Weâve endured a lot during this pandemic but it’s all about how we frame and learn from it, not take the easy way out to complain.
You could say that you were stuck at home with nothing to do scrambling to find some ways to make money or curious and took advantage of this time off that we will never get back to make mistakes and learn what is available.
From trying hundreds of banana bread recipes to learning how to sew a scarf that we donât need, weâve gotten out of our comfort zones and uncovered something about ourselves we never knew existed, even if you canât identify it.
We are actually really adaptable to change.
We all hate change, especially when it is unexpected. I donât mind a change of scenery or a different trip but a recession like this was the most unexpected in history. Even the housing crisis was somewhat predictable. The banks knew they were lending AUM (faulty mortgages) to homeowners that couldnât afford which lead to millions of foreclosures, a recession, and Bear Sterns and Lehman Brothers top banks to go kaput.
A similar situation just this time there is more of a wealth divide. The rich are getting richer hence the stock market and the poorer are getting poorer. Thank goodness after what felt like years of negotiation, desperate American people finally received a stimulus package after our president initially didnât want one and now isnât of course agreeing to it until it reached $2k per person instead of $600. But once again, that doesnâtâ stop the upper class from receiving these checks as well. The system cannot only serve the poor.
Politics off to the side, we can always blame the government anytime. With the shift in our lifestyles working from home to finally spending more, maybe too much quality time with family, we will surely miss these moments of annoyance and leisure mixed with more work employers and professors assuming that we donât need a break ourselves stuck at home.
Money Moves
As a routine junkie, the number one thing that bothers me is a change in pace with my schedule so per usual, I have been waking up at 5 am to workout on my exercise bike and carry on with my routine. But not only am I seeing others forming bad habits and demolishing the ones that they had set up so diligently when life was normal, but some of us are also making irrational money decisions that I always need to investigate.
As my workout and working habits have only accelerated, so has my food pallet. After eating the same thing daily for 3 years, you can read to find out why here, I decided that there is no better time to change than at home.
Iâm not here to promote weight loss, any secret diet, or use the words clean, restrictive, or fit because I donât believe our lives should involve these ironically toxic healthy terms. Eating is for fuel and exercise is to feel good. There is no reason to punish our bodies for skipping a workout or eliminating brownies because at the end of the day, we just need to know how to survive this claustrophobic and obese world. Eliminating chocolate will not make you healthy, moderation and portion size will.
Financial Feelings
For a while, I thought it was a disgrace for me to complain about my mental health. Many of us are fortunate enough to not go through any hardship during this pandemic but that doesnâtâ mean your mental health cannot be affected. We all have emotions and feelings so as a result, we all are dealing with some sort of mental strain. There is never a reason for you not to feel what you are going through as a mini PSA before we get started.
Lifestyle changes are hard to implement because most of our days are the same. We usually or at least try to wake up and go to sleep at the same time, eat relatively the same food, spend time with the same people, scroll on our phones until our timer tells us itâs enough and weâre lazy, and then work on some things that we donât even remember what we did a few hours later on repeat. Then itâs 4 pm and it feels like midnight. But establishing what you eat and being mindful of it is almost a matter of life or death.
Food Finances
Sometimes we lose track of how vital the types of nutrients we are lending our bodies becuase we have decades more to live and know that the mini yet daily things will magically disintegrate. These are a few of the things Iâve switched up that have not only made me feel lighter and satiated but helpful on my wallet as well, something we can all be more mindful of.
Changes:
Butter instead of Salt
Almond Flour instead of Whole Grain Wheat
Fruit instead of sugar
Lemon Water instead of water
Walks instead of dessert
Avocado Oil instead of Olive Oil
Salmon instead of Meat
Baking instead of Frying
Greek yogurt instead of sour cream
Rice instead of bread or pasta
Oatmeal instead of cereal
Meals with family instead of alone
Big changes never lead to big results, small incremental changes lead to impactful bigger ones over time.
Now besides on the food side of things which to be honest, has been the majority of our days working 5 feet away from the cupboards, our wants have to also be considered.
