5 years since Covid - Did it make your life better or worse?
Discussion
Covid lockdowns were announced on the 23rd of March 2020, and here we, just past the 5 year anniversary.
I haven't really thought much about those times, but a few people were randomly discussing it at work, few mutterings about 'awful times' and so on, and then they asked me what my experience was of that time, presumably expecting me to give a negative response, and I replied by saying "It was absolutely brilliant to be honest".
A few months before covid hit, we had just purchased a plot of land in the form of a chunk of a farmers field in a nice village, and had architects plans drawn up for our house, planning permission approved, accounts opened with the local builders merchants, and we were then trying to get started with the actual build but were being given the runaround by the tradesmen we had agreed to work with. For a month or more they were all promising to 'start next week' but were so snowed under with other jobs that it wasn't getting started.
Covid then arrived, all the big building sites shut down, people stopped wanting tradesmen in their houses, and suddenly every tradesmen, groundworker, concrete supplier, and builders merchant was beating down my door desperate to start on my house as all their other work, and income, had stopped. Some negotiations took place over the price (in my favour) and they all cracked on within a couple of weeks of lockdown starting.
The weather was amazing as well, pretty much all year, so the build went like the clappers. I stockpiled building materials early, taking advantage of the fact the merchants wanted to get stuff shifted in those early months of little trade happening, and got some cracking deals.
At the same time the build started, both myself and my wife were told we were now working from home, which was fantastic news as we could manage our house build much easier and not be commuting anywhere. I was a consultant at the time, and often working away, but now it was all work from home using Teams, and I was getting offered jobs in parts of the country that I wasn't previously working in due to it being too far away to commute or be there regularly. Business was booming on that side.
We then rode the sudden 11% jump in house prices that happened between March 2020 and 2021, due to the pent up demand and everyone wanting to move, before cashing out and selling our old house.
Day rates for constants took a jump, and due to now being remote (and remote being suddenly acceptable) I ended up working for some brilliant clients in London, and made a bunch of great connections. Due to the whole "life is short and unpredictable" mentality that some people discovered during that time, a few key people early retired from my wife's company, and she was promoted.
Then... at the end of 2020 myself and my wife found out that we needed IVF to stand a chance of having a baby. The NHS IVF clinics had gone quieter during covid as people were apparently trying to avoid hospitals or unnecessary treatments, and so we were told, putting pans to have children on hold due to the crazy state of the world. We jumped at the chance of IVF. The NHS place we went to was absolutely amazing, and due to the low demand, we began treatment in only a few weeks. The treatment was thankfully successful and we are now the very grateful parents to a child who will be 4 at his next birthday.
In short: We built a house, enjoyed a property price boom, had a child, gained the ability to work from home, made loads of new business contacts, wife got a couple of promotions, I ended up working in London which I still do to this day and absolutely love it, whilst living in a rural country and mostly being WFH.
It was a whirlwind time, and all a bit mental, but it was certainly beneficial in retrospect. Numerous good things happened to us which we can't take any credit for, or they were certainly made easier for us, by the arrival of Covid.
I fully appreciate many people didn't have a good time.
How was it for you? Good? Bad? Indifferent?
I haven't really thought much about those times, but a few people were randomly discussing it at work, few mutterings about 'awful times' and so on, and then they asked me what my experience was of that time, presumably expecting me to give a negative response, and I replied by saying "It was absolutely brilliant to be honest".
A few months before covid hit, we had just purchased a plot of land in the form of a chunk of a farmers field in a nice village, and had architects plans drawn up for our house, planning permission approved, accounts opened with the local builders merchants, and we were then trying to get started with the actual build but were being given the runaround by the tradesmen we had agreed to work with. For a month or more they were all promising to 'start next week' but were so snowed under with other jobs that it wasn't getting started.
Covid then arrived, all the big building sites shut down, people stopped wanting tradesmen in their houses, and suddenly every tradesmen, groundworker, concrete supplier, and builders merchant was beating down my door desperate to start on my house as all their other work, and income, had stopped. Some negotiations took place over the price (in my favour) and they all cracked on within a couple of weeks of lockdown starting.
