Unmustachian things we're doing due to coronavirus

[Channel-Z]

I'm definitely spending more at the grocery store than I would like, in part because the cheap stuff continues to be elusive, and in part because if I see something I might need in the future, I'll buy it now in case of a shortage down the line. By contrast though I have ordered just one fast food meal in the last month, instead of the one or two I would normally order each week.

It's been a month now, and I swear the national diet is going to be Rice-a-Roni for the coming months.

[hops]

Grocery spending here, too. We stockpile so we've not needed much for ourselves beyond milk and produce, but we're buying groceries for several households right now. Money's tight for them, and they're afraid to go into stores due to being high-risk or living with high-risk individuals.

One household does Walmart pickups using our credit card, but for the most part we're using our area's most expensive grocer. They offer curbside pickup and have had fewer issues maintaining inventory (so far). We're normally Aldi shoppers so this is a shock to the system, and to our wallets. But it's not a hardship for us and we feel very fortunate to be able to help.

[GuitarStv]

We saw toilet paper available once at one of our normal stores like 2-3 weeks ago. I had bought 2 6-packs back at the end of February, so we were still well-stocked at the time.  Now we haven't seen TP anywhere in weeks and we are down to a just a couple of rolls.  The rule is that we look for TP every time we go somewhere that might have it.  Unfortunately, this hoarding of TP and the apparent failure of the supply chain (hasn't it been like 4-5 WEEKS since people have learned they don't need to and should NOT be hoarding TP?  Why can't manufacturers keep places like even 10-20% stocked by now?) is causing us to shop MORE rather than less as we should be and is only teaching us that we shouldn't have been generous and not stocked up (much less hoarded) right along with everyone else at the time.  Sigh.  I really trusted we were fine and there'd be TP back in the stores within a couple of months back when I last bought what I thought was a modest and fair amount.  I'm disappointed that my mustachianism and attempt to be fair is coming back to haunt us.

Perhaps instead of stores we should be attempting to sneak into shuttered office buildings where there are likely dozens of industrial rolls going unused.  That would also be a very unmustachian thing to do, as being arrested and paying the fines and associated costs is a real waste of money.

It's very disconcerting until you run out.  A week or so with no TP in the house and you adapt just fine.

[BECABECA]

Like @mm1970 we are also adding specialty items to our CSA veggie box. The prices are crazytown: $7 for a dozen eggs and $5 for 8oz of cheddar cheese! But after rationing our eggs & cheese for the last month, I’m just happy they’re available at all! But our overall spending is still way down.

[Freedomin5]

Just spent over $200 on food that I will never see or taste. The City of Toronto was asking for food and money donations to a few food banks that they work with.

[hybrid]

Just spent over $200 on food that I will never see or taste. The City of Toronto was asking for food and money donations to a few food banks that they work with.

Giving to charity does not strike me as unmustachian.

[By the River]

I overrode the air conditioner control panel which has the temp go up to 84 degrees during work days.  It has been hot here and I can hear the AC come on (78 degrees) throughout the day as 3 or 4 of us are home all day.

[sui generis]

Just spent over $200 on food that I will never see or taste. The City of Toronto was asking for food and money donations to a few food banks that they work with.

Giving to charity does not strike me as unmustachian.

Yeah, agree.  While we are "eating out" more (though spending less per than we used to, since there is less impulse to order dessert or another glass of wine or what have you) I haven't done other unnmustachian things to save jobs of my neighbors like ordering gifts certificates or buying specialty items for things that I don't think I would enjoy or use.  I just can't make myself do it.  So I'm just doing direct charitable giving to things that have been set up to approximate the better safety net that we don't have in this country.  Not unmustachian, and better aligned with my values.  So really, it just all comes down to food costs for us.

[HipGnosis]

I had to re-new my pre-paid Cell plan before it expired because all the calling I'm having to do caused me to run out of $ balance.
I'm usually a very low call (talk) user.  But now I'm calling a LOT.
To order take out & delivery, to get info...
My bank has a on-line chat for service, but today clicking it gets a pop-up saying to call...
And it seems every call gets a recording or put on hold before I actually get to talk to someone.
And I'm tipping a LOT more generously.

[Dicey]

Just spent over $200 on food that I will never see or taste. The City of Toronto was asking for food and money donations to a few food banks that they work with.

Giving to charity does not strike me as unmustachian.

