Habits the Pandemic has taught or reacquainted you with

[MilesTeg]

I realized that the pandemic caused inconveniences have reacquainted me with some good financial habits I fell out of.

For example, I have gotten back in the habit of using bar soap instead of liquid soap. I had originally started using liquid soap to try to fight a dry skin problem but I am back using bar soap now due to the run on liquid soaps.

Other things on my list:

* Buying in bulk and keeping a stock of necessities such as TP, other hygiene products and food staples. I have a strict (near OCD level) minimalist mindset that has been exposed as too strict (and I've caught hell, appropriately, from my partner hah).

* Similar to soap, our use of other 'consumables' has moved toward reusable (cloth towels vs paper, etc.)

Whatcha got?

[teen persuasion]

DH put in a vegetable garden.  We haven't bothered in years, but in early spring when some things were in short supply, we figured it couldn't hurt to try again.  Some things are more successful than others.  Currently green beans and cukes are doing well.

[E.T.]

My latest quarantine project is to improve my cooking skills. Normally my spouse cooks since I'm the type of person who's managed to light pasta on fire but this week I roasted a chicken and it was really tasty! I still hate cooking, but I'm working on becoming ok at it with my extra down time due to the pandemic.

[jinga nation]

i used to eat lunch out once a week with co-workers, and once a weekend with family. and once a month restaurant/cafe breakfasts. We haven't eaten in a restaurant or even had takeaway since mid-March.

Stir-fry, miso-soup, pasta, Thai curry, tacos, many north and south indian dishes, pizza, falafel, BBQ kettle-cooked meals, others that i can't remember, various flatbreads, breakfast items such as waffles, pancakes, french toast, muffins... the wife and I have been cooking a lot.

we've been making bread using a machine for 5 years. that has evolved into making savory breads with sundried tomatoes, kalamata olives, home-grown rosemary. and sweet breads with dried fruit and nut.

we no longer think about eating out. Except Grandma's pie from the local NYNY pizza chain, kids and I crave that sometimes.

Harvested 16 pineapples from my front and back yards. Going to dismantle two pallets this weekend and make planter boxes for growing herbs. Want to grow my own cilantro and thai and italian basil.

If I'm bored, I go for a walk or a bike ride, solo or with family. No longer feel the need to turn on the TV. Or take a walk during meetings.

Shopping is stick-to-the-list, get in and get out. Time efficiency. Once a week only. No longer 2-3x/week. Only in rare cases is there a small mid-week shop, and that is on the way home from work or gym.

Decided to work out in the gym with the mask on, in early April. Learned to HTFU and ignore the whining around me.

I have acclimated to this pandemic. No regrets.

[okisok]

[quote author=MilesTeg link=topic=117852.msg2685968#msg2685968 date=1597972857

* Similar to soap, our use of other 'consumables' has moved toward reusable (cloth towels vs paper, etc.)

[/quote]

I really doubled down on the reusable cloth items. With the paper goods hoarding and shortages, it seemed like a good idea to be independent on the supply chain for those items. I already had cloth napkins, unpaper towels I sewed myself, cloth & reusable feminine items, handkerchiefs, etc. Those went in to full use and I started using family cloth. The ick factor was too strong until I thought about NOT having toilet paper. Then it seemed easier :) They can also be used for first aid, small cleaning jobs, etc, not just the main use.
Now the toilet paper I bought in December 2019 will last me through December of this year. The 6-pack of paper towels will last indefinitely since I use them so infrequently. I have a box of tissues that will probably see me through next year, too.

Gardening for food production. Not an overall success, but I learned a lot and did get some food out of it.

Cooking instead of eating out. Meal planning and food prep. I've eaten out twice since mid-March, and gotten takeout a handful of times. Most to go food just isn't as good as I can make, and I'm a mediocre cook at best.

Making my own products instead of buying. I've learned how to make pump soap from bar soap, a Febreze substitute, glass cleaner, all-purpose cleaner, and oven cleaner. I still have to buy ingredients but it's much cheaper and takes up much less space to have the raw ingredients.

Gratitude. I'm grateful for time spent with family and friends even if it's socially distanced. I'm grateful for electricity, internet, medical care, the public library, and grocery stores.

[tygertygertyger]

I'm canning a lot more fun stuff - pineapple salsa, peach salsa, mango chutney (coming up tonight), etc. I've done some canning in the past but mostly canning diced tomatoes.... which is still coming up. Both a hobby and because I think it'll be a nice treat come winter to open something great.

I've been planning shopping trips a lot more. For a couple years now, I've had an ongoing grocery list on a phone app, but it was only items that I was out of or down to the last of. Now I am actively checking the freezers and pantry to see if I should add a few more items. Yesterday we went to the spice store and got 6 different refill spices so I definitely will not run out of them. Trying to plan ahead too, so knowing that I would want to plant lots of veg seeds come Spring, I went ahead and checked all my existing packets and wrote a list for new items I will want to plant. Not much of a difference, I supposed, but a new mindset about potential future scarcity, and how to avoid rushing to the store for last minute items.

