Has Covid-19 changed your way of thinking about budget or the way you live?

[Judique]

fair warning-when they start producing fruit get in the habit of picking up any that have fallen on the ground each day b/c if you live in an area that gets warm summers the fruit sits and ferments such that your yard will smell like bad wine. we had plum trees at one house and the birds would eat the fallen/fermented and end up drunkenly flying into our windows


gardening-if anyone wants to plant herbs consider using perennial herbs like sage, chives, mint and thyme as ground cover in existing flower beds. they will choke out the weeds and will regrow each year. for annuals (like basil) i plant new ones in an existing flower pot on my deck that has bulbs in it already-i get the bulb flowers for their lifespan and the benefit of fresh basil all summer.

That is a fair warning, lol! Fortunately for me the trees are far enough away and I also have other fruit trees so I'm used to the fruit on the ground issue.

I have a relationship with mint. I had it way in the back of my property where it disturbed no one.

Then I made the mistake of putting one plant near flowers in my front yard. It took several years to purge it from that garden.

Basil - I'm thinking of doing exactly what you are doing - planting it in a large planter that will have bulbs also. I just cleared out last years leftover's yesterday. Now it's raining and I can't wait for the sun to come out so I can start playing again with my pots and plants and seeds.

 

[barkley]

That is a fair warning, lol! Fortunately for me the trees are far enough away and I also have other fruit trees so I'm used to the fruit on the ground issue.

I have a relationship with mint. I had it way in the back of my property where it disturbed no one.

Then I made the mistake of putting one plant near flowers in my front yard. It took several years to purge it from that garden.

Basil - I'm thinking of doing exactly what you are doing - planting it in a large planter that will have bulbs also. I just cleared out last years leftover's yesterday. Now it's raining and I can't wait for the sun to come out so I can start playing again with my pots and plants and seeds.

you are right-mint is invasive and will take over an area. we are also getting allot more strawberry plants popping up this year-i attribute it to the birds eating allot of them last year and then 'depositing' the seeds wherever they happen to do their business.

it's weird overcast here too and the temps keep fluctuating. we are still having the occasional below freezing overnights so i keep holding off on the deck planters.

 

[gottalovepluto]

We had been shifting to a much more frugal mindset over the last year or more as it was, with the intention of eliminating all debt aside from the mortgage, and then moving on to aggressive savings. We are considering a rental property as well and trying to position ourselves for that. I run a home based child care business and Covid-19 meant I lost the vast majority of my income overnight. One of the children I watch is immune compromised and she and her brother are home with their parents now understandably. I don't know if or when they will be able to come back. She was already in the hospital twice this year for RSV and Strep. Her little lungs are no match for Covid-19. Quite quickly the order came down that I could not have any children in my care unless their parents are essential workers. So of the four children I watch, one is left, as his mom is a nurse. His days are reduced as his dad was laid off too.

I had no formal agreement in place for this situation and I should have. But I did not ever think I would see this type of thing so it never crossed my mind to have a pandemic clause. One family asked if they could continue to pay me 50% until they came back, one did not. That is where we stand. I went down to about 25% off my income.
This situation has resulted in a great deal of sadness and some soul searching. Thank goodness my husband makes a decent living with an excellent pension. I love what I do and I have been lucky to work with great families and wonderful children over the last 15 years. But this situation has pointed out I am just not protected at all if something happens. If I got cancer? Too bad for me. No benefits, no insurance, no sick pay .. the list goes on.
I will continue to provide care for the families I have if they can come back ,but once this group all transition to school I will be 50 and I've decided that will be the end for me. Right now I think rental property makes the most sense for us and I will take over the upkeep and management of those. Big changes for us. I am grateful for all that I have and this situation has made me refocus and do what I need to stay on track.

This situation has scared the crap out of me about having rental property. Renters don’t have to pay until this is done and you cannot evict them. But you will still have to pay for any necessary fixes you agreed to under the lease and there are laws it must be habitable (AC blew? Pay up ASAP!) and (in CA) you need to pay property tax on time because the government wants its money on time (prop tax due in April here). So make sure you can go a long time with no rent payments on occupied property you must maintain. And this doesn’t even account for the mess you’re in if you have a mortgage on it. This isn’t your personal residence so the bank will play tougher, don’t expect any waived fees or that you’ll escape without dings on your banking history if you fail to pay the mortgage on time. If you get a deferral decent odds the bank will demand it all lump summed at the end of the period instead of extending the mortgage because they can. No way would I rather have rental property right now than a 75% pay cut.

