Our shopping habits changed amid COVID-19

As our lifestyles have changed during the pandemic, so have our shopping habits.

Some of us have been shopping more than ever. PayPal even reported a 34% increase in transactions in its first quarter from the same time last year, Gideon Anstey, spokesperson for the platform, told USA TODAY.

Some people may be saving on expenses that they weren’t before while boosting spending on other things. .

“On one hand, folks are spending less in areas such as transportation, eating out and other social activities,” Danetha Doe, a financial philosopher and creator of Money & Mimosas, a virtual classroom, told USA TODAY. “On the other hand, I know that folks are spending more in areas that they did not previously spend a lot of money in.”

As the COVID-19 pandemic begins to wind down, some shopping habits that were born during lockdown may stick around as more businesses and states lift restrictions.

Some are saving more money as a result of lifestyle changes

Kristy Flannery, 32, from New Jersey, said that she hasn’t spent as much during the pandemic and has found opportunities to save more than she had prior.

“New clothes were not a high priority during the pandemic as I opted for comfortable attire to work from home,” she told USA TODAY. “The pandemic has helped me really buckle down and establish a budget as the pandemic proved material items simply aren’t important.”

For her part, Hannah Noyes, 26, moved from Brooklyn, New York, to Newbury, Massachusetts, during the pandemic when her company announced that they would be shifting to a work-from-home model indefinitely. She moved back in with her parents and, as a result, her approach to money management changed.

By Morgan Hines finance.yahoo.com