5 Money Habits That Make Worthy Pandemic Memorabilia

They will surely leave you thousands of dollars richer every year

I am the guy that sees the glass half full every time and looks for the silver lining behind every cloud. There’s hardly any doubt that COVID-19 was by no means a “good” thing to happen to the world.

Yet, putting aside all the obvious negatives it has left behind — one thing it sure did was save thousands of dollars for the average household.

Data across Europe and UK suggests that the 2nd quarter of 2020 saw record levels of household savings higher than any time in the past few decades. While these savings were largely “forced savings” and may not offset the complete impact that the pandemic has had on jobs and salaries, it does leaves us with some habits that may be worth sticking with even in a relatively normalized world post the pandemic.

Let’s straight jump into some of these healthy habits.

#1 — Watching Where You Purchase Gas for Your Car

Fuel or gas expense for your car isn’t something you very consciously watch if you’re an American. Driving from one place to another is a key part of the average American’s lifestyle — over 90% of American households own a car.

This means that the gas these cars run on ought to be an important part of the household spend but there isn’t enough attention paid to that spend.

However, the pandemic may have changed that — when there’s less certainty to income levels, people get more aware of their household income statement.

A study by GasBuddy indicates that nearly a third of Americans care more now about saving money on gas than before the start of the pandemic. This means they’d consciously be aware of the stations that sell gas cheaper than others and save that extra bit of money in the longer run.

83% of drivers admitted to purchasing gas, only to drive by a cheaper gas station moments later — probably not going to be the case anymore. Prices at stations can vary anywhere between 10 cents to $1 per gallon.

So next time you refuel your car, make sure you do it wisely.

#2 — The Unused Gym Membership

I happen to be in 21-day mandatory quarantine in Hong Kong — yes that’s a thing — for anyone coming in from most countries. Not to deviate from the topic, today is my 3rd day at the time of writing this. In all my 3 days — I’ve done 10,000+ steps a day — more than I’ve walked/jogged most days when the world was open and I had an open “gym” right in my apartment building.

This is when I’ve been locked in a 450 sq ft hotel suite. So, what’s changed?

Well, necessity is the mother of invention. I’ve learned to walk around in a tiny space in a room — use the yoga mat a bit more and do some bodyweight exercises. I found a very cool 30-minute workout routine that is amazing in terms of fat burn and full-body exercise.

My wife on the other hand has turned to yoga, meditation, and just some plain old Bollywood dancing.

The reality is — if you’re serious enough about your fitness, you’ll find a way to stay fit without spending that fitness club membership. In 2019, the US had 64.19 million fitness club memberships. That’s a third of the global fitness club memberships — when the US population is only a fraction of the world population.

63% of these gym members had completely unused memberships. Well, the pandemic may have been a reason to finally cancel the membership and save thousands of dollars.

#3 — Cheaper Accommodation— Office Commute?

Well, the big change that’s happened thanks to the pandemic is the flexibility that employers have embraced in terms of working arrangements.

Work from home is no longer a “flexible” arrangement — but quite the norm in a post-pandemic world. There are companies that are planning to move the majority of their workforce into flexible/remote work arrangements.

Companies like Google, Uber, Twitter, and many others have committed to longer-term remote work arrangements, and with the cost benefits of lower workspace rentals and commitment, there’s no reason why more and more won’t go the same way.

What this means for the average employee is that “urban migration” is now being reversed and people are moving back to their hometowns — i.e. much lower rentals vs. professional hubs such as New York, San Francisco, which have astronomical rentals.

As an example, it costs an average of $1,376 per square foot to buy a home in Manhattan and $673 per square foot for the rest of the city — a factor of 2x — and so the savings are enormous.

#4 — Walk-Dates Are So Much Better Than Eating Out

Well, the dating world has changed very significantly with the pandemic. In terms of the logistics of it all, dates first went fully virtual — coz hey! you’re not going to risk your life to find love — no matter how desperate you might be.

But in a world that’s moved on from totally no-interactions to some interactions, walking dates are a real thing.

Well, I say what’s not to like about a walk date vs. typical eating out / watching a movie? There are numerous benefits to it:

• They’re free— The biggest one is of course — you don’t really need to pay any money to use your own two legs for a stroll. You also don’t need to worry about who picks up the bill — no awkwardness!
• They’re intimate — well you don’t have strangers on a table next to you at a restaurant, nor do you have many people around you as in a movie hall
• They’re healthy — Instead of gobbling down on food while also trying to have a conversation and hoping to look “classy” while you chew, you can simply walk away and burn some calories, and have a free-flowing conversation too

There are many other benefits — but I’ll let you decide which ones work for you but I promise — the walk date is here to stay!

#5 — The Importance of A Financial Cushion

The average American has the good and bad habit of “living-in-the-moment” — good from a “philosophical” point of view — you never know if there’s a tomorrow, but bad from a financial point of view.

As of 2019, only 39% of Americans had the ability to cover a $1,000 emergency — $1,000 isn’t THAT much of money if you’re talking about lifetime savings — but alas!

One thing that the pandemic has taught us is that you can’t take anything for granted. You need to have that financial cushion — those dollars saved up in the piggy bank (read: invested in a diversified portfolio) for the rainy day.

Life’s not always rainbows and sunshine and that’s one of the most important financial lessons that the pandemic has taught everyone.

Well, if that’s not enough reason for you to feel a bit more positive about the last 12–14 months, I am sure there’s some other silver lining that you can see behind this dark cloud. But hopefully, a few more thousand dollars in the bank saved purely owing to these simple money habits will give you enough of a reason to smile!