By the time Jess Whatman counted extended day care costs on top of petrol, tolls and lunches, she was forking out $400 a week just to get to work.

“I was commuting from the Central Coast to Sydney five days a week. That’s a 2.5-hour round trip every day, just to sit at a desk to do work I could have done from anywhere,” Whatman says.

Burnt-out and increasingly frustrated at the office mandates, she began exploring a more sustainable career option closer to home.

Jess Whatman with husband Clint and their two girls, Jovi and Ella.

“It wasn’t just the time, it was the cost. Petrol, tolls, parking, lunches, extended day care – it all added up. I was leaving home in the dark, getting back late, missing time with my two young girls. It started to feel completely unsustainable,” Whatman says.

The tipping point came two years ago when she realised she was spending more time in transit than with her family. “That’s when I knew something had to change.”

She finally quit her job and struck out on her own, launching an outsourcing business. Now, she works from home five days a week.

In today’s cost-of-living crisis, the decision to avoid the commute into the office isn’t just a logistical one; it’s increasingly a financial choice as workers contemplate whether it would be cheaper if they could work from........

© The Sydney Morning Herald