Spending habits since Pandemic declaration by WHO

[GPX | 1,403]

It's been just a little over 2 months since the date of 12/3/2020, the day WHO (World Health Organization) officially had declared the Covid19 to be a "pandemic" status. There already is a main Covid19 thread in the general discussion area, so if you like to discuss further general issues then feel free to head over to that thread.

In this particular thread, I'm curious to know how the members here have been adapting to the situation and more specifically, the trends in spending during these past couple of months since the pandemic declaration. There's been a lot of theories on whether there might be more or less of spending since the quarantine/lockdown period. So why not do a poll and find out for ourselves what's really happening in the collecting scene from this very own forum?

[arch_8ngel | 1,597]

The "extra" spending this thing brought on was me finally pulling the trigger on a synology NAS for better sharing of the movie collection throughout the household devices.  (previously had only been ripping my movies to a hard drive attached to the media center PC)

That has, inevitably, led to me buying a few discounted movies per week to bulk up the collection...

 

And while yes, we also have Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, having movies and shows to watch that don't involve an internet connection seems like a worthwhile quality-of-life backup if we have a rough hurricane/storm season and the pandemic slows down infrastructure repair (i.e. if I really have to, I can run the NAS on the generator and the kids can watch stuff on the tablets, or we can still have a family movie night for some sense of normal)

 

But frankly, that was all paid for, and then some, by just one month of having the kids home without daycare expenses...

Edited May 15, 2020 by arch_8ngel

[Gloves | 12,251]

I've been saving a lot more money than prior to this. I was very quick to order in food before but now I am doing weekly grocery runs and while the initial pain of $100-150 on groceries was rough all at once, seeing the monthly food bill being around $300-400 rather than my usual $800 from eating out so much it's gotten much easier to handle.

[MrWunderful | 2,932]

Eating all 3 meals cooked at home means I have spent significantly less, as well as the fact that my collection is where I want it so I dont really buy anything anymore (online)

 

but my living room tv did go out last nite, so there goes 1000$

[tbone3969 | 316]

10 minutes ago, MrWunderful said:

Eating all 3 meals cooked at home means I have spent significantly less, as well as the fact that my collection is where I want it so I dont really buy anything anymore (online)

 

but my living room tv did go out last nite, so there goes 1000$

$1,000.... that must have been some TV.

[TDIRunner | 2,889]

I've been killing my personal budget since March.  It's actually kind of sad how much less I'm spending on food, while at the same time eating just a much as I normally would (possibly slightly more).  I haven't bought a single video game except for one steam purchase, and an adapter to run my 360 controller on my computer.  I'm spending almost no money on gas.  Two weeks ago, I put gas in my truck for the first time THIS YEAR.  

On the flip side, I've been spending more on side projects.  I've been doing a lot of work outside the house and I finally got around to rebuilding the rear diff on my ATV which has needed work for a long time.  It ended up being worse than I thought, so I've had to order some expensive parts, but there was plenty of leftover money in the budget for it.  

So far the stimulus money has been able to sit in my bank.  However, that might change in the next few months.  I survived the furloughs at work, but they are talking about pay cuts for those still around.  I'm still waiting to hear about the final decision.  I may or may not be included, and I may or may not get a sizable cut.  

[jonebone | 1,329]

Personal spending about the same.  Of course I'm saving money on gas / child care / etc. like everyone else, but spending is more or less the same.  

[arch_8ngel | 1,597]

35 minutes ago, MrWunderful said:

 

but my living room tv did go out last nite, so there goes 1000$

Definitely regretting not taking advantage of the initial fire-sale on TV equipment from Best Buy when shutdowns rolled out.

But I suspect this year's going to be an over-the-top cyber-Monday/black-Friday discount year as retailers just try to clear inventory and generate revenue at all costs.

[TDIRunner | 2,889]

34 minutes ago, MrWunderful said:

but my living room tv did go out last nite, so there goes 1000$

 

1 minute ago, arch_8ngel said:

Definitely regretting not taking advantage of the initial fire-sale on TV equipment from Best Buy when shutdowns rolled out.

But I suspect this year's going to be an over-the-top cyber-Monday/black-Friday discount year as retailers just try to clear inventory and generate revenue at all costs.

My TV went out last year as well.  I've been living without it  and just using my computer monitor as a TV.  I've also been in the process of finishing my basement, so it's kind of pointless to buy a new TV until the basement is done.  Since TVs get better and cheaper over time, I might as well wait until I can actually use it before i buy one.  

