How New Yorkers are saving thousands of dollars thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic

New Yorkers have saved more than $ 5000 on average since the start of isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, a new study found. Эit is one of the largest sums in the whole country. The details were told by the publication New York Post.

The isolation orders resulted in full-time New Yorkers saving an average of $ 475 per month. Basically, the costs associated with travel to work and socialization have been reduced.

According to research by CreditNinja, workers in New Jersey saved $ 410 a month. Nationwide, working Americans have saved an average of $ 329 per month over the past year, with Alaskans ranked # 654 on the list with $ 149 monthly savings and Louisiana at $ XNUMX per month last month.

At the same time, some New Yorkers have managed to save much more than the average. Here are some stories of such people.

Dr. Alden Cass

• Monthly savings during a pandemic: $ 1

“I’m saving and I love it,” said psychologist and writer Cass.

While he has incurred some new costs due to isolation, including paying for private tuition for his twin children to supplement their school activities, he is saving on the daily 20-mile commute to work from his Westchester home to the Competitive office. Streak Consulting in Midtown, where he works as a performance coach for executives.

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“I've only been to my office once in the past seven months because I can work remotely,” said Kass.

His monthly savings include $ 650 in parking, $ 100 on gas, $ 30 on daily trips to Starbucks and lunch at a coffee shop, and $ 7 in road tolls at Henry Hudson. His wife was not so lucky. She works as a Methodist and travels to the office five days a week.

Cass said some clients have come to love distance coaching and he expects to continue saving money when things get back to normal as he plans to continue working from home two or three days a week.

“Plus, there is another advantage to working from home,” he added. "It is much easier for me to take a long and enjoyable run during breaks."

Kara Cerrone

• Monthly savings during a pandemic: $ 3

Cerrone, 30, admits that before COVID-19, she was actively spending money: $ 20 a day for lunch and $ 300 for a monthly gym membership. Dinner with friends several times a week. Frequent and expensive vacation trips. Regular tickets to wellness events, as well as trips to Broadway shows, live concerts and more - plus Uber round-trip when attending those events.

“In 2019 and early 2020, I went on vacation to Australia, Hawaii and Jackson Hole, Wyoming,” said the head of the Kindbody Center for Reproductive Medicine in Flatiron County.

Then COVID-19 came along.

“The hiatus in my lifestyle in New York - due to the shutdown, travel restrictions and work from home - made me spend a lot less,” Cerrone said.

Before the pandemic, Cerrone had accumulated about $20.000 in debt. But now she has paid everything.

And while she misses the noisy crowds, Cerrone says returning to her old habits, including frequent shopping, is no longer so appealing.

“I'm not interested in the latest trend right now,” she added. "Instead, I would like to continue saving and buying a house for the next few years."

Tracy Llewellyn

• Monthly savings during a pandemic: $400

For Llewellyn, a 37-year-old designer and artist, little things matter.

“Spontaneous purchases of coffee and snacks have become much less, - now she works in her home studio, and does not go to clients in different areas. "I almost never have to leave my neighborhood, which means I no longer have to buy lunch at a restaurant."

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Plus, since last March, she hadn't needed subway rides, saving her $ 137 a month, and not working out at the gym meant an extra $ 50 in her pocket.

Llewellyn really only misses one thing: attending performances at the American Ballet Theater.

“With the savings I will try to get the best seats for performances when they reopen,” she said. - And my biggest waste will be a trip abroad. I am really looking forward to international travel. "

Sean Healy

• Monthly savings during a pandemic: $620

Working from home in Ho Ho Kus, New Jersey is nothing new for Healy, the self-employed media manager. But the 57-year-old had to travel to Manhattan a couple of days a week for client meetings, dinners and events, costing him $ 270 a month for bus rides and $ 250 for food.

Plus, he now saves $ 100 a month on dry cleaning as there is no need to iron the suit. And countless health savings have also been made since the start of the pandemic, Healy said.

“On the bus, you definitely feel the way,” he said. "Over time, it causes you moral and physical damage."

Healy's wife Victoria, a marketing research analyst, also cut travel times to her New York office, helping the family save even more.

However, the recently freed up money doesn't just sit in the bank.

Healy said, “I have two kids in college. This is where my savings go. "