6 areas where I started saving during COVID-19

2020 was not an usual year, it was not the best for sure and there is still a lot of uncertainty when it comes to finances. Luckily for me I was not (yet) impacted in any way by the pandemic, since I am working in the IT sector that is still doing well, but we are not on the clear. So here is my list of areas where I actually saved money during the last 8 months:

1. Eating out

Probably the most expensive area was this one and I am not talking about date nights or enjoying some good food every now and then, I am talking about the daily meal I would eat when I went to the office. 

Lunch break was one of these moments when we would all go out and eat in the city center, since this is where our office is. As you have probably guessed, at the end of each month the amount of money spent was not small. So the fact that today I am cooking for myself has made a big difference on my budget. 

2. Daily cup of coffee

I love coffee and it is my way of indulging. Unfortunately, in the last couple of years it became a daily habit for me to go and buy coffee even if I had a coffee machine at the office. In the recent months I started to see the coffee that I got in town as a treat again and I also saw the difference it made in my pocket. 

3. Commute to work

This one is a win from both a money perspective, but more important on a time perspective. I live very close to the city center, yet the issue with the traffic and the fact that I would have to get to the office crazy early to find a parking spot, made me realize how much better it is not to have to deal with the commute. 

I do miss going to the office, but I do not miss the commute. 

4. Gym membership

There was a time when I used to do a lot of workouts at home, but then I went to the gym or to the pool and I stopped workouts from home. It was during the pandemic that I resumed this behaviour and I found so many great workout programs on youtube. Made me realise that I had so many options and I was repeating the same sessions at my local gym. 

5. Doing my nails at the salon 

I’ve always admired the beautiful manicure of other ladies and given the fact that my own are very high maintenance I did my best for them to look good. But that came with a price. During the quarantine I went to a friend that had the manicure kit and did my own, so from them on I have been doing my own nails. Might not always last as much as they did at the salon, but the amount of money I save from this is worth it. 

6. Buying makeup 

To be honest, now that I am working from home, my makeup routine has been reduced to the minimum, usually I use a BB cream, mascara and lip gloss. Compared to when I was going to the office when I was usually using an eyeliner, blush, foundation and so on. So during this time, I have not bought any item but the BB cream. Also, another win is the fact that my skin looks so much better without the heavy make-up. 

My life was drastically changed when I started to work remotely 100% of the time, yet in some aspects there was a lot of improvement when it came to my spending habits. Might not have all been ground breaking, but I do feel there was a lot of extra money left at the end of the month only by doing those small changes.