It doesn't strike me that way either, but I found the choice of wording bolded above extremely odd. I was taught to give with a joyful heart. Seems hybrid did something really good, but perhaps missed out on some of the joy of it.

[Villanelle]

I ordered more puzzles, and they weren't cheap.  They are very popular and in short supply.  Generally, Id post on my various neighborhood groups to pursue trades, but most people are no longer doing that for non-essential items. 

[Runrooster]

We saw toilet paper available once at one of our normal stores like 2-3 weeks ago. I had bought 2 6-packs back at the end of February, so we were still well-stocked at the time.  Now we haven't seen TP anywhere in weeks and we are down to a just a couple of rolls.  The rule is that we look for TP every time we go somewhere that might have it.  Unfortunately, this hoarding of TP and the apparent failure of the supply chain (hasn't it been like 4-5 WEEKS since people have learned they don't need to and should NOT be hoarding TP?  Why can't manufacturers keep places like even 10-20% stocked by now?) is causing us to shop MORE rather than less as we should be and is only teaching us that we shouldn't have been generous and not stocked up (much less hoarded) right along with everyone else at the time.  Sigh.  I really trusted we were fine and there'd be TP back in the stores within a couple of months back when I last bought what I thought was a modest and fair amount.  I'm disappointed that my mustachianism and attempt to be fair is coming back to haunt us.

Perhaps instead of stores we should be attempting to sneak into shuttered office buildings where there are likely dozens of industrial rolls going unused.  That would also be a very unmustachian thing to do, as being arrested and paying the fines and associated costs is a real waste of money.

It's very disconcerting until you run out.  A week or so with no TP in the house and you adapt just fine.

I asked what day the local store gets shipments and went there first hour it was open. Once, got the second to last pack (12 rolls) which I gave to my sister who was lower than us. Went back next week for our supply. 

[Dicey]

I ordered more puzzles, and they weren't cheap.  They are very popular and in short supply.  Generally, Id post on my various neighborhood groups to pursue trades, but most people are no longer doing that for non-essential items.

I've been swapping puzzles with friends, which has been great. Typically, I put pieces into plastic bags when I finish a puzzle. Now, anything we've worked on recently, we omit the plastic and just put the pieces directly into the box. Then puzzle boxes are transported in paper bags. The CV is said to last about 24 hours on paper and cardboard. We put the bags at the very back of our vehicles, then meet at the post office. We open our tailgates, and each grabs the other's bags, gloved and masked, or hand sanitizer and masked. Once home, we let the bags sit on our porches until the next day. Here's an article you might enjoy:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/08/business/coronavirus-jigsaw-puzzles.html?campaign_id=9&emc=edit_NN_p_20200408&instance_id=17462&nl=morning-briefing&regi_id=84308175&section=longRead&segment_id=24286&te=1&user_id=b31fe3474b31ceb47d392e77a0255861

[DirtDiva]

I bought mandala dot painting sticks and paints.  Completely frivolous.

But look what I could (conceivably)Make!

 https://cdn.goodshomedesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/mandala-glow-in-the-dark.jpg

[Villanelle]

I'm not sure if this is unmustachian or not.  We have no pantry, and until recently, it hasn't been much of an issue (though it was a small frustration) because we just ate out more and didn't keep much food on hand.

I just ordered some very narrow (and cheap) shelves from Amazon to convert the downstairs shower into a pantry.  A bit odd, but it's a completely unused space, just sitting there.  Right now I have the food in there, in boxes, but it's so difficult to find anything and inevitably the can of beans I need is in the bottom box.  A $20 set of shelves should go a long way.

[Buffaloski Boris]

I’m burning yard waste. The city is no longer picking it up to compost and I don’t own a chipper or know anyone with one.

[erutio]

I’m burning yard waste. The city is no longer picking it up to compost and I don’t own a chipper or know anyone with one.

How odd for your city to stop that.
I assume that they are still continuing refuse and/or recycling pick up?

[sui generis]

It's unclear to me whether I'll be getting a stimulus check or not, since my AGI was way above the limits in 2018 but way below in 2019 (since I FIREd mid-2018).  We did file our taxes several weeks ago, but I have no idea if it was in time for them to look at 2019 or not.

In any case, I don't think it's very mustachian to donate money to political campaigns generally. Only if you are very rich, in which case you can get a nice large ROI on your donations and contributions of course!  But I'm thinking if we get the stimulus that I'll donate it anyway.  Lots of small dollars can make a big change and I want to see change in November.  I work with a political activist group so we have a lot of research on where to donate to maximize your dollar and have the best impact up and down the ballot, so at least I will be confident that I'm being mustachian within the context of doing something not-so-mustachian.

