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COVID savings from working from home?

Wally Fairway

By Wally Fairway
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Redmen62

Redmen62 126

Posted
Posted

Knock on wood, but financially speaking things are working out very well for us right now. 

Saving:

$1500/mo daycare

$200/mo in going out for drinks/coffee

$200/mo in parking

$200/mo in gas (estimated)

$250/mo for yoga for the wife/kids

Plus cancelled travel in the summer/Fall worth a bunch- but I won't call that savings because we obviously wanted to go on the trips. 

Meanwhile our incomes are safe, our mortgage rate has fallen to 1.45%, and the government (Canada) is talking about backing $12k lines of credit at zero interest over several years as a form of stimulus. 

 

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Okie State

Okie State 3818

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$8400/year for dog walking. Surly never ceases to amaze me.

We've saved a decent amount so far on gas. Just recently our daycare called saying they'd be giving a credit and not charging until we decide to take our kids back so that's nice. Not going out to eat at all, but our grocery and booze bill was pretty high for March.

If we can manage to stay employed through this we'll come out pretty well. That's a big if though.

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Murfdogg21

Murfdogg21 4412

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Anybody having an issue with daycares not reimbursing you prepaid tuition?

Our kids go to a preschool that tries to be a lot more school than daycare. They treat their teachers well and it reflects in the quality. They follow AISD calendar to give teachers more time off (also pain in the ass to parents not having daycare on days like Columbus Day). With this COVID situation, they shut down on March 13 with AISD and still closed indefinitely. They started sending out a daily 10 minute YouTube video and offered a 15 minute zoom call as “curriculum”. They did not reimburse the last 2.5 weeks of March, they sent us a bill yesterday for the full price of April, and they already have the May 2020 tuition which was our deposit. They threatened if anyone skips out on their April payment, the May deposit will be applied to April, and if you want your kid to attend after they reopen you will have to get current with your billing. I think this is incredibly horseshit but wife and I haven’t decided what to do yet. School master is guilt tripping hard about having to furlough teachers if parents don’t pay, but her alternative is a scenario where teachers get their full salary, plus their $1200 govt cheese, for sitting on their couch and filming a crappy 10 minute video each day; while the families are forced to pay for childcare they don’t receive, some of those families may have lost income during this, others (like ours) have to pay for additional childcare now to babysit our toddlers while we both WFH. 

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mulletpelini

mulletpelini 5210

Posted
Posted (edited)
On 3/30/2020 at 6:14 PM, Helobious said:

All the incredibly unnecessary (former) spending I'm seeing in this thread is making my head spin. Hope this is a wake up call for Americans. 

No shit.  You people spend some money on some really stupid shit.

Now lets talk real savings.  100 people die every day in car accidents in the US.  There's ~100 people who were supposed to die today that didn't because most of us aren't driving anywhere.  

Edited by mulletpelini
real life final destination type shit
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Twizzler

Twizzler 161

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Posted

Saving a few bucks on gas, but the time from not commuting is my biggest save,

I'm spending MORE on local coffee and restaurant take out to try to keep them in business.

Paying a housekeeper to not come clean.

Any saving from in person shopping has been more than replaced by online shopping.

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Okie State

Okie State 3818

Posted
Posted
Anybody having an issue with daycares not reimbursing you prepaid tuition?
Our kids go to a preschool that tries to be a lot more school than daycare. They treat their teachers well and it reflects in the quality. They follow AISD calendar to give teachers more time off (also pain in the ass to parents not having daycare on days like Columbus Day). With this COVID situation, they shut down on March 13 with AISD and still closed indefinitely. They started sending out a daily 10 minute YouTube video and offered a 15 minute zoom call as “curriculum”. They did not reimburse the last 2.5 weeks of March, they sent us a bill yesterday for the full price of April, and they already have the May 2020 tuition which was our deposit. They threatened if anyone skips out on their April payment, the May deposit will be applied to April, and if you want your kid to attend after they reopen you will have to get current with your billing. I think this is incredibly horseshit but wife and I haven’t decided what to do yet. School master is guilt tripping hard about having to furlough teachers if parents don’t pay, but her alternative is a scenario where teachers get their full salary, plus their $1200 govt cheese, for sitting on their couch and filming a crappy 10 minute video each day; while the families are forced to pay for childcare they don’t receive, some of those families may have lost income during this, others (like ours) have to pay for additional childcare now to babysit our toddlers while we both WFH. 
We were not expecting any type of credit from ours, but they offered and I'm not going to turn it down. I had already written it off as a sunk cost. I'm not sure if they got some kind of relief from the stimulus bill or what that may have caused them to change direction. It's a tough spot to be in for everyone involved.
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fattyflattie

fattyflattie 4639

Posted
Posted
6 hours ago, Murfdogg21 said:

They started sending out a daily 10 minute YouTube video and offered a 15 minute zoom call as “curriculum”.