I assume you missed out on PPP funding- but keep an eye out in the next month or so to see if Congress approves another round and immediately apply. Did you apply for unemployment? It’ll be a long slog but look at your states current rules. CA is rolling out their self-employed insurance at the end of the month and it will back pay for however long you’ve been unemployed. I believe everyone who gets unemployment also gets the $600/week for the Pandemic supplement.

I say the last paragraph because a lot of people don’t know most of that. I know this thread is about being forward thinking but I don’t want anyone missing out on something that might help them today (And fwiw as frustrating and shot in the dark as PPP and this temporary expansion of unemployment insurance is going to be those are 2 chances at money in your pocket you would not have if you were dependent on rental property right now.)

 

[Judique]

you are right-mint is invasive and will take over an area. we are also getting allot more strawberry plants popping up this year-i attribute it to the birds eating allot of them last year and then 'depositing' the seeds wherever they happen to do their business.

it's weird overcast here too and the temps keep fluctuating. we are still having the occasional below freezing overnights so i keep holding off on the deck planters.

I'm in Maryland and although it has gone down to near freeze a few days this month, mostly it's been nice. April is the start of our zone planting season, but since I attract a lot of birds due to having feeders, I prefer to start my seeds away from temptation.

Although strawberries are grown and sold in my community, I've had terrible luck with them. And I would LOVE to grow them. The one time I got a few plants to grow I surrounded the area with a makeshift fence and the deer tore it down one night. I gave up. Maybe I'll pick up a couple of plants and make a deck planter out of them.

 

[Judique]

This situation has scared the crap out of me about having rental property. Renters don’t have to pay until this is done and you cannot evict them. But you will still have to pay for any necessary fixes you agreed to under the lease and there are laws it must be habitable (AC blew? Pay up ASAP!) and (in CA) you need to pay property tax on time because the government wants its money on time (prop tax due in April here). So make sure you can go a long time with no rent payments on occupied property you must maintain. And this doesn’t even account for the mess you’re in if you have a mortgage on it. This isn’t your personal residence so the bank will play tougher, don’t expect any waived fees or that you’ll escape without dings on your banking history if you fail to pay the mortgage on time. If you get a deferral decent odds the bank will demand it all lump summed at the end of the period instead of extending the mortgage because they can. No way would I rather have rental property right now than a 75% pay cut.

I assume you missed out on PPP funding- but keep an eye out in the next month or so to see if Congress approves another round and immediately apply. Did you apply for unemployment? It’ll be a long slog but look at your states current rules. CA is rolling out their self-employed insurance at the end of the month and it will back pay for however long you’ve been unemployed. I believe everyone who gets unemployment also gets the $600/week for the Pandemic supplement.

I say the last paragraph because a lot of people don’t know most of that. I know this thread is about being forward thinking but I don’t want anyone missing out on something that might help them today (And fwiw as frustrating and shot in the dark as PPP and this temporary expansion of unemployment insurance is going to be those are 2 chances at money in your pocket you would not have if you were dependent on rental property right now.)

I think @pigletto is in Canada. Hopefully they have some programs going in their country that will help them weather this event.

 

[PollyannaMom]

Budget:

We've lost my part-time income, but DH worked from home anyway, so his job (and our main income) hasn't changed.

I've definitely realized what a "recreational shopper" I was, and that I can actually live without that (though a few things I didn't need at the time are coming in handy now for crafts and such.)

We're saving on eating out - which we probably did too much of before. I'm spending a little more on groceries, but also wasting less food (less of everything, actually!)

DS is home from college, so we'll get a partial refund on room & board credited to next semester.

And (sadly) we saved a lot from the vacation we were supposed to go on mid-March and just missed out on.

Our retirement funds have taken a hit, but there's time for those to bounce back before we get to retirement age, so I've trying not to dwell.