Spending Sit Down
Surprisingly, despite a higher rate of unemployment of 6.7% and savings increase, the CPI(Consumer Price Index), GDP(Gross Domestic Product), and PCE(Personal Consumption Expenditures) are all up as well. People are bored and need shopping therapy, a wrong outlet especially when families need real help. As weâve seen over the few weeks prior to Christmas, e-commerce sales and delivery are up 70% from last year and the UPS from FedEx have never seen this much demand since Santa got a new workshop!
But this also means that there has certainly been unnecessary spending. There is no better time now to support local businesses but when it comes to brick and mortar, luxury goods, and discretionary items, yikes folks, Houston, we have a purchase.
Letâs go over the not thought after most regretful purchases that Americans have made thinking the pandemic will last forever:
Exercise Equipment
Pelotonâs stock is 439% this year and has soared even more after its deal with fitness manufacturer, Precor this past week which will allow Peloton to get into spaces outside of home such as in the gym and also gain more physical space in warehouses. But after the pandemic, we will all crave connection, energy, excitement and interaction again. My family bought our SoulCycle bike during the pandemic because Iâm obsessed with SoulCycle but once itâs over, Iâm sure I will be selling it as I would rather spend more for a better quality class in person than on my own screaming at the screen with hot sweaty instructors.
Others might disagree. Sure, you could continue riding at home but not only it gets boring fast, you will also feel FOMO once regular life restarts again. Yet, due to Peotonâs success and as someone whoâs tried Peloton bikes and switched to SoulCycle due to wobbling and quality issues, I understand the need to budget as a personal finance guru myself and the value of time it saves bundling up and getting situated for a class that you have to pay a class fee for if late. With the initial cost of around $1,895k and then a monthly subscription for an unlimited amount of life and on-demand classes to choose from for $39 a month, it is certainly a better deal than an in-person cycling class every day for $40 dollars plus water, shoe rental and cute merch, but it is up to the individual and some wonât be able to stand doing anything in their homes after this.
Huge Homes
Not only there has been extreme demand for homes especially in the MidWest where land is rich and space is abundant, supply is running out as home developers never anticipated this demand for the rich to flee. The suburbs is the hotspot, the other kind, where there is an abundance of land to finally have a reason to have a backyard with a grill and pool and more space with a separate office not facing your bed for optimal workflow. Along with the lack of homes on sale at an affordable price, back in â08 during the financial crisis, Christmas trees werenât being grown due to the lack of demand and now they are almost impossible to find at double the price.
As trees are guests in our cozy homes for a certain period of time until they become a fire hazard, homes on the other hand are the biggest purchases one will ever make and is something you seriously need to sleep on. My rule of thumb for purchases over $500 is 72 hours but with the lack of inventory and higher bids that go to those who can put more cash down on the down payment for a house, there is no time to the waste which makes it a risky move in itself.
Not being patient whether its in the market or with an impulse purchase is most usually always a regret. Many homebuyers during the pandemic who have the convenience of working from home and want to relocate permanently after evaluating the tax situation and overall lifestyle in their previous home, have decided to purchase homes without even setting foot into their desired property. Only through a tele-visit like with your doctor but in a palace you will need to live in for a great deal of time. When it comes to purchasing a property, taking into account the mortgage, maintenance, maintenance, possible renovations, taxes, furniture, etc. the list goes on and on the more you live there, if you arenât going to reside there for more than 5 years, then it is not only 10x easier to rent but less expensive. Yes renting is technically money down the drain since it isnât growing in value or an investment but compared to purchasing a property, it saves you more in the long run as a temporary house hunter.
Pets
I cannot think of a single friend of mine who hasnât purchased some sort of animal these past few months. Iâve resisted the urge because it takes a lot of work! Small doesnât mean easier! Yorkies are fiesty and messy! At home stocks such as Peloton, Zoom and Chewy have all been bullish due to the pent up demand WFH has brought and here to stay until 75% herd immunity predicted for next May. I predict that since weâve tested the waters of both the office and home, companies have realized that in person meetings and commuting is really a waste of time and having a nice hybrid of both is best. Ahh, how I love hybrids. Skorts, vanilla and chocolate swirl and a treadmill standing desk. But when it comes to pets, thereâs no hybrid. Either you have to potty train that pup or not, no in-between. There is a lot of responsibility that comes with a dog that a lot of people donât realize they can handle after just scrolling through cute puppies photos on Insta or drooling at your local PetCo. From the overly expensive customizable dog leashes to organic kibble, it all adds up quick almost equivalent to a baby.
