ray648•15d ago

Just ran the numbers on my coworking membership and it stung

I was going through my expenses from last year and found out I spent $4,800 on coworking spaces across 7 different cities. That's more than I paid for rent in my last apartment. The shocking part was that I only actually used them about 60% of the time. Half of those days I just sat in a coffee shop or worked from my hostel bed anyway. I got the data from my bank statement and Google Maps timeline. Has anyone else looked back at their coworking bills and realized they're basically throwing money at a desk they barely sit at?

2 comments

2 Comments

claire_campbell15d ago

I actually read a study about this last month that said most coworking members overestimate their usage by like 40%. It basically proved what you found out with your own numbers. The article was from a business site and it tracked 500 people across different cities, and the average was shocking like yours. They found that people buy these plans thinking they'll be super productive in a fancy space, but then they just default to the nearest coffee shop or their Airbnb (or hostel in your case). That $4,800 could have been a nice little emergency fund or a trip somewhere interesting. You're definitely not the only one who's looked at those numbers and winced.

the_nancy14d ago

Wait, is that study from the same site that tracks your actual location data or was it a survey thing? Because @claire_campbell either way it lines up with what we all kind of suspect about ourselves. I bet the numbers are even worse than what they found, honestly, because people tend to lie to themselves about this stuff. It's like when you buy a gym membership and swear you'll go every day, then realize you've been three times in six months. That $4,800 could have been a solid down payment on something useful or just straight up pocket money. I wonder how many of those 500 people actually canceled their membership after seeing their own numbers or if they just mentally blocked it out.