[ixtap]

I’m burning yard waste. The city is no longer picking it up to compost and I don’t own a chipper or know anyone with one.

How odd for your city to stop that.
I assume that they are still continuing refuse and/or recycling pick up?

There have been reports of city systems being overwhelmed on the household routes. People who used to generate garbage at work or school are suddenly overfilling beyond the capacity of the trucks, so they have to make more trips.

[ZsaZsa]

Mr. Z and I were being very sparing and responsible with our groceries...using up everything, trying to package, freeze etc.
Then along came the virus...followed by two teen grandkids for a lengthy stay. Groceries go WAY up, not to mention laundry, dishes, every  outlet in the house filled with someones phone, tablet or computer charger.  My unmustachian sanity saver- PAPER PLATES! Mr. Z is using them for fire starters in his workshop woodstove.

[kanga1622]

I’m burning yard waste. The city is no longer picking it up to compost and I don’t own a chipper or know anyone with one.

How odd for your city to stop that.
I assume that they are still continuing refuse and/or recycling pick up?

There have been reports of city systems being overwhelmed on the household routes. People who used to generate garbage at work or school are suddenly overfilling beyond the capacity of the trucks, so they have to make more trips.

My city has drop off bins for yard waste that will be available. But recycling has been suspended and we were ordered not to hold on to it until recycling returns. Garbage pickup is continuing.

The big difference for us: the recycling employees physically touch/sort all your items into their trailer at each home. Very large exposure possibility. All the garbage trucks (at least 3 different companies have routes in my neighborhood) have trucks that grab your bin and dump into the truck. Pretty much zero exposure for employees.

So we are generating a LOT more trash as we cannot recycle and we aren’t using bins at work/school (as we haven’t left home in a month other than groceries or medical appts).

[GuitarStv]

I’m burning yard waste. The city is no longer picking it up to compost and I don’t own a chipper or know anyone with one.

How odd for your city to stop that.
I assume that they are still continuing refuse and/or recycling pick up?

There have been reports of city systems being overwhelmed on the household routes. People who used to generate garbage at work or school are suddenly overfilling beyond the capacity of the trucks, so they have to make more trips.

My city has drop off bins for yard waste that will be available. But recycling has been suspended and we were ordered not to hold on to it until recycling returns. Garbage pickup is continuing.

The big difference for us: the recycling employees physically touch/sort all your items into their trailer at each home. Very large exposure possibility. All the garbage trucks (at least 3 different companies have routes in my neighborhood) have trucks that grab your bin and dump into the truck. Pretty much zero exposure for employees.

So we are generating a LOT more trash as we cannot recycle and we aren’t using bins at work/school (as we haven’t left home in a month other than groceries or medical appts).

Weird.  Out recycling and garbage trucks both have the claw that picks up/dumps the bin.  No need to touch anything for the garbage guy.  We also alternate between garbage one week and recycling the next.

[OtherJen]

I’m burning yard waste. The city is no longer picking it up to compost and I don’t own a chipper or know anyone with one.

How odd for your city to stop that.
I assume that they are still continuing refuse and/or recycling pick up?

There have been reports of city systems being overwhelmed on the household routes. People who used to generate garbage at work or school are suddenly overfilling beyond the capacity of the trucks, so they have to make more trips.

My city has drop off bins for yard waste that will be available. But recycling has been suspended and we were ordered not to hold on to it until recycling returns. Garbage pickup is continuing.

The big difference for us: the recycling employees physically touch/sort all your items into their trailer at each home. Very large exposure possibility. All the garbage trucks (at least 3 different companies have routes in my neighborhood) have trucks that grab your bin and dump into the truck. Pretty much zero exposure for employees.

So we are generating a LOT more trash as we cannot recycle and we aren’t using bins at work/school (as we haven’t left home in a month other than groceries or medical appts).

Weird.  Out recycling and garbage trucks both have the claw that picks up/dumps the bin.  No need to touch anything for the garbage guy.  We also alternate between garbage one week and recycling the next.

Our weekly garbage and recycling pickups have continued on schedule, but there was no yard waste pickup for the first week after the latest state lockdown order went into effect. I assumed that the company was trying to determine whether they were considered essential before sending the drivers out, because the pickups are now set to resume tomorrow.

