How have your expenses changed with the Corona Virus?

[aja8888]

Way up. Had to buy all that toilet paper before everyone else got it. [emoji23][emoji23]

Who needs a lot of TP when you can have one of these?



https://www.amazon.com/TUSHY-Classic-Bidet-Toilet-Attachment/dp/B07B8VW9MG

 

[Gumby]

Travel - down.
Entertainment - down.
Dining out -down.
Gasoline - down.
Food & Wine at home - up a little to make up for all the forgone dining out.
Everything else - same

 

[CaliKid]

Way down. We travel a lot and have cancelled/skipped a couple trips already and several in the next couple months. Hoping to be able to travel by June. Got some refunds so that was nice.

Gasoline use (and cost per gallon) way down.

Gym membership turned off by gym.

We don't eat out at expensive places anyway so about the same as trying to do take out/delivery to help people out.

Not going out for happy hours and not drinking as much in general... at least so far.

Not going to activities for us or the kids that cost money - movies, ice skating, bounce house, etc....

I guess, in summary, travel expenses is the biggest saver overall.

 

[enjoyinglife102]

Like most, overall expenses are down, especially travel. However, while I used to enjoy saving money, I now look at it as a missed opportunity to live the life I want to be living. Hope normal returns soon so I can start trying to catch up on what I missed! More importantly though, a return to normal means better health for so many.

 

[unclemick]

Our expenses are down since we aren’t leaving the house.

+1 We have to stabilize to a new normal so how far remains to be seen.

heh heh heh - Exceptions being trips to the farm.

 

[athena53]

Who needs a lot of TP when you can have one of these?

When I was in the Admiral's Club at HNL last November I took a picture of a similar toilet in the ladies' room. All it lacked was the dryer unit, which I thought odd- with the combination of the built-in bidet and dryer you wouldn't need TP.

That picture was my 3-year old granddaughter's favorite from my whole trip. I like that kid- she's a little off-the-wall.

 

[iloveyoga]

Out to eat and travel budget way down. We are spending more at the grocery store and honestly eating much better than we have in a long time. I am going to try the Ina Garten roast chicken with vegetables tonight. Maybe with stove top stuffing.

Other than that, we don't have any payments, just utility bills and taxes.

 

[Ready]

We have three bidets in our house and have been using them for many years. I can assure you that you still need to use toilet paper, or preferably flushable wipes. Bidets are great, but they do not always clean you up 100% of the time. I won’t go into further details, but you get the idea.

 

[youbet]

We don't track our spending in a detailed way but rather just watch the CC bill and the checkbook for general trends. This works for us since we are significant LBYMers. But, from this high altitude view, it appears spending is relatively flat, maybe a bit up.

We've only been home three weeks from a two month stay in Florida. We spend a lot more there on dining out than at home and our last CC bill reflects that, although that would have happened without the COVID-19 situation.

You can book Florida state parks eleven months in advance, so we're busy booking next winter. This has tied up a couple of kilobucks. But, again, not COVID-19 related.

For the three weeks we've been home, spending seems up a bit but not much. After frequently dining out while traveling, we generally are homebodies once we get back here. We have wanted to eat somewhat "high on the hog" while stuck in the house though. And we've been using delivery from Whole Foods, via Amazon Fresh, to keep the pantry topped off. We're ordering high tier items, Whole foods isn't cheap and we tip. So, our grocery bill is noticeably up. It's not a problem for us, but just something we noted.

Sooooo...... on it goes. Spending changes are probably the least of our concerns at the present time. Chicago is projected to be taking over the lead from NY and Ca within 2 - 3 weeks in terms of infection rates and, as geezers with health issues, we don't want to be on that list.

 

[foxfirev5]

Down. With about a quarter of our expenses travel related we're already seeing a reduction. However some of the savings will probably be spent on our lake house which is only 17 miles away.
With a couple fall trips planned i am coming to the realization that we may be staying around here for at least the rest of the year. It would mean losing a couple Delta vouchers but why take the risk? We'll see.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

I started an online order to buy a new sweater, then I realized I have no place to wear it to and may not for months. So I guess I'm saving money on clothes.

Other than that probably the same as everyone else - less on hair, dining out, travel and entertainment and gas. More on groceries because I can't do my bargain hunting at ethnic markets and outlet stores like I used to. We're just buying whatever reasonably healthy foods we can find via online ordering for pickup or delivery.

