Paying off a mortgage, starting a college fund: See what these Long Islanders did with their pandemic savings
Financial adviser Nadeem Wamiq at his home office in Huntington Station. Credit: Newsday / Alejandra Villa Loarca
When the pandemic began, Nadeem Wamiq brought many of his money-spending activities to a screeching halt, including twice-yearly vacations, restaurant dining and political fundraisers. He also hit the pause button on his memberships in everything from a gym to local chambers of commerce.
“I’m usually a big spender,” said Wamiq, a financial adviser who lives with his wife, Zahida Nadeem, in Huntington Station.
Driven to staying out of COVID-19’s way, Wamiq also relocated his office in March 2020, from a shared corporate space to his house, and Zooms replaced in-person client meetings. Although the move necessitated an outlay of $1,000 for technology, lights and a background board for virtual meetings, the home office removed Wamiq’s $1,500 in monthly rent, and he stopped spending $150 a month at the gas pump.
By March 2021, he had amassed a bundle — about $69,000 — from his curtailed activities. So, with a single payment of $55,000, he wiped out the remainder of his mortgage.
“I had saved a lot of money and decided to let my money grow in the bank,” said Wamiq, who resumed his pre-pandemic activities this year, except for restaurant dining.
In its wake, COVID-19 has left behind extensive misery, including loss of lives, ongoing health challenges, unemployment, persistent struggles to make ends meet and depression.
But along with the physical, mental and financial woes that COVID has wrought on innumerable lives, some Long Islanders have benefited from a byproduct of the pandemic — an upsurge in their savings.
As they tell it, their financial reserves began to creep up in March 2020, with involuntary and then voluntary social isolation keeping them at home, except for groceries, medical appointments and outdoor activities. And even when the pandemic began to wane, they continued to embrace a homebody mindset, opting to work mostly remotely and eschewing indoor restaurant dining, community events, travel and theaters.
While that choice came with some costs of its own — higher grocery bills and investments in work furniture and technology — those expenses paled in comparison to the thousands of dollars in pandemic-triggered savings they reaped. Home improvement projects, travel and charities are among the varied ways that they have used their excess funds.
Between March 2020 and February 2021, New Hyde Park resident Shirley Shing, a technology support aide at an elementary school, and her retired husband had saved “a couple of thousand dollars” with home-cooked meals instead of dining out in a restaurant once a week, she said. As a result, the couple allocated a portion of their savings to start a 529 College Savings Plan two years ago when their oldest grandchild celebrated her first birthday.
“It was our present,” Shing said.
With their growth in savings, Long Islanders are part of a national trend.
According to a Federal Reserve System research report published in October, curtailed spending due to pandemic shutdowns and social distancing, combined with the boost to income from federal stimulus checks, led to soaring growth in personal savings. In 2020 and through summer 2021, U.S. households in aggregate accumulated $2.3 trillion in savings, which was far beyond “what they would have saved if income and spending components had grown at recent, pre-pandemic trends,” the economic study said.
But since last year, U.S. households have “decumulated” about one-quarter of their COVID-19 savings, “with the rate of savings dropping below its pre-pandemic trend,” the report said.
According to David Wiczer, associate professor in economics at Stony Brook University, employees at the bottom 20% of the economic ladder, such as hourly wage earners like grocery cashiers, didn’t have the option of saving money by shedding their commuting expenses and working remotely. But with stimulus checks coming in and many feeling heightened concern about the economy’s future, they tended to save, Wiczer said. Plus, a labor shortage, he said, led to improved wages during the pandemic for many of these workers.
Lower-income people also saved money by paying down their credit cards because, “disproportionately, they otherwise face higher interest rates,” Wiczer said.
For Emmanuel Ponce, a tennis pro at the Huntington Tennis Center, and his wife, Carolyn Mellen, a social worker, the pandemic was rife with challenges, but it also afforded them diverse saving streams. And they are now closer than ever to achieving their goal — buying a larger home.
In the first six months of the pandemic, Ponce was unemployed — receiving jobless benefits and paying no commuting expenses — due to the lockdown of indoor athletic and fitness venues. With Mellen only commuting to work once or twice a month for a year and continuing to do so a couple of days a week, the two have saved about $45 a week in gas since March 2020.
And because Mellen hasn’t purchased her lunch on remote workdays and the couple didn’t dine out for a year, and rarely do so now, they shaved $2,000 from their outlays.
