Well, is it true so many of us have saved a little fortune during the pandemic?

jrosen · 27-09-2021 12:21pm

It was probably more a case of didnt spend than genuinely save. We save monthly anyway so the only additional money we saved was fuel money. We've always take our lunches to work.

Our biggest saving was probably on travel and clothing. I only purchased clothing we really needed as we had nothing on.

I think the people who saved the most were those who had long commutes, public transport costs/lunches/coffees/childcare and people who are social and would be out a couple of times per week.

27-09-2021 12:25pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117944734#Comment_117944734

I know, I’ve seen it, just being daycent for the forum, so to speak.

27-09-2021 12:28pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117944805#Comment_117944805

I think online shopping was a biggie, especially electronic stuff, going by the especially frequent packages arriving at the apartment building, although done of this could have been necessitated by WFH rather than leisure spending.

DubDani · 27-09-2021 1:35pm

It probably depends on everyone's individual situation. In our case (family of 4 with 2 very active children) we saved an absolute fortune during the pandemic. We were in the lucky position that our incomes weren't impacted, with me even getting a very good Bonus and 8% payrise last July. But where we saved was:

Hardly any fuel costs for 2 cars as no commuting or driving kids around, easily saving 150 a month
No major Holidays this in 2020 or 2021. We had 2 big trips planned (and budgeted for) that were swapped for 3 small staycations. Saved around 12K on those planned Holidays
No School dinners to be paid, which probably saved us around around 80-100 a month.
No Music lessons for the kids for a more then a year, saving us another 120 a month.
No Sports, saving us around 350 a month (both girls are very active and competitive in their sport with 3/4 training sessions a week and competitions etc.).
Far less shopping overall. While I can't put a figure on it we certainly spent a lot less money on clothing and other gadgets.

And while I am happy for the savings I am as happy to return back to normal and to get the kids back into their music and sports etc.

27-09-2021 1:41pm

What I have been wondering about was the sheer numbers of cars on the road throughout the day. I know people weren’t using public transport, which would account for some of it, but there was a fair little bit of mileage five nonetheless within Dublin city, Galway city and the various major towns I visited through the pandemic. It wasn’t just “rush hour” as is the case in normal times Ed.

Sleepy · 27-09-2021 1:42pm

WFH would have saved me a fair bit in commuting costs and the couple of times a week I'd have bought lunch (The company I work for has always paid for a bean-to-cup coffee machine and did a weekly shop for the office that covered the basics to make lunches with: bread, ham, cheese, cereal etc.) but you'd occasionally just fancy a chicken fillet roll or a break away from the office with a few colleagues to go grab a meal out etc.)

Obviously spent less on holidays / new clothing etc. too

However, as Mrs Sleepy worked as a child-minder, her income dried up completely once the first lockdown hit so overall, we're far worse off than we were before the pandemic hit.

crisco10 · 27-09-2021 1:48pm

Saved here too.

Main savings were on holidays, instead of 2 week "big" trips to long haul destination, we really just did long weekends in Ireland etc

Other savings as poster mentioned was the activities for kids. Swimming costs about €15 a week for lessons etc. And before pandemic hit, I set myself a goal of buying no new clothes in 2020 (which I succeeded with).

I WFH since before pandemic so no change in commuting habit.

Hard to guess how much "extra" was saved as I'm a bit of a squirrel anyway, but maybe ~€10k? Flipside is that we have spent/invested in our house a bit in 2021, however that was always in the long term plan pre-COVID.

easygoing39 · 27-09-2021 1:53pm

I worked through it all as normal.Saved about E20,000 because I could'nt go to the local or go away on holidays.But then I spent E13,000 on a used car.The rest is still in the bank,where it'll stay.

Wanderer78 · 27-09-2021 1:54pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117945373#Comment_117945373

leo wont be happy with your plans, he needs you to spend spend spend, borrow borrow borrow!

HildaOgdenx · 27-09-2021 1:57pm

No increase in savings, but I suppose, spent less on the everyday stuff.

Low fuel costs because the car was sitting in the drive, no meals/ nights out, no flights/ holidays. Bought very little online.

Jim_Hodge · 28-09-2021 11:22am

If people are saying they didn't save anything but spent less on fuel, clothing, holidays etc then where did the money go?

