Has Lockdown made you reevaluate your Spending/Saving

fergiesfolly

Not aimed at those whose income changed because of Covid-19 but those who are earning as normal.
We're spending considerably less and therefore saving more since this all started and I can't help think we need to cut down on our non-essential spending. We only grocery shop twice a week now and we're just not making the impulse buys we would normally, not even online.
So, have you rethought you're spending/saving patterns since the beginning of Covid-19.

Spanish Eyes

Good post.

Have not spent anything like I would have pre Covid. Big lesson learned.

I do want to support the economy and will buy what I need now, not what I want. There is a difference.

jazz_jazz

I was only thinking earlier how much I've saved since Covid hit.
I realised how much money I used waste on crap that I didn't really want or need. Obviously when this is over my spending will go up what with having to fill my car more, and some more socialising etc but I'll definitely make more of an effort to be conscious of what I'm spending my money on.

I am definitely spending less. I bought a golf club this week and even though I could get it cheaper in UK. I ordered it from an irish company.

I intend to spend money local and in Ireland more going forward. We order far too much from the UK in this country. I'm not sure how we can solve that but I think we should try. Tough times ahead.

bee06

Slightly different because I’m on maternity leave but my online shopping is excessive because I’m so bored. Without the lockdown I would have been out and about during the day so spending money on different stuff.

Kamu

My income has remained the same but my day-to-day expenses have gone down.

I'm saving the same amount though, as the money I would have saved I've spent on things I said I was going to buy when I had some spare cash:
- A Kindle
- An office chair
- Running clothes
- A new guitar

and so on.

I've found this time to be fantastic and will be advocating for remote working at my job.

andekwarhola

We're lucky enough that our income hasn't really dipped (yet) so it's been quite handy. We were always paying into pensions, savings etc outside of mortgage and other normal expenses anyway and that hasn't been affected but it's nice to have a bit of unplanned surplus. Cleared the credit card and are building a little surplus in the current account.

Groceries not so bad but just tend to buy more less often as it’s all click and collect. I’m saving a good bit on 4 or 5 takeaway coffees and chicken rolls every day too.

Amazon gets a fair touch the odd time though and I’ve been online ordering heaps of drink so all in all I’d say I’m spending more.

TM2015

No childcare fees, commuting, eating out every day, buying random stuff because you’re in town and feel like getting something has made us realise just how well we could be doing financially if we cut the crap. We have saved a crazy amount of money already and will continue to do so until September at least when the school fees kick in.

I am still ordering random stuff online because amazon prime, yk, and we still need clothes, toys etc but once things go back to normal we will look at our spending habits. We will never be commuting as much again as we intend to work from home 5 days a week between the two of us.

Rodney Bathgate

I have a decent paying job that allows me to consistently save 40% of take home pay and I continue to do so. That is on top of pension contribution / AVC.

I have an annual Taxsaver ticket already paid in full, so no saving on commuting costs for me unfortunately.

Overall spending hasn’t really changed, some kitchen gadgets and a few household items to brighten the place up and make it more liveable as I spend more time at home, nothing major so far.

I won’t go on holiday abroad again this year so the money I would otherwise have spent there I will spend on other hobbies as it was allocated to spent rather than save. Have something in mind but it probably won’t come to fruition.

Plus I have been downsizing one of my hobbies for space reasons, which has raised a few thousand cash which I will also spend, possibly on an Omega Speedmaster.

storker

Spending less because of:

1. Not commuting
2. More efficient supermarket shopping
3. Less trips for shopping elsewhere e.g. Dundrum - well obviously less because that's currently none but looking back to "the beforetime" we made far too many such trips piecemeal instead of organising ourselves properly, getting up early and doing it all in one day instead. Cheaaper in the long run, better for the environment and more time-efficient too.
4. Not eating out (also related to item 3).

Wildly Boaring

Our income/work/childcare are all unchanged.

So no eating out or coffee.

We agreed to spend money locally whilst business is struggling. So our grocery bill is up but no more than we would have spent on taking the kids somewhere etc.

Local butcher, centra and hardware instead of Aldi and Amazon. Must admit the butcher has some great meat and fish. Our centra has veg from a local farmer.

