Your silver lining?

[ProudSoccerMom]

I’ve been making a point every day to try and be positive and thankful. To that end, what is your silver lining of the past five (cannot believe it’s actually been this long) months? For us, it’s been having more family time, finally finishing all the things in and outside our home that we’ve been unable to get to the last two years (we built and moved into our current home two years ago) and having a renewed appreciation for our everyday normal.

 

[Lisa_M]

I've only eaten food I haven't cooked 3 times since the closure so I've been saving a bunch of money, losing a little weight and feeling better health wise. I also have enjoyed having more time with my kids. Don't get me wrong, working from home while trying to teach them and care for them is challenging, but I appreciate our time together and our slower lifestyle.

 

[MOPNB]

It's been difficult.
I am still working (at a bank) hubby is still working (as a police officer and getting bruised during riots).
Our only child, is an immune suppressed post-transplant kiddo that did AMAZING at self-quarantining even before our state's shut down orders.
But being an only child and quarantined isn't always great for the mental health of a teen.
So, we got a Corgi puppy!!!

 

[ProudSoccerMom]

It's been difficult.
I am still working (at a bank) hubby is still working (as a police officer and getting bruised during riots).
Our only child, is an immune suppressed post-transplant kiddo that did AMAZING at self-quarantining even before our state's shut down orders.
But being an only child and quarantined isn't always great for the mental health of a teen.
So, we got a Corgi puppy!!!

First, sending prayers to your husband and eternal gratefulness for his sacrifice. Also sending prayers to your sweet child and congrats on the puppy! Dogs are so wonderful, especially now. Our Golden has been such a source of comfort for our family.

 

[MOPNB]

First, sending prayers to your husband and eternal gratefulness for his sacrifice. Also sending prayers to your sweet child and congrats on the puppy! Dogs are so wonderful, especially now. Our Golden has been such a source of comfort for our family.

Thank you so much.
He brings us so much joy and gets on with our German Shepherd so well.
His personality is amazing. We named him Koda (from Brother Bear )

 

[martikus]

Family time. My son is 13 so the years are
Going fast. Time spent playing games and watching the office together. While
I don’t have nearly as much free time as others since still working taking mid day breaks to play a game is fantastic.

we also managed to clean out garage and can finally park a car. Took 10 years and a pandemic to finally do it .

 

[shh]

"we also managed to clean out garage and can finally park a car. Took 10 years and a pandemic to finally do it ."

Right? Took a major hurricane for us - we HAD to fit the cars in the garage with a cat 4 headed our way - wasn't pretty, but we did it.

I have no kids and actually lost my clients/business thanks to this pandemic, BUT I had several silver linings:

DH and I enjoy a glass of wine most nights - I discovered walmart carries a surprisingly decent house brand table wine for 2.50 a bottle. Woo hoo! (We're now well stocked for hurricane season lol.)

I tried and fell in love with WalMart curbside pickup - I may never go inside a grocery store again.

I was excused from jury duty in late March due to covid- it had been really bad timing to serve that week as I was just finishing up a client project and didn't want to lose the earnings. That was a big help.

I am also VERY thankful I got my preventive colonscopy done in Feb before this whole mess started - had put that off for several years.

 

[Disneyfan754321]

After my DH was layed off in Kansas city , a company in our home state of Texas offered him a job and paid for us to move home... well closer to home at least its Texas.

 

[Traveling on cc points]

We plan on moving out of our currant state in about 4 years and I swore that we weren’t going to be one of those people who do all the little repairs to make their home look good Just for the new owners.

We have taken our vacation budget for the summer and spent it at homedepot/Lowe’s & contractors.

Nothing major, just stupid small projects like painting inside the door jambs, replaced worn out weatherstripping, replaced a few screens that had small holes in them, had our hardwood floors refinished. A few other things that we just didn’t notice needed attention when we weren’t home as much.

 

[Uncle Coaster]

I have been blessed. I continued to work uninterrupted, I cancelled two vacations and one shorter trip, plus I’ve stayed away from the casino that I usually visited twice a week. All of that combined has allowed me to rebuild my short term nest egg that I’ve neglected/depleted for the last few years.

 

[georgina]

No silver lining here. Just cancelled trips, not able to see family, volunteer work cancelled, barely leaving the house. I hope my kids are able to fly home for Christmas as I haven't seen them since last Christmas. I am really angry at the country's lack of response to the pandemic and failure to take it seriously, and it looks like any fall travel may end up cancelled too.

 

[Lumpy1106]

We are saving about $1500/month compared to what we spent before. This is mostly just going out to eat - can't believe we spent so much. It's also commute costs which I am also not doing - don't miss that too much. I have to admit the quiet time in the car on the way too/from work I do miss a little.
I am doing core exercises regularly now. I had back surgery Summer 2019 and I had recovered, but still woke up stiff. That has improved immensely. I'm even getting out in the water and surfing more. That was tough with the back problems I was having.