The weather was amazing as well, pretty much all year, so the build went like the clappers. I stockpiled building materials early, taking advantage of the fact the merchants wanted to get stuff shifted in those early months of little trade happening, and got some cracking deals.
At the same time the build started, both myself and my wife were told we were now working from home, which was fantastic news as we could manage our house build much easier and not be commuting anywhere. I was a consultant at the time, and often working away, but now it was all work from home using Teams, and I was getting offered jobs in parts of the country that I wasn't previously working in due to it being too far away to commute or be there regularly. Business was booming on that side.
We then rode the sudden 11% jump in house prices that happened between March 2020 and 2021, due to the pent up demand and everyone wanting to move, before cashing out and selling our old house.
Day rates for constants took a jump, and due to now being remote (and remote being suddenly acceptable) I ended up working for some brilliant clients in London, and made a bunch of great connections. Due to the whole "life is short and unpredictable" mentality that some people discovered during that time, a few key people early retired from my wife's company, and she was promoted.
Then... at the end of 2020 myself and my wife found out that we needed IVF to stand a chance of having a baby. The NHS IVF clinics had gone quieter during covid as people were apparently trying to avoid hospitals or unnecessary treatments, and so we were told, putting pans to have children on hold due to the crazy state of the world. We jumped at the chance of IVF. The NHS place we went to was absolutely amazing, and due to the low demand, we began treatment in only a few weeks. The treatment was thankfully successful and we are now the very grateful parents to a child who will be 4 at his next birthday.
In short: We built a house, enjoyed a property price boom, had a child, gained the ability to work from home, made loads of new business contacts, wife got a couple of promotions, I ended up working in London which I still do to this day and absolutely love it, whilst living in a rural country and mostly being WFH.
It was a whirlwind time, and all a bit mental, but it was certainly beneficial in retrospect. Numerous good things happened to us which we can't take any credit for, or they were certainly made easier for us, by the arrival of Covid.
I fully appreciate many people didn't have a good time.
How was it for you? Good? Bad? Indifferent?
Edited by Le Gavroche on Wednesday 28th May 08:30
I was fairly happy at first. I was furloughed off of work and the weather was good, so plenty of garden projects got completed and I had time to cook more complicated dinners and do stuff with the kids. But obviously our income had gone down fairly dramatically, and apart from saving £3 a day in petrol to get to work and back, I wasn't really spending much less.
Also there was a constant worry as to whether the company I worked for would ever start trading again, which weighed pretty heavily over me.
So overall, i really enjoyed the freedom and having time to enjoy family time, but didn't like the uncertainty and worry of how i was going to pay the mortgage so i really wouldn't want to do it again.
Also there was a constant worry as to whether the company I worked for would ever start trading again, which weighed pretty heavily over me.
So overall, i really enjoyed the freedom and having time to enjoy family time, but didn't like the uncertainty and worry of how i was going to pay the mortgage so i really wouldn't want to do it again.
With sensitivity that for some it was awful....for us it was fantastic.
I started working from home just before lockdown and have not gone back, saving a huge amount of money. My wife had just started a business doing 1-1 tutoring. Of course this went crazy during lockdown and has not stopped since. Me working from home makes it a lot easier for us to juggle child care/school run etc so she has been able to work much more than we thought. The money we saved over lockdown, with her extra earnings all added to the house price rises meant we could buy a house we never would have thought we could afford in the best local village.
We'd just had out first child and were now saving for our next home so, apart from not being able to see family, lockdown wasn't a huge issue for us so we had huge pluses that we continue to enjoy and no real negatives.
I started working from home just before lockdown and have not gone back, saving a huge amount of money. My wife had just started a business doing 1-1 tutoring. Of course this went crazy during lockdown and has not stopped since. Me working from home makes it a lot easier for us to juggle child care/school run etc so she has been able to work much more than we thought. The money we saved over lockdown, with her extra earnings all added to the house price rises meant we could buy a house we never would have thought we could afford in the best local village.
We'd just had out first child and were now saving for our next home so, apart from not being able to see family, lockdown wasn't a huge issue for us so we had huge pluses that we continue to enjoy and no real negatives.
Edited by varsas on Tuesday 27th May 17:17
With little else to do I took up a hobby and wound up the world number one at it. Could've monetised it but chose not to.