 

[Walt34]

Down some. Luckily I got a haircut just before the barber shops closed. Maybe instead of trying to cut it myself I'll emulate Nords and grow a ponytail. The gym won't bill us this month since they're closed. The vehicles are being driven so little they both have battery maintainers hooked up.

We're not eating out anywhere, take-out or any other type. Going for walks is free. So overall we've amped up the LBYM lifestyle even for us.

 

[NW-Bound]

Comparing the expenses from Jan 1 to Mar 28 of this year and last year (numbers very easy to obtain with Quicken), I saw that I spent only 65% compared to last year.

Wow, that's a big difference. Looking closely, I saw that 1/2 of the difference is due to no travel, and the other 1/2 is due to me happening to make a charity donation early last year. I will most likely make the same donation, but later this year.

Take out the donation, then only the travel is the difference.

 

[cbo111]

Way down for us as well. DW has health issues so we stay home. Travel-wise, I just checked on SW airlines for mid-April flights from Tampa to Oakland. Every available flight was $180 roundtrip. What a deal!

 

[pacergal]

Will most likely be down overall, but won't know for sure for a few months.
Travel--so far one trip cancelled, next two will be also, I am pretty positive.
Food- unsure, not going out, but doing pick up from stores and buying more expensive comfort foods and specialty food and drinks from the stores that I normally wouldn't buy.
So far, the substitutions have been the more expensive brands and they don't uncharge me!

 

[davebarnes]

I spent $400 yesterday on a gift card at our favorite "local" — https://www.hopsandpie.com

We plan to increase our spending in the local area (within 1 mile of our house).
I am scheduling an extra $1K/mo for the next few months.

 

[CardsFan]

We don't track spending close enough to have any meaningful data, and we don't go out and spend much this time of year. So I would guess we are even, though DW is currently making at least one on line purchase a day, so maybe we are not even.

 

[Dtail]

Actually I expect my water bill to go up.......

 

[RobbieB]

We have three bidets in our house and have been using them for many years. I can assure you that you still need to use toilet paper, or preferably flushable wipes. Bidets are great, but they do not always clean you up 100% of the time. I won’t go into further details, but you get the idea.

Yeah, sometimes you see a little brown on the blot paper and another squirt is needed. But that's 2 tissue wads at most. Unless you really have a problem...

Bidets Rock!

Yeah, expenses way down, no more $50 lunches.

 

[atmsmshr]

Past two months have been way - way up in spending.

February was airfare and rental cars to see family and friends on short notice in PA and AZ, flying from Florida.

When I got back (DW stayed longer with her parents), started stocking up on food and supplies. Told myself that it was just early hurricane preps (not really) and I went for anything that could stock for a month or longer.

After that, it was a survey of the house and multiple, multiple trips to Lowes for project supplies that I could tackle in the coming months.

Missed a few things, but when the wife in chief returned mid March we filled in what I had missed. Amazon is great.

From here on out - spending will be way down. No more travel plans for this year.

 

[Teacher Terry]

However, my grocery bill will be going up as my youngest son was in Vietnam teaching English and came home yesterday. So relieved he got out because he left early the morning of the 27th and that evening they shutdown Vietnam. Now you need a blood test to leave showing that you are virus free. He said that they left all the middle seats empty and neither plane had a bunch of people.

 

[Eucerin]

Like most people, our expenses are down as well.
April trip was cancelled, no entertainment, no eat outs, no movies and theaters. But grocery bill is up. Overall the expense is down.

 

[Dog]

We have to reschedule a trip to Phoenix in April due to the Eagles rescheduling their concert to October. So those $ are just being moved. DH had to cancel his annual May golf trip, so saving $ there. My trip to the Dolomites (Italy) in September is in limbo. So, overall will be saving some vacation $. My gym has provided virtual classes via Les Mills and let us borrow some equipment, so I am willingly paying monthly dues to support them (local gym). Hiking and scrambling in the mountains have been cancelled, so much less driving and ferry costs. I will be updating spreadsheet next week and thinking expenses will be down. No eating out, less driving and adhoc buying while out and about.

 

[38Chevy454]

Less for me also. Not eating out, driving less, not buying other stuff. But have spent money for yard related projects, although that's normal spring expenses. Nice to have less expenses overall. Change is not drastic reduction, more like just cutting some of the discretionary part of the total.

 

[Squirrel]

More for me: DH bought a new computer and a large monitor so that he could work comfortably from home.

Also, groceries....my frugal brain kicks into lizard-mode in the grocery store: I need 5 items to get the discount, so I walk down extra aisles to find the 5 items. Need to send other family members on future grocery runs.