Or, the company had a shortage of drivers due to illness and/or family issues.

[Villanelle]

Our trash schedule is unchanged--recycling and trash once a week.  However, typically you can leave out as much as you want and they will pick up anything except construction debris.  This included even things like mattresses and large furniture.  Now, they are not taking large items and may not take items if they don't fit in your bin.  I think with people home more, the volume of trash has increased so much that they had to put those limits on it.

It's unfortunately because we are in the middle of a basement purge and organization, and we probably have 4 bins worth of trash just from that, so I'm not sure how we are going to get rid of it all or where it will sit while it waits. 

[GuitarStv]

Our trash schedule is unchanged--recycling and trash once a week.  However, typically you can leave out as much as you want and they will pick up anything except construction debris.  This included even things like mattresses and large furniture.  Now, they are not taking large items and may not take items if they don't fit in your bin.  I think with people home more, the volume of trash has increased so much that they had to put those limits on it.

It's unfortunately because we are in the middle of a basement purge and organization, and we probably have 4 bins worth of trash just from that, so I'm not sure how we are going to get rid of it all or where it will sit while it waits.

Cut it down until it fits the bin.  May take a while, but it'll all go eventually.

[sui generis]

I’m burning yard waste. The city is no longer picking it up to compost and I don’t own a chipper or know anyone with one.

How odd for your city to stop that.
I assume that they are still continuing refuse and/or recycling pick up?

There have been reports of city systems being overwhelmed on the household routes. People who used to generate garbage at work or school are suddenly overfilling beyond the capacity of the trucks, so they have to make more trips.

My city has drop off bins for yard waste that will be available. But recycling has been suspended and we were ordered not to hold on to it until recycling returns. Garbage pickup is continuing.

The big difference for us: the recycling employees physically touch/sort all your items into their trailer at each home. Very large exposure possibility. All the garbage trucks (at least 3 different companies have routes in my neighborhood) have trucks that grab your bin and dump into the truck. Pretty much zero exposure for employees.

So we are generating a LOT more trash as we cannot recycle and we aren’t using bins at work/school (as we haven’t left home in a month other than groceries or medical appts).

Weird.  Out recycling and garbage trucks both have the claw that picks up/dumps the bin.  No need to touch anything for the garbage guy.  We also alternate between garbage one week and recycling the next.

I used to live in a city that had these types of garbage trucks and I never questioned it.  Now I live in a city where every square inch of curb is a parking space and not everyone even has driveways to put the cans in front of, so the garbage collectors have to physically get the cans from the sidewalk and negotiate them out to the trucks.  Now I'm mystified about how those claw trucks worked in my old city.  Weren't there neighborhoods there that had cars lining the streets?  Maybe they had street sweeping hours posted, and garbage trucks came then too? 

It's weird when you lived somewhere for like 20 or 30 years where you just took something for granted and then move somewhere else and don't know how it ever worked the old way.

[Just Joe]

Antique radios... Bought a couple pieces of vintage test equipment recently. Want to fix what I already own. Have lots to learn.

My neighbor used to collect antique radios.

The old radios are fun but AM and shortwave are not what they once were... ;)

[Villanelle]

Our trash schedule is unchanged--recycling and trash once a week.  However, typically you can leave out as much as you want and they will pick up anything except construction debris.  This included even things like mattresses and large furniture.  Now, they are not taking large items and may not take items if they don't fit in your bin.  I think with people home more, the volume of trash has increased so much that they had to put those limits on it.

It's unfortunately because we are in the middle of a basement purge and organization, and we probably have 4 bins worth of trash just from that, so I'm not sure how we are going to get rid of it all or where it will sit while it waits.

Cut it down until it fits the bin.  May take a while, but it'll all go eventually.

