other self-employed people, students and computer scientists and sometimes get into a conversation. Of course, you also talk about the projects you are working on. This way I can promote my project or get inspired by others. A project only really works when you talk about it with strangers. If I work at home, it's just a lone wolf project, which means it's already doomed to fail.

Overall, I only have advantages when I go to Starbucks and work there. Especially when the whole world is in a hard economic crunch mode. It's also better for my health because I eat less here (cost) and I walk to Starbucks. That's 10,000 steps a day according to the fitness app on my iPhone, so I move more when I work from home (60-144 steps on average). The question that now remains for me as a customer is, what benefits Starbucks now has from this or is this only a win situation for me?

Robert
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