Lifestyle:

I'm very much an introvert. All this time at home has actually given me the "safe space" to grow quite a bit. - I've gotten over some tech inertia to start using Zoom, and even made a YouTube channel so I could post read-alouds for some young family members.

I've also had time to try out new recipes, pull out some puzzles (which I've always loved but rarely made time for) and indulge in watching old TV.

 

[piccolopat]

We're retired and we rely on my 401k for the discretionary part of our budget (hubby's pension and soon to be SS covers the rest). With the recent market turmoil this means most of that spending won't happen, and some (like travel and eating out) can't happen due to the pandemic. We just got a nice size tax refund because the IRS required a 20% withholding when I made my 401k withdrawals last year. We've decided to use some of that money for outside home projects like removing some dead trees and having yard debris chipped but we have put off other projects (like replacing some flooring). In times like this we are dipping into our cash reserves for a limited amount of discretionary spending so we can avoid making a 401k withdrawal until the market settles down (and that will take some time). We are still hoping we can take a road trip in the fall if things improve.

 

[disneyseniors]

It has changed our eating habits considerably! We are used to eating out at least 3 times a week and enjoying it immensely! Now, we order curbside once or twice a week to support our hometown favorite restaurant. Our town is small enough that we know a lot of people, and know who to trust. Going to our home restaurant was a big part of our social life with friends, family, and the wait staff. We will definitely go back to our old routine when this is over.

I don't really like to cook and only do it because I have to. So that will go back to eating out and minimal cooking.

It won't change our interaction with others either.

It will change our plans for vacation this year. No WDW for at least a year or more. We might go to DL when all is clear, but as others have stated, it all depends on what they have open, what social distancing we must do, etc. If it is not opened up without a lot of changes, we will go back eventually.WDW is one vacation that we will definitely rethink. There have always been "diseases" and illnesses at WDW. One of us Always got sick with upper respiratory illness or flu type illness at the end of Every. trip. to. WDW. Hard telling just what you pick up at WDW with such a huge international and regional amount of guests.
We are going to do more state and national parks, and more outside activity such as walking trails and yard work. I wish I could do a garden again, but due to physical problems I can't do that anymore. I will miss that.

 

[SL6827]

I am prepared to possibly lose almost everything we have. We do have 15 acres of land and a really nice lake lot in Alabama that are completely in the clear. If we do, we do. I know that if I never set foot in Disney World again, I have been blessed. And I will accept that. I will worry with these types of things once I feel like that there is not a possibility that we may not die from this if we catch it.

 

[jen7233]

Gym membership payments suspended right now since we can't go, but probably aren't going to return when this situation lifts. DH is going to cancel his gym membership, he bought things to workout with at home. I'll probably also cancel.

 

[LuvOrlando]

I am prepared to possibly lose almost everything we have. We do have 15 acres of land and a really nice lake lot in Alabama that are completely in the clear. If we do, we do. I know that if I never set foot in Disney World again, I have been blessed. And I will accept that. I will worry with these types of things once I feel like that there is not a possibility that we may not die from this if we catch it.

I'm with you! I lived through my daughter going through the cytokine storm and blood infection from H1N1 AND we had Tamiflu- my son was tested for Covid and had Flu type A last month - Tamiflu saved the day again - still just as terrifying. I'm grateful every day we are safe, nothing brings you to earth like falling to your knees. If we all survive that's enough for me to feel blessed every day for the rest of my life.

 

[SL6827]

I'm with you! I lived through my daughter going through the cytokine storm and blood infection from H1N1 AND we had Tamiflu- my son was tested for Covid and had Flu type A last month - Tamiflu saved the day again - still just as terrifying. I'm grateful every day we are safe, nothing brings you to earth like falling to your knees. If we all survive that's enough for me to feel blessed every day for the rest of my life.

Amen!!

 

[pigletto]

This situation has scared the crap out of me about having rental property. Renters don’t have to pay until this is done and you cannot evict them. But you will still have to pay for any necessary fixes you agreed to under the lease and there are laws it must be habitable (AC blew? Pay up ASAP!) and (in CA) you need to pay property tax on time because the government wants its money on time (prop tax due in April here). So make sure you can go a long time with no rent payments on occupied property you must maintain. And this doesn’t even account for the mess you’re in if you have a mortgage on it. This isn’t your personal residence so the bank will play tougher, don’t expect any waived fees or that you’ll escape without dings on your banking history if you fail to pay the mortgage on time. If you get a deferral decent odds the bank will demand it all lump summed at the end of the period instead of extending the mortgage because they can. No way would I rather have rental property right now than a 75% pay cut.

