Budget Saving Office Tips

April marks the beginning of the second quarter for many companies so let’s do a budget check! Show of hands…how many budgets are still in tact? Let me guess, your budget has already been slashed, cut or otherwise left unrecognizable from what was “doable” at the start of 2015. With change comes the tendency to start slashing yourself. But, before you do, make sure you’ve followed up on these five tips to save your budget and your sanity.

1. Ditch the Desk Phones

If you are not on a sales floor, there is little reason to have that black multi-line phone continue to gather dust. Start tracking usage and if the office desk phones are being touched less than 50% of the time, then it’s time to rethink the need. By creating a monthly phone allowance for employees to use their cell phones, you will save money and valuable desk space at the same time.

2. Support the local economy and display local artists.

Artwork does not need to be expensive or stale. By engaging local artists to hang their work on your company walls, you will be showing your support for local business, as well as, displaying some beautiful works which can be enjoyed by everyone walking through your doorway.

3. ReCube saves cash and helps the environment at the same time.

Here at ROSI, we take used Haworth cubicle systems and rework and reimagine them to create fresh and like new work stations called ReCube. They can be customized to fit into any type of work area whether it’s an open office or traditional space with high cubicle walls. We can incorporate glass and have hundreds of colors from which to choose. In addition, these used cubicles could toward LEED points. But, the best part is these cubicles cost 30% to 50% less than new!

4. Power down those desktop computers.

There are so many reasons to shut down your computer every single night, but we’ll stick with energy savings on this blog post. The folks at Energy.gov, recommend turning off the monitor if you aren’t going to use your PC for more than 20 minutes; and turning off both the CPU and monitor if you’re not going to use your PC for more than 2 hours. Ideally your desktop and other devices are all on a power surge protector. It’s smart to turn off everything from there so nothing is drawing power while in the off position.

Here’s a side note: screen savers are not energy savers. Using a screen saver may in fact use more energy than not using one, and the power-down feature may not work if you have a screen saver activated. In fact, modern LCD color monitors do not need screen savers at all.

5. Don’t skimp on chairs!

Comfortable chairs create comfortable and productive employees. Do not skimp on office chairs. Studies have proven that inexpensive and poorly designed office chairs decrease comfort, productivity and increase Doctor’s visits. A good office chair is worth its weight in gold. If you want to pay less for your current chairs, ask your dealer for a discount or trade. There is always room to negotiate and cheap chairs will cost you way more money than you save.

Take these budget-saving office tips and put them into effect and by this time next year you’ll have realized the savings. And don’t worry, when you need more next year at this time, we’ll be around.