It made little difference to my everyday life, but everyday life consisted of sitting indoors and clicking away before that. To escape that I would travel constantly and that obviously became a bit of a grind.
I'll bet many people were marooned in some very dark and awkward situations. I wasn't at all.
Strangest thing about it is how rarely it's mentioned or reflected upon.
It made little difference to my everyday life, but everyday life consisted of sitting indoors and clicking away before that. To escape that I would travel constantly and that obviously became a bit of a grind.
I'll bet many people were marooned in some very dark and awkward situations. I wasn't at all.
Strangest thing about it is how rarely it's mentioned or reflected upon.
I was contracting (IT) and the whole team was dropped shortly after WFH started. It just wasn't practical to carry on without face to face meetings and workshops. That dropped my income to zero, and almost no chance of picking up another contract.
I was planning to retire in a few years, but at the time was too young to access my pension so we just lived on savings which was a strain.
I did appreciate the time off work though, even if we were quite limited in what we could do. I've lived in the area for 20 years and we explored every local wood, trail, and park that I'd never seen before.
I was planning to retire in a few years, but at the time was too young to access my pension so we just lived on savings which was a strain.
I did appreciate the time off work though, even if we were quite limited in what we could do. I've lived in the area for 20 years and we explored every local wood, trail, and park that I'd never seen before.
From a purely selfish perspective, it was fine.
The weather was great, I was in a secure industry working from home, we had no trouble getting supplies - shopping, etc - I could still do my hobbies, which were solo outdoor stuff like running, we saved a lot of money through not going on holiday or going out.
We don't have kids, so no trouble schooling them or keeping them amused, we got a dog 18 months before lockdown so had him to entertain us and we had a garden to sit outside in.
Christmas was a bit pants on our own but I'm fully aware that, compared to others, we were far better off.
I wouldn't say Covid has made my life better or worse. In cold terms, it was just a period of our lives where we couldn't go out and there were a lot of unknowns.
However, I know that our circumstances were somewhat 'ideal' for a pandemic. There are others who are not in a good place as a result.
I met a chap through work who lived with his family in an apartment in Shanghai during 2020-2022. He was genuinely traumatised by it.
The weather was great, I was in a secure industry working from home, we had no trouble getting supplies - shopping, etc - I could still do my hobbies, which were solo outdoor stuff like running, we saved a lot of money through not going on holiday or going out.
We don't have kids, so no trouble schooling them or keeping them amused, we got a dog 18 months before lockdown so had him to entertain us and we had a garden to sit outside in.
Christmas was a bit pants on our own but I'm fully aware that, compared to others, we were far better off.
I wouldn't say Covid has made my life better or worse. In cold terms, it was just a period of our lives where we couldn't go out and there were a lot of unknowns.
However, I know that our circumstances were somewhat 'ideal' for a pandemic. There are others who are not in a good place as a result.
I met a chap through work who lived with his family in an apartment in Shanghai during 2020-2022. He was genuinely traumatised by it.
It certainly helped us along and we benefited too, but similarly sensitive to those that hard a really hard and worry time and lost family. The main thing was that it rewrote how people work, increased productivity and quality of life.
I hardly have to travel for work at all now. Just as well as last Friday, I had to attend a whole day in York and went by train. A journey that would normally be 1.25 hours too 3.5 hours because of problems on the network and multiple service cancellations. The journey back was met with a 'smoking sleeper' which is not a Russian spy cell waiting to be activated, but a wooden thingy under the tracks that may or may not have been smouldering and needed a fire engine to attend.
Getting about is just too hard on a crap network, crap roads with crap drivers (you know who you are). The COVID epidemic makes it so much easier to not have to do that grind anymore.
We also sold an inherited house, that had been in the family 70 years, for probably the maximum we could ever have hoped for thanks to the housing boom 2020-2021.
I hardly have to travel for work at all now. Just as well as last Friday, I had to attend a whole day in York and went by train. A journey that would normally be 1.25 hours too 3.5 hours because of problems on the network and multiple service cancellations. The journey back was met with a 'smoking sleeper' which is not a Russian spy cell waiting to be activated, but a wooden thingy under the tracks that may or may not have been smouldering and needed a fire engine to attend.
