I put a call to arms out on instagram recently asking for idea for blog posts on topics people might actually like to read about rather than me just spouting out my opinion and one of the first suggestions was from my very lovely colleague (and friend) Ryan. He asked me what was my out of character lockdown purchases. And my mind instantly went into overdrive. This was definitely something I could get my teeth into.
But first to take you back to March 2020 when we first went into lockdown. I had about £1500 worth of credit card debt and herein lies the first out of character thing for me. I used the fact that we couldn’t leave the house and spend any money to pay that credit card debt off. Very sensible of me, and very out of character.
Then I kind of dipped my toe into the out of character purchases. I bought about 5 pairs of H&M leggings, since by this point we were going to be working from home for the rest of the year and I was loving how comfy they were. Only out of character in the sense that previously I only wore leggings to the gym, but not very expensive.
I was lucky enough to get promoted lin 2020 which came with a slight increase in salary and also coincided with me paying off my credit card bill and the run up to Christmas. So I decided to buy Dave a Brewdog advent calendar, which he absolutely loved. Out of character purchase number 2; I was spending my money on someone other than myself.
The extra money and the lack of anywhere to go (mixed with discovering Klarna’s ‘pay in 3’ option) also meant that I developed quite a healthy Ted Baker habit. To be fair to me, most of the stuff I’ve bought has been on eBay, so second hand and the fraction of the price, but I did get a rather nice winter coat in the sale, which was more money I’ve ever spent on a winter coat before (and Dave gave some money towards it for xmas). But I would say clothes buying is pretty ‘in character’ for me.
Lastly, and again, not that out of character, but certainly in the ‘excessive’ category. Was not one buy two pairs of UGG slippers. Again, I’m going to blame working from home and the old ‘you buy cheap, you buy twice’ adage. I had worn through 2 pairs of Sainsbury ballet slippers in a month, so wanted something more robust. I got the black ones first, and loved them so much, I got a grey pair and a pair for Dave when they went on sale a month later.
I don’t want anyone reading this thinking this was an excuse to show off my ostentatious slippers, I’m just being honest and answering the question. But one thing that did shock me, and still shocks me, is how much money I was able to save to be able to buy these things. That is, how much I used to spend on going out. That’s certainly made me realise there’s a balance to everything. Am I going to be buying UGG slippers every month, of course not, but am I going to be going out and throwing money down the drain in pubs instead? Certainly not as much.
I am going to continue spending my money on other people though even though we’re not in lockdown anymore. Because that feels really nice.
