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Thread: Has Covid and/the lockdown made you reconsider lifestyle?

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    Has Covid and/the lockdown made you reconsider lifestyle?

    Rarely, if ever (in modern times) have so many people simultaneously undergone a forced and sudden utter change in circumstances (wartime excepted).

    With so many of us finding our worklife threatened, jobs at threat or gone, incomes compromised, freedoms of movement restricted, etc.

    So .... has being dumped on made you rethink anything?

    Job /career?
    Working from home?
    Buying on credit?

    and so on. Anything really.


    For instance, all's normal and .... wham - you're laid off, finances uncertain, etc.

    Does it make you wish you could unbuy that new car (and ditch the loan), or unbend your credit card for the laptop, holiday, etc?

    Would you now let the notion that what you thought was a stable income and comfortably affordable payments are, overnight, no longer affordable and are a millstone round your neck?


    So in future, would you forego any credit finance unless absolutely necessary?


    Similarly, suddenly being forced to work from home, or teleconference rather than travelling extensively, make clear that not only are they possible, but might be prefereable?

    These are just a couple of examples. But has recent events made you re-evaluate any significant aspect of your life.

    I'd sure say it's shaken a lot of beliefs in the stability of our lifes, and shown us what we take for granted isn't quite so fixed.
    A lesson learned from PeterB about dignity in adversity, so Peter, In Memorium, "Onwards and Upwards".

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    Re: Has Covid and/the lockdown made you reconsider lifestyle?

    Yes to all of it.

    For work I've let it be known that things can not go back to 'normal' for me, that i expect far more flexibility with the option to work from home being the default and that if they try to walk the changes back they have made to enable this then i will be looking to go elsewhere that is forward thinking.

    Lease on the car is up next year so not much help now but i am giving serious consideration to just getting a shed to get me about (and this is based on the above coming true)

    Mobile phone, have been payg for years now so nothing to cut there; new phone but might put that off.

    Credit card, I am looking at ditching it, if i haven't got the money in future i'll simply not get it though the protection it does offer with purchases is nice.

    Work life balance - this has proven that there is no balance for me and i need to take steps to swing it the other way and perhaps i need to look into a different area of work going forward and if that means a wage cut then so be it, if it means i make a improvement to my life that gives me something back.

    IT is a mugs game that no one wins.



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    Re: Has Covid and/the lockdown made you reconsider lifestyle?

    I would suggest, re:-credit card, that provided you have the self-discipline, keep the card but ONLY use it for essentials, like petrol and/or the weekly shop. And <* best Martin Lewis impression *> "pay off in full".

    It maintains the option.Ditch it entirely and you may find it that much harder to get another card later.


    As for the rest, I agree and did similar years ago. It was a health problem not a pandemic that woke me up from my personal rat-race rut, but the impact was similar.
    A lesson learned from PeterB about dignity in adversity, so Peter, In Memorium, "Onwards and Upwards".

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    Re: Has Covid and/the lockdown made you reconsider lifestyle?

    Typically the CC was paid off in full but of late that's been slipping, you know other pressing matters taking up the bulk of my 'free' time if any...



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    Re: Has Covid and/the lockdown made you reconsider lifestyle?

    It has made me realise that while there are of course still some idiots, as you'd expect with anything, there are still lots of good people who care and are willing to step up and help others - as evidenced by the the former NHS staff who returned and all of the people who signed up volunteering to help it too.

    I was already appreciative of medical staff before all of this, but it made me even more appreciative by highlighting how much they can put themselves at risk to heal others. The same for the other emergency professions who also had their own dangers already without all of this too.

    Overall, I just have more appreciation than I already did for everyone who it has become clear are vital to the continual running of the country, even those which some people may not have previously been seen as such until now (such as corner shop and supermarket staff - possibly also postal staff, but I'd hope everyone else already saw them as vital in normal times anyway too).
    Last edited by Output; 18-04-2020 at 12:53 PM. Reason: Added an 'l'.

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    Re: Has Covid and/the lockdown made you reconsider lifestyle?

    That's a really good question.

    There are temporary changes that I'll make. I won't buy a house this year. I'm reducing spending in case I'm laid off next year.

    But that's not really a lifestyle change, but just a minor change of plans. I think the lifestyle change is that I'm pretty much committed to this job for the next 5+ years. I've never held down a job for more than three years before, and was already looking for a next step. There are no other options open in this career fields right now, and it will be years before there are.

    I already have a lot of appreciation for Medical workers, from having spent years flying an Air Ambulance. I have many lifelong friends from that, one is on their way to New York right now.

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    Re: Has Covid and/the lockdown made you reconsider lifestyle?

    I've always been financially responsible - aside from a mortgage I've never borrowed money and never used credit to buy items. If I haven't got the money in the bank, I won't buy it, simple as.