Getting about is just too hard on a crap network, crap roads with crap drivers (you know who you are). The COVID epidemic makes it so much easier to not have to do that grind anymore.
We also sold an inherited house, that had been in the family 70 years, for probably the maximum we could ever have hoped for thanks to the housing boom 2020-2021.
I had been working on a self employed basis for three years when Covid restrictions began. I was 58 years old in March 2020 and I'd been considering retiring for a while. Instantly, all my bookings were cancelled and I had no work for the foreseeable future. So, I looked at my finances (I'm an accountant by profession) and decided to stop working.
That was over five years ago and was the best decision I've ever made. My time is now my own, I have sufficient money and am able to enjoy life with the wonderful Mrs. Hants. I have my own thoughts on how Covid was (mis) handled, but that's for another thread. In short, I wonder whether, were it not for Covid, I'd still be on the treadmill. Strange, isn't it, how a global pandemic can be seen with hindsight?
That was over five years ago and was the best decision I've ever made. My time is now my own, I have sufficient money and am able to enjoy life with the wonderful Mrs. Hants. I have my own thoughts on how Covid was (mis) handled, but that's for another thread. In short, I wonder whether, were it not for Covid, I'd still be on the treadmill. Strange, isn't it, how a global pandemic can be seen with hindsight?
early 2019 I decided I had enough of this work nonsense and the looming Brexit so moved to Portugal where I already owned an apartment. I got here in Dec 2019.
I had to pop back in early January to do a gig I had already promised to do (chaaaarity mate) so flew in on a Friday, Saturday gig, back on Sunday.
a few months later my elderly mother threw herself at the scenery and was hospitalised. by this time Covid had started to hit but I arranged to go to London for a few days (I have a sister but she is a few hours train ride away) . while I was there covid started getting serious and I said to my mother and sister I need to get home before they start closing airports.
I made it home and a month or so later my mother died in hospital, my sister was with her. Thing is, I couldn't make to the funeral because of travel restrictions. I watched it on line. I also didn't get to go to a nephews wedding later in the year.
as for the original OP questions? I was very fortunate in that I got out when I did. I was doing contract work (banking) and I would have been unemployed and although I had some savings I used a chunk to tidy up the house for sale. I could have been very financially ffff up if I stayed in UK.
Pretty s
t for me, but whether it made my life worse 5 years later is highly debatable.
I moved into a new house days before the lockdown and couldn't get my internet installed for months, which was really handy in a rural area when needing to work from home. I also nearly ended up with no TV after discovering the house didn't even have an aerial.
I didn't get furloughed, but my Mrs did and pretty much everyone in the street. So I was stuck in an undecorated box room in the heat while everyone else got pissed and had BBQs.
I love to go to pubs and just out generally, so my social life was obliterated.
One of the few times I never had a car, so couldn't even go out in that, although I fixed that problem pretty quick.
I ended up in quite a dark place and my already bad boozing habits got considerably worse, which exacerbated it.
Oh and to top it off I was made redundant the following year after everyone else went back to work.
Awful time, but now I'd say my life has improved since those dark days. I still WFH, and have now got used to it, and I earn more than I would have if I'd still been in my old job.
Really hard to say what long term effect, if any, it had on the grand scheme of things and doubt I'll ever really know. However I definitely would NOT want to go through that again! (But I can totally understand how having months off work in glorious weather and not having to interact with people might have been amazing, but for me at the time, it was a horrendous storm of st that I'm honestly sometimes surprised I survived).
t for me, but whether it made my life worse 5 years later is highly debatable. I moved into a new house days before the lockdown and couldn't get my internet installed for months, which was really handy in a rural area when needing to work from home. I also nearly ended up with no TV after discovering the house didn't even have an aerial.
I didn't get furloughed, but my Mrs did and pretty much everyone in the street. So I was stuck in an undecorated box room in the heat while everyone else got pissed and had BBQs.
I love to go to pubs and just out generally, so my social life was obliterated.
One of the few times I never had a car, so couldn't even go out in that, although I fixed that problem pretty quick.
I ended up in quite a dark place and my already bad boozing habits got considerably worse, which exacerbated it.
Oh and to top it off I was made redundant the following year after everyone else went back to work.
