Keep calm and carry on....

badmemory

shangaijimmy said:

Mrs SJ has forgone stocking up on pasta and toilet rolls, but gone straight for the beer and gin!!

I don't blame her.  If I have to self isolate for the next 12 weeks (I'm over 70) it will take a lot of whisky!  It is getting really silly.  No pasta, no rice, no flour, no tins of well pretty much anything, not even any fresh meat.  It seems that many of us are going to get scurvy because the one thing there is on the shelves are fresh fruit & veg!

Thank goodness I don't look my age because if there are no home delivery slots for over 2 weeks I will have to go out!

newgirly

I would suggest some home brewing but I doubt you can get supplies now, I remember years ago making white wine from apple juice via a post on the old style boards , but it’s probably gone the same way as trying to bake your own bread and there’s nothing to buy! 

South_coast

Beer and gin are about all there is in the shops, and that's going fast judging by what I've seen people buying. 

I roamed the aisles of two supermarkets last night, buying stuff purely because it was still there. Got the last bag of pasta, the last bag of potatoes, a manky-looking red onion (the least-manky of about 5 that were there), a pint of S/S milk which I have frozen (no skimmed anywhere) and - hallelujah - a loaf of bread. Would have liked a box of eggs, but could only find a 15-pack and at that point no bread, so couldn't think how I would eat 15 eggs before they go off without any bread as I don't like omelettes, so left those for someone else.

Work-wise, we're still going, but will likely have to scale right back soon. We send people into houses every day, so are already being turned away (except by one person who said they were self-isolating but we could still come in 😠). I'm now WFH for the foreseeable. Hopefully the business will survive it. 

In money news, we're going to cancel our one-nighter that we only booked 10 days ago as it doesn't look like any restaurants/attractions etc will be open. Don't think we'll get the money back, but at least I can re-allocate the spending money I had set aside. Will top up the spending money for a UK road-trip I'm still hoping to do in early June, then I think I will cheer myself up by OP'ing the rest. Not sure what to do about OP's really. My heart says keep my head down and stick to the schedule, but may find myself regretting that if I run out of readies in a couple of months. My EF was my S&S ISA, so have a strong suspicion it won't be worth what it was (not been brave enough to check 😮)

Sorry for the gloomy post, to think a couple of days ago I was full of the joys of Spring!

South_coast

The plus side of being at home when I would normally be on my way to work (first of my holiday days today) is that I'm actually available when surveys get listed on Prolific - £4.15-worth already today! Could this be my new EF 😂???

Jessy103

Sorry to hear you're having to cancel your plans, SC. I really hope things go back to normal soon. I think we're all doom and gloom at the moment, I'm just grateful that we all have this forum for support. We may not have met each other but we all share a common goal and I know a lot of us, including myself have been judged for our thrifty habits but are now fortunate enough to be in a better place than other people moneywise in this terrible situation.

Take care x

South_coast

Thanks Jessy, that means a lot x

South_coast

Right, have topped up the spending money for the road-trip and sent a £100 OP (heart prevailing for now). 

Have also applied for a 0% purchases and money-transfer card for use in case of true SHTF scenario, £10.8k limit (😮) so added to £4k headroom on a 0% card I've already got (funnily enough, opened the last time I thought I might lose my job - at least I'm consistent) and £2k-ish in my various savings pots would keep me going for plenty of time on an emergency budget of just over £1k a month and if I made an OP of £1k my mortgage payments would be recalculated and probably come down by about £100pcm because of the OP's I've made so far (bank would probably do it anyway if I asked them, as they will want to recoup their lost interest). This is all worst-worst-worst-case scenario stuff but I feel better for doing it.

Right, finances sorted, now if I could only find some eggs....

themadvix

Elderflowers will be out soon - elderflower champagne anyone?!

Don't check your S&S ISA SC - ignorance really is bliss! And yes, maybe Prolific should be your EF... until that dries up anyway. Although most academics can work fairly easily from home, so here's hoping!

Jess, you've got it spot on there - support, a common goal and the wherewithal to weather the storm because we've got our heads on straight about money. What a difference it makes!

South_coast

Oh, and forgot to say I've done my first Prolific survey on the coronavirus!

South_coast

I like that idea Vix - b*gger "When life gives you lemons...." let's go for "When life gives you elderflowers...."!