Posted by Doug on December 29, 2008
Photo: jakecaptive
When you’re setting up a business of your own at home, it’s easy to overlook the cost of software–it can add up fast. In some cases, you simply can’t get around the fact that you have to buy a copy of Photoshop or Final Cut Studio or ProTools (or whatever). But there may be other applications you need for which you can substitute open-source alternatives and save a bundle of money.
Cost-saving example
Here’s an example of what we’re talking about: suppose your bread-and-butter application, the one that you use most of the time, the one that you’re an expert on, is Photoshop. You’re definitely going to buy Photoshop. You also occasionally do some word-processing, maybe a spreadsheet now and then, and on rare occasions, you need to make presentations–that sounds like a job for Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Powerpoint). In addition, you need a way to manage your business finances, so you could use Quickbooks, or MYOB, or Quicken or something similar. Occasionally you get work that requires you to manage a larger project, so from time to time you need something like Microsoft Project. So you could be looking at costs similar to these:
Photoshop $600.00
Microsoft Office $300.00
QuickBooks $160.00
Microsoft Project $450.00
Total: $1,510.00
Depending on what sort of computer you have, you might be looking at more cost for the software than you spent on your machine! Now consider the same list with some open-source alternatives for MS-Office, QuickBooks and MS-Project:
Photoshop $600.00
OpenOffice 0
GnuCash 0
OpenProj 0
Total: $600.00
By substituting open source alternatives for the software that isn’t your main business tool, you’ve saved more than half of the potential cost, and that’s money that you can probably put into buying some great plug-ins or other add-ons for Photoshop, or maybe a new graphics tablet.
osalt.com - open-source alternatives
osalt.com–finding open-source alternatives
There is a LOT of free, open-source software out there. Some of it is great, some not so great. You can search the repositories like SourceForge.net and Freshmeat.net, but there a lot to wade through. One of the best places I’ve found to search for open-source software is osalt.com. At osalt.com you’ll find a directory of open-source alternative software, organized into categories such as business, graphic applications, multimedia and audio, and much more. You can search for a commercial package, and if there are open-source alternatives for that package in osalt’s database, you’ll see a list. Each entry provides you with a basic description of the package and its features, shows where to download it, and points to the application’s Web site.
OpenOffice, GnuCash, OpenProj
In the example above, I found all three of the open-source packages listed at osalt.com. OpenOffice is a great alternative to MS-Office, and comes with a whole suite of applications, including Writer (for word-processing), Calc (for spreadsheets), Impress (for presentations), Draw (for drawing and graphing), Math (an equation and formula editor), and Base (a database tool that also builds forms and reports). Runs on Windows, MacOSX and Linux.
GnuCash is open-source personal and small-business financial and accounting software. It will help you manage your income and expenses in all your accounts; keep track of customers, vendors, and projects; help you with invoicing, AR/AP, and even communicate with your bank (if the bank supports the OFX DirectConnect and HBCI standards). GnuCash can import data from Microsoft Money and Quicken, as well. And it is available for Windows, MacOSX and Linux.
OpenProj is intended to be an alternative to MS-Project. It can import MS-Project project files, and does pretty much all of what you might expect–Gantt charts, network diagrams (PERT charts), and more. Available for Windows, MacOSX and Linux.
Open-source caveats
Yes, I know some people will warn you to stay away from open-source software on the general premise that you get what you pay for. There is some truth to this, to be sure. Some open-source software is not well-supported, but I would argue that the communities that are involved with the development of the packages that have been out there for a long time, such as OpenOffice and Gimp (a Photoshop alternative), are very helpful and supportive. This is true of all of the most popular open-source packages. You might have to spend a little time in support forums asking questions in order to get the help you need, but the difference in price between MS-Office and OpenOffice more than makes up for that.
Not all open-source software is as mature and stable as OpenOffice, so you will occasionally run into trouble. But if you stick with the packages that have been out there for a while, and around which there are well-developed support communities, chances are you’ll do just fine.
Some people like to remind us that “open-source” doesn’t necessarily mean “free”–while this may be true in some contexts, particularly where additional development is necessary, for the average user of open-source applications, “free” really does mean “free.” If, at some point down the road, you decide that you really need the commercial software (and you might), you’ve at least saved some money for a while by getting by with something that was free as long as you could.
(If this has been helpful to you, Diggs and Stumbles are always much appreciated!)
Posted by Doug on November 6, 2008
It’s a tough world out there, financially, these days, and those of us who work at home, particularly those of us who work in our own home-based businesses, are always looking for ways to save money–or we should be. Here are five tips that you can apply today to begin saving money immediately.