Kerry25x · 28-09-2021 11:43am

I saved loads in the very first couple months because I was actually doing nothing except ordering groceries and walking the dog in the evenings. After that we started ordering more takeaways to try support our favourite restaurants and treat ourselves. Then the DIY projects started around the house and that's where a lot of money went. Also did a campervan conversion which ate up a few bob. Probably have more to show for our money than we did before covid when we spent a lot on nights out but I don't think we've saved any more.

JimmyVik · 28-09-2021 11:48am

Spent most of what id saved in foreign holidays on Irish holidays. Irish holidays easily twice as expensive as the foreign ones. And thats including flights.

laoisgem · 28-09-2021 8:21pm

Spent more than I could afford tbh. Bought a swing set, trampoline and put a lot of money into the garden for the youngest because that's as far as we could go (I even slept out on the trampoline for a night with her for amusement purposes) the things we do 😳

Jim_Hodge · 28-09-2021 8:34pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117951437#Comment_117951437

Money can't buy memories like that.

28-09-2021 10:15pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117951437#Comment_117951437

You got some fun! 😃 I like that!

Jim_Hodge · 30-09-2021 6:07pm

15.6% growth in GDP expected - twice the earlier estimate. There's money and pent up demand out there.

noplacehere · 30-09-2021 6:13pm

Saved a sweet fortune on creche for lockdown 1. Nearly lost my mind in the process but it paid for the boiler replacement and a chunk towards window replacements. We chose to put it back in the economy.

Also saw saving in petrol and day to day costs like coffee on the way to work but this balanced a bit with probably having more ‘treat’ takeaway lunches while working from home

Wanderer78 · 30-09-2021 6:17pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117960139#Comment_117960139

yup, but only those that can afford to spend, will probably do so, and those that are currently struggling, will more than likely continue to do so, it ll be interesting to see if this will be sufficient to keep the economy going, but i think we re well into the era of discontent, so.....

Jim_Hodge · 30-09-2021 7:02pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117960176#Comment_117960176

It was never said otherwise. The point is that there was never as much saved as a nation over such a short period and overall there is a large spending spree imminent. The economy as a whole will grow.

FintanMcluskey · 30-09-2021 7:23pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117960343#Comment_117960343

Costs are rising rapidly to meet it though Jim.

Will money go as far?

It's an interesting one though, more money in savings deposit than ever before.

The biggest surprise for me is the staffing issue businesses are facing.

Centre parcs have huge demand for accommodation, and are extendending the facility in the Midlands here.

But they can only open the current facility at 75% due to staffing issues

So the demand is irrelevant if the staff aren't there to meet it

30-09-2021 8:12pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117960162#Comment_117960162

Talk about a boiler replacement… just paid €2300 for one ☹️

HildaOgdenx · 30-09-2021 8:22pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117960393#Comment_117960393

I read somewhere, but I can't remember offhand where I read it, that many foreign workers, especially in hospitality, returned home during lockdown. And also that they are now being attracted to countries other than Ireland. Better wages and conditions, maybe? I don't know.

There certainly seems to be quite a few jobs advertised, I noticed signs in quite a lot of windows, in different parts of the country recently.

mcmoustache · 01-10-2021 12:10am

We saved a heap and started the process of buying a house. Only problem was that others had also saved a heap and pushed up the price of houses. It feels like whatever we saved was wiped out by bidding. That being said, we have a house now and it's a good one in a good area so I'm not too bothered about the easily saved and easily spent money. 2020 and 2021 were strange years.

01-10-2021 12:26am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117960393#Comment_117960393

What is elusive to the privileged is that many people (myself included) took a significant pay cut through an enforced layoff from work via lockdown. And their pretend surprise is rather insulting, "why didn't you save this and that". These individuals haven't the slightest inclination of our everyday struggle for the best part of eighteen months, their opinion is null and void.

PmMeUrDogs · 01-10-2021 5:56am

Saved a few thousand but my costs didn't decrease. I still went to work each day, no working from home. I just got lucky and got some promotions so my income increased and I saved a chunk of the difference.

I could have saved more but family were left in a bad way financially due to work shutting down etc, so I helped out there. I don't know anyone who's saved more than 5k tbh

fits · 01-10-2021 6:42am

I was out of work for four months at beginning of this year - which was fortunate as there was no way I could have managed work with children both home. Our savings are maybe a bit more but we spent a lot on our unfinished house and a couple of breaks in ireland. And we bought an ev.

