What have been your pandemic buys?
Mine- candles. Apparently I am trying to test all the scents. Also loose leaf tea
Splurge: Nordic Track bike
I also just bought a headlamp for all of those nighttime snowshoe expeditions I’m planning on this winter!
Soft, comfy, warm and fluffy things, mostly “loungewear” that is probably supposed to be pajamas but will be fine for Zoom and the couch! I figure if I am going to be home all winter, I should be warm and happy.
I probably would have bought all the candles, too, but with DH working from home for months, I can’t sneak as much stuff into the house as I used to 
I just came home with white chocolate macadamia nut cookies - my favorite, but I rarely buy them due to sugar content.
Does that count?
In general I’m splurging more on things people like at the grocery store. H gets crab cakes pretty much every time I go. The kids like Dave’s Killer Bread Blueberry Bagels and I picked up an Edwards Key Lime pie for med school boy hoping he gets to come home as planned.
Today I also splurged on our cat buying him some chicken livers and our chickens getting them some mealworms and sunflower seeds. Both of those are “new” (to me) purchases.
I suspect my grocery store likes me as a customer.
I thought this thread was going to be about companies getting your information if you put something in a cart. I was shocked to get email from two companies just because I put something in a cart. Is this new?
@toledo definitely not new. Data mining. But sometimes I add things to cart and see if they send me a discount code or free shipping. Works occasionally
@Creekland the grocery store definitely counts!
@toledo My Microsoft newsthread always has “ads” for items I was searching recently, usually after researching product reviews. And Southwest airlines always sends me an email to see if I am still interested in the route I checked the day or two before. Uncomfortable because it even feels like spying!
Recent Covid purchase: Espresso machine. Haven’t tried it yet. Hoping it will more than pay for itself by curbing trips to the local coffee shops. I still want to support them – but just not as much 
I bought a Roomba that uses an app to connect to my phone, and I can’t connect it. I’m looking for local tech help. 
That’s a clever ploy @deb922 to get free shipping!
I have wondered if more people are clicking and buying from FB/Instagram ads and such. Those things look more tempting if you are not doing in-store shopping.
This is not a big expense but I have been having some fun following a couple of local vintage sellers locally. They do Instagram sales once or twice a week - they post a picture of a home decor item (usually), describe it, price it and then first one who posts “SOLD” purchases it!
My kids like vintage too so I’m getting a few mid century modern things for surprise Christmas gifts this way. I bought two pitchers for myself in the last 2 weeks - a beautiful green that resembles fiestaware that I"m using for holding water to water my plants and another one that is insulated and is sort of a wicker rattan.
This pandemic has shown us how little it costs to live. We’re buying waaaay less, not more. I pay one bill every month–every single thing we purchase or pay for (utilities, groceries, Amazon and those are our only buckets right now) goes on AMEX. This is the third month in a row that our total monthly outlay has been less than $2,600, but groceries definitely account for most of it. I’ve started to make a game of this so no splurges or extras. I’m trying for that $2,000 month. (Please don’t play along or the economy really will collapse.)
A Hello Fresh subscription. D sent us a free box and we continued after that. We’ve been enjoying trying some “new tastes” and learning some new cooking skills in the process!
We bought those bidet attachments for the toilets in the spring when there was a toilet paper shortage. LOL!
If you like loose leaf tea, try Capitol Teas out of Anapolis, MD.
We did Hello Fresh, too, @JustaMom5465! Not really pandemic related but more because I didn’t remember how to shop for only 2 people when DD left for college. I have to say I love not having to wander the whole grocery store hoping they have everything I need and it is easy to pop in for a few perishables every once in a while.
We also bought a Nordic Track bike! We’re just waiting for delivery. It looks like it will be sometime this month.
Our unique pandemic purchase has been garnishing sauces and hot sauces. I guess we’re craving some extra fun with our meals. All of the garnishing sauces from Terrapin Ridge Farms and all of the hot sauces from Yellowbird.
For me, it’s been pajamas. In the past, I bought the cheapest Hanes t-shirts and whatever on-sale sleep capris (because I’m too short for sleep pants) I could find. In the last couple of months I’ve bought four sets of pajamas. It’s felt very indulgent.
For H, my curbside grocery orders have included various stuffed olives, and pricier cheeses and deli meat than I used to buy to make charcuterie plates. He’s diabetic and can’t indulge in his favorite sweets so he’s appreciated this treat.
I’ve also bought more baby toys from Little Tikes, Step2, Green Toys, and other companies that manufacture in the US than I ever expected to purchase.
We bought an elliptical and a spin bike.
I’ve been buying more exercise clothes, but many fewer work clothes.
We also spend more at he grocery store and wine store.
I’ll have to listen to this podcast. It sounds like something different.
All of my COVID impulse purchases have been small, like Amazon deals for things I probably didn’t need. Shapermint shapewear that popped up on FB, Orgain Protein Hot Cocoa (again, FB strikes). Nothing big, although DS15 and I have discussed the Nordic Track Core bike, the Mirror, and the Peloton copycat bikes at length. Just have not pulled the trigger on anything at this point. I do love hearing about everyone else’s purchases though.
I’ve bought almost nothing this year, but my amazon cart has at least 30 “save for later” products in it. Throwing random things in the cart is half the fun of shopping anyway.
I’ve been shopping for son at Kohl’s and had to “add to cart” to get up to the $75 for free shipping. Twice. First with 30% off, then yesterday I had an email from them for 40% off one shopping visit. So I had to do it again.
I was looking at an overpriced paint by number on a non major web site and put it in the cart to check the shipping cost. Yesterday I got an email with a 10% off code. Yeah, I might do it.
What espresso machine @kjofkw? I think that’s the only splurge I’d go for. But I want a small one.
@lookingforward Capresso Ec100. Have not tried it yet but will let you know. Plus I didn’t do my usual over abundance of research, so we’ll see!