It's a month's worth of bins, and that is we generate absolutely no trash.  Usually the bin is nearly fully, although we aren't necessarily great about compacting it, so that could buy a little space.  Still, it's going to be a very long time before we get through it.  And the sorting and purging isn't finished.

~~~

Today's anti-mustachian behavior?  I bought plants online.  We've been actually setting up our sun room as a usable space and it's getting quite lovely and inviting.  But it wants plants.

[Freedomin5]

Today's anti-mustachian behavior?  I bought plants online.  We've been actually setting up our sun room as a usable space and it's getting quite lovely and inviting.  But it wants plants.

You’re not alone. We bought lots of plants too. Then of course we had to buy new window planters, new clay pots, and new potting soil because we didn’t have enough planters and pots to hold all our plants.

[Michael in ABQ]

Our trash schedule is unchanged--recycling and trash once a week.  However, typically you can leave out as much as you want and they will pick up anything except construction debris.  This included even things like mattresses and large furniture.  Now, they are not taking large items and may not take items if they don't fit in your bin.  I think with people home more, the volume of trash has increased so much that they had to put those limits on it.

It's unfortunately because we are in the middle of a basement purge and organization, and we probably have 4 bins worth of trash just from that, so I'm not sure how we are going to get rid of it all or where it will sit while it waits.

Cut it down until it fits the bin.  May take a while, but it'll all go eventually.

It's a month's worth of bins, and that is we generate absolutely no trash.  Usually the bin is nearly fully, although we aren't necessarily great about compacting it, so that could buy a little space.  Still, it's going to be a very long time before we get through it.  And the sorting and purging isn't finished.

~~~

Today's anti-mustachian behavior?  I bought plants online.  We've been actually setting up our sun room as a usable space and it's getting quite lovely and inviting.  But it wants plants.

How do they ship plants? Are these small little succulents or something larger? I just imagine all the dirt falling out of the pot or it dying in transit or breaking a bunch of branches/leaves.

[penguintroopers]

In our four years of marriage, we've NEVER paid for an at-home-on-demand movie rental.

So far our total due to COVID is 2.

I want my library back...

[Loretta]

Today is Monday.  I went to my local Wegmans grocery today and spent roughly $70.  I last bought groceries Friday evening after work, and had already run out of milk.  Today’s grocery trip was a bit spontaneous and I didn’t have a list.  I left without buying pickles, dang it.   Also Wegmans appears to have discontinued their digital coupon program. 

[Villanelle]

Our trash schedule is unchanged--recycling and trash once a week.  However, typically you can leave out as much as you want and they will pick up anything except construction debris.  This included even things like mattresses and large furniture.  Now, they are not taking large items and may not take items if they don't fit in your bin.  I think with people home more, the volume of trash has increased so much that they had to put those limits on it.

It's unfortunately because we are in the middle of a basement purge and organization, and we probably have 4 bins worth of trash just from that, so I'm not sure how we are going to get rid of it all or where it will sit while it waits.

Cut it down until it fits the bin.  May take a while, but it'll all go eventually.