And as far as spending $1,000 on a TV, there is a huge different in quality between a $500 TV and a $1,000 TV of the same size.  I'm pretty picky about my picture quality, and since I plan to game off this TV, I plan to get a pretty nice TV when the time comes.  

[Hammerfestus | 4,100]

We’ve probably been spending a bit more.  We had a second baby at the end of January so there’s the additional costs there.  The in-laws also came up from Florida to see the baby right before things went crazy so they’ve actually been trapped here with us since.  It’s increased the amount of food we have to buy, but we’ve gotten pretty efficient at keeping the grocery bill reasonable.  Our eating out has been almost non existent.  
 

One annoying thing:  Good thing I started a Child Care FSA this year what with all the day cares shutting down 3 months in.  I have heard talk of them allowing people to pull money out because of the rona.  

[arch_8ngel | 1,597]

7 minutes ago, TDIRunner said:

 

My TV went out last year as well.  I've been living without it  and just using my computer monitor as a TV.  I've also been in the process of finishing my basement, so it's kind of pointless to buy a new TV until the basement is done.  Since TVs get better and cheaper over time, I might as well wait until I can actually use it before i buy one.  

And as far as spending $1,000 on a TV, there is a huge different in quality between a $500 TV and a $1,000 TV of the same size.  I'm pretty picky about my picture quality, and since I plan to game off this TV, I plan to get a pretty nice TV when the time comes.  

Even if he isn't going for a high-end TV, $1000 is entry level for HUGE-sized TVs.

[TDIRunner | 2,889]

1 minute ago, arch_8ngel said:

Even if he isn't going for a high-end TV, $1000 is entry level for HUGE-sized TVs.

I guess it depends on what you consider "huge" but you can get 75" TVs for $700.  

I'm in an unfortunate situation because the space I will have in my basement will be perfect for a 70" TV, but 70" TVs don't exists for the brands that are worth buying.  So I have to decide if I want to go with 65" and have wasted space on either side, or go with 75" and just figure out how to make it fit.  

[arch_8ngel | 1,597]

36 minutes ago, TDIRunner said:

I guess it depends on what you consider "huge" but you can get 75" TVs for $700.  

I'm in an unfortunate situation because the space I will have in my basement will be perfect for a 70" TV, but 70" TVs don't exists for the brands that are worth buying.  So I have to decide if I want to go with 65" and have wasted space on either side, or go with 75" and just figure out how to make it fit.  

I didn't realize that 75" sets existed, since I usually see adds for either 70" or 80" sets.

[Tulpa | 3,704]

1 hour ago, tbone3969 said:

$1,000.... that must have been some TV.

My current TV cost that in 2012. Samsung Smart TV, 55". They've dropped in price SIGNIFICANTLY since then. Now you can get a lot more TV for that.

Edited May 15, 2020 by Tulpa

[Tulpa | 3,704]

As for spending, I kind of slowed collecting down last year, so I'm not purchasing many games. I bought a few on Steam here and there.

Definitely eating in more, although I have taken advantage of Door Dash and others as pickup and cheaper/free delivery.

[Link | 2,878]

OLED TVs start at $1300.

My spending is not affected. I’ve had a huge outlay for renovation (gut the first floor due to the 135 year old floor joists rotting out) but that was coming no matter what.  I eat at home and I’ve always been frugal when it comes to restaurants, transportation, etc. I am thankful to still be working with no cuts to pay or schedule.

[zeppelin03 | 314]

2 hours ago, arch_8ngel said:

The "extra" spending this thing brought on was me finally pulling the trigger on a synology NAS for better sharing of the movie collection throughout the household devices.  (previously had only been ripping my movies to a hard drive attached to the media center PC)

That has, inevitably, led to me buying a few discounted movies per week to bulk up the collection...

 

And while yes, we also have Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, having movies and shows to watch that don't involve an internet connection seems like a worthwhile quality-of-life backup if we have a rough hurricane/storm season and the pandemic slows down infrastructure repair (i.e. if I really have to, I can run the NAS on the generator and the kids can watch stuff on the tablets, or we can still have a family movie night for some sense of normal)

 

But frankly, that was all paid for, and then some, by just one month of having the kids home without daycare expenses...

How do you like your NAS?  I have been backing up blurays and currently use one of my PCs as a plex server.  The downside is it isn't running 24/7.  I may make an unraid server at one point but my wife doesn't like the cost.

 

13 minutes ago, Link said:

OLED TVs start at $1300.

My spending is not affected. I’ve had a huge outlay for renovation (gut the first floor due to the 135 year old floor joists rotting out) but that was coming no matter what.  I eat at home and I’ve always been frugal when it comes to restaurants, transportation, etc. I am thankful to still be working with no cuts to pay or schedule.

