Telecommuting: Cost-saving Option?

I”ve always been fascinated with the idea of working from home. Seeing as I commute about 45 minutes each way to my work place, having that extra 2 hours (roughly) to myself seems like it would be a Godsend. I also currently spend roughly 50$/month in gas, and miles on the car.

Taking these into account, I also understand that working from home has its own set of drawbacks. Often-times, management is concerned with the amount of “face-time” they have with you and you may have to convince your Online Gambling boss that you are in fact working from home and not sitting next to your computer watching Oprah and eating Bonbons. This can lead to a stagnation of job-progression. Some employees also value the “water-cooler” factor of socializing while at work with their co-workers.

All of those listed above concern me except for the last bit. I come to work to do my job and go home and bring home my paycheck. I”m fully aware how stick-in-the-mud that sounds, and I am very friendly and sociable at work, I just don”t go to socialize. I have friends outside work that I like to hang out and do-things with as well as a live-in girlfriend, my social schedule is right where I want it to be! That being said, I would still like the option to work from home 2-3 days a week.

I”d love to hear from anyone who took a typical 9-5 job (or 10-630 in my case) and managed to convert it to partially telecommute. I like my job and current career path working in Financial Services, but I”d also like to keep my options open.

-Xias