Are you financially better or worse off since the pandemic kicked in?

[ska invita]

Private poll

The government reckon loads of people have saved/made lots of money during the pandemic so far and this will be getting spent a lot in the next year
As well as people saving money assets have gone up a lot - house prices and shares have skyrocketed for some (tech shares especially i think).

Im about the same as before, saved a tiny bit (less commuting + going out) but have effective pay cut via pay freeze for three years now so evens out.

urban isnt representative, but would be interesting to see vaguely how people have fared.
furlough is about to end and theres a fear of around a million people becoming unemployed before the year is out.

 

[wemakeyousoundb]

About the same, but that is offset against the fact that the 2020-2021 forecast for me pre pandemic was to actually be better off by quite a lot.
e2a: when I say by quite a lot I mean: no need to claim any benefits.

 

[Steel Icarus]

We've been better off due to months of not commuting to work, Mrs SI not travelling the country to speak at conferences, the kids not doing their various sports, not eating out/at work. We've been very lucky to be able to wfh throughout despite the stresses of doing so.

 

[MickiQ]

A lot better off, I kept working from home throughout (18 months almost now) and barely did any other mileage. Gym membership was suspended for the same length of time and we won't have a holiday (foreign or domestic) for the 2nd year running. We are now starting to go for days out and of course being permanently at home as increased gas and electric costs but they're trivial compared to what I've saved.
I reckon I must be at least £10k up on the deal in savings and that's just cash. I have no idea about things like house values I kind of need my house to live in rather than use it as an asset.

 

[neonwilderness]

I was a bit better off during the first lockdown. I was furloughed so on 80% pay, but was saving more than that by not going anywhere.

Then they allowed takeaways to start doing deliveries and pubs to do takeaway and I was worse off

In all it balanced out and things are about the same now.

 

[marty21]

Better off due to not commuting and not going out for lunch every day. The pubs closing also saved me money , and not going away for weekends saved money too. I'd have preferred being able to do all those things (including commuting tbf)

 

[Clair De Lune]

Worse...much worse but have taken a second and third job to remedy that.

 

[editor]

Much, much, much worse off.

 

[Petcha]

Far better off. I broke my ankle very very badly in early 2020 so couldn't physically get into a workplace. Then everything got evened up as nobody could go into an (office) workplace. So, one day on a very meagre disability allowance, a couple of months later working again, in a really good job, with them not even seeing the cast on my leg. Without the pandemic I genuinely believe I would have been homeless now. Seems awful to say that.

 

[Aladdin]

The government here seem to think people are sat on ready cash and that people will spend when the restrictions ease.
Well I wont be spending.
I've not spent on anything outside of food, utilities, mortgage and absolute necessities. I'm covering all my parent's bills and sister too. I know it's temporary but it has thrown me back into credit card debt.

Things will work out.. I hope. At least we have and are alive.

My first personal purchase will be new knickers.

 

[Infidel Castro]

Definitely a bit better off. WFH had been an idea floating around the workplace before pandemia, so retaining a car allowance but with no commute has seen an improvement. Also had a promotion, plus cost of living increase. I work in a decent place to be fair. Partner the same, WFH pretty much embedded now. We've gone for a lot of little weekend trips lately, a bit of making up for the last 18 months. I was able to buy a bit of walking/camping gear though proper lockdown, so can indulge in a bit of that now. I appreciate others are far worse off, but we've been alright.

 

[LDC]

Paid the same, but rarely go out or travel last 18 months. So a bit better off, even with internet shopping.

 

[Reno]

I'm a bit worse off. Thankfully I've still got my job, but like many people I used the last lockdown to renovate my flat. That cost money but then I got into an online shopping spree which spiralled out of control and that was due to a constant, low level depression caused by half a year of lockdown. I'm not in the red, but I depleted 2/3ds of my savings and I bought a lot of unnecessary stuff for the flat. Buying something online gave me something to look forward to when it got delivered and gave me a temporary emotional high, but I now look back and I had moments where I really lost control over my spending. The flat does look nicer though.

 

[moomoo]

About the same because I carried on working. I spent less on going out but more on feeding everyone and on biscuits. And I spent some money on the house.

 

[Looby]

Paid about the same and had a windfall last June but my spending has been ridiculous.

 

[nagapie]

Mostly the same but I managed to save some during lockdown 1 which I have now spent on tickets to see my family in SA in April. Normally those tickets would throw me into 3 years of credit card debt.

 

[8ball]

I really don’t know. Haven’t been spending much but pension is looking a bit sickly.

Health-wise I’m a mess, which has been more of a concern. Lucky not to have major cashflow problems on top of it though.

Sympathies with everyone who has been badly affected.

 

[The39thStep]

Better off overall as I’ve saved money not flying back to the U.K. ( been once since covid) where with flights I normally spend in a week what I would in a month here. However thinking of going over in October and those PCR tests are going to add on a wallop as well .