They need to know, at a minimum, this is not sufficient.  If you are paying full price, they need to make someone available via zoom, teams, what have you, for a large potion of the day. Just interaction with your child would be helpful. Like you stated, they are either being paid to sit at the house, or have been put on a reduced load and the school is raking.  Either way, it’s left you in a lurch. 

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Rougarou

Rougarou 594

Posted
Posted
7 hours ago, Murfdogg21 said:

Anybody having an issue with daycares not reimbursing you prepaid tuition?

Our kids go to a preschool that tries to be a lot more school than daycare. They treat their teachers well and it reflects in the quality. They follow AISD calendar to give teachers more time off (also pain in the ass to parents not having daycare on days like Columbus Day). With this COVID situation, they shut down on March 13 with AISD and still closed indefinitely. They started sending out a daily 10 minute YouTube video and offered a 15 minute zoom call as “curriculum”. They did not reimburse the last 2.5 weeks of March, they sent us a bill yesterday for the full price of April, and they already have the May 2020 tuition which was our deposit. They threatened if anyone skips out on their April payment, the May deposit will be applied to April, and if you want your kid to attend after they reopen you will have to get current with your billing. I think this is incredibly horseshit but wife and I haven’t decided what to do yet. School master is guilt tripping hard about having to furlough teachers if parents don’t pay, but her alternative is a scenario where teachers get their full salary, plus their $1200 govt cheese, for sitting on their couch and filming a crappy 10 minute video each day; while the families are forced to pay for childcare they don’t receive, some of those families may have lost income during this, others (like ours) have to pay for additional childcare now to babysit our toddlers while we both WFH. 

I feel this way about our private school.

We pay ~$2500, a month. We are not getting $2500 of value right now with an hourly zoom meeting and then basically having to find time to shoe-horn in homeschooling between stressing out and trying to maintain a job and doing our day jobs from home.

It's parochial/religious affiliated, so we are being told we are doing a great charity for continuing to pay, probably better than a public school educator, the staff and not having to lay anyone off.

What are public school kids doing? Are they getting educated right now with Zoom and the like or are they just at home screwing around on youtube and tiktok?

 

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HiggyBaby

HiggyBaby 2529

Posted
Posted

Well, our utility bills will be way up. Home AC won’t be on standby during the day anymore, as well as electricity usage, water, etc. That said, it should be more than counter balanced by canceled gym memberships, kids sports/activity fees, gas, eating out, not driving everywhere. , etc.

 

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AUS-97HORN

AUS-97HORN 11757

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Posted

I dont think Im that far ahead.   I WFH 2 days a week normally, so its only 3 days that I wouldnt be at home where I am.

I know for sure I'm saving $5 in tolls,

~$5 for some sort of breakfast

~$8 for lunch (about every 2 or 3 days vendors were paying for my lunch anyway)

maybe 1.5 gallons of gas per day in my commute... so thats what $2.75 in savings per day?

 

so thats a around $20-21 per day...  call it $60 a week.

but I know for sure my electrical usage will go up as it gets hotter.  maybe $10 extra per day  so I would call that pretty close to even

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luke duke

luke duke 6412

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The only time I've gotten fast food since we started self isolating a few weeks ago was a week ago purchasing 10 chicken sandwiches from Chick-fil-a and freezing most of them. My son is addicted to them so it's real easy to pop one out and quick defrost it in 3 minutes and it tastes just like it would fresh. They lasted a week. 


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mdmost

mdmost 43001

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Posted
On 4/1/2020 at 12:05 PM, mdmost said:

Wife and I already were both working from home so there are no real savings there. We're eating out less for sure. Only bought one to go meal in the last 2 weeks. Our grocery bill has gone up since the kids are now eating 5 more meals at home each week. All the little extras we would spend on going place or going out are gone. We're definitely moving towards buckling down. My job is pretty safe. Hers is more tenuous given her company does marketing and sales. We're gearing up with the assumption she'll either be furloughed or let go by May.  So whatever stimulus money we're getting is going straight to savings. 