It's a month's worth of bins, and that is we generate absolutely no trash.  Usually the bin is nearly fully, although we aren't necessarily great about compacting it, so that could buy a little space.  Still, it's going to be a very long time before we get through it.  And the sorting and purging isn't finished.

~~~

Today's anti-mustachian behavior?  I bought plants online.  We've been actually setting up our sun room as a usable space and it's getting quite lovely and inviting.  But it wants plants.

How do they ship plants? Are these small little succulents or something larger? I just imagine all the dirt falling out of the pot or it dying in transit or breaking a bunch of branches/leaves.

I'm not sure, but in the past I've purchased a 5" avocado tree by mail.  It came in a tall, thin box with packing around the tree and over the dirt in the pot.  Pretty straightforward.  Tree survived quite well! 

[Freedomin5]

I’ve bought several plants online. They were shipped with plastic wrap around the root ball which was encased in dirt, shipped in a long box.

[MayDay]

Grocery shopping has normalized.

Now we've moved on to spending outrageous sun's on Legos for the kids.

Normally we would never buy Legos unless they ask for them for a birthday or Christmas, as we have a lovely bin of them that can be used.

Since this started we have bought the Harry Potter clock tower and whomping Willow kit for one kid, and the Minecraft Nether Portal and something else for the other.

Lego is genius and has created kits that fit together. The central kit that all the Minecraft sets connect to is over 150$. There is a good chance I will buy it next.

[Metalcat]

DH is now inundated with work, so I had to buy a laptop so that we could both work at the same time. Sharing one laptop was not going to work for very long. I ordered a Chromebook as I only need very basic word processing and internet access for my course for the next several months.

[simonsez]

I spent much more than usual on liquor and liqueurs (and lemons/limes) in the past month or so.  Wife and I have been making a quality cocktail and lounging on the back patio a few days a week.  Turn the overhead patio lights on, watch the sun set, play a little music, throw the tennis ball 50x for the dog, it's pretty enjoyable.  Shouldn't need to buy anything other than fresh fruit for many months but it was steep up front as I wanted decent quality.  It's been fun.  A few we've made recently:
-Bay Breeze
-Angler's
-Abbey
-Cosmopolitan
-Margarita/Cadillac Margarita
-Beachcomber
-Jack Rose
-Sloe gin fizz
-Harvey Wallbanger
-Admiral

If COVID-19 was over, we would still do this once a week or so if the weather was nice but it would be more limited to the weekends as something about doing it on a weeknight with a full commute is such a mental hurdle.

[talltexan]

Grocery shopping has normalized.

Now we've moved on to spending outrageous sun's on Legos for the kids.

Normally we would never buy Legos unless they ask for them for a birthday or Christmas, as we have a lovely bin of them that can be used.

Since this started we have bought the Harry Potter clock tower and whomping Willow kit for one kid, and the Minecraft Nether Portal and something else for the other.

Lego is genius and has created kits that fit together. The central kit that all the Minecraft sets connect to is over 150$. There is a good chance I will buy it next.

We bought the grand Disney World castle lego set. Most ambitious lego project the family has taken on. Currently on pack 10 out of 14 (about one pack/day on average).

My wife found some gift cards and bought it from the Disney site, so less out-of-pocket. Normally we try to buy legos on eBay, but the Disney site had a really low price.

I think legos have a fantastic depreciation profile among things to buy.

[mm1970]

Grocery shopping has normalized.

Now we've moved on to spending outrageous sun's on Legos for the kids.

Normally we would never buy Legos unless they ask for them for a birthday or Christmas, as we have a lovely bin of them that can be used.

Since this started we have bought the Harry Potter clock tower and whomping Willow kit for one kid, and the Minecraft Nether Portal and something else for the other.

Lego is genius and has created kits that fit together. The central kit that all the Minecraft sets connect to is over 150$. There is a good chance I will buy it next.

We bought the grand Disney World castle lego set. Most ambitious lego project the family has taken on. Currently on pack 10 out of 14 (about one pack/day on average).

My wife found some gift cards and bought it from the Disney site, so less out-of-pocket. Normally we try to buy legos on eBay, but the Disney site had a really low price.

I think legos have a fantastic depreciation profile among things to buy.

I think our biggest was the millenium falcon.  The $150 one, not the super big one.

[kanga1622]

Grocery shopping has normalized.

Now we've moved on to spending outrageous sun's on Legos for the kids.

Normally we would never buy Legos unless they ask for them for a birthday or Christmas, as we have a lovely bin of them that can be used.

Since this started we have bought the Harry Potter clock tower and whomping Willow kit for one kid, and the Minecraft Nether Portal and something else for the other.

Lego is genius and has created kits that fit together. The central kit that all the Minecraft sets connect to is over 150$. There is a good chance I will buy it next.

We bought the grand Disney World castle lego set. Most ambitious lego project the family has taken on. Currently on pack 10 out of 14 (about one pack/day on average).

My wife found some gift cards and bought it from the Disney site, so less out-of-pocket. Normally we try to buy legos on eBay, but the Disney site had a really low price.

I think legos have a fantastic depreciation profile among things to buy.

I think our biggest was the millenium falcon.  The $150 one, not the super big one.

We really enjoy the Lego Creator sets so we can morph them into different things. Found the coffee shop/pet store set on clearance at Walmart. Put pieces inside plastic Easter eggs and then the kids spent several hours putting it together after hunting for the eggs.