Awful time, but now I'd say my life has improved since those dark days. I still WFH, and have now got used to it, and I earn more than I would have if I'd still been in my old job.
Really hard to say what long term effect, if any, it had on the grand scheme of things and doubt I'll ever really know. However I definitely would NOT want to go through that again! (But I can totally understand how having months off work in glorious weather and not having to interact with people might have been amazing, but for me at the time, it was a horrendous storm of s
t that I'm honestly sometimes surprised I survived).I was made redundant just before the first lockdown, as a little bonus. But I kept my head, watched most of the lunacy from the sidelines, and got another role which has turned out well. Redecorating my flat got delayed and horribly inflated as everyone else wanted home improvements at the same time. I still haven't got back into regular concert going. But these are minor annoyances compared to what many suffered. I have put the extra free time to good use with health and fitness. That's a little plus.
My trust in the media, government, and the medical profession is now zero. Comtempt for my fellow man almost total. Maybe these are good things. For me, not generally.
My trust in the media, government, and the medical profession is now zero. Comtempt for my fellow man almost total. Maybe these are good things. For me, not generally.
I can’t say it made my life better or worse it happened and life returned to normal.
During was fine work were very good the kids came first as neither was allowed in so we did a bit of homework and spent most afternoons on the beach. Visited the grandparents once a week with food even if we couldn’t touch them it was some more normality for the kids.
During was fine work were very good the kids came first as neither was allowed in so we did a bit of homework and spent most afternoons on the beach. Visited the grandparents once a week with food even if we couldn’t touch them it was some more normality for the kids.
bloomen said:
With little else to do I took up a hobby and wound up the world number one at it. Could've monetised it but chose not to.
It made little difference to my everyday life, but everyday life consisted of sitting indoors and clicking away before that. To escape that I would travel constantly and that obviously became a bit of a grind.
I'll bet many people were marooned in some very dark and awkward situations. I wasn't at all.
Strangest thing about it is how rarely it's mentioned or reflected upon.
I’m really interested to know what the hobby was. And yes, weird how little it’s mentioned. Frankly I’m pleased. It made little difference to my everyday life, but everyday life consisted of sitting indoors and clicking away before that. To escape that I would travel constantly and that obviously became a bit of a grind.
I'll bet many people were marooned in some very dark and awkward situations. I wasn't at all.
Strangest thing about it is how rarely it's mentioned or reflected upon.
I'm in business and it hasn't affected me - in fact I now have more work than I could ever need because many decided to leave the workplace after tasting the free money and WFH lifestyle and general largesse dished out by the State. It seems I can now charge whatever I want as rising prices and st service/elastic timescales have become the norm - I don't take advantage of that but it does make meeting/exceeding customer expectations much easier that it used to be, and a bit of super profit here and there is good for the pension pot.
But on a macro scale I think it has absolutely fked the country for generations - I fully anticipated at the time that it would. Fag end of my career now but I do worry about the younger generation coming through.
t service/elastic timescales have become the norm - I don't take advantage of that but it does make meeting/exceeding customer expectations much easier that it used to be, and a bit of super profit here and there is good for the pension pot.But on a macro scale I think it has absolutely f
ked the country for generations - I fully anticipated at the time that it would. Fag end of my career now but I do worry about the younger generation coming through.Worse. Had little choice but to go along with some of the ridiculous rules that were made up.
Sister died at 30 of cancer because a GP refused to see her for 6 months.
Had to fight tooth and nail to be at the birth of my eldest. The birth of my second was also impacted.
Still worked throughout, government blamed COVID when it came round to asking for a pay rise, they repeated that for 4 years.
I have nothing but contempt for the key decision makers and those who implemented the ludicrousness so zealously.
Got to eat some half price food I suppose.
Sister died at 30 of cancer because a GP refused to see her for 6 months.
Had to fight tooth and nail to be at the birth of my eldest. The birth of my second was also impacted.
Still worked throughout, government blamed COVID when it came round to asking for a pay rise, they repeated that for 4 years.
I have nothing but contempt for the key decision makers and those who implemented the ludicrousness so zealously.
Got to eat some half price food I suppose.
Edited by ChocolateFrog on Tuesday 27th May 18:05
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