Welp, the thought of my wife losing her job in May turned into losing her job today actually. Severance and benefits through the end of the month. 

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horn4life

horn4life 3760

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Posted

I think I am about to be at the point where we are going to start actually saving money.  I finally had to lay down the law a couple days ago, we do not need to drop $100 every time we walk into HEB.  I sort of sent nuts the other day when I was going to get like 3 things, wife did the same thing yesterday when again going to get like 3 things.  We honestly could not leave the house and probably eat for two weeks easily and longer with a bit less variety.  So basically I think the hoarding and worrying about supply lines should be over.  I've bought some extra yard materials to some outdoor projects since I am stuck here. I did spend a couple hundred of Tequila, Grand Marnier, triple sec and 6 half gallons of Jack..just in case.

On the flip side we are probably saving $300 easy weekly just not going out. But we fucking love going out and we worry about the bartenders and wait people we have befriended over the years.  They are truly fighting for their lives. I need to cancel the YMCA, we were not going anyway, and no expenses for work means less overall outflow. So in the end we will likely come out ahead.  The fact I did not buy a flip house I was looking at in Corpus makes me feel a lot more secure at this point than I would be if I had both emotionally and financially.

 

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Reynolds Woodcock

Reynolds Woodcock 4739

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I did the rough math this morning, and I'm embarrassed by how much we'll save in April (household of 2, live in Manhattan).

$2000-$2500 on eating/drinking out and other entertainment (offset somewhat by increased grocery bill)

$300 on gym memberships

$200 on dry cleaning

$150 on haircuts

$120 on subway card

~$100 on dog walking

Plus we canceled a pretty expensive 2 week trip overseas in May. 

Of course I'm bored out of my fucking mind and would gladly trade the savings for my freedom back, but it is a nice consolation prize. 

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Orange&White

Orange&White 5522

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Interesting thread.

 

Savings Weekly

Gas/Tolls - $45

Bar Tabs - $150

Lunches - $60

Restaurant Dinners - $200

Random shit purchased - $50

 

Increases Weekly

Groceries - $150

Liquor Store - $40

Utilities - $25

Online Purchases - $50

 

Net Benefit - $240/week - $960/month

 

My son is about to graduate from UT (Double Major - McCombs/Design) in May and has been laid off, so I will probably be upping his monthly check $500/month until this blows over.

We had shit internet service at the house forever but were too lazy/uninterested to do anything about it. With WFH, that had to change as the GF's son's gaming was killing my ability to work. So we (she) finally called around and we'll be bumping our bandwidth by x10 and lowering our costs by $35/month. So we have that going for us, which is nice.

GF's Mom used to come and sit in our house every weekday to watch TV and play with the dogs and wash the kids clothes. She'd crank the AC to 65 and then open the patio door so the dogs could go in and out. So our net utility increase won't be bad with that gone.

As someone else mentioned, it's the extra 90 minutes a day that I am not getting ready for work or driving that is the biggest benefit.

I tried WFH about 15-20 years ago and could not stay focused so I wrote it off. Now that I am doing it at 47 years old, I am much effective and hope this whole event makes my employer re-think their staunch anti WFH policy.

 

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gsoda3

gsoda3 3254

Posted
Posted
On 4/1/2020 at 11:46 AM, Rougarou said:

Summer Camps will be big savings. Saving a ton on eating out. Ate out almost 90% of the time.

I filled our big vehicles up one time after getting back from Spring Break vacation and they are still 3/4 of a tank. So that is nice. 

I've been pretty underwhelmed with the private school Zoom teaching (1-1.5 hour a day of instruction) which basically turns into either us homeschooling or they are falling behind. I was cool with paying the tuition in March but come April and May, if school is out until next year, I think I might put up a fight about paying the tuition and just having them read books and do math or whatever at my discretion.

I'm sure they will pull the "you lose your spot in the school and can't come back in the fall" or "you will have to pay a massive admin fee to register the kids back in the fall" card.

don't be that guy. teachers and admin right now are flying by the seat of their pants trying to figure out a completely new model of teaching.  it's more than posting lessons on google classroom.  there's so much behind the scenes stuff parents and students don't witness.  my wife is admin for an elementary school in centex and she's on non-stop conf calls from 830a to 11:30p (some nights) and fielding text messages from teachers asking her to help troubleshoot this or that.  it is crazy. 

