The personal cost of the lock down

[si_c]

It's six of one for me. On the one hand I work for the local public health system so I'm classed as a core worker - although I am working from home and was prior to the lockdown as a result of a broken collarbone - so I'm still on full pay. Mrs C works in the PPE supply chain so she is in full-time work too - although she has 7 staff who are all on furlough so she is in on her own.

Because we're otherwise on lockdown we're not spending any money at all, I got paid over a week ago and aside from bills I think I've spend about £20 - mostly on a stock of eccles cakes and coffee for the house.

The down side for us is that we were supposed to be away for three weeks in Singapore and Malaysia starting from Thursday gone and we book most of our holiday stuff direct and although we have travel insurance we stand to lose close to £1000 as a couple of the providers are not responding to requests for cancellation confirmations and the insurance company won't refund us until we get them. Have to see how it goes this week.

 

[Bazzer]

Very much mixed here.
Household income is unaffected. I've been identified as a key worker, but can work from home and before the lock down picked up a load of papers, so have enough to keep me going. Some investments have taken a hammering.
One holiday booked is being refunded in full. Another planned for later in the year is insured, but as with the cancelled holiday, I suspect I may be out of pocket on pre booked costs such as parking.
Travel and social costs have fallen, but as I discovered yesterday evening, items we would normally acquire at this time of the year, have risen in price or are out of stock. For example some stuff for my home grown fruit and veg. Fortunately a number of purchases of seeds etc., were made before Christmas and it may be a matter of being creative rather than being reliant upon already prepared items.
And the apple wine I make each Autumn has been lovely.

 

[Dave7]

Similar to what is happening and what I expect to happen with my site.

Ultimately, the site owner has got you by the short and curlies, and they know it.

When my older brother was assisting me with the purchase of the van, he commented we'd have more rights buying a £250 quid washing machine from Currys.

Indeed. Our site owner was a nice e ough guy but ruthless. When we bought our van we asked about a contract he said.....a contract is not worth a carrot. You are better off just trusting me.
In the years we were there he treated us well fortunately.

 

[Archie_tect]

My reduced workoad since the sites all closed, has been good for weight loss as I can get out to do heavier jobs in the house and the garden + walking regularly...

I've lost nearly 5 kilos... with another 8 or so to go!

 

[Globalti]

Apart from a clout of a handful of thousands to the small part of our reserves that is exposed to stock market vagaries the only discernible difference is that our Pub spending has nose-dived.

We're a pretty much self-contained social unit too which means that being cooped up together is more of a pleasure than a hardship - on Saturday we converted the front end of our lounge, that is 'up in the air' with great views, into a 'bedroom' and literally stayed in bed all day yesterday which was proper romantic.

Lovely! So will the Christmas baby be a Coronial?

 

[SpokeyDokey]

Lovely! So will the Christmas baby be a Coronial?

We're too old (although we are young at heart) for new kids and besides, I've been snipped.

 

[vickster]

Nothing specific other than the hopefully short-term hammering my Shares ISA and pension have taken (each down around 20%)

I do have some expectation my working hours might be reduced for a bit as new / current projects are put on hold

I'm spending less as shopping less, not going out for coffee, meals, not travelling to office etc (although I did get a curry takeaway delivered on Saturday)

I'll have more money coming back to my credit cards as I cancel more bits of my May holiday (and I'll now be working in May depending on the above) - hopefully I shouldn't be out of pocket by much on that

I'm saving money as I can't have my usual regularish sports massages (the downsides being pain and stiffness though )

I have ordered a new iPad for home - hadn't realised how poor the battery life had got on my current one (from about 2013!)

Other than that, I'm a bit bored!

 

[Salad Dodger]

My wife and I have been retired a couple of years, living on my bank pension. We are finding shopping a bit more expensive - or rather going once a week and buying a whole week's worth, to minimise the number of trips to the shops - seems dearer than just buying a few bits almost every day, as was our past habit.
On the plus side, we would normally go out three nights a week minimum to pubs for singing or open mic nights, so are probably saving about £30 a week on weekly subs and drinks.
I guess that for us the only real loss will be a couple of pre-booked and largely prepaid holidays. Only in UK and not a big deal in the overall scheme of things. Certainly, compared to some friends who are currently without work, we have nothing to complain about....

