The weather is wintry, but the lengthening days tell my hind-brain that Spring is coming. And in my home, Spring means Spring Cleaning. Tidying. Emptying the kitchen cabinets and all the closets of old, unusable items.
On the other hand, this year we have the novel coronavirus, the cause of COVID-19, making its way across the globe. There are currently only a few known cases in the USA, but very likely there will be many more soon.
It has been 11 years since the swine flu outbreak, but I do recall hospital policy: you were not to come to work if febrile. If you had proven swine flu, you were to stay home for quite some time, until you were unlikely to spread your infection to patients and other staff.
My husband is very concerned about the possibility of having to self-quarantine. In addition to the possibility that we might get stuck in our home for a while, he also has to worry about his 2 elderly parents, who live just a few miles away. He worries about possible food shortages and how they will get supplies if this virus hits our city hard.
He has already been shopping to expand our pantry. I heard him tell his dad we have enough quinoa and beans to last about 4 months. Good thing we like that stuff.
A backup freezer is suddenly being discussed.
What about the budget?
Oh, the irony. After our money date last month, when I thought we would have more understanding about our money situation, instead we had some words (not entirely consisting of I love you) when I paid the bills this weekend, because we each had different mental accounting situations.
Him: I thought we had money left over from last year’s bonus.
Me: That money has been earmarked. And we just paid the taxes.
Him: This is important. And we’ll eat the food…eventually. Think of it as a timing thing. We are just buying it early.
Me (after an hour or two to get used this): OK. But can we set a budget for this? How about $XYZ?
Him: Oh, that’s more than I thought we would need. That’s great.
Both, for a few more hours: grumble, grumble, grumble.
We did make up before bedtime.
What about finances?
Luckily, I haven’t been worrying about this too much.
We have an emergency fund, with about 8 months of living expenses in it. If I have to miss work because of illness/quarantine, we can manage to pay the bills even if my paycheck stops.
I have already seen our investments drop by about 8%, but that’s money that I wasn’t really planning on using for years. I expect it will come back before I want to retire. (Actually, that’s a cheat of a prediction; I’m pretty sure I won’t be ready and able to retire until the market rebounds.)
What about decluttering?
Anyhow, the other issue is the decluttering one.
After a long cold winter, I am trying to clear things out of the house. I have been inspired to thin out the linen closet. I still have 14 books and 5 shelves of clutter to get out of the house. It might be time for me to attack my closet, which is so packed I can’t really reach the shelf in the back.
The idea of bringing more things into the house: a freezer, cans of beans, toilet paper–it is all too much! I can’t imagine where they will all go. My brain is short circuiting.
Luckily, I kept my mouth shut on that argument.
After a night to sleep on it, I realize this is just another argument for getting rid of things we don’t use. By clearing out old towels and blankets, we can make room for the emergency toilet paper. Or the beans.
With all the beans, I have no doubt we will be using the toilet paper up, eventually. And then (whenever that is) we will have more space free in the house.
How about you? Is this new viral illness causing you to make changes in your home life? Or is it business as usual?