As I say it myself, my baking skills have become so developed these past twelve months, it is unlikely I will ever purchase bread again. I’m quite the ‘no-knead’, bagel, rye, milk bread, babka, stollen, brioche etc. yeast baker, I will never buy yeast goods again. My cakes and cookies are also quite ‘bingeworthy’!
I’ve almost finessed the art of preserves, jams & jellies. Not that we ever ate much of it, but now a spoonful of blueberry jam on my morning brioche / croissant, is not to be missed! Each week, I have somebody or other asking me for a jar of preserve or a loaf of bread!
As for other things, I have not missed my morning breakfast/coffee with friends; going forward, that will be a periodic treat… I’ve also not missed my once too-frequent mani/pedi. I will resume post pandemic, but with less frequency.
I’m on the fence about whether I’m going back to my hairdresser for “the works” - color and cut. I started coloring my hair last summer. I might keep the length and get a trim.
I’m not interested in going to movie theaters anymore. During the shutdown, I discovered Netflix!
I won’t be buying canned chicken. DH decided to go to Costco last March and bought a case of canned chicken amongst other random items that we don’t normally buy. I tried to make different dishes with it but it wasn’t the same as fresh chicken.
Starbucks/takeout coffee. I can’t believe how much money we saved just by not buying it. I prefer the coffee we make at home now.
Just shopping at the mall, in general. I had found myself going out to shop less and less before covid and now I just don’t feel like it.
I’m pretty sure I won’t be renewing my membership at the local Yoga studio. I might go from time to time on a single class basis, but with Covid I now have found a new set of favorite Yoga instructors on YouTube.
Much more limited clothing shopping. I’m a homebody so my wardrobe - even work - can be fairly simple. I’ll buy only what I love.
Paper napkins. Silly I know but now I use cloth napkins exclusively and will never go back to Wasting $$ on napkins.
Also not likely to get back to a gym membership at least in the near future. I exercised more this last year without it and managed through all types of weather
Joined this CC bookclub in place of the local one I used to like but they continued to meet during covid indoors. Just went to optional Zoom this month, really?
I like shopping online now (so many more options).H has really expanded his garden outside and inside his greenhouse and hydroponics for fresh vegetables. So, less grocery shopping.
Oh, I am very eager to get back to the gym! I’ll be able to go at the end of this week (I’m almost 2 weeks out from vaccine #2). I probably won’t be doing cardio at the gym anymore - but nothing I’ve got at home can substitute for the weight machines at the gym. (Dumbbells and resistance bands just aren’t the same.). But the gym membership is free (Silver Sneakers). The Yoga studio, on the other hand, was about $80/month – and yoga definitely can be done at home.
I’ve been fine without everything we’ve done without during the pandemic but will return to my prior routines once it’s safe to do so. No permanently changed habits here.
Pizza by the slice. The neighborhood joints never closed but I avoided them out of an abundance of caution. Now, I need the extra carbs like a hole in the head.
We’ve just started to contemplate church options. We’ll be leaving our old one partially due to their handling (or lack thereof) of Covid and would like to find a new one nearby - but living rural, we’re not quite sure which one. We’ve gotten fond of a church FIL watches on TV from Richmond, VA and have been “attending” that one online for a few weeks now whenever my son isn’t preaching at his in NC. Now we have to decide if we want to stick with online at a place we really like or in person nearby. There are pros and cons to each.
I can’t think of anything else we’re planning on changing. We never bought much before Covid, so there’s not much to give up. We will be resuming travel and there are things we’ve put off fixing on the house and ourselves that we need to get done, so spending on those will increase.
I feel a little sad even saying this but eating in an actual restaurant. We have made a conscious effort to support our locally owned independent restaurants, doing a take out lunch and dinner every week. We have found some wonderful new ones and they truly are thankful for our business. We still tip but don’t order drinks or extra courses since maintaining temperatures during a drive home gets complicated. Our per meal expense is lower and we can try new places more often along with supporting favorites. I don’t know if or when I will feel ok with being in close proximity to others while eating in a restaurant.
Probably no more buying work clothes, heels, etc. Can’t see a 5 day, in-office work week ever coming back (maybe, but hoping not!) so no need for those things since I have plenty already.
I’ve also been on a strict budget (using Dave Ramsey app) since mid-way through COVID and am surprised at the stuff I really just don’t need (home decor, whatever is displayed at Target, Dunkin Donuts coffee, etc.). Between the budget and the lack of going into tempting stores, it’s becoming much easier to minimize!
I’m also one that doesn’t need to go back to the gym. H and I have exercised more during Covid than we did before and we both lost weight and are feeling great. I was never a big lover of going to the gym and now that we have free weights and other things to use in addition to walking 5 plus miles 5 days a week I don’t need to spend the money for the gym.
I also don’t need work clothes if I will only be going to the office 1-2 days a week in the future. Another money saver for me!
I don’t miss movies, but do miss live theatre. I don’t miss eating out as often, and hoping our friends return to more pot-luck style informal dinners as did my parents’ generation. I’ve grown my hair longer, and it is much easier to take care of, with far fewer trims needed. I don’t miss the gym (although probably more an excuse), but I do miss yoga, as it was also a social outlet for a group of friends. I don’t miss grocery shopping in person (we pick up orders now), but do miss occasional trips primarily to discover new items. My work wardrobe will never be replaced.
I don’t know if I can promise not to slide into my pre-pandemic habits. I probably will. Right now I am more comfortable wearing my glasses and no makeup more often. But I will rejoice when I get to be “gussied up” for a nice dinner with friends and wine.
I however think that I will never forget those friends and neighbors who acted like there was no pandemic.
It’s been a year of sacrifice for some of us. It’s been a year of selfishness and entitlement for others.
Well, I’ve almost cut the cord completely from Amazon. It’s so nice buying from friends and neighbors. I realized I can get almost everything within a small radius.
@momo2x2018 I am curious - did you start baking bread/making jam because you didn’t want to go to the grocery store? I am always curious when people say they used the pandemic to organize their house or clean out the basement or take up oil painting. I feel like have no extra time due to working from home ( my commute was < 10 min).
AGREED!
We were well on our way before COVID, but we try to buy local as much as possible. Luckily we only needed to buy food and not much else this year!
I will probably only very rarely go to a salon for a haircut from now on. I have a simple wedge haircut and purchased a CreaClip along with a good pair of haircutting scissors last year to see if it would work for me when all the salons were closed down. My husband or my daughter can cut my hair for me at home and it turns out great every time. I love it.
I’ve also highlighted my own hair at home for years, and will continue to do that. I’m starting to get a little grey coming in, but the highlighting blends it in. I think once I start getting a lot of grey, I may go to the salon to get both high and lowlights because I don’t know how to do that myself.
The only thing I miss is getting an occasional pedicure for special occasions. Pedicures have always been my splurge. I’m looking forward to getting one when I’m fully vaccinated and it’s safe to do so.
@surfcity I don’t recall why I started baking bread; I think it was because our city mayor mandated small bakeries to sell yeast and flour to customers during the early shortages, and, as I have a bakery 1/4ml from my house I decided to give it a try!
As for the jam, I asked my H to get strawberries and blueberries when he went to Costco, he came back with giant 10lb frozen bags! What was I going to do with that?!!! I decided to ‘jam’ them and it took off from there. Friends gave me excess from their citrus harvests. I have figs, citrus and pomegranate trees and that’s how it started!