Heightened COVID-19 angst about weddings as super-spreader events led Ponce and Mellen to scale down their wedding plans in November 2020 and get married at home by a judge and with only their parents present, but their modified celebration had a silver lining. The couple not only retained the $27,000 they had saved for a wedding reception, it earned $540 in bank interest.
And last November, with the seller’s real estate market still strong, they sold their modest two-bedroom, one-bath home in Lindenhurst for $435,000 — $10,000 above their asking price. After paying off their mortgage, they netted $170,000, which they have invested in a six-month, 3% interest CD.
Living with Mellen’s parents in Gilgo until home prices become more affordable, the couple still have bills to pay, such as grocery and insurance, but with no mortgage, they continue to save money, they said.
“We will come out with a bigger house,” Ponce said.
Between March 2020 and January 2022, Jasbir Singh, the owner and publisher of a Hindi weekly newspaper, had saved $300 a week by staying away from restaurants and his usual social, charitable and civic activities, where attendees generally pay for their meals. He and his wife, Satinder Kaur, who live in Woodbury with two sons and two daughters-in-law, also eschewed moviegoing, which saved $60 to $90 a month, and by skipping their annual trip to India, they retained about $4,000 in airfares. In all, Singh saved about $18,000.
But during the 20-month social isolation, Singh said, his household’s food costs were $10,000 higher than before the pandemic.
“We paid more in groceries, because when you’re home, you eat more and that becomes expensive,” Singh said.
Taking his food costs into consideration, Singh calculated savings of roughly $8,000 during the pandemic. That dollar amount also represented the cost of his home’s new deck and fence, which he paid for in eight monthly installments of $1,000, beginning in October 2020.
More than a year ago, Singh returned to his leisure and community activities but, concerned that a COVID-19 outbreak abroad could make returning to the United States difficult, he has not made any plans to visit India soon.
Between March 2020 and March 2021, Mariana Lopez, a psychotherapist with offices in Hempstead, Queens and Brooklyn, scored excess funds by eschewing such professional activities as in-person therapy sessions with clients and business travel.
Using telehealth technology to stay safe and maintain client contact, the Valley Stream resident stopped commuting six days a week, which netted a weekly savings of about $100 in gas. And instead of conducting in-person training sessions for professionals within and beyond New York and shelling out $2,000 on air travel, hotels and meeting space, Lopez set up a temporary home office in her living room, purchased a desk for $600 and held Zoom gatherings.
She also saved $3,000 by generally taking a six-month break on buying her daily breakfasts and lunches and eating dinner once a week in restaurants. A single mother with a son, 14, daughter, 30, and son, 32, Lopez said her mother stayed with her for four months during the pandemic and cooked every day for the family.
She also reaped $1,500 in savings by making no clothing purchases in the pandemic’s first 18 months.
“I had enough to last for the entire pandemic,” said Lopez, who also saved $200 on dry cleaning.
By August 2021, with $9,100 in excess savings, Lopez paid $5,100 toward the $24,000 price of her new backyard patio, and with her teenage son, she spent a weekend at an upstate camp, which included a cabin and meals for $4,000.
“A lot of clients died, and most of my time was volunteering, helping clients’ families, and it was a difficult, draining time,” she said. “And when we were able to travel, I needed to take some time off with my family.”
Lopez hasn’t resumed in-person training sessions, so Zooms continue to save her money on travel, hotels and meeting space. But in March 2021, she returned to her other pre-pandemic activities, including her daily commute and weekly dinners in restaurants. She is also shopping a bit for clothes, and since October 2022, Lopez has traveled to Ecuador, Las Vegas and the Dominican Republic.
When the pandemic began, Nadeem Wamiq brought many of his money-spending activities to a screeching halt, including twice-yearly vacations, restaurant dining and political fundraisers. He also hit the pause button on his memberships in everything from a gym to local chambers of commerce.
“I’m usually a big spender,” said Wamiq, a financial adviser who lives with his wife, Zahida Nadeem, in Huntington Station.
Driven to staying out of COVID-19’s way, Wamiq also relocated his office in March 2020, from a shared corporate space to his house, and Zooms replaced in-person client meetings. Although the move necessitated an outlay of $1,000 for technology, lights and a background board for virtual meetings, the home office removed Wamiq’s $1,500 in monthly rent, and he stopped spending $150 a month at the gas pump.
By March 2021, he had amassed a bundle — about $69,000 — from his curtailed activities. So, with a single payment of $55,000, he wiped out the remainder of his mortgage.
