Sunday Poll

1. Worse since I sit at a desk for so long and was missing the commute/all the walking I used to get in the city

2. COVID wasn't a thought in my mind on Jan 1, 2020 but I met a great girl at the end of Jan 2020, so I think with where I am in life being 30 now, my life feels like my long-term plan of having a family is coming together, so better for sure.

3. Financially, never lost my job or wages and I was able to buy a bunch of stock for cheap March 2020 so better here as well.

1. Lost more than 20 lbs. mostly by counting calories. I’m not fanatical about it. I pretty much eat the same stuff, just a little less.

2. I’m kind of a homebody, so staying home hasn’t affected me. I wasn’t affected at work. I was able to work the whole time in the office - teleworked once a week.

3. 401k is up, but I took a huge hit in the beginning. If I had bee proactive and moved it to something more safe early on rather than ride it out to the bottom, I’d be way better off. 

It’s going to sound implausible but despite being diagnosed with cancer and having hernia surgery I’m feeling better than I have in decades. 
 

My hobbies have served me well during the pandemic, especially improve. The cornerstone of all improve is Yes . . . and. So yes there is a global pandemic, and we can develop new, healthier lifestyles. It is a great way of life for me. 
 

Income dipped slightly with live performances cancelled, but expenses fell much further. I’m fortunate in having excellent health insurance. 

Overall I feel like I’m in a better place now that pre pandemic. 

1. I don’t really want to get on the scale right now. I had to cancel my gym membership with my wife because we couldn’t feel safe working out while she was pregnant with our son or when he was at home, afraid that we would bring something home. I want to rejoin a gym again because my muscle tone suffered. But I have been running even though I have ran less than normal because of work projects I am trying to use to get promoted and get overtime. I also have more responsibility with my son now so I can’t work out as much as I would like. I might get some weights to use when I don’t have the time to go out for a run, even if it is just some 25-45 lbs dumbbells. We will see.

2. Mentally, I’m better than I had been. I still work in a job that I find to be meh but I have had to carry the insurance for this year. At least I can leave my employer after this year if I don’t get promoted since she will carry the insurance. While I do get nervous about what I will do if a data analyst position doesn’t work out, I am glad that I could try other jobs and that I have about 40 years worth of work left to go back to school (maybe for health care) since I’m only 33. My mental health had been impacted by feeling like I could have done more academically and focused more on practical careers and that life had passed me by, but I know that there’s still time and that things are still possible even with a mortgage and a kid. Some counseling sessions really helped that before the pandemic hit too.

3. Financially, pretty good considering we cut the gym expense, I don’t take a bus and train to an office anymore and my wife has been off of work taking care of our son. We also haven’t had tuition expenses for her grad program she is using to get a masters so she can get a raise as a teacher. We will be in even better shape when she goes back to work, even with the cost of daycare. Good thing we will get Biden’s child tax credit each month since we are middle class earners.

1. I was in great shape when the pandemic first started. Gyms closed and I had to go and rush to go get some home equipment. I remember thinking "I'll come back and get the rest on payday" (at that point, in 2 days) and all that shit was gone. Every barbell, every dumbbell, every plate, every bench was gone and it'd be months before I would see them again. Even today the heaviest thing I have in the house is 25 lbs. I kept doing home workouts for a while but eventually that "get up and get after it" I had that made me get up and work out was gone, and eventually chips and video games won, and I started calling my weight gain "the COVID 19." I've been fully vaccinated since March so I started exercising again consistently in April and I am *not quite* back where I was in 2020, but close.

2. Mental health is fine. The main thing I dealt with during the pandemic was boredom. It hasn't really changed much.

3. I was very fortunate in that I never lost my job or stopped working and neither did my wife so our finances are in great shape. A side effect of my non-existent social life was having a lot more money so I finished some home improvement projects and I got LASIK done with cash.

I wonder one of the long term affects will be people reevaluating their budgets  and continuing the reduced spending.

Health a bit down from being less active. I have too much business and not enough help so it's a mixed blessing. Mental health holding steady. Luckily expenses have gone down thanks to my wife$ late $tepfather. I am not a complainer. Hoping to become more active again. My motto is just deal with it. 

On 6/21/2021 at 6:13 AM, Texsox said:

I wonder one of the long term affects will be people reevaluating their budgets  and continuing the reduced spending.

Little. Overall most people are bad at budgets, saving, etc. Even during the pandemic it really was just reallocating into new buckets. Instead of shoes, concerts, Sox games, clothing, etc. etc. it juts got moved to house projects or the likes. 

12 hours ago, BrianAnderson said:

Little. Overall most people are bad at budgets, saving, etc. Even during the pandemic it really was just reallocating into new buckets. Instead of shoes, concerts, Sox games, clothing, etc. etc. it juts got moved to house projects or the likes. 

25 to 1 in poll reported same or better finances. Perhaps the idea is tangible spending continues at an elevated rate and restaurants and event spending stays depressed. 

I’ve been at the point in life that there just aren’t any things I really want. It’s more replacing things that have worn out. When anyone asks about gifts for me, I always suggest events, classes, shows, etc. so my spending will probably return much the same. That is if my wife ever wants to be indoors with other people.