I assume you missed out on PPP funding- but keep an eye out in the next month or so to see if Congress approves another round and immediately apply. Did you apply for unemployment? It’ll be a long slog but look at your states current rules. CA is rolling out their self-employed insurance at the end of the month and it will back pay for however long you’ve been unemployed. I believe everyone who gets unemployment also gets the $600/week for the Pandemic supplement.

I say the last paragraph because a lot of people don’t know most of that. I know this thread is about being forward thinking but I don’t want anyone missing out on something that might help them today (And fwiw as frustrating and shot in the dark as PPP and this temporary expansion of unemployment insurance is going to be those are 2 chances at money in your pocket you would not have if you were dependent on rental property right now.)

I agree and all very important considerations. We are in Canada and I did qualify for our own Emergency benefit for the next four months which is helpful . Luckily we‘ve positioned ourselves to be able to live from one income. I just need to start thinking toward the future and something to transition out of what I do now.
I wouldn’t ever consider getting into a situation where I couldn‘t cover the rental units for an extended period of time though ( if that’s the route we choose ) . Especially not after all of this . I agree with you, its just too risky.

 

[TwoMisfits]

One stupid way...

Before I went to a grocery store produce section and was inspired by the quality, variety, and sales prices of the produce to make my later meal plans, shopping for the items I needed to go with my produce (which I always picked 1st).
Now, I bring the produce in to my house through a produce box whose items are uncertain and delivery dates tends to be even more uncertain, and my meal plan is inspired "Chopped" and "Doorknock Dinners" (that's a throwback for anyone who remembers) style. Whatever will work to make what I like...and whatever produce will go bad from the box 1st, especially if it arrived damaged...

One thing I'll be thankful for when this is over is slowly lingering over a gorgeous produce department (I never rush), finding beautiful and on sale produce, and just filling my cart...and then being able to grab everything I need for a dinner...

 

[dvcgirl67]

I think that COVID-19 the most serious event to affect this country and world since the World War II. If this event hasn't changed your way of thinking or the way that you budget yet, it soon will.

It's an incredibly contagious virus that the smartest among us are just beginning to understand. And so yes, it's going to completely change the way we think and live for the next year or two. We're in our early 50s and only about 7 years or so away from retirement. We'd been following the news of this virus in China since January, and became alarmed enough in February to move all of our retirement accounts out of the funds we were in and into Vanguard's Treasury Market fund. We were only down 3% from our all-time market high when we got out. The market plummeted from there, but has returned quite a bit since that initial bottom. But I don't think that was the bottom at 18,000. Even with the unprecedented stimulus that the government has unleashed, we still believe that we're in for a deep, prolonged recession.

My business is shut down, so my income has stopped coming in completely. I'm not sure how much of my business will return, or when, but if/when it does, I don't need to be around people all that much, and so I'll work with necessary precautions in place. My husband telecommutes and is unlikely to lose his job, at least not in the next several months. We have a healthy emergency fund that would carry us well into 18 months if both of us are unemployed without touching our nest egg. I honestly think it could carry us for two years since our travel and entertainment expenses will be next to nothing until there's a vaccine. In the short term, we stopped our 401K contributions to pile up even more cash. We can always make those contributions later in the year if the situation seems to have improved. I'm very thankful that we've always been good savers and diligent investors. And despite what most CFPs would tell us, I am happy that our nest egg, that we have been working on for 30 years is sitting safely in treasuries. We can sleep at night as a result.

In an absolute worst case scenario, we could retire. Our retirement "number" had lots of cushion built into it. We'd save in other ways by going down to one car, etc.

I suspect that in the medium term, that we'll "socialize" with immediate family. The people I trust the most to act responsibly in avoiding large gatherings and continue to social distance. Based on protests that are starting to foment, I don't believe it will safe to co-mingle with large groups of strangers in any setting for the foreseeable future. And we've come to terms with this. Politicizing a pandemic is a recipe for disaster, and that is where this seems to be headed.