“I had saved a lot of money and decided to let my money grow in the bank,” said Wamiq, who resumed his pre-pandemic activities this year, except for restaurant dining.
In its wake, COVID-19 has left behind extensive misery, including loss of lives, ongoing health challenges, unemployment, persistent struggles to make ends meet and depression.
But along with the physical, mental and financial woes that COVID has wrought on innumerable lives, some Long Islanders have benefited from a byproduct of the pandemic — an upsurge in their savings.
Nadeem Wamiq, financial adviser, Huntington Station
Saved:
- Restaurants, $350 a month
- Office rent, $1,500 a month
- Twice-yearly vacations, $5,000 to $7,000 each
- Political contributions, $4,000
- Memberships, $1,000 a year
Estimated savings: $69,000
Spent: $55,000 to wipe out mortgage
Photo credit: Newsday / Alejandra Villa Loarca
As they tell it, their financial reserves began to creep up in March 2020, with involuntary and then voluntary social isolation keeping them at home, except for groceries, medical appointments and outdoor activities. And even when the pandemic began to wane, they continued to embrace a homebody mindset, opting to work mostly remotely and eschewing indoor restaurant dining, community events, travel and theaters.
While that choice came with some costs of its own — higher grocery bills and investments in work furniture and technology — those expenses paled in comparison to the thousands of dollars in pandemic-triggered savings they reaped. Home improvement projects, travel and charities are among the varied ways that they have used their excess funds.
Between March 2020 and February 2021, New Hyde Park resident Shirley Shing, a technology support aide at an elementary school, and her retired husband had saved “a couple of thousand dollars” with home-cooked meals instead of dining out in a restaurant once a week, she said. As a result, the couple allocated a portion of their savings to start a 529 College Savings Plan two years ago when their oldest grandchild celebrated her first birthday.
“It was our present,” Shing said.
With their growth in savings, Long Islanders are part of a national trend.
According to a Federal Reserve System research report published in October, curtailed spending due to pandemic shutdowns and social distancing, combined with the boost to income from federal stimulus checks, led to soaring growth in personal savings. In 2020 and through summer 2021, U.S. households in aggregate accumulated $2.3 trillion in savings, which was far beyond “what they would have saved if income and spending components had grown at recent, pre-pandemic trends,” the economic study said.
But since last year, U.S. households have “decumulated” about one-quarter of their COVID-19 savings, “with the rate of savings dropping below its pre-pandemic trend,” the report said.
According to David Wiczer, associate professor in economics at Stony Brook University, employees at the bottom 20% of the economic ladder, such as hourly wage earners like grocery cashiers, didn’t have the option of saving money by shedding their commuting expenses and working remotely. But with stimulus checks coming in and many feeling heightened concern about the economy’s future, they tended to save, Wiczer said. Plus, a labor shortage, he said, led to improved wages during the pandemic for many of these workers.
Lower-income people also saved money by paying down their credit cards because, “disproportionately, they otherwise face higher interest rates,” Wiczer said.
A silver lining
Emmanuel Ponce and Carolyn Mellen in front of the home of Carolyn’s parents in Gilgo Beach. Credit: Rick Kopstein
For Emmanuel Ponce, a tennis pro at the Huntington Tennis Center, and his wife, Carolyn Mellen, a social worker, the pandemic was rife with challenges, but it also afforded them diverse saving streams. And they are now closer than ever to achieving their goal — buying a larger home.
In the first six months of the pandemic, Ponce was unemployed — receiving jobless benefits and paying no commuting expenses — due to the lockdown of indoor athletic and fitness venues. With Mellen only commuting to work once or twice a month for a year and continuing to do so a couple of days a week, the two have saved about $45 a week in gas since March 2020.
And because Mellen hasn’t purchased her lunch on remote workdays and the couple didn’t dine out for a year, and rarely do so now, they shaved $2,000 from their outlays.
Emmanuel Ponce, tennis pro, and Carolyn Mellen, social worker, Gilgo
Saved:
- Gas, $45 a week
- Restaurants, takeout lunches, $2,000
- Canceled wedding reception, $27,000
Earned:
- Bank interest, $540
- Sale of house: $170,000
- CD interest: $5,100
Spent: Still saving for a larger house
Credit: Rick Kopstein
Heightened COVID-19 angst about weddings as super-spreader events led Ponce and Mellen to scale down their wedding plans in November 2020 and get married at home by a judge and with only their parents present, but their modified celebration had a silver lining. The couple not only retained the $27,000 they had saved for a wedding reception, it earned $540 in bank interest.
