Makes me wonder WHO is average?

I can’t say if the number is $5000 or more, or less, but I know that I didn’t travel much last year, and I didn’t buy as much ‘stuff’ because I couldn’t go a lot of places.

If a person were employed (thankfully, I was), I can definitely see how savings could have risen because buying opportunities were so reduced.

If a person lost their job – well, that’s a different situation.

I’ve saved a great deal on transport/travel costs, being allowed to work from home. Not sure how to quantify that, though. (it wasn’t for that long,.... probably only about 6 weeks total) but more than that, over the longer course of time, probably saved a great deal by eating at home as well and not buying my lunches or eating out. Yep…surely saved a hunk of cash.

Well, I saved about 1800€ on train tickets.
Probably a bit on food.
But at the same time, I have increased costs in terms of electricity (PC, light, AC).

My spending was greatly reduced. I did not spend my usual on restaurants, hotels, airplane tickets, gasoline, etc. I can’t say how much I saved but I would guess it was more than the $5000 quoted. .

I’m in the US. We saved thousands.

No commuting to work. Ate restaurant food maybe 6 times over a 12 month period. I did earn a lot $3—$4000 less than usual though, but not really because of covid, just the company I work coincidently had less work.

Ignoring how much less I made in income last year, I think we saved an extra $10k maybe. Definitely more than $5k. Almost everyone I know saved more during covid. PLUS, they received stimulus money. If you add that into the savings then it’s well over $5k.

That sounds about right, although I chose to have some home repairs done instead of adding to savings. Stimulating the economy.

@KNOWITALL I know a lot of people who fixed up their house. Little projects, especially DIY stuff with time on their hands.

I actually bought two vehicles, so I guess that was my part on stimulating the economy. I wasn’t factoring that into my savings calculation.

I’m not sure how much we’ve saved, but our outlay tumbled drastically. All of our expenses except utilities have been cut considerably, and many eliminated entirely. The barber, dry cleaner, gardener, auto mechanic, the wife’s manicures, pedicures. And the restaurant, wine and entertainment expenses—all vanished. It’s been a rather sobering lesson on just how profligate a wastrel I had become.

The government raining money down on us helped.

I saved a lot by not traveling, not going out for entertainment, etc. I saved about ⅓ of my usual annual budget.

I didn’t save that much, but that’s $5,000 Canadian. so that’s more like $4,000 in real money….

Probably more.
My gasoline bill went from $200 a month to about $40.
The money I sent in restaurants dropped to almost nothing.
I was going to the movies a lot, and that went to zero.
Plus, the government kept putting money in my bank account to “help” me get through the pandemic. I understand many people needed this, and more, but since I am retired, I was unaffected by the pandemic, with the exception of my being locked up in an air force base.

@zenvelo “Real” money. LOL. Because Canadian money is fake?

The greatest benefit was with the realization that going out and slaving for a living is now unnecessary. I actually thought I enjoyed working. Now, I cannot figure out why that is.

My income stayed the same while my expenditure went down and I’ve been able to save quite a lot.

Screw that into a cocked hat!
I must have ordered stuff online the cost of which could repay the national debt of Peru.

i saved on gas, and car maintenance/tire wear and tear. I saved on eating lunch out at work. I saved by not getting my hair done for a few months at the beginning of the shutdown. We didn’t go to many restaurants and we didn’t take any big vacations. I did do some home reno projects which cost a bit.

I really didn’t do anything different than before. We lost some money because when Rick lost his job he lost his business gas card so we’ve been paying our own gas since then.