Jim_Hodge · 01-10-2021 8:17am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117961454#Comment_117961454

I don't think anybody said why didn't you save. The OP was about the billions that were actually put in to savings. This is fact. Some people did make significant additional savings as the simple result of not being able to spend their disposable income for a period. It's nothing to do with whether they were aware or not that others were struggling. Personally I think they were aware. It's not about exclusivity either as, apparently, the majority managed additional savings. It's just how it panned out.

As the topic is about the additional savings, it seems a bit nonsensical to say the opinion or comments of those who made those savings are null and void.

Strumms · 01-10-2021 4:48pm

saved a few grand around 9 - 10 grand as of now that’s nicely topped up my savings, I’ll be buying a car maybe around March and hoping to go on holiday in May...I’ll probably be cautious enough as regards any major expenditures but I like the idea of that holiday in ‘22 around May, maybe even a cruise hopefully, I’ll want to get a car too around then so that’s another outgoing.

iamstop · 01-10-2021 5:15pm

I would normally take a trip to Ireland and France each year so I saved the cost of that. Flights, accommodation, a festival ticket and fun money all saved. Also drank more cans and less pints so saved some that way too I reckon. I also bought less records than normal for that year but a lot of that was down to inheriting a large collection and going through that.

So yeah, I've a few grand more than I would have had.

blue note · 01-10-2021 5:36pm

My wife and I saved a decent bit during the recession. We didn't get to go on our honeymoon, so there was a few grand. We probably saved a few grand from not going skiing and for a summer break too. The there's all the travel and lunches bought out.

To be honest, as regards routine entertainment (meals out, concerts, cinema and the like), I saw when we were applying for our mortgage that we don't do that very often at all. Our entire bank statement was pretty much supermarket expenditure.

But still, between all of the above you'd be looking at €10-15 grand I reckon. We'll spend that on the house though. I remember rattling off the things I'd like to do to the house and €100k or so rolled off the tip of my tongue. That's without any extension or the like.

But generally speaking, the people with good, well paying jobs were able to continue to work during the pandemic, generally without any loss of income, but with a drop in expenditure. Those who had to go on PUP are the ones who suffered and continue to suffer, along with a lot of self employed people and business owners. Taxi drivers, hospitality sector, etc - I don't know how many of them will survive this.

01-10-2021 9:18pm

Yes I saved and paid a chunk off my mortgage. I was in the lucky position of being in full-time employment and working from home. This did enable me to save on transport costs, and then of course there was all I saved that would have been used for holidays, socialising and shopping. And it's still the case apart from a bit more socialising and shopping.

I did spend more on food though. Got a lot of deliveries.

Jim_Hodge · 02-10-2021 9:00am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117966150#Comment_117966150

I didn't save anything like enough to clear a mortgage during the restrictions but I certainly saved a few thousand on a severely restricted social life. I don't know anybody who saved that kind if money. I'm not sure where your reply to me fits in though because I didn't claim to have saved that much.

02-10-2021 11:21am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117966150#Comment_117966150

The jeopardy of opening this thread was to encourage some “wealth-boasters”. I originally wanted to open a poll to be able to get a rough gauge simply of whether people saved or found themselves breaking even or down somewhat, but couldn’t seem to able to able to on the mobile site.

02-10-2021 11:31am

I’m not going to lie - the pandemic was good for me from a financial perspective. Saved a load of extra money by not eating out, taking foreign holidays, going to gigs, gambling on the horses and visiting pubs as much.

Then an old bachelor farmer uncle of mine died of covid and left me his estate (we weren’t even that close tbh)!

Bought a small holiday home out past Clifden with the windfall.

Buddy Bubs · 02-10-2021 1:14pm

On day to day stuff, saved money on the likes of going out for dinner and drinks and taxis etc...everything else stayed the same really. I spent the savings on those things on the house anyway. The big increase in car prices meant I hung on to my own, I'd say I would have changed in 2021 otherwise. Luckily I like it and no need to really change. I have my emergency fund sorted and pension on track, have a house so I'll tend to spend my money on something rather than save anyway.

Well, is it true so many of us have saved a little fortune during the pandemic?

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