(This post was written a few weeks ago. It was a post that I’d originally thought wouldn’t be published owing to the poor formatting. I can’t do anything about the formatting, but have decided to publish anyway. So Margaret, you’ve probably guessed what we’re up to on the home front, but if you haven’t, read on. Here it is – warts and all.)

A few months prior to Covid we had a garage sale, and we advertised some things individually on Facebook market place. The world was much more affluent then. Items advertised for a fair price hung around for days, often with barely an enquiry. Some things eventually sold, usually after much bartering, and we were lucky to receive a tiny fraction of the original purchase price.

Fast forward about twelve months. It’s now approximately seven months since Covid arrived in Australia. Some people have lost jobs, others fear losing their livelihoods.

However being retired our income remains reasonably static, and currently prices for home renovations are competitive. After a favourable quote for some work, we’ve decided our man cave is to be no more, and in its place we’ll have a new master bedroom suite.

Consequently we’ve needed to have a cull of the man cave furniture. With some trepidation we advertised a few items, a coffee table, two lounge chairs, the fridge, and a few other items. The result indicates there has been a major shift in people’s mindsets. Clearly the affluent, ‘ buy everything new’ mentality has gone. There has been no bartering for lower prices, and most items have sold within half a day of being listed. We even lifted the laminate flooring from the man cave and advertised it. We photographed it and listed it prior to lifting it and had a committed buyer almost immediately.

Recognising the shift in attitudes we’ve taken our cull further and have moved out into the garden. A couple of portable fire pits (now replaced with an Ozpig) have found new homes, and some potted plants that I had been using as gap fillers in the garden have also now been off loaded.

Everything was advertised for a fair price, but I still expected a considerable amount of bartering, and I expected the selling process to take weeks. I anticipated some things wouldn’t be saleable at all and would either eventually go to charity, or to the tip. Everything sold, and very quickly.

Whilst the reason behind this shift in mindsets has been brought on by a downturn in circumstances, or a reduced sense of security in general, its good to see a shift away from the wasteful society we had become. A silver lining perhaps…..