Trying to follow through on making the alterations to the thrift store items I've been collecting - I shortened a dress, unpicked armholes to reset them, bought a variety pack of thread so I can keep working into the winter on new items. Even if the thread doesn't match perfectly, it'll be pretty close without needing to run to the store.

We've always had game nights with friends frequently, but now we have two different ones each week (different friends in each). We invested in some camera equipment and (this is silly) lighting. My partner and I run the "master board" if the game requires it, and it's fun.

I've been doing a LOT of thinking ahead to winter. While this summer has been mostly okay, I've been worried about how to make the winter more enjoyable, and make sure we still see friends. To that end, I talked our friends with the nice backyard into buying a heat lamp so we can continue to hang out later in the season. I emailed the local game store for new game options suitable for our online play with friends, and they sent me a good list. We've picked up two new games so far - we want to make sure we don't all get bored with our current options, and we want to support our local game store, since I'm worried about retail going out of business.

Now I need to think of good ideas for a habitual and SAFE get together with my mom. She's already lonely and isolated living alone, but at least during warm weather we can go for walks. I think it'll be hard for her to do this another 8 months or so in the US...

Oh, and though I REALLY want a bidet, we've decided to hold off in our apartment. I bought a portable thing instead that I'm trying... so far it's great for periods, but not so much for normal daily activity. I guess I need to keep trying.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

I like this post. Here's what we've been doing:

-Menu planning, reducing waste, generally creative cooking & planning to reduce trips to the store
-Substitute or do without when we don't have an item for a recipe
-Reduce dependency on disposable products (paper towels, qtips, face wash rounds, feminine hygiene, etc). We've had a bidet for a long time, and have appreciated it even more during the TP shortage
-Gardening. We have some learnings and didn't grow as much as we'd hoped of some things (zuchhini & cukes were pretty much a fail) & plenty of other things: green peppers, jalapenos, tomatoes, herbs, etc). We have a revised plan for next growing season
-Stocking up on things we need. We don't have a huge stockpile, but it's helpful to have a few things we need on hand. And, we definitely are well stocked on things that have been hard to come by.
-Increased resilience. Just generally focus on mental health & well being, which I find I need to get through these difficult times. Focusing on gratitude, meditating, being happy with "enough", even if you don't have some of your standard comforts.
-Physical activity every day. See above, but once we removed international work travel, commute time, etc from the schedule, we had more free time. Gyms closed, kids sports were cancelled, so we have to work harder to remember & make this a priority, but we have more free time to accomplish it.

[Uturn]

We lived in Houston in the late 70's when I was 8 or 9, and it flooded.  I don't remember the storm name, but I do remember food and fresh water being scarce. We were camping in Washington State when Mount St Helen blew up, and we had to bug out fast. When I was in my early 20's in the Navy, there was some sort of mix up and the ship did not get its resupply of toilet paper. 1200 sailors bickering over toilet paper. 

These incidents caused me to realize that sometimes shit happens, and it happens fast. So I have always kept 2 weeks of just about everything on hand.  I don't think I keep 2 weeks of water, but I do have a 25 gallon barrel that I empty and refill every few months.  My ex used to tease me about being a prepper.

About the only thing that has changed is I buy produce once a week instead of almost every afternoon on my way home. 

[OtherJen]

-Menu planning, reducing waste, generally creative cooking & planning to reduce trips to the store
-Substitute or do without when we don't have an item for a recipe
-Reduce dependency on disposable products (paper towels, qtips, face wash rounds, feminine hygiene, etc).
-Gardening. We have some learnings and didn't grow as much as we'd hoped of some things (zuchhini & cukes were pretty much a fail) & plenty of other things: green peppers, jalapenos, tomatoes, herbs, etc). We have a revised plan for next growing season
-Stocking up on things we need. We don't have a huge stockpile, but it's helpful to have a few things we need on hand. And, we definitely are well stocked on things that have been hard to come by.

Yes to all of the above, except our tomatoes failed. We had bumper crops of various peppers and basil.

[John Galt incarnate!]

I realized that the pandemic caused inconveniences have reacquainted me with some good financial habits I fell out of.

For example, I have gotten back in the habit of using bar soap instead of liquid soap. I had originally started using liquid soap to try to fight a dry skin problem but I am back using bar soap now due to the run on liquid soaps.

Other things on my list:

* Buying in bulk and keeping a stock of necessities such as TP, other hygiene products and food staples. I have a strict (near OCD level) minimalist mindset that has been exposed as too strict (and I've caught hell, appropriately, from my partner hah).

* Similar to soap, our use of other 'consumables' has moved toward reusable (cloth towels vs paper, etc.)

Whatcha got?

I've long practiced  the healthful habit of NEVER touching my eyes, nose, face, or mouth when out in public where I've touched many germy things.

Such a habit is  advisable during "normal" times so it goes without saying that during the pandemic it's of the utmost importance to be aware of everything  we touch and maintain hand cleanliness.

Since the onset of the pandemic I ALWAYS wash my hands at the hose spigot before I enter my house, a  cleaning  I used to do only occasionally.