🛍Most Popular Post-Covid Shot Purchases Americans Are Making

The recommended 20 minute wait time to confirm no reaction to the vaccine could be the most anticipatory, exhilarating and liberating moment we’ve ever witnessed.

It’s the same feeling dogs have when they see and vividly smell a juicy plate of food but are stuck in their play pen.

In the meantime after receiving my second dose, to pass the time as a stereotypical personal finance guru, in normal fashion, I decided to ask my fellow vaccinators their immediate plans upon vaccination.

I received my shot in NYC and all I’ll say is, I wan’t surprised by the reactions!

“Will you treat yourself to anything splendid right after?” I asked a teen a few years younger than me.

“How will you celebrate?” Questioning an older woman to my right.

These stories were full of mysteries, celebration and awe with light in all their eyes as they answered the strange but obligatory question.

This is a milestone event not solely due to the excess pent-up demand for normal life to resume but for the feeling of unity and togetherness, something NYC craves as one of the loneliest cities on earth.

As a personal finance guru and blogger, I couldn’t help myself and be a little curious.

So let’s see what my fellow New Yorkers had to say.

Image by Unsplash

2 Post Inoculated Patients from NY.

#1 Jackie 17 yrs: “As a typical New Yorker and libertarian, I’ll be going double masked into the physical grocery store without holding my breathe this time. No more frozen Fresh Direct or Daily Harvest thrown at my door.

I can’t wait to stop and smell the roses along with snoop all fun snacks I’ve missed from my beloved Trader Joes. I plan to spend a good hour shopping for food I don’t need and strangely looking forward to waiting in line.”

#2 Carol 80 something: “What I’ll do? Oh boy, I need to fly down to Atlanta ASAP to see my grandkids. Only problem, I don’t know how to use the internet. FaceTime just doesn’t do justice. I need to squeeze them to death until they are bored of me. That’s when grandma guilt fades away. I also wouldn’t mind a drink at the physical bar this time, not risk another stain on my couch.”

Now that we’ve witnessed what my fellow New Yorkers splurged on, let’s investigate further across the country.

Ironically, according to the NY Times, here’s what people are looking forward to spending:

LA:
-Can of Penn tennis balls
-Four-pack of High Noon hard seltzer
-Pharmacy trip
-Meet a long-time friend

Oregon:
-Big pile of gourmet chocolate bars for the vaccination staff

Los Angeles:
-Several boxes of candy for dinner

New Jersey:
-Reese’s peanut butter cups
-Old-fashioned hair curlers to spice it up

Flordia:
-Drakkar Noir perfume for the kid in me

Atlanta:
-Lay’s Classic chips

New York:
-1963 Volkswagen Bus toy by Welly

Oregon:
-Toy truck for 2-year old
-3 different kids of hand lotion
-Band-Aids

Themes:

-Adopt the same (mostly bad) eating habits discovered during quarantine, most popular: chocolate, sugar, and junk

-Thank others and give back to family

-Value the small things in life

With the hardest hit industries such as the airline, hospitality, tourism and leisure rebounding sharply during this past Fourth of July weekend, the first major weekend with record travel overseas and traffic on the roads, Americans couldn’t be more excited to revenge spend a little. You can learn here what that entails.

We all deserve to enjoy life again and that requires some spending. The beauty about being a frugal stealth wealth minimalist is that you never feel guilty about buying less since you appreciate everything you already have. Less feels like more in that regard. Yet, I’m ready for a real break, time by the sun and true vacation to make memories and experiences which no tangible can replace. That was my first revenge spend which I successfully accomplished back in May.

It’s time for Americans to reward themselves as they’ve hopefully been diligently saving, learning, Zooming, waiting, paying off their high-interest toxic credit card debt and valuing their priorities over the pandemic.

It’s tempting to go overboard since eating out during the pandemic was a big deal in itself so make sure to budget appropriately, understand the difference between being cheap and frugal, don’t pay attention to what others want or need, try out a non-essential no spend month and if you haven’t dug through those closets or looked at your redeemable miles, now’s a great time to do so.

So what will you spend/give/treat yourself with after the vaccine?

PS: In this case, I’ll be less critical and say anything is allowed as long as it’s responsible, keeps you healthy, happy and feels rewarding.

Staying home is exhausting.