1. Turn down your thermostat and put on a sweatshirt.
If you live and work in a part of the country that actually has seasons (sorry, southern California), the approaching winter means increased heating costs. But you can reduce those costs significantly by merely setting your thermostat a few degrees lower than normal. I’ve got a programmable thermostat in my home, which makes this very easy. I’ve programmed it to set the temperature at 62 degrees Fahrenheit from about 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. (when we’re all snuggled in our warm beds anyway), and from about 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., when I’m the only one at home. The thermostat bumps up to 67 degrees from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m., when we’re getting up, taking showers, etc., and from about 5 p.m. to 11 p.m., when we’re home in the evenings. The rest of the time it’s set at 62. On days when that seems chilly to me, I put on a sweatshirt. Most of the time I wear a ball cap, too, which reduces the amount of heat that I lose from my head. According to this article (http://www.care2.com/greenliving/10-thermostat-tips-save-money.html), which details several thermostat-related money-saving tips, turning down your thermostat can save you about 1% per degree, over an eight-hour period. If you normally set it at 72, reducing it to 67 for eight hours means 5% savings.
2. Stop printing so much.
With the cost of an inkjet cartridge at $30 or more, and the cost of paper going up all the time, printing costs can add up quickly. I confess that it took me a while to get comfortable with not having printed paper copies of certain kinds of documents, such as flight itineraries, hotel reservation confirmations, receipts for online purchases and the like. And when I’m in the thick of the writing process, there are still times when I succumb to the urge to print out a document and mark it up the old-fashioned way while editing. But I’ve saved money on printing costs by simply printing those documents to PDF files, which I can store on my laptop computer, or on an external hard disk, or even on a USB thumb drive. When I’m out on business, my laptop is almost always with me, so I can easily get to any of those documents if I need them.
3. Stop driving so much.
Gas prices are coming down again after hitting nearly $4 per gallon for a while in our area, but I’m still saving money by only driving when I have to, and planning my trips in the car better. There are certain trips I have to take every day, but when I’m looking over my to-do-list for the day, I can plan ahead to accomplish my errands in an efficient manner and avoid putting more miles on the car than I have to.
I’ve also begun riding my bicycle (or walking) whenever I can. “Pedal power” saves me money on gas, reduces wear-and-tear on my car, gives me much-needed exercise, and gets me outdoors where I can enjoy the sun and fresh air. Most of my trips to the grocery store can be accomplished with nothing more than a bike and a backpack, and if I have a meeting or want to head out to a coffee shop to work remotely, the backpack has plenty of room for my laptop and other items.
Riding a bike or walking may not be practical for everyone, depending on where you live (among other factors), but with a little planning, and allowing a bit of extra transit time, you can save money by avoiding the use of your car. It’s also a bit kinder to the environment.
If you’re looking at this tip and thinking, “No way–it takes too long to walk or ride a bike,” then consider this: who doesn’t need some time to think every day? Walking to an appointment or riding a bike to run an errand can provide you with time to think, to work on a creative solution to a problem, to plan or just to dream for a while. If you’re a podcast listener, take your media player along and listen to some of those podcasts that keep stacking up in your iTunes playlists. Taking a little extra time to walk somewhere doesn’t necessarily mean you have to waste that time. Maybe you can’t afford the time for human-powered transportation for every trip, but every time you use your legs instead of your car, you’re saving money, and over time it can add up significantly.
4. Stop wasting electricity.
When I’m working in my office at home alone, it’s not necessary for the lights to be burning in other parts of the house. Most of the time, the only light bulb that is lit in my house during the day is the one in my desk lamp.
Some people will tell you that it takes less power to leave a light bulb burning than to turn it off and on repeatedly. This may be true if you are turning your lights off and on once per second, but otherwise, it’s nonsense. If you’re not using the light in that room, turn it off, and you will consume less electricity. It’s that simple.
You can also save money by using compact fluorescent bulbs instead of incandescent bulbs. The initial cost per bulb is higher, but fluorescent bulbs last longer, meaning that the cost per hour of usage is lower. Not only that, but fluorescent bulbs are more efficient than incandescent bulbs, which means you get the same amount of light for less energy cost. A compact fluorescent bulb uses about 75% less energy than an incandescent bulb producing the same amount of light. If you’re unconvinced, check out this article.
5. Stop eating out so much.
This was one of the first things I noticed when I switched from working a regular job in a corporate office to working for myself out of my home–I’m spending less on lunches. A LOT less. I’m also eating healthier meals by avoiding the fast-food places and fixing my food for myself.
Granted, this may be easier said than done, especially if your business involves taking clients to lunch or having other meetings over lunch on a regular basis. But virtually any meal you prepare for yourself at home is going to be less expensive than a meal that you buy at a restaurant, or even a fast-food joint. There’s a pretty good chance that it will be healthier, as well.
If you eat lunch out every day, in a week’s time you probably spend between $30 and $60 on lunches, depending on where you eat. If you make your own lunch at home, you can easily cut those costs by half.
I left my office job almost a year ago, and I’ve lost over 70 pounds in that time. That’s an entirely different story for another time, but the fact that I’m fixing my own lunches at home is part of that story.
It’s easier than you might think to save money working at home. But maybe you’ve got even better ideas than what I’ve given here. If so, leave a comment and share those ideas with the rest of us!