Might swing past and look for additional clearance when I grocery shop tomorrow (toys are between the soap/shampoo section and food). If you don’t have it yet, Lego Boost is a great set. We’ve built several robots and they can do coding using a tablet. Fun way to have interactive Lego.

Apparently we’ve replaced our school picture, milk money, random school request expenses with Lego as well.

[JLee]

I just ordered a new speaker setup for my home work desk...spent more than I probably should have, but I'm going to get 8-10 hours a day 5+ days a week out of them for the foreseeable future, so I suppose it could be worse.  I use headphones sometimes but all day is too long to have something on my head.

[Metalcat]

I just ordered a new speaker setup for my home work desk...spent more than I probably should have, but I'm going to get 8-10 hours a day 5+ days a week out of them for the foreseeable future, so I suppose it could be worse.  I use headphones sometimes but all day is too long to have something on my head.

Yeah, I cannot do headphones for more than an hour or two. I totally get this. Thankfully, DH can wear them for an entire day, so I can do my work and meetings with speakers in one room while he works with headphones in another.

[24andfrugal]

Ordering takeout. We will normally eat out maybe once a week - sometimes more, sometimes less - but rarely do takeout, as I like the experience of going to the restaurant. Now we order takeout a couple times a week, mainly because we want to support the places that have given me so many good memories over the years. I have been trying to avoid ordering from chains and going to all locally owned restaurants, though we did break down and get dinner from a chain on Monday.

Oh, and tipping on takeout (that we picked up). I never did this before and probably won't after but now I'm tipping 20%.

Paying more for groceries rather than shopping around. There is no guarantee that we will find something in another store and I don't want to go to a dozen places so I've been of the mindset of "just get it".

I've had my eye on a couple of spendy splurges (all less than $100 each so not huge) but haven't pulled the trigger on any. I'm justifying it by saving $100+ per month on gas.

[Kris]

We've spent some money on a couple of "comfort" items to lift our spirits.

One: ordering a package of some very delicious tea that we had in London on our trip right before the lockdown. We both remarked at the time how good it was. It arrived in the mail yesterday, so now we'll get to have some cups of it and re-live a moment of the wonderful trip we had right before everything changed (and probably the last trip we'll take for a long time.)

[OtherJen]

I think I will suggest that we order takeout on Friday. We rarely eat out and have not done so at all since the shutdown orders started, but 1) I want to support one of our favorite local restaurants, and 2) I really want some good hummus and shawarma.

I bought an online subscription to one of our local newspapers the other day. It seems especially important to support them right now.

I might order some fancy cheese from one of our favorite specialty stores in Detroit, as they're now delivering to our zipcode via Mercato. I might also order extra and have it sent to my parents' house for a treat.

[Cooper62]

Spending a lot more on groceries.  We used to shop the sales.  Now not much is on sale and have to pay the higher price.  Plus we have gone to delivery service which includes delivery fee plus we give the driver a nice tip.  Shopping  more at a small, local grocery store.  Prices are higher but only a few people allowed in the store at a time so feel safer shopping there.  People at our local Kroger's don't seem to get the social distancing which is why we have gone to delivery.  We also let the teens spend some money on things like video games, crafts and books to help make the time inside more pleasant.  Normally would have made them purchase these extras from their own earnings.  College daughter lost her tour guide job so covered her current installment of sorority dues which she normally has to pay for herself.  I'd rather give her a little money right now than she goes out and gets a part-time job at the grocery store or Wal-Mart.  She has asthma so best she stay home.   

[Arbitrage]

Like many others, grocery delivery.  I normally shop by bike, but DW forced me into Instacart delivery.  It's probably adding 20-25% to our food cost with the layers of fees, as I tip more than the default. 

Also upped our music subscription from the one-device 'Alexa' unlimited to full-family unlimited to help us deal with WFH while kids are are also bouncing around the house in home school. 

The extra costs are certainly more than compensated by the lack of childcare costs, DW no longer going out to lunch 50-60% of the time, near-zero car use, and - for now - no trip/vacation expenses.  I'm taking the savings and promptly letting it disappear in stock market declines.  Also refinancing the mortgage, which will help me lose even more money in the stock market. 

(I'm not actually begrudging the stock market declines; they are what they are and I'm sticking to the plan)

[SotI]

We upped our off-grid solar array to not only cover the greenhouse but also the lights in the house.
Not expecting any utility outage but we've been working on reducing fossil fuel consumption, and this seemed a good time to extend it another bit.
Still, now I hope we are really done with the extra spend for this year - apart from some upcoming major vet bills again.

[Buffaloski Boris]

I’m burning yard waste. The city is no longer picking it up to compost and I don’t own a chipper or know anyone with one.

How odd for your city to stop that.
I assume that they are still continuing refuse and/or recycling pick up?

They're still picking up household waste and recyclables.  Those are in large bins that don't need to be handled.  The yard waste is physically handled, so it's not being picked up. 

[Much Fishing to Do]

I 'feel' like we're spending more because we are literally buying anything we want online....but it looks like it'll be our lowest spending month in quite some time, so I guess being out and about money is slipping thru our fingers.  We do generally spend a ton on travel/experiences etc as opposed to stuff, so I guess this does make sense, but I'll wait till month end to look into the numbers and see exactly why it worked out this way.