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fattyflattie

fattyflattie 4639

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6 minutes ago, gsoda3 said:

don't be that guy. teachers and admin right now are flying by the seat of their pants trying to figure out a completely new model of teaching

No one has said the teachers aren’t doing anything, but some of the schools are taking a pretty laid back approach for the amount of tuition they are still accepting.  Private school tuition for an hour and a half of zoom a day, nah. 

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Rougarou

Rougarou 594

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7 minutes ago, fattyflattie said:

No one has said the teachers aren’t doing anything, but some of the schools are taking a pretty laid back approach for the amount of tuition they are still accepting.  Private school tuition for an hour and a half of zoom a day, nah. 

And now we are out until Fall. Just do Pass/Fail and charge me 50% if you are going to Zoom for an hour and get day drunk off wine (I have friends wives who are teachers, too, and apparently this is a big (and frustrating) thing).

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fattyflattie

fattyflattie 4639

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Posted
7 minutes ago, Rougarou said:

Zoom for an hour and get day drunk off wine (I have friends wives who are teachers, too, and apparently this is a big (and frustrating) thing).

I only have 1 teacher friend.  Can confirm the wine starts flowing early.  Public school. I mean, her kids are at home, too. 

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gsoda3

gsoda3 3254

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30 minutes ago, fattyflattie said:

No one has said the teachers aren’t doing anything, but some of the schools are taking a pretty laid back approach for the amount of tuition they are still accepting.  Private school tuition for an hour and a half of zoom a day, nah. 

it seems like you're equating an hour and a half a day to "not doing anything".  what you're not realizing is the amount of time it takes to plan that session, film it, then go over all of the students' submitted work.  and that's before they make sure each student has access to internet, has the appropriate hardware to get online, can actually get online and logged in, has the correct permissions set, etc.  outside of those "class" responsibilities, teachers also have to meet with admin and then their cohort group to make sure they're on the same page in an ever fluctuating situation and to lesson plan.   and for many of these teachers working online is something they have zero experience with-  how many have ever had to go on a conference call?  now they have to migrate their entire teaching plan to distance learning.  it's an insane amount of work.  

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fattyflattie

fattyflattie 4639

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Posted

Yes, many people are having to learn to use conference computing on a more regular basis.  Like I also said, many of these teachers have their children at home now, too, which takes up their time.   My issue isn't with the teachers, it's with the schools that still expect $2500/mo for 1.5 hours of curriculum, when you're paying for 8.  That's a school issue, not necessarily a teacher issue, imo.  And one would think that if you can manage to ZOOM teach for 1.5 hours, you can ZOOM for two 3-hour sessions.  8-11 and let the kids break for lunch, then 1300-1600, or something similar.  That would also leave several hours a day to digitize your lesson plans, if you they are still strictly teaching off paper.  My kids already had four (4) programs that they log into and use before this happened, that are part of their typical curriculum.  My issue right now, is that we've worked thru all of them already. 

Good luck to your wife, she sounds busy af, which shes probably used to.  Most of the teachers I've known thru the years put in a lot of time outside the classroom grading, etc.  The wife and I being thrust into becoming full time teachers over the last few weeks, and maintaining our projects, has given me ALOT of respect for what they do.  And that's only dealing with my heathens, and not 15 others.  

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Rougarou

Rougarou 594

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Posted
1 hour ago, fattyflattie said:

Yes, many people are having to learn to use conference computing on a more regular basis.  Like I also said, many of these teachers have their children at home now, too, which takes up their time.   My issue isn't with the teachers, it's with the schools that still expect $2500/mo for 1.5 hours of curriculum, when you're paying for 8.  That's a school issue, not necessarily a teacher issue, imo.  And one would think that if you can manage to ZOOM teach for 1.5 hours, you can ZOOM for two 3-hour sessions.  8-11 and let the kids break for lunch, then 1300-1600, or something similar.  That would also leave several hours a day to digitize your lesson plans, if you they are still strictly teaching off paper.  My kids already had four (4) programs that they log into and use before this happened, that are part of their typical curriculum.  My issue right now, is that we've worked thru all of them already. 