And last November, with the seller’s real estate market still strong, they sold their modest two-bedroom, one-bath home in Lindenhurst for $435,000 — $10,000 above their asking price. After paying off their mortgage, they netted $170,000, which they have invested in a six-month, 3% interest CD.
Living with Mellen’s parents in Gilgo until home prices become more affordable, the couple still have bills to pay, such as grocery and insurance, but with no mortgage, they continue to save money, they said.
“We will come out with a bigger house,” Ponce said.
Home improvement
Jasbir Jay Singh and his wife Satinder Kaur look out at the new brickwork in their Woodbury backyard. Credit: Debbie Egan-Chin
Between March 2020 and January 2022, Jasbir Singh, the owner and publisher of a Hindi weekly newspaper, had saved $300 a week by staying away from restaurants and his usual social, charitable and civic activities, where attendees generally pay for their meals. He and his wife, Satinder Kaur, who live in Woodbury with two sons and two daughters-in-law, also eschewed moviegoing, which saved $60 to $90 a month, and by skipping their annual trip to India, they retained about $4,000 in airfares. In all, Singh saved about $18,000.
But during the 20-month social isolation, Singh said, his household’s food costs were $10,000 higher than before the pandemic.
“We paid more in groceries, because when you’re home, you eat more and that becomes expensive,” Singh said.
Jasbir Singh, owner/publisher, Hindi weekly newspaper, Woodbury
Saved:
- Restaurants, social, civic activities, $300 a week
- Movie-going, $60 to $90 a month
- Annual trip to India, $4,000
Estimated savings: $18,000
Spent: $8,000 to renovate deck and install new fence
Credit: Debbie Egan-Chin
Taking his food costs into consideration, Singh calculated savings of roughly $8,000 during the pandemic. That dollar amount also represented the cost of his home’s new deck and fence, which he paid for in eight monthly installments of $1,000, beginning in October 2020.
More than a year ago, Singh returned to his leisure and community activities but, concerned that a COVID-19 outbreak abroad could make returning to the United States difficult, he has not made any plans to visit India soon.
Time away with family
Mariana Lopez plays with her schnauzers, Loky, left, and Coco, on Feb. 15, on the new patio that she recently built in Valley Stream. Credit: Linda Rosier
Between March 2020 and March 2021, Mariana Lopez, a psychotherapist with offices in Hempstead, Queens and Brooklyn, scored excess funds by eschewing such professional activities as in-person therapy sessions with clients and business travel.
Using telehealth technology to stay safe and maintain client contact, the Valley Stream resident stopped commuting six days a week, which netted a weekly savings of about $100 in gas. And instead of conducting in-person training sessions for professionals within and beyond New York and shelling out $2,000 on air travel, hotels and meeting space, Lopez set up a temporary home office in her living room, purchased a desk for $600 and held Zoom gatherings.
She also saved $3,000 by generally taking a six-month break on buying her daily breakfasts and lunches and eating dinner once a week in restaurants. A single mother with a son, 14, daughter, 30, and son, 32, Lopez said her mother stayed with her for four months during the pandemic and cooked every day for the family.
Mariana Lopez, psychotherapist, Valley Stream
Saved:
- Gas, $100 a week
- Business travel, $2,000
- Restaurants, take-out meals, $3,000
- Clothing, $1,500
- Dry cleaning, $200
Estimated savings: $9,100
Spent: $5,100 toward a new backyard patio and $4,000 on a weekend family getaway
Credit: Linda Rosier
She also reaped $1,500 in savings by making no clothing purchases in the pandemic’s first 18 months.
“I had enough to last for the entire pandemic,” said Lopez, who also saved $200 on dry cleaning.
By August 2021, with $9,100 in excess savings, Lopez paid $5,100 toward the $24,000 price of her new backyard patio, and with her teenage son, she spent a weekend at an upstate camp, which included a cabin and meals for $4,000.
“A lot of clients died, and most of my time was volunteering, helping clients’ families, and it was a difficult, draining time,” she said. “And when we were able to travel, I needed to take some time off with my family.”
Lopez hasn’t resumed in-person training sessions, so Zooms continue to save her money on travel, hotels and meeting space. But in March 2021, she returned to her other pre-pandemic activities, including her daily commute and weekly dinners in restaurants. She is also shopping a bit for clothes, and since October 2022, Lopez has traveled to Ecuador, Las Vegas and the Dominican Republic.