Unintentional Savings during Covid-19 Lockdown:

While we are moving into week two or three, depending on where you are, of the Covid-19 Lockdown and while we are trying to be accustomed with the new normal of working from home, no schools, no shopping (except for the essentials), no Malls, no Food courts or dine-ins, no barber shops, no trip to Starbucks or McDs – we are actually unintentionally savings some good amount which we spend other way unaccounted. Here are some of my thoughts from the day to day life –

·        Think from the perspective of a typical workday, where you do shaving or make up to make you presentable, you are not doing them diligently or not definitely everyday morning. So, you are expanding the usage of those cosmetics for a longer time and avoid re-buying at an earlier time.

·        You like Dior, Chanel, Gucci or Hugo, Versace, Tommy and you definitely make two, three or four sprays every day (if not, you use them again later in the same day) while going for work. But are you going now? The answer we all know – a big N and O. So, you are not using those costly branded perfumes and hence you may not have to buy the next one in near future – Saving!

·        Next come to the dress or the suit you were for your work and then throw for the laundry. Here you are adding to the savings from two fronts –

a)      Reducing the wear and tear and making your dress runs longer and look newer for an extended period of time, suppressing your urge to buy a new one.

b)     Less number or volume of laundry which in turn saves your water bill and electricity bill, none to say that you are saving on the wear and tear of the Washing Machine itself – interesting, right? Like I have an elementary school goer and if there is school – at least one set of dress is tossed for laundry every day, and you could have more than one – so do the math. Now those clothes are nicely folded and kept in the closet untouched and make your laundry detergent too run longer than normal.

·        Let’s focus on your vehicle and the gas. I think you all are smart enough to understand the impact of not using them for regular purpose. But have you thought about the benefit of auxiliary stuff related to your vehicle? Like –

a)      You are unintentionally avoiding the risk of getting into or having an accident, which could be there otherwise on a typical workday or normal weekend. This will in turn help to keep your Insurance Premiums in check and can help you to get a lower Premium during Renewal!

b)     If you have ‘Drivewise’ or ‘Pay-what-you-need’ kind of Insurance – you are lucky. Ask why? Because you may not have to pay anything as you are not driving the car at all!

c)      No doubt you are saving your Mental Health from all the hassle, honking, red lights, traffic, cursing the slow driver ahead of you, watching your clock that you may not reach office before the 8 am meeting starts etc etc. That’s a big break as you now have almost 30 mins to 3 hours with you to spend quality time with your family, spend time on your hobbies which you may not have touched for last one year, use for self-learning or doing some process automation or home improvements. Please don’t watch the TVs.

·        Next comes your health, the food and those indigestions! With lock down in place, dine-ins are closed (may be open for take outs), everybody back at home – you are unintentionally having a lots of home cooked foods – less oily, less meaty, less fatty, less fry – Yes, all means the same, which helps you to stay healthy even though you are sitting at home all day with less or no outdoor activities, no gym or no soccer/football/baseball/cricket/tennis in the evening. So, these healthy meals you are having now, is actually keeping you going without feeling sick or uncomfortable, none to say – helping you big time in savings those 3-5-10 dollars you spend every day on outside food. Again, do the math – you might have saved already between $100 to $150, even before getting the stimulus check from the federal government. Think again, it is not only the cost of the food, the time you spend on going to food court or the restaurants – you are saving for them too, and if you have driven otherwise, you are saving on the gas too! Isn’t that great?

And who knows, may be those healthy home cooked meals are boosting your immunity level to fight the Corona Virus and keeping it at bay from coming to your home, to your family. And think about savings from otherwise paying those additional medical costs – copays, deductibles or out of pocket expenses! Now you are thinking…

·        I would also like to add one more point – because of lockdown, because of fear of getting infected from any asymptomatic person, you have reduced your trip to the Super Markets/Malls/other Stores – helping you saving on the items that you really don’t have to buy. May be take out all your old bills from the cabinet and have a review and see what was your list of items you had to buy, and what additional items you bought – trust me it is 50-50 – believe me or not. Now, you are not really buying those items to a large extent – you are going with the necessary item list, just picking up those items, pay the bill and come out of store without risking yourself of being infected. Good Lord – you have saved another $150 easily already in those unlisted spending!

·        The final point I would like to touch upon is the Health and Safety of yourself and your family. The points mentioned above – are impacting the overall health and safety for everyone in your household. You can not measure that in price. You are having a good quality time with your kids, your spouse, which other way used to be a ‘dinner time conversation only family’. Now you are really enjoying the family like the good old days joint families that our parents used to live in, or we have seen probably during our childhood days. This benefit, as I mentioned, can not be measured in price, this is priceless – so try to get the most out of it.

But, are we okay with this life? Maybe not, maybe we would like to go back to our regular work-life status, surely kids would like to go back to school or the playgrounds, or avoid the recession which is predicted to be the worse than 2008-09. Still, look at the positive sides of the lockdown and keep yourself motivated and ready for the next transition.

Stay safe and keep other safe! Continue to maintain Social D  I  S  T  A  N  C  I  N  G.