Before buying a pet, make sure you really will take good care of it. It is a good step to take before having a baby or babysitting a kid. It is the same responsibility that may be even worse since animals will ignore and bark at you more. If you know that you wonât be going fanatic about booking a trip after lockdown and post-COVID life circumstances will be somewhat the same, then go ahead and try it. Remember itâs a pet. You wonât have it for a day, but rather a few years. Always as a reminder. A goldfish will provide you the same love and be 10x easier. Just sayin!
Subscriptions
Here we go again, another at home stock! Netflix and Chill. Isnât that a Ben and Jerryâs flavor or something? The media giantâs stock is up 65% to date and has done tremendously well during the pandemic as we are just binge-watching our way through Tiger King and Selling Sunset. Not completely the best use of our time but hey, we have to live a little. Taking a break doesnât always mean being lazy, it is necessary for growth. Anyway, along with these subscriptions that youâve signed up for years ago, comes with forgetting you had them. Every month I recommend if you donât set up auto-pay with your credit card, check over the subscription you have. Everything from Food Digest magazine to Blinklist, do you honestly use them because as reiterated over and over, the small things are what matter the most because we overlook them until they affect us badly. Just with a basic plan of $9 per month for Netflix that is already $108 per year you could use to invest in a ROTH IRA to eventually compound to a million by retirement if contributed every month. Netflix wonât make you rich but saved up money will.
Tech
I donât know about you but smart home speakers freak me out a little. We fell into the trap ourselves of buying an Alexa. Now Alexa and Siri are best friends and whenever I call Alexa, Siri gets confused and or jealous. These two ladies havenât only caused more trouble and annoyance in our lives, security concerns are an issue as well. As a cybersecurity geek, I not only have to go through the trouble of unplugging and resetting them every time I speak in my own home, I have to remember to power them on and make sure they are set in English. You really donât that much help. If you want to know the weather, get off your bum and check the window outside or your phone. The last thing you need is an assistant that drives you crazy in Spanish and listening to your private conversations.
Investing
Amongst Millenials and GenZers, the interest in financial literacy has never been this prominent due to the lack of activities around the house, not sports to keep them pumped and presumably extra cash sitting around. Iâm certainly thrilled about this but not so much about Robinhoodâs suspicious activity and recent controversy with the government over manipulating userâs behavior to let them place easier trades not always in their best interest. These actions allow Robin Hood to make more commission over the number of trades placed regardless if users make a profit or not. More users = more money. Thatâs all they care about along with social media.
Bitcoin has also risen at an all-time high last week which makes kids, in particular, more crazed about the crypto world and what it means for Terminator. But the problem with Robin Hood and zero commission trading fee retail investor trading platforms is that they are too easy and fun. Whenever managing your money, it should always be serious. You are using you hard-earned money to plan for your goals and achieve them long term, never short term. Rich quick doesnât exist and if you want to learn about how to manage your money and what will keep you afloat fo the rest of your life, the last place you want to go is Las Vegas and gamble, what these platforms are essentially advertising. Instaed, you are better off reading articles such as this (quick plug), The Balance or Investopedia to name a few to really help you make more returns, not just fiddle with your cards as a day trader that gets you nowhere. Patience, diligence and experience will get you much farther and make you something too.
According to what weâve learned about our actions during this pandemic, it is safe to say we have made a decent amount of mistakes that will turn into regrets when life gets back to normal. Yet at least we can now stop and hopefully take in a mental note that this shouldnât happen again. Regardless if you lost/ gained weight or turned $500 into debt on Robin Hood, there is always a way to out of this madness and it starts with identifying what you did wrong. Self-awareness and patience is key in recovering your mental state and especially wallet. We all donât know how much longer we have in our nests, but hopefully, you can come out feeling proud of either learning, baking, producing or helping someone or yourself. Thatâs all our goal. Donât set them too high, just be realistic and they will come back to you.