Wanderer19

I'm a lot more aware, and have reduced my spending.
Had to buy a Strimmer and other bits for the garden so that has took a bit of a chunk out of the money I had put away, but at least I had the money there to spend. I'll be s lot more mindful in future.

after rent, most of money is now saved, about 70 percent of money left over after rent is now saved....Mortgage here i come

corkgsxr

Nope if anything I'm spending more online

No

Has given me pause though to wondre what the flook money is or what it's backed by.... if anything

What with all that's going on don't know what to believe; is it just a different strain of ornery flu and hyped up for some nefarious reason(s)

So having a few xtra euros just makes me evaluate how much I miss some of the things I used to spend it on...

And also how easy it is for the controllers/those string - pullers to pull the rug out whenever they want

In the immortal words of Don Henley (for me anyway) it's the end of the innocence.

* Sorry OP for going off on a few tangents here - existentialism jus be hittin harder than usual

Spanish Eyes

Now forgive me if I am talking through my hat, but wouldn't it be great if there was an online portal (similar to Amazon) for Irish based companies?

Amazon UK is amazing and am not knocking it (hope the workers are taken care of though), but I find myself reluctant to order from the UK site, but sometimes there is no option.

I know individual companies in Ireland deliver, but it is tedious having to go from website to website. Just a little moan.

DopeTech

Yes i'm going to try save more going forward, it was a real eye opener how much I was wasting.

Covid19 seems to have been a blessing in disguise as far as saving is concerned. Saving our first house deposit so every little helps. I just hope that we can get a mortgage in 6-12 months time. We're going to keep an eye on prices. I don't expect them to fall to 2008 levels but hopefully we'll see a considerable drop.

Personally I don't know that I am saving much if anything by working from home.

My commute costs me nothing, I walk to work most days, I'll get the bus the odd time if it's absolutely milling down with rain, but as an expense that's negligible and I genuinely prefer to walk.

Hot food is subsidised by the company. I get a cooked breakfast, lunch, and if I need to work late an ok supper. I wouldn't call it "Mammy's home cooking" but the chefs are decent, they do a good job of laying on healthy options, and the company contribute a bigger subsidy towards portions of cooked vegetables than most places I have seen. I can eat for cheap and don't for pay fast food or takeaway prices.

Working from home means my house which used to be unoccupied all day now has constant gas/light/electricity/heating/cooking etc bills (OK, maybe not heating right at this very moment, but for March and April my bills were way up).

Working should not be an expensive business, or even a hobby. Too bad for some people that it is.

BrianD3

My income hasn't changed and I have always saved very well and have a relatively high level of financial independence as a result.

Still, I'm reevaluating a lot of things. This pandemic has exacerbated my midlife crisis and awareness of death - this may well spur me into spending more, procrastinating less and generally being less uptight about various things. Hard to know though, I'm in my 40s now and I still don't know what I'm doing.

gifted

Our income is the same but our shopping Bill has gone through the roof....over €300 a week feeding the tribe...jesus they never stop eating....

Edgware

fergiesfolly wrote: »

Not aimed at those whose income changed because of Covid-19 but those who are earning as normal.
We're spending considerably less and therefore saving more since this all started and I can't help think we need to cut down on our non-essential spending. We only grocery shop twice a week now and we're just not making the impulse buys we would normally, not even online.
So, have you rethought you're spending/saving patterns since the beginning of Covid-19.

No.

[Deleted User]

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Working should not be an expensive business, or even a hobby. Too bad for some people that it is.

Once WFH is well established you will find people expecting money towards heat and light and even money towards renovating a room/desk to ergonomic standards. Companies might end up saying it's cheaper to bring people back to the office.

Potential-Monke

It has made me think about it a lot, yes. But I haven't changed anything. Eating out less, but spending more online. I'm crap with money anyway so no change there!

Wanderer19

Deleted User wrote: »

Once WFH is well established you will find people expecting money towards heat and light and even money towards renovating a room/desk to ergonomic standards. Companies might end up saying it's cheaper to bring people back to the office.

Those working from home are entitled to a tax free payment of €3.20 per day, from their employer, towards the cost of utilities.

It did a bit. It made be consider multiple aspects of my life.

But my life has been back to normal for four weeks and nothing has stuck. Everyone around me has said the same. The vast majority around the world will get back into their old routine and habits.