Are you better off or worse off financially due to the pandemic?

[Gagdet88]

Some have lost there job but some people save money with pubs and cinemas being closed so are you richer or worse off due to the pandemic?

 

[alan280170]

Worse by a long shot, not on the breadline but savings have shrunk. I’m sure it’ll be the same for most people.

 

[Daz1969]

Better off, i work in transport and we've been setting up many Covid testing sites along with delivering equipment to the Nightingale hospitals earlier on so overtime has gone up considerably. I don't drink so pubs are not an issue with me and cinema usage is very rare

 

[BigChopper]

Worse, been furloughed for quite a while, i was back at work for december, then off again, currently losing £83 a week

 

[wiz]

Slightly better off as I'm not out spending ( no where to spend it apart from amazon). Been furloughed a couple of times but work let us offset holiday so 100% pay.

 

[Tight Git]

Much better off, as I'm retired on an excellent company pension and have the perfect excuse to stay at home.

In fact I'm really enjoying the lockdown and, from a totally selfish point of view, hope it continues!

 

[Miss Mandy]

I'm worse off, but not by a huge amount. My income is the same, but working from home has increased my grocery and utility bills.

 

[Ruperts slippers]

Bbls has given me financial stability, out goings slashed, car sold, all cc paid. Money in the bank.


Without that, I would've filed for insolvency during the first lockdown period. Turnover is two thirds what it was. But I'm not fussed I've spent months and months with my daughters..... Plus I'm not tied into contracted hrs or obligations to a company.

Girlfriend has kept working, so no change other than loss of bonus, and yearly pay rise, workload tripled. She does plan to leave her current role and look for something with a better work life balance for our relationship/family in the near future.

We're looking to buy, we can't borrow what we could pre pandemic, but we should have a tiny mortgage with money leftover to have a good life.

You have to cut your cloth, yes I miss the car but it's not important in the short term.

 

[Aggrajag]

I'm much better off. I'm fortunate that my company has enabled working from home so I'm saving fuel/commute costs plus taxi fares to/from the pub.

 

[piston broke]

Sadly I was in the hospitality industry
Am now a house husband, which I guess is the same job... just with less customers and lower pay

 

[LV426]

Better off by a good margin.
No change to my income at all.
Big reduction in outgoings - holidays being probably the major repeat expense. My holiday fund is bigger than it has ever been; and I have a fully paid for* Business Class round trip for two with Virgin "banked" for future use after cancellation of last year's Florida trip.

============
*give or take any increase in fare for the trip I eventually do make, which I will have to fund.

 

[password1]

Better off, not just financially but I'm. Saving 2 hours a day (10 hours a week) on travelling due to working from home.

Mt income is the same but I'm. Saving £40-50 a week on petrol since March 2020. Not been on holiday, not going out for meals, etc.

A bit more on electricity for a laptop but the extra cost of powering a laptop for 8-9 hours a day is still far cheaper than the petrol.

Edit: Also saving on the parking charges everyday and the air actually feels fresher.I've improved my carbon footprint.

 

[Inked]

So far we are better off, but partly because I got a part time job right at the beginning of lockdown.
Prior to that, we only had my wife’s wage for the last 10 years, so our income has gone up by around 30% while our travel expenses with my wife now working from home every day (she was already home at least 3 days a week) have gone down by around 50%.

 

[Tight Git]

Worse by a long shot, not on the breadline but savings have shrunk. I’m sure it’ll be the same for most people.

I would have thought that too and expected to be in the minority when I posted back in Post #6.

However, we currently have 8 betters versus 4 worse, so maybe things are not so bleak for most.

Of course, this is a very small sample, so hopefully there'll be more posts to compare.

 

[Danial]

Quite a bit better off and I feel very fortunate to be so.

The demand for my organisation’s work has continued to increase despite the pandemic and as a result I still received my bonus - albeit later in the year when things were more certain - as well as two performance related pay rises.

I have been working from home full time since last March, saving myself £6,000 on commuting costs alone. Notwithstanding the 4 hours a day I spent doing it 3 or 4 days a week.

All that along with zero holidays - barely left Sheffield - since the first lockdown began. In addition, not eating out and just general lack of spending money living life; although these are minor contributions.

Other things as well, such as not having to replace things due to less wear and tear of everyday stuff.

The only thing that will have increased is our electricity and water bills. Even then that’s offset by the fact both my wife and I receive the working from home allowance the Government permits employers to pay tax free.

My wife has also received a small pay rise and has been working from home full time since last March.

I really do feel for those who have suffered economically during this period and despite the financial benefits it has afforded me, I can’t wait for this hell to be over.

 

[mjn]

Not much difference for me. Saving a bit from not going out or away on holiday but spent more on beer and food.

I'm still doing 2-3 days in the office, but it is a 10 miles / 15 min commute so only saving 30 mins a day when WFH.

 

[password1]

Not much difference for me. Saving a bit from not going out or away on holiday but spent more on beer and food.

I'm still doing 2-3 days in the office, but it is a 10 miles / 15 min commute so only saving 30 mins a day when WFH.

30 mins is not much but I think lot of people would probably prefer to get out of bed 30 mins later if they have a choice.

 

[mjn]

With a 7am start in the office, an extra 15 mins in bed doesn't make a difference

 

[Miss Mandy]

30 mins is not much but I think lot of people would probably prefer to get out of bed 30 mins later if they have a choice.

The extra time in bed is a massive positive.
I get up at 6:30 in normal circumstances to allow time to walk the dog before. Now I stay in bed for an extra hour and walk the dog on company time!

 

[rccarguy]

Whilst I was on furlough worse off, bit had plenty of savings so 80% pay to stay at home was brilliant.

 

[johnny70]

We are massively worse off, I’m a head chef and wife is a front of house manager, we’ve been on furlough since the start of all this. Went back for 5 days before lockdown 2.0 happened.

We are both missing out on overtime and tips, luckily we are furloughed so we can’t complain at all.
We are lucky enough to have some assets we could liquidate to keep on top of things.

Mentally it has been very challenging juggling money, but hey that’s life. We are still here with a roof over our heads and all the family healthy.

 

[tapzilla2k]

About the same, on universal credit and my PIP award has been rescheduled for review in 2023 instead of this year due to the pandemic. My dad and brother haven't had to furlough, so they've not had much impact to their wages. Whereas my sister and mum did go onto furlough, so wages were slightly reduced. I have helped out with utility bills so my dad can keep up with rent and council tax payments.

 

[Ste7en]

Around the same. Not spending as much on petrol but all other bills have gone up.

 

[Greg Hook]

Two distinct groups here.

Clearly those who have continued working are very likely to be better off. No holidays, less fuel usage, reduced outgoings.

But then those that were furloughed (or made redundant) are very likely to be significantly worse off.

Fortunately I fall in to the first category, of which I feel very thankful for but I really feel for those who have been made redundant. Especially with some of the major store chains closing.

 

[rccarguy]

Two distinct groups here.

Clearly those who have continued working are very likely to be better off. No holidays, less fuel usage, reduced outgoings.

But then those that were furloughed (or made redundant) are very likely to be significantly worse off.

Fortunately I fall in to the first category, of which I feel very thankful for but I really feel for those who have been made redundant. Especially with some of the major store chains closing.

Not much difference between working and furlough ok lost overtime but paying no tax, and in fact got tax back..