 

[vickster]

My wife and I have been retired a couple of years, living on my bank pension. We are finding shopping a bit more expensive - or rather going once a week and buying a whole week's worth, to minimise the number of trips to the shops - seems dearer than just buying a few bits almost every day, as was our past habit.
On the plus side, we would normally go out three nights a week minimum to pubs for singing or open mic nights, so are probably saving about £30 a week on weekly subs and drinks.
I guess that for us the only real loss will be a couple of pre-booked and largely prepaid holidays. Only in UK and not a big deal in the overall scheme of things. Certainly, compared to some friends who are currently without work, we have nothing to complain about....

On the UK holidays, get in touch with the providers and ask if you can postpone later in the year. My parents were due to go to the IoW in May (fairly recently booked) and their trip has been moved to October at no cost.

 

[Pale Rider]

Indeed. Our site owner was a nice e ough guy but ruthless. When we bought our van we asked about a contract he said.....a contract is not worth a carrot. You are better off just trusting me.
In the years we were there he treated us well fortunately.

Roughly the same as my experience.

I've not felt the need to get into a dispute, which is just as well because there's only going to be one winner.

One guy who did lock horns with the site owner arrived one Friday night to find his static dumped at the site's entrance, and a bill for moving it there.

 

[johnblack]

Bike fitness was pretty good but I've found it's improved as I'm fitting in a certain loop in my lunch break and I'm getting quicker, doing it on the MTB to make it harder as I'm only out for 45 minutes. However, my beer intake and food choices are leaving a bit to be desired.

Me and my wife are both working from home, we've always been able to but both prefer working in the office, so not much change there, just some of the stuff I'm having to look at has changed with the circumstances. Wifes job is quite precarious but I think she'd be fairly happy if they made her redundant.

Financially it's been pretty good so far, saved loads, but I'd imagine both our pensions have taken a beating, can't worry too much about that, they should come back in time. Nearly filled up a couple of S&S Isa's about a month ago, glad I didn't pull the pin, not sure the tax saving would offset that loss.

 

[Milkfloat]

Shares hammered, pension hammered, working all hours to try and keep the company going whilst other countries are locking down, plus a bit of volunteering because I am DBS'ed and Paediatric First Aid trained. On the plus side, I have my health and I should be able to cope with the share and pension hit in the short term. If this lasts for the predicted time then job losses in my company are inevitable and somehow we have to pay the government back for all their spending.

 

[Dave7]

Roughly the same as my experience.

I've not felt the need to get into a dispute, which is just as well because there's only going to be one winner.

One guy who did lock horns with the site owner arrived one Friday night to find his static dumped at the site's entrance, and a bill for moving it there.

One guy had been on the site 30 years and was in his late 70s. His van was 15 years old and was brill. 6 months prior he had paid the owner to put some decking in.
Then the owner says, right, the van is 15 years old. Buy a new one or go.
TBF the owner offered him free 2 weeks a year in a rental but he was never going to do that.

 

[cosmicbike]

I'm a bit of a tight git, to in terms of outgoings things haven't changed much. I've had to spend a few quid on the Swedish Beast (Volvo 240 estate) as she needed a major service, but I'm a capable spanner monkey so it's only a parts cost.
Food wise, well up until yesterday I was self-isolated. Since then I've done 2 small shops costing about £25 in total, SWMBO is allowed out from Wednesday so will do our 'big' shop then.
SWMBO is in teaching, so still being paid, and on a roster for attending school to look after key worker kids. Whilst at home she's prepping English work for them, and those at home to do.
I'm also in the key worker sector. I have no idea what work looks like as I've not been in for 2 weeks. I'll find out Thursday on my first rostered shift back, apparently it feels like a weekend, so quiet. Non-critical operational staff have been moved away from critical, so where I would normally be in a control room of 50 people, I think there may be 10 or so, all social distancing. I have been given a 15% pay cut as of 1st April, we are savers so hopefully it won't hurt too much, but the Canada trip we have been planning for 2021 to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary is on hold. We re-mortgaged a month ago which saved us a decent amount on that each month.

No idea what the long term looks like. I guess bigger buys will have far more thought put in. We may consider getting rid of one of the cars. Unfortunately nobody can predict what the economy will look like in 6 months, nor peoples spending and behaviour. Perhaps we will see a new 'normal'...

 

[Andy in Germany]

My contract for the new job was delayed by a month because of Corona, which means I'm one month's pay down I suppose, but living on fresh air is a habit now so we aren't going to notice that too much.

Had a call from Potential New Boss today, and he's confirmed that the contract will be in the post for me to sign, and I can assume I start work at 07:30 (in the morning, for goodness sakes...) on May the 15th, assuming there's not too many travel restrictions in the meantime.

It means crossing the Black Forest to get to my apartment, but I'm considered a keyworker because we provide front line care for people with psychological disabilities, so I should be able to go there.