Ms. Sinay, who described herself as thrifty, said the pandemic had pushed her to indulge. She has bought a Dutch oven and roasting pans to make better meals and glass-encased scented candles.
After her two roommates moved out in March, the apartment felt empty. Ms. Sinay bought a plant, a Zanzibar Gem she named Margot-Anaïs. She said she had begun scouring the internet for the “perfect throw pillow” that doesn’t cost $100.
“I feel like I’ve let myself buy things that I wouldn’t,” Ms. Sinay said. “I feel like: ‘OK, is this going to make me feel better? Is this going to brighten my day when I’m sitting here by myself and lonely? Probably.’ So I should get it.”
Splurging to feel normal again.
Meg Casey, 38, a lawyer in Nashville, said she and her husband, a doctor, loved going to the movies before the pandemic.
To recreate the lost experience, they bought a movie projector with a large white screen, then built a fire pit in the backyard, where her family has watched “Star Wars,” “The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie” and “lots of Scooby-Doo,” she said.
“It almost feels like normal life,” Ms. Casey said.
It is the kind of investment that many consumers have made in recent months, buying kayaks, pools, outdoor patio heaters and trampolines to liven up their backyards and soften the blow of lost vacations.
Not everyone feels comfortable splurging. Louise Dunlap, 82, a retired writing teacher in Oakland, Calif., said she had used pandemic savings to donate to organizations seeking to return land to Indigenous people.
Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/04/business/coronavirus-home-upgrades.html
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