    I've actually been quite ill the last 3 weeks, but not with Corona virus, I've had sinusitis, which is another viral infection, and prior to that had 2 other illnesses in the last 2 months or so, so I can only imagine my immune system is completely shot right now. Virus' suck, it's not something you get over in a few days, literally 3 weeks, and I'm still not fully recovered. That coupled with being on lockdown at home with 2 young children has made life quite stressful, and I've also felt guilty I couldn't spend that time with the kids as I would have liked, since I was so low on energy.

    In terms of work, we supply the events and exhibitions industries, see the walling that went up in the Nightingale hospitals, that type of stuff. But obviously the industry is really struggling right now as a whole. Company is on shutdown until further notice, and we're just responding to e-mails from home. Once this is over, I expect things to gradually return to normal, but it's going to take a period of time, potentially 12 months, for things to return to normal I expect.

    It's not really practical for me to work from home, as I have to be in contact with the shopfloor to pass information, and also frankly there's too much distraction for me, I'll just be happy for things to return to the status quo - being able to see family, go wherever we like and have the kids back in education, home schooling just isn't the same when both of you are technically meant to be working from home as well. We manage about 1 hour per day of schooling.

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    Re: Has Covid and/the lockdown made you reconsider lifestyle?

    The only change I am going to make is going out more as being stuck in has made me realise there are so many things I would like to see.

    And there is a big difference between choosing to stay in and being made to stay in.

    So once this is over I am off out, everywhere.
    Jon

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    Re: Has Covid and/the lockdown made you reconsider lifestyle?

    In all honesty it has given me the time and the cause to re-evaluate all my major decisions in life, and I'm trying to put as much focus on the ones it's reaffirmed as much as the ones it's changed.

    I'm very lucky to be married to someone who after 4 weeks isolation we've yet to raise our voices to each other for example. Equally the decision to buy this house, with this garden in this town has been reaffirmed by the fact that we and the kids have enough space to be apart and yet enough to exercise too.

    We'd dabbled with growing our own with a 3 ft lean to greenhouse and outdoor veg patch but we've gone all put this year and given how soothing and satisfying the process is that's something I'm keen to continue post lockdown.

    Career wise were both lucky, she's a teacher and I work for the NHS so I'm very grateful that unlike many our jobs are safe. Juat before this hit I'd been tempted to a similar job in the private sector for about £6k more than I'm on now. I decided at the time the extra commute and time away from family wasn't worth it and I'm glad I did as I'd have been furloughed by now. Like others have said I think I'll stay in my current role for a few years now. I earn enough to be comfortable, work with good people and it's close to home so another few £ in my pay packet isn't worth the hassle IMO.

    My current car is the most expensive I've ever bought at £3.5k so finance isn't something I've ever had to worry about. My wife had been tempted to treat herself to leasing something brand new for a couple of years and I've been preparing for a midlife crisis by researching MR2s, MX-5s, Type Rs and similar. Given I'm not really a car person I think I'll stick with my Honda Jazz for a while yet. Its 10 years old and slow, but it's easy to work on, a TARDIS inside and has bomb proof reliability.

    Financially we've tried to avoid non-mortgage debt but ended up putting £5k on a credit card in November when our soffits & facias had rotted to the extent water was getting into the house. Given our expenditure on childcare and petrol is now zero and we're still both getting full pay we're trying to pay as much of that off as possible now.

    The biggest thing for me is a pivot away from 'things' and towards 'experiences'. It's shown me that you can buy a bigger TV/new car/PC component at any time, but visiting new places, learning new skills and experiencing different cultures may not always be possible. It's my eldests birthday next month and she's now less likely to get a tablet and more likely to get a days canoing or a surfing lesson.

    Finally it's made me appreciate the world around me more. Britain has a lot of wonderful nature, some of it just a few minutes walk away. In conjunction with my parents we've been talking about taking the kids to Disney World next year, recreating a holiday I had as a kid. Assuming it's even possible I'm weighing up the desire for experiences with a reluctance to go to the USA, the culture over there is just so alien to me regardless of the politics of its presidents. Future holidays are likely to be mostly in the UK or close Europe. I also dislike the waste of flying and my most memorable foreign trip was via Eurostar, a far more civilised method of travel.

    Apologies for the wall of text, I've had a lot of time to think...

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    Re: Has Covid and/the lockdown made you reconsider lifestyle?

    Definitely.