I bought a $1500 samsung a few years back.  There was more backlight bleed than I would have liked for the cost.  Since then I moved to OLED.  If you can get one that cheap I would definitely make the jump.  We have been extremely happy with the choice to upgrade.

 

My spending is about equal to before.  We got a standing desk and extra monitor.  Home improvement projects are being worked on as well. 

Edited May 15, 2020 by zeppelin03

[Link | 2,878]

44 minutes ago, zeppelin03 said:

I bought a $1500 samsung a few years back.  There was more backlight bleed than I would have liked for the cost.  Since then I moved to OLED.  If you can get one that cheap I would definitely make the jump.  We have been extremely happy with the choice to upgrade.

I have no idea of the quality of the model I referred to. I just went to Bestbuy app, TVs > type > OLED > sort by price.

@MrWunderful just tell us about your TV so we can end this

[arch_8ngel | 1,597]

2 hours ago, zeppelin03 said:

How do you like your NAS?  I have been backing up blurays and currently use one of my PCs as a plex server.  The downside is it isn't running 24/7.  I may make an unraid server at one point but my wife doesn't like the cost.

 

I'm enjoying it.  Yes, you can DIY the hardware and software with something like FreeNAS, but the Synology software is quite good and very user-friendly.

I picked up a DS218+ on sale, as an entry-level device, just to see how much I'd like it.

If I'd known it would work this well, I probably would have sprung for the DS918+ to have the 2 extra bays for later.

The important thing is getting one with the Intel chipsets, though since I don't have mine connected to the internet for off-site use, there is no real need to use any of the transcoding capabilities.

 

 

If you already use Plex, these things supposedly make great plex servers.  I've just been using their built-in video-station software (pipes to "DS Video" as a front-end on Roku, PC, and Android and calls into VLC if the built-in codecs can't handle a file on their own), and I have been happier with that than I ever was with Kodi on my media center.

[MrWunderful | 2,932]

4 hours ago, tbone3969 said:

$1,000.... that must have been some TV.

 

3 hours ago, arch_8ngel said:

Definitely regretting not taking advantage of the initial fire-sale on TV equipment from Best Buy when shutdowns rolled out.

But I suspect this year's going to be an over-the-top cyber-Monday/black-Friday discount year as retailers just try to clear inventory and generate revenue at all costs.

 

3 hours ago, TDIRunner said:

 

My TV went out last year as well.  I've been living without it  and just using my computer monitor as a TV.  I've also been in the process of finishing my basement, so it's kind of pointless to buy a new TV until the basement is done.  Since TVs get better and cheaper over time, I might as well wait until I can actually use it before i buy one.  

And as far as spending $1,000 on a TV, there is a huge different in quality between a $500 TV and a $1,000 TV of the same size.  I'm pretty picky about my picture quality, and since I plan to game off this TV, I plan to get a pretty nice TV when the time comes.  

Honestly I hadnt bought one in so long I forgot that they arent as expensive as they used to be.   549.99 at best buy

 

65”

 

remember our houses are tiny in the bay area

 

 

[DefaultGen | 5,724]

Maybe a bit more because some nice stuff I wanted hit Ebay, but nothing crazy. I've been placing about the same number of snipes and I'm losing absolutely everything N64 and newer now which has made up for the older stuff I'm buying, lol.

[JamesRobot | 6,026]

Personal spending is down maybe 15 to 20 percent but my grocery bill has gone up about 50% in the last couple weeks.  Jesus christ, shit's expensive! 

[DefaultGen | 5,724]

2 minutes ago, JamesRobot said:

Personal spending is down maybe 15 to 20 percent but my grocery bill has gone up about 50% in the last couple weeks.  Jesus christ, shit's expensive! 

Really? Mine has gone down because the meat I want sometimes isn't in stock so we're eating more beans and pasta! And it's not like I can buy paper towels or toilet paper anymore either!

Edited May 15, 2020 by DefaultGen

[JamesRobot | 6,026]

3 minutes ago, DefaultGen said:

Really? Mine has gone down because the meat I want sometimes isn't in stock so we're eating more beans and pasta! And it's not like I can buy paper towels or toilet paper anymore either!

We didn't even buy meat last week and our bill was $50 more than our more expensive trips.

[drxandy | 3,279]

I'd say about the same, I've switched up what I'm buying instead. Some of my game money is now being saved for vacation we were planning in Sept that may not happen, and other fun purchases. Since I can't shop for Japanese stuff easily, and only new stuff locally, I've been maybe spending less even. 

Edited May 15, 2020 by drxandy