I've learned that I can bake bread and that the level of food waste in our house has dropped to almost zero. I've planted a garden and soon we'll have fresh lettuces and other spring veggies to choose from. We'll continue to have groceries delivered and/or do curb-side pick-up. We have a great local butcher who also carries lots of other items (dairy, produce, other groceries), that I can visit with almost nobody in the store. And so, we'll continue to live this way until there's a vaccine.

In some ways, I have to tell you, it has greatly enhanced our lives. We're appreciating the little things a heck of a lot more.

 

[crisi]

We are spending more in some places - we eat "out" more by picking up curbside to keep the small independent restaurants we love solvent. We order from small independent businesses for delivery - I bought $200 in yarn for knitting that I have no clue what I'm going to do with last week - and then threw in a full set of interchangable knitting needles for $100+ that I didn't need to help the woman who runs my local shop move inventory. My husband had a t-shirt delivered today that the proceeds go to helping out of work waitstaff and we've ordered things from our local gamestore that we really don't need.

 

[mentos]

Surprisingly, not much has changed for us. DW has always worked from home, I still go to work daily (I work at a hospital-no WFH for me!). Having the DD6 at home has been kind of nice, and we're actually liking home schooling a lot (we just had to shift when DW has been able to work).

Changes for us:
1) DW and I worked out a lot prior to closures (we have memberships @ Orangetheory, went 3-4x/week), I had to rush out and buy weights/other gym items (slim pickings). We ended up panic buying an exercise bike, a treadmill, and cobble together weights. It was not cheap, but we justified it in that our gym membership was suspended (~$360/mo for the two of us) and a 6 mo closure would almost pay for the bike, at least. Classes streaming on the bike is like $40/mo total.

This was actually our #1 point of stress - we were afraid of the loss of momentum and the effects on our health. We were on the phones daily + online expediting delivery and hunting for supplies.

2) We're used to just going out on weekends - I miss this, but budget-wise it's helped offset our massive increase in grocery expenses. Also, absence makes the heart grow fonder! For a while after things reopen, I'm not going to take eating out/traveling for granted.

3) It's (forced) allowed us to enjoy our neighborhood more, we're near a nature trail (paved) and have been walking/riding bikes a lot more now. It reminds me of being a kid again.

4) DD6 has flourished with DW teaching her/ giving her individualized attention. We'll eventually transition back to traditional school, but we might do this for at least a year or two. TBH, the school didn't know what to do with her... she reads/writes at a 2nd-3rd grade level but struggles in math, and is at-level with science, Mandarin, and Spanish. We've been able to fill gaps so far (but we don't know what we're missing, we're not teaching professionals).

Wow this is kind of long. Anyway, our #1 is waiting for DL to reopen -- we had trips in April + June we cancelled but have August, October, November, and January coming up. We all spent the weekend building legos while ride videos were on a continuous loop on the TV

 

[RamblingMad]

I cook more. It’s fun.

 

[neatokimmo]

I wish Could grow zucchini and cucumbers. I don’t have a green thumb and with allergies not sure how that would work. Maybe hubby will help me lol! Is there anyway to do an above ground small garden? I don’t know if hubbywoukd want to dig out a section of the back yard

Join the migardener group on Facebook. A lot of us do raised beds. There are so many videos to follow.

 

[neatokimmo]

I am going to work harder in our garden. It has a lot of potential and it doesn’t get the attention it deserves. I am also going to focus on heavy producing plants like okra and freeze the pods.

I used to grocery shop for fun and that has led to a big surplus. I would always spend $75-100 whether we needed anything or not. Right now I am doing pickup and our orders are $33-60 a week. And the higher weeks include something special like DHs birthday cake supplies. I find I am throwing away a LOT less food and that makes me happy.

DDs gymnastics season was cut short. We missed one regular meet, state, and regionals. We cancelled two vacations. We cancelled a couple of long weekends. That was thousands of dollars.

And I’ve decided to post pone my van shopping another year. The van runs great but is having paint issues. It’s 3k to have it painted so I am taking my $10 can of rustoleum and painting it today. It’s mostly little patches above the doors and a big spot on the very top. Luckily it’s white so when the pollen turns it yellow, it will all blend