Things I miss - I am in a men's soccer league and have been for over 20 years. I miss those guys a ton. Kids sports - that was our every Saturday. Lacrosse for the HS kids, soccer for our 1st grader. We HAVE to get back to doing that. I also REALLY miss people just being open and kind. Something as simple as just saying hi to a stranger as you pass them on a walk. I really hope that goes back to normal soon.

 

[Ladyandthepuppies]

Silver lining... I have been saving a lot more money since we aren’t able to do anything. It’s a first world problem so I feel a little guilty complaining but it makes me so sad that my small kids aren’t getting to do all the things I loved to do in my childhood summers... museums, play dates, camp, lessons, restaurants, parks, sports. But we are saving a ton of money which I will probably put towards private tutors since our virtual education experience was dismal last year and I feel like they learned nothing. I’m grateful DH and I both still have our jobs and of course I’m grateful we all have our health.

 

[huggybuff]

My silver lining has been being able to save money by not going out to eat or shop beyond the basics. My wedding fund is growing slowly and my active credit cards are all at zero. Almost one whole paycheck a month is going toward debt reduction. I'm planning on that to continue until November. After that I'm shifting into wedding planning savings mode with an eye towards getting married in either August 2021 or Thanksgiving break 2021.

 

[Lumpy1106]

No silver lining here. Just cancelled trips, not able to see family, volunteer work cancelled, barely leaving the house. I hope my kids are able to fly home for Christmas as I haven't seen them since last Christmas. I am really angry at the country's lack of response to the pandemic and failure to take it seriously, and it looks like any fall travel may end up cancelled too.

If you are cancelling because of the pandemic, I would not. There are lots of ways you can travel that are perfectly safe. It doesn't make you part of the problem - not by a long shot. Get out - those 4 walls are driving you crazy.

 

[dhardawa]

I had seriously considered home schooling my son, but was afraid to jump in with both feet. Virtual learning has allowed me to dip my toes in. For the record, he did amazing!

 

[Dakota731]

I am still working (at a bank) hubby is still working (as a police officer and getting bruised during riots).
Our only child, is an immune suppressed post-transplant kiddo that did AMAZING at self-quarantining even before our state's shut down orders.

Prayers headed your way! May God bless your family who not only have to deal with covid but also the safety of your husband who is just trying to do his job.
I think anyone whose family has remained healthy during this pandemic has a silver lining! I’m grateful for the safety of my loved ones and as a bonus of the crisis, I’ve discovered hiking. We are so blessed to have many state parks in our area and I’ve never before taken advantage of their beauty and serenity.

 

[disneychrista]

I guess the silver lining for me is that my life hasn't actually changed that much. I still go to work every day. Being someone who has never really had much of a social life means staying home is not a struggle for me.

 

[tasha99]

Well, I quit my job but we are discovering that we are spending so much less that it's okay. My money allowed us to take family on great vacations and save more, but we aren't going anywhere now anyway and aren't spending much money.

We always ate a lot of home cooking, but I've stepped it up a notch. Fun for me, and my husband loves it (he announced we never need to go out again! And on the road trip to pick up our kittens in Idaho, he pointed out we could just bring a cooler and cook in our hotel room from now on! Bless his heart. I am sooo going out again and getting takeout once this is over!

We got two Ragdoll kittens instead of going on vacation this year. The are so adorable. Ginger is the pretty one*, and so sweet. Wasabi gets into all kinds of trouble, and is less shy than her sister. She's down to 7 lives, despite all the kitten proofing I did (we literally cannot have clothes hanging in the closet for now, lol).

*That's a joke. I'm painting their tails pink and green to keep track of who they are visually. I can tell, but mostly based on personality.

 

[scottmel]

Silver Lining....I bought a DVC resale contract at a "sale" price. DD21 has been home with us since MArch college closed and she still kept 2 internships this summer and had time to study for the GRE Exam.

We were scheduled to take an ADventures By DIsney trip to Boston in August - glad it was cancelled. The refund was HUGE and I have since planned a vacation for next summer to Boston and NAntucket on our own and saved a fair bit of cash on the difference.

ANother Silver Lining - able to work with DD on master school selection programs to apply for this Fall. Plenty of time to research

The Negative - the small montessori school I work at for the last 7 years wont' be able to open this Fall due to parents walking away from tuition commitments last year. My assumption was the same thing will happen THIS year and the risk is too high. I will miss that job and people very much . This has been hard after working so hard since March trying to save it...STILL trying!