Good luck to your wife, she sounds busy af, which shes probably used to.  Most of the teachers I've known thru the years put in a lot of time outside the classroom grading, etc.  The wife and I being thrust into becoming full time teachers over the last few weeks, and maintaining our projects, has given me ALOT of respect for what they do.  And that's only dealing with my heathens, and not 15 others.  

All this.

I'm not begrudging the teachers, I'm just saying you'd think some sort of abatement is appropriate for what you are paying for and what you are getting.

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Brew

Brew 3049

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Posted

As a chair of a private school board, most private schools run on tight budgets with employees making up 70%+ of that budget. There is no way to issue refunds in this time and still put out a useful product. However, if their product sucks, it’s because of leadership. My kids go 8:30-1:30 every day, are working on a virtual school play using Zoom, usually have a couple hours of additional work, have a PE class that has to be done after 1:30, etc. Teachers are working significantly harder to maintain that schedule. We are issuing 1 months credit in K down and still offering an hour or two of instruction and class time in those grades.

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Wally Fairway

Wally Fairway 5543

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Posted

So after a month we spend a little more on utilities, groceries, beer and liquor 

 

I'm lucky in that both Mrs Fairway & I are working from home, my 2 youngest kids are living with us one back from his 2nd year at college, the other laid off from her job. And yes retirement accounts have taken a hit, but I've seen that before (1987 crash, dot.com bust, and banking/CMO hear recession) so I believe it will come back. Maybe we will learn to spend a little less going forward.

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Iceman

Iceman 2699

Posted
Posted (edited)
On 4/2/2020 at 8:26 AM, Twizzler said:

Any saving from in person shopping has been more than replaced by online shopping.

Disagree.  While I used to browse and walk around at Lowes or even the grocery store looking at shit that miraculously fell into my basket( impulse buy;)  when I shop online, I have a targeted item and that's what I get.

Now, that isn't to say my wife hasn't taken up the slack by taking her "retail therapy" online.  I bet we get packages on 3 of the 5 weekdays at the house now.  I'm like, "WTF?"

"Oh that's for work..."

Lolz.  M-kay.   No big deal if she's buying stuff she wants, but damn...

Edited by Iceman
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Armybrat

Armybrat 40832

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Posted

Saving $400/month after postponing our maid service, but will tip all four ladies $100 extra each when they resume the schedule next month.

Probably saving at least $100/week from no Wednesday Happy Hours with fellow geezer friends and no dining out.

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UTGrad98

UTGrad98 2271

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Posted

Approximate family Savings / week -

Maid - $35

Gas - $10

Eating out for lunch - $70

Eating out for weekend meals - $20 ( We continue to pick up curbside on our favorite spots, just not as often)

Misc: Trips to dept stores, toy stores, movies, haircuts etc - $75 ( My wife cant spend all of our/her money now. She told me yesterday she finally paid off her CC and wants to start saving and finally contribute to her 401k. I didnt know she had a balance......)

 

Extra spending / week -

Groceries - $25 (This isnt as much as we thought as we are strategically buying more and only buying the stuff we need.)

Utilities - $5-10 (This wont be much as wife has WFH for 7 years)

 

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PenelopeWitherspoon

PenelopeWitherspoon 19100

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Posted
I did the rough math this morning, and I'm embarrassed by how much we'll save in April (household of 2, live in Manhattan).
$2000-$2500 on eating/drinking out and other entertainment (offset somewhat by increased grocery bill)
$300 on gym memberships
$200 on dry cleaning
$150 on haircuts
$120 on subway card
~$100 on dog walking
Plus we canceled a pretty expensive 2 week trip overseas in May. 
Of course I'm bored out of my fucking mind and would gladly trade the savings for my freedom back, but it is a nice consolation prize. 
I haven't sat down and figured out savings in April/May, I'd ballpark it at about 5k per month as I had trips in both months that were canceled.

However, I am going nuts and in desperate need of a vacation, so money good, state of being, poor.
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kmac30

kmac30 416

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Posted

When I lived in NYC in 15 years ago the dog walking was ~25-30 a dog. When I would go out of town my dog walker would take my dog home with her and have him back at my place before I got home. There was an exec who left her job to run a dog walking biz. She was banking. And that was a long time ago.

As for saving, we saved just over 2k last month and April looks to be north of 3k. I’m still going to office but wife and kids are stuck at home. Pretty excited about that.

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