I've been paying a monthly subscription for access to a co-working space since on my ickle visit back to the UK this late July - early August, and when I return here for good in mid-September I will carry on paying said subscription.
This is because it's struck me that working in a co-working space is going to be an effective means of dealing with the cost of living crisis, and working in THIS ver well organised and large co-working space especially.
I pay £165 month which gives me unlimited, 24/7 access to the space, but let's call that £180 because there's no way it's not going to go up pretty soon, everything is going up!
And for that monthly fee I get:
1. A temperate environment
This place has been lovely and cool this summer as it's in the basement of a hotel on a hill overlooking a large river - talk about airflow!
More importantly when we're thinking about keeping energy costs down from October I will here have a heated working environment ALL DAY which means I won't have to heat the house all time I'm here which I can stretch to 60% of my week without too much hassle.
2. Free coffee
This is possibly quite rare in the co-working world but FANTASTIC for me while it lasts. There is a very good coffee machine, I mean it's very good - it does a very decent latte and it's included in the membership fee.
Now for me, who has a penchant for a large Costa in the morning which currently costs £3.70 - that means if I'm here 20 days of the month I'm saving myself £80 - and that's HALF the membership fee right there.
In fact I usually have two-four coffees on a working day - but I can't really claim that's saving me money on Costas as I would never buy THAT many, but even so, overall, I'd say I'm getting my membership fee back in just the coffee alone...
3. Free elecriticty
There are convenient charge points everywhere - my current desk has THREE charge points to itself - one for the laptop, and one for the phone - and of course I can charge these up sufficiently towards the end of the day so that a full charge should last me until the following work morning, meaning I only have to charge my devices at weekends.
AND I've seen one guy charging his ebike battery here.... which gave me an idea.....
I could stick a larger battery in my bag and use that to power some devices at home overnight, I have an inverter already after all, I'm thinking the computer and monitor for starters, maybe some lights.
The only limitation is the fact that I'm on foot, which would limit me to a 2-5KG batter, but if I drive in every now and then I could set myself up with a 10KG stealth set up in a back without drawing too much attention to myself, maybe 15KG.
20 would be into too-heavy to disguise territory maybe....
Other benefits...
Well there are also free biscuits and occasional munchies - circa 200 calories a day I think I could push - that's around 7% of my weekly food needs met right there.
And free water but TBH that's a bit 'marginal savings' even for me.
It's also a very nice place to be with nice people to just hang out with and chat to, which means I've got little desire to wander into town and idly drift an shop and spend, so that's something.
And there are people here who have a of social media/ SEO/ coding/ tech skills and experience I can draw on so this might even help me with saving on professional services I might need or even help me with making money!
Final thoughts - my co-working space pays for itself!
This particular, most excellent co-working space defo pays for itself - I get back the full value and probably a little more than the £165 I pay for unlimited access.
However I think this space is pretty unique and that maybe this experience and value for money wouldn't be found in every co-working space.
I have actually toyed with the idea of buying a van and doing a conversion and living in that, and getting a gym membership for shower purposes too - rather than renting somewhere - that's a potential real money saver but also maybe just a tad uncomfortable.....
But it's certainly one to consider!
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