How much have you saved since COVID & what did you buy w/stimulus?

[QuarterMillionMan]

Trying not to create clutter in threads here so including 2 topics in 1 so to speak.

1) saved about $1500 per month since COVID
2) El Cortez Las Vegas has a 5% rebate in slot play for cashing government checks up to $50 so saving my $1200 stimulus check when I return to Las Vegas which could be months (even if they open on June 1, I won't go so soon with all the restrictions such as having to wear a mask, physical distancing, every other slot machine turned off, etc). Sorry Feds I'm not really stimulating the economy with my stimulus to spend like one of my co-workers who bought a $1000 WWE championship belt in glass case. Now that is stimulating the economy, cheers.

[QuarterMillionMan]

Edited to add my apologies to anyone who has lost a loved one, lost a job or experienced diminished job hours, or stricken with COVID during this pandemic.

[rennigade]

No idea how much we saved. It was more than we spent.

[disneysteve]

No stimulus checks here. We don't qualify.

We've definitely been spending less by about $1,000/month. We made a nice donation to our local food pantry. We've been getting takeout once or twice a week to help support the local restaurants. Other than that, it's just been additional savings.

[MonkeyMama]

1 - $0 (our budget is the same as always)**
2 - Saving for a rainy day.

**Example: I believe we spent $0 on car gas this month. But my drive is electric and saving 20% (driving 20% less) saves me a whole whopping $5. We are spending more on food but less in other areas. April and May, I already did accounting for and were very normal spending months for us. Some of our bigger/annual expenses will disappear. It will be interesting to see how the year shakes out as a whole.

[disneysteve]

1 - $0 (our budget is the same as always)**

So there's nothing that you would typically spend money on that you have been unable to do because of COVID? You never go out to eat or to a movie or show? You never travel anywhere? You never do any activities outside of the home that cost money?

There are a lot of things that we normally do that just haven't been possible because everything is closed. We haven't eaten in a restaurant since March 6. We had hoped to do a Broadway show this spring which obviously didn't happen. My wife and daughter were registered for a convention in Chicago the first week of June that got cancelled. I was registered for a work conference in Atlantic City in April that got cancelled and another in July in St. Louis that got cancelled. We've done absolutely nothing outside of the house as far as entertainment goes. There has been virtually zero shopping beyond necessities. My wife has gotten gas once in 3 months. I don't think my daughter has gotten gas at all and I think I've gone either 2 or 3 times (I still work full time outside of the home). There just really hasn't been much of any opportunity to spend any money.

[MonkeyMama]

So there's nothing that you would typically spend money on that you have been unable to do because of COVID? You never go out to eat or to a movie or show? You never travel anywhere? You never do any activities outside of the home that cost money?

Most of our movie going is free (we do mostly free advanced screenings, we also use free gift cards).
No, we don't do a lot out of our home that costs money. "Never" is a strong word, but it is not a lot of spending for us.
Grocery spending has been absurd during the pandemic. Our kids are home more. We can't shop carefully/sales. Also, most of our eating out is more individual. I eat out socially buy that might be $10 here or there. To order out for a family of 4 (take out) *once* and to tip generously (given the situation) is more than my house usually spends in an entire month dining out.

Whatever spending that has gone down is offset by increased food spending. There's that, and our spending was very frugal to begin with.

[disneysteve]

I guess that's all a good thing, MonkeyMama.

I agree that grocery spending is up, but dining out is down sharply so it has more than balanced out. It's also a little hard to tell our actual grocery spending because I've been shopping for my mother and some for our neighbors as well. They're reimbursing us but I haven't sat down to figure out what our actual spending is with that backed out.

I also agree with not being as price conscious. The idea is to do one-stop shopping as much as possible to limit exposure to the public so I may pay a bit more than usual to buy something just for the convenience. The best example is I've bought milk at Wawa (convenience store) several times. It's quick and easy and contact-free and on my way home from work. It costs more than Wegmans but that's a much more involved trip.

[MaryKay]

I've actually spent more since this began because groceries have gone up so much (in our area) and we have stocked up on meat for the freezer, laundry supplies, pet food, etc. We also did some unexpected spending on landscaping. We have a neighbor in back of us that keeps their 4 year old grandson most of the time and this child yells and screams constantly so we are trying to grow a barrier between us with shrubs that will reach at least 6' tall. They won't block his yelling but at least it might give us some privacy. The other expense was roller shades for the patio to give us more privacy also and since the AZ sun can be murder in the summer months, they will help filter the hot sun from the back of the house. They were well worth the price.

[Fishindude77]

Got our stimulus check yesterday, $2400. We didn't ask for it, didn't really want it, don't need it, and don't agree with the program.
I'm going to donate much or all of it to one or more good charitable causes.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

I think that is a great thing to do with the $2400, Fishindude77, and I have heard (online) of quite a few people doing that. Personally, we have not yet made a decision about what to do. So it sits in the bank account for now.

[kork13]

I honestly can't say... Money is flowing extremely fast around us right now, both in & out... I just returned from deployment, we're in the process of moving, selling a house, bought DW a car, living at a temporary location for training, and so on... But in general, pretty sure our expenses are ~$1500-$2000/mo lower than average. We're saving everything we can, but spending what we need to. Our savings accounts have ballooned into 6 digits ahead of buying our next house, and will double once we close on our previous home next month. Didn't specifically go out and spend our 'stimulus' money, but we're eating out way more often due to being in transit & more limited cooking options. So while I have no idea, all I can say is we're saving alot & spending alot right now.

[docstudent]

I didn’t qualify for a stimulus check, but my $600 student loan payment is waived until 9/20, so I consider that my de facto stimulus payment. I’m saving about $1200 a month due to Covid-19. I have to work two days a week, and that drastically impacted the amount I spent on gas. I was spending about $500 per month and now it’s done to $120, plus I have not ate out in over 2 1/2 months. In addition, my $181 gym membership has been halted. I’ve been able to invest the extra funds into the stock market. I’ve maxed out my retirement and built a solid 12 month emergency fund and still building on it.

[mo0n]

I've been able to maintain my debt payoff (in the form of a sinking fund) during this time. My OT has dropped dramatically, so fun money hasn't been around. I was able to drop the interest rate on my land loan, and I've also received a small raise due to time on with my employer. I don't spend as much at restaurants, so my weekly grocery bill has definitely been higher. I thought I made too much to receive a stimulus check, but the AGI came in lower than I thought, and I received $77...that probably went to a part for my new-to-me ZTR mower that I was fixing. So all in all, I'm staying afloat.

[disneysteve]

my $181 gym membership

Is that per month? I'm curious what you get for that cost. We pay $80 total for the two of us and most people consider that on the expensive side. That's for a full service gym, personal trainer, pools, sauna, classes, etc.

And yes, our membership payments have been frozen while the gym is closed so we're saving that expense. We also got a 20% refund on our auto insurance for April and May (about $42/month).

For all saying they're spending more on groceries, it's still far cheaper to eat at home than to eat out so you've got to be coming out ahead on food costs overall.