    We don't have a lot of debt but could definitely be in better shape financially in terms of savings and emergency funds, so that's something I want to get sorted. Along with that a better paying job would help. I've been giving serious thought to changing to a different field entirely. The job I have is comfortable and with regular hours and I've earned longer annual holidays but if I move (and there's no guarantee I'd be successful in applying, of course) then there would be an improvement in pay, more chance for advancement (as far as I can tell - not sure where my current employer sees things going in the future) but it would be a change to shift work, and I'm not 100% certain of the fit for me personally. It would be a move to something to improve the current situation while taking time to improve finances and pursue other studies. I'm giving it thought.

    The general government response has also given me pause for thought for what this means for the future. I am wondering if instead of going back to the past freedoms this is going to mean restricted freedoms and a more controlled society.

    As for working from home, as I was doing before being furloughed, I enjoyed it and would happily do so on a regular basis for at least some of the week, were it an option.

    Oh, and shopping - I had been on a low-carb diet for a while which was working well. I made the decision to switch back to a normal diet to make things easier for my wife's cooking and grocery shopping. It's gone well so far, and I'm very much enjoying porridge in the mornings and hot cross buns in the afternoon. That aside, I think we can get by on fewer groceries than we were buying, so that's a lesson learned.
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    Re: Has Covid and/the lockdown made you reconsider lifestyle?

    re finances, do not, however bad, overload the creditcard beyond your means to pay back. Agreeing to a 1-2 month payment holiday is one thing provided after that you can still pay it off in a short 1-2 month max time frame. But do not enter the debt spiral where you load it up beyond your means to pay back. The interest racks up so quickly and it will ruin you. Also agree with Saracen, keep cc but do not use it. Lock it in a draw and use it only on your terms.

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    Re: Has Covid and/the lockdown made you reconsider lifestyle?

    Quote Originally Posted by ik9000 View Post
    re finances, do not, however bad, overload the creditcard beyond your means to pay back. Agreeing to a 1-2 month payment holiday is one thing provided after that you can still pay it off in a short 1-2 month max time frame. But do not enter the debt spiral where you load it up beyond your means to pay back. The interest racks up so quickly and it will ruin you. Also agree with Saracen, keep cc but do not use it. Lock it in a draw and use it only on your terms.
    Credit cards bit me many years ago. Unexpected illness, income vanished.

    It taught me a lesson, but by 'eck it was a painful lesson.
    Last edited by Saracen999; 19-04-2020 at 02:09 AM.
    A lesson learned from PeterB about dignity in adversity, so Peter, In Memorium, "Onwards and Upwards".

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    Re: Has Covid and/the lockdown made you reconsider lifestyle?

    Tbh, the lockdown makes me want to buy a graphics card.

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    Re: Has Covid and/the lockdown made you reconsider lifestyle?

    I was laid off, really want to un-buy my car at the moment. This sucks.

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    Re: Has Covid and/the lockdown made you reconsider lifestyle?

    Well.... I'm the lucky man who has a good small family who can live with each other for weeks at a time and not fight.

    But food insecurity is paramount to me. Not that there isn't any....there is plenty. But getting it... queuing in supermarket carparks and outside small local shops alike is a challenge. Online shopping is impossible- there are facebook groups devoted to sharing when Tesco food order slots come online!

    My lad is missing school... home schooling doesn't work as well, socially, as being on a bus full of banter and shouting twice per day, and school dinner times in a busy canteen are missed. Teacher feedback is missed too. I can feel it.
    So... I know more now, than ever before... school life is what forms us. Makes us. Creates the building blocks of our brain.

    I'm very proud of small local shops who have grabbed th chance and run with it. Better choice, frsher breads, more meats in the fridge. Very proud... hope they keep the business after this. I fear perhaps not....

    I worry for local pubs - pubs are the back bone of many things in rural England. Not just beer, but food, social gatherings, winter time shoot gatherings, B&B's, quiz nights, darts leagues etc.

    And our NHS are the most incredible force for good. As are the Police force, the Fire brigade , the Coast Gaurds, the bin men, the road repair dudes.. etc etc
    And the armed forces are there.. always there .....waiting to do anything from driving a truck or ambulance... to kiling the enemy

    I wish, with a large part of my heart, that we as a nation would cut back on some stuff (HS2 I'm looking right at you) and spend a few billion extra on making the jobs of those people better.

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    Re: Has Covid and/the lockdown made you reconsider lifestyle?

    Ironically transport is one of the things people on lower incomes struggle with as they have to travel more,and cars are not cheap when you add up costs. £60 billion has been taken in car loans over the last 3 years for example. What we do need to is investment in a public transport system which actually serves the "public" role. We definitely need to move more stuff out of London and the South East as its too overcrowded now and too much wealth is concentrated there. However,these projects will just deliver "public transport" which costs way too much to use,and the whole system is not integrated in anyway. Probably makes more sense to drive then!
    Last edited by CAT-THE-FIFTH; 20-04-2020 at 01:43 PM.

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