Has the Pandemic affected your finances/credit adversely or has your situation improved or is there no change?

[brazen]

Read somewhere that defaults and bankruptcy filings are increasing 2022-2023. Wondering if it has affected you personally or someone you know, or are you weathering the storm well? 

[hdporter]

With the pandemic delaying the move from, and sale of, our GA home (further delayed by Bev's illness), we're likely to make out to the tune of $200k+ in added realized appreciation because of the related contraction in homes for sale.  Color me dumbfounded  😎

[shifter]

At this point I think most of the problems people are having are cause by inflation and the recession that isn't officially a recession rather than the pandemic.

 

Not that there wasn't significant fall out from the pandemic in certain industry is, but those individuals likely filed BK a couple of years ago.

 

For me personally there was very little change with the pandemic.I'm feeling the inflation like anyone else, but the effect is isolated to discretionary expenses for now.

Edited April 21 by shifter

[TheVig]

The pandemic never really affected me personally or career wise, one way or the other. 

 

Because of personal financial transgressions of years past, that we got past a long time ago, all inflation has done to use is turn us into bigger misers, than what we already were. Rainy days come to EVERYBODY. How much you have and how you manage it, has a big effect on how hard it's gonna rain.

 

I probably shouldn't use the word miser. After all, we are not like @cv91915 who will post pics of salad dressing from his fridge, that expired three years ago, asking if we think it's still edible.

 

 

[Burgerwars]

The pandemic itself didn't effect me financially by much. Post-pandemic lockdowns I now find myself buying less. It's mainly because I've gotten used to stuff like eating out less, and less time at stores. 

[StarkRaven$]

We were just fine since we're debt free and weren't in the market for buying another automobile. 

 

I don't eat eggs that much anymore but that's okay

[cashnocredit]

4 hours ago, Burgerwars said:

The pandemic itself didn't effect me financially by much. Post-pandemic lockdowns I now find myself buying less. It's mainly because I've gotten used to stuff like eating out less, and less time at stores. 

Same here. Used to eat out 2 or 3 times a week. Now maybe once a month. Mostly because we have gotten good at home cooking and not fear of Covid. Sit back, eat, and enjoy a Netflix movie.

[nemo]

The pandemic caused a massive improvement in my finances because it eliminated my self-employed business travel.  I still haven't spent any money on business travel since 2019.  Everything I need is now done through Zoom.

 

On the other hand, the pandemic also left me with long COVID, limiting how much I was able to work.  Although that's receding now, it did cut my earnings for a while.

[cashnocredit]

2 hours ago, nemo said:

On the other hand, the pandemic also left me with long COVID, limiting how much I was able to work.  Although that's receding now, it did cut my earnings for a while.

I've made something of a hobby out of following the covid scientific literature. Here's the best survey of long covid literature I know of to date and you might find it interesting:

 

Long COVID: major findings, mechanisms and recommendations | Nature Reviews Microbiology

 

Best wishes. Good to hear you are improving.

[TeeSharice]

I making more money but Im spending more money...spending TOO much more money...

[hegemony]

no. I spend less than I make and maintain a budget. I saved a lot of $$$ by not traveling internationally for almost 3 years... but that is about to change.

Edited April 25 by hegemony

[PhoenixDown]

I havent been impacted per se but I took in some family over the pandemic and of course everything costs more due to inflation and supply-chain issues.

[FoxSamual]

Pandemic improved my long term financial picture (almost doubled my salary from beginning to end) at the expense of short term damage (quit my job in July 2020 and was unemployed by choice until December as I was throughly burned out)

 

I quit the job I held at the beginning of the pandemic via text message, after 17 weeks of 80+ hour workweeks, when they tried Yet Again™ to shaft me with additional unpaid (exempt/salaried) overtime.  The day before my long overdue scheduled vacation.  It went like:

 

Boss at 5:30PM, while I'm on site with Customer A: You need to investigate this issue for Customer B.

Me: I can't, I'm working at Customer A and need to pack when I get home.

Boss: You need to look at this ASAP.

Me: I can't, I fly out tomorrow, you know this.

Boss: You're the escalations manager.

Me: I'm the escalations manager who is on PTO.

Boss: Not until tomorrow, I'm ordering you to do this, you don't have a choice.

Me: Actually, I do, I quit.

Boss: You can't quit! [followed by a dozen other messages I opted not to respond to]

 

I seriously debated walking out on Customer A, whose entire network was disassembled mid-project.  Didn't do it, it wasn't their fault my employer was a jerk, but I really thought about it.  Finished it and bailed without completing the paperwork needed to bill the job.  Not my problem at that point. 🤷‍♂️

 

Got a panicked phone call about an hour later from the business partner, trying to talk me out leaving, apologizing for his partner's (my bosses) behavior, but I was done

 

Called Southwest and moved up my flight.  Turned my phone off once I connected with my partner at the other end and did not turn it back on for a month.  The long weekend turned into a cross country road trip.  Side note, coolest flight of my life, there were more (3) flight attendants than passengers (2) on that plane.  

 

I didn't start looking for another gig until mid-November, I was that burned out.  When I found one it came with 35% pay bump.  Hooray labor shortage!

 

Quit that job a year later after they burned me out with 60+ hour weeks (detecting a trend here? ) and lied to me about my annual salary adjustment, in favor of my current role, for another 50% pay increase.  I work 35 hour weeks here, finally, so if you view the salary on an hourly basis it's even better.  

 

Still, going without an income for all those months hurt, depleted a lot of my savings, but was necessary for my mental health.  That trajectory was simply not sustainable.

 

[brazen]

I ended up going fully remote. But recently, I just felt like I was stuck and chained to the house. Started working outside the home again, going well. Moneywise, we do eat out less, but mainly due to the service as no one wants to work anymore, employee shortages everywhere. On the upside too, got some projects done around the house, so that was good.

[FoxSamual]

4 hours ago, brazen said:

I ended up going fully remote. But recently, I just felt like I was stuck and chained to the house.

The fully remote thing is part of what burned me out in 2020.  We got kicked out of the office, I went from 45-50 hours a week to 80+, and those few moments of peace and quiet I had to myself were easily ruined simply by looking across the living room at the work laptop.

 

I made sure to get a two bedroom when I moved so I could at least close the door on work at the end of the day.

 

Hybrid now and happier for it, I'm the rare bird that missed being in an office, although I certainly like the flexibility to work from home as needed and appreciate the privilege of an employer that allows me to set my own schedule.  My only requirement is to be physically present in each of our two offices at least once a week, to provide face time, but I pick the days.

 

The interim job discussed above made rumblings about compelling us all back to the office 5 days a week, which was just icing on the cake for leaving, since I selected my residence based on the promise of being fully remote and a compelled return to work would have added at least 10 hours a week of commute time on top of the already 50+ hour workweek.  Also would have boned me on taxes, since I was in a no income tax State, and they're in a high income tax one. 😐 

[hdporter]

Bev’s at work in a relatively deserted workplace (10 empl in out of 160).  She was discouraged from taking time out for the movers, so worked from home Tue/Wed; guidance is that employees will come into the office 3 days/wk.

 

She Uber’d the 26 mi commute M/Th to the Boston Seaport to minimize the walk.  Her ankle/foot braces serve her well, but she wanted one less thing to deal with as she reacclimates.  Today I dropped her at the ferry (6 mi from home); she enjoyed the experience  .

 

It’s likely that the GA home won’t list for a couple of weeks.  Realtor advised we should refinish floors on first.  Nonetheless, a private party and a realtor/client are slated to see pre-list.  Private party says not interested in a bidding war, and is expected to make offer upon viewing.