For many people the last few months have been spent at home on furlough leave. The vast majority had never even heard of the word ‘furlough’, let alone knew what it meant or what its impact would be.

At headline level, you were 20% worse off with your salary, although some employers kept furloughed staff on full pay, often to the annoyance of work colleagues who were obliged to work for their money. But retail outlets were closed, supermarket shelves were emptying fast and online trades were out of stock of many regular items. It wasn’t easy to spend money, mortgage companies were offering repayment holidays and therefore most furloughed staff weren’t out of pocket with the lower salary.

What did those on furlough leave do with their time and money?

There is only so much daytime television you can watch, especially in the absence of live arts and sports events. So what did those on furlough leave do with their hours and their cash? For many, it was an opportunity to work on their home and garden. But the paint or plants that they needed were unavailable as the retail outlets selling such products were deemed not to be essential and consequently closed.

Others took the opportunity to study, learn new skills or even re-train. Any learning was online, of course, as educational establishments were also closed. A few chose to do voluntary work, but with the lockdown obliging everyone to socially distance, this effort, however well placed, often proved impossible to deliver. Those who succeeded have promised to keep up the voluntary work when they return to the day job, which is clearly good to hear.

You couldn’t go on holiday, particularly outside of this country until recently, and even now you potentially face self-isolation issues on your return. It really was difficult to find something on which to spend your money.

The obvious question being asked by those on furlough leave was whether there would be a job for them to return to. They were reluctant to spend too much money, unsure as to the possible impact on their long-term finances and grateful that, in most cases, they could match their outgoings to their reduced salary.

With the furlough scheme ending next month, those who have been ‘enjoying’ their time on leave will hope to be returning to their day job.