Keeping down the cost of working away from home

Although we may spend most of our time working at home, many of us also have to travel occasionally for meetings, conferences and other work-related reasons.

You get the best prices on train tickets if you can book a couple of weeks in advance and I use thetrainline.com, where I can get return tickets to London, my usual destination, from £20 to £30 depending on time of travel.

Accommodation can be expensive, especially in London, which is why I tried out crashpadder.com earlier this year, with excellent results. I’ve also come across this Tune hotel in Elephant & Castle that has rooms for £35 a night! Do let me know if you try it out.

Finding a place to work in a strange town can be a nightmare of struggling through crowds to a chain coffee shop where you wait in a queue, juggle your order to a table covered with the last occupant’s rubbish, try not to have your drink jostled into your laptop and wait for wifi connection that may or may not materialise. And if it doesn’t you start all over again, buying more expensive snacks in an attempt to check your emails.

In London my oasis is Central just off Tottenham Court Road, where you will be greeted, served by friendly staff in a pleasant environment and enjoy immediate, fast wifi. All for the same price as a chain – no competition.

WorkSnug is a free mobile app that helps you find the nearest place – coworking space, coffee shop, pub – to work when you’re on the move anywhere in the world. You can read the reviews other mobile workers have written and add your own opinion.

We’ve already had a couple of productive discussions about the ideal bag to carry round all your work stuff. What are your top tips for working away from home without busting the budget?