 

[bellaozzydog]

I got stuck at work for the majority of the year and I only usually work six months so inadvertently doubled my wages and managed to negotiate a day rate hike of 12.5 %

Stuck at work no outgoings other than bills, free food, no eating out or buying silly shit. Lodgers and tenants all got 2020 off with corona rent holidays so that balanced out a bit and everyone at home sky rocketed bills

my house went up 89k in price and I bought/rescued an old flat which immediately went up 40k in price

Filthy corona seaside property panic and prices just went insane
All academic as equity isn’t real till you sell everything

the down downs, my mental health and general health and fitness have suffered

 

[maomao]

We earn a fuck of a lot less but no longer have full time nursery fees or need to commute so in reality we're doing much better. Much happier than when we were both working full-time as well.

 

[MickiQ]

Private poll

The government reckon loads of people have saved/made lots of money during the pandemic so far and this will be getting spent a lot in the next year
As well as people saving money assets have gone up a lot - house prices and shares have skyrocketed for some (tech shares especially i think).

Im about the same as before, saved a tiny bit (less commuting + going out) but have effective pay cut via pay freeze for three years now so evens out.

urban isnt representative, but would be interesting to see vaguely how people have fared.
furlough is about to end and theres a fear of around a million people becoming unemployed before the year is out.

There was an item on the news at the end of last month about how the furlough scheme was changing 1 August and employers would have to find 20% of furloughed salaries. It said 1.9 million people were on furlough (down from 9 million at the height of the pandemic). I was surprised that there were still nearly 2 million people on furlough, If someone had asked me to guess I would have gone for half or less of that.
TBH I think if you're still on furlough at this point the chances of your job still being there is very low and you would be better off looking for a new one.

 

[ska invita]

There was an item on the news at the end of last month about how the furlough scheme was changing 1 August and employers would have to find 20% of furloughed salaries. It said 1.9 million people were on furlough (down from 9 million at the height of the pandemic). I was surprised that there were still nearly 2 million people on furlough, If someone had asked me to guess I would have gone for half or less of that.
TBH I think if you're still on furlough at this point the chances of your job still being there is very low and you would be better off looking for a new one.

yeah....IIRC trade unions were expecting potentially 800,000-1million job losses when it wraps up. Dont quote me on that.

 

[dessiato]

If we'd both been working as expected we would have saved about 15 to 20 thousand €. Instead we've earned nothing and had to live off our savings. We are exceptionally lucky that we had the money to do so.

What it has cost us is the house we were hoping, and saving, to buy. And we had also hoped to buy a small boat. We had saved hard to buy these, but the money is gone.

 

[weltweit]

Better off, I kept my job but worked from home for about a year, couldn't go anywhere so was less able to spend money so saved quite a bit.

Important to say though that this is down wholly to good luck, I didn't do anything clever to be up. Likewise I doubt those who are down did anything silly or rash to be in the position they are in.

 

[AnnO'Neemus]

I was on a 12-month contract that ended in September 2020. Haven't been able to get a job since then. I've had at least three job interviews, but haven't been successful. Have tried applying for jobs where I have relevant skills and experience, but one sector I used to work in has been badly hit by funding cuts. Another sector, I've been out of that game for too long, seemingly, haven't been able to fall back on that. Tried applying for bar work, retail, customer services, carer, anything to pay the rent, really, to no avail. So now I have no savings left, and what's worse, I now have credit card debt.

 

[Monkeygrinder's Organ]

Better off definitely. WFH for the duration so same income lower expenses - over £160 a month just on commuting costs.

 

[klang]

A lot worse.
I worked my arse off when my gf got pregnant to be able to afford 3 months paternity leave. That lead straight into lockdown. The money I had saved started disappearing rapidly. Gfs maternity money went down over the months as well.
Was planning to start working again in Jan but the baby got ill, ended up in hospital, and now can't go to child care as his immune system is fucked. So I'm doing full time child care for now, with occ work in the evenings and weekends.
Had a big job lined up over July / August period as gf has 6 weeks off and could take over child care, but she got ill a couple of weeks ago, still hasn't fully recovered, so that was that.
Planning to start proper work in October, but most probably I'll still be stuck in the same loop.

One thing I have learned is that babies don't cost a lot of money. They don't demand presents or expensive stuff, we have wardrobes full of hand-me-downs, and nappies are cheap.

I'd happily carry on being a full time dad for quite some time, but it's not sustainable. I also have to keep one foot in the door as my industry is not very forgiving and once my clients have moved on to somebody else it will take years and years to build up a well-paying client base again.

Yet, I am very happy and content. I think I'm going through the best period in my life atm.

 

[metalguru]

Pretty much the same... Have saved some money by not holidaying in 2020 and 2021 - but nothing like the average household lockdown savings amount that I saw banded around in the media.

 

[Petcha]

Better off definitely. WFH for the duration so same income lower expenses - over £160 a month just on commuting costs.

I was talking about commuting and also other costs the other day with a mate and we both noticed we both looked like absolute bums. Not bought any clothes under than underwear for over a year.

 

[Sasaferrato]

Being retired, not a lot has changed.