What do food/preparation for Pesach expenses add up to?

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amother

Mon, Mar 24 2014, 7:00 pm

Tangentially, on the thread about the outrageously expensive hotel costs over Pesach, many posted that staying home and making Pesach at home is very expensive too.

This will be interesting as a basis for comparison, and might give us budgeting tips.

Please itemize and only add expenses that you are spending specifically for Pesach. Please mention how many people are in your family, and how many additional guests.

For instance:

If you have a cleaning lady 52 weeks a year, and dont have extra cleaning help for Pesach, dont include cleaning costs.

Do not add clothing, or anything else youd be buying anyhow.

Limit the expenses to those that are needed, not those that are considered luxuries (very expensive wines or roasts, etc).

causemommysaid

Mon, Mar 24 2014, 7:13 pm

assuming you already own pesach dishes these are my expenses for a family of 4 plus inlaws visiting

1) extra cleaning help-$150 above what I normally pay

2) car cleaning- $50 (I take it to teenagers who are doing a car drive and get both cars done for this price)

3) meat and chicken- $150 above what I normally pay

4) other groceries- $150 above what I normally pay

5) matzoh and wine- $100 above what I normally pay (we only use hand matzoh for the seder)

6) paper goods- $100 above what I normally pay

I probably over estimated. Pesach is not a budget buster for us the way it is for other families. If we are careful we can keep the extra expenses to about $600-$700. Our family is small though. I can't imagine the expenses for larger families- probably 4-5 times more.

amother

Mon, Mar 24 2014, 7:24 pm

I spend about 2 grand on food, including wine and shmura matza for my family of 5 plus many extra guests for seder and yom tov meals. And a few hundred dollars extra for cleaning help. So which hotel package are we possible getting for my family of 5 for $2500 range? Never mind the airfare.

sky

Mon, Mar 24 2014, 7:38 pm

amother wrote:

I just saw this on imamother. http://www.pesachforless.com/2014/about.html
$3125 - couple
$2250 - 3 kids

about $5500. "Only" double your quote. (includes tax, not tips)

Trenton, nj - car transportation from NY area.

amother

Mon, Mar 24 2014, 7:41 pm

8 people, probably 25 guests or so throughout Yom Tov. We may be eating 2-3 suppers at relatives.

Estimated for this year:

10lb Shmurah Matzah @ $13/lb: $130
2 cases wine @ $6/bottle: $144
2 cases grape juice @ $4/bottle: $64
meat: 2 small roasts, case of chicken, zroa: $200
12 rolls fish @$6/roll: $72
produce (potatoes, bananas, apples, melons, pears, carrots, onions, zucchini, eggplant, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, beets, kiwis, parsnip, grapefruit, avocados, tomatoes, pineapple, lettuce, lemons, horseradish): est. $250-$500
10 dozen eggs: $25
nuts, sugar, salt: $25
paper goods (pans, dishes, napkins, ziploc bags, plastic tablecloths, foil, heavy duty foil, duct tape, masking tape, cutlery): $350 - we will have leftovers to use throughout the year
8 hours cleaning help @$10/hour plus travel: $100
appliances, knives: $100
unexpected expenses: $0-$100
=guessing about $1,500-$1,800

We'll see how much it actually ends up being!

amother

Mon, Mar 24 2014, 7:54 pm

sky wrote:

Same amother.
I don't live in NY, so I would have airfare.
And the $2250 for my kids, assuming they will even let 3 kids in our room without violating some fire codes, places them all in our one hotel room. Nothing enjoyable about that IMO.

mominlkwd

Mon, Mar 24 2014, 8:11 pm

last year it cost us about $2000 with wine, matzah and groceries. I'm not including extra cleaning help which I do get. We could probably cut it down a bit - I always have extra matzah and meat after Y"T but I'd rather too much than too little.

I'm also not including chol hamoed expenses which can add up.

amother

Mon, Mar 24 2014, 8:30 pm

I was actually curious about this, too, so I'll share.

OK, some of my items might be considered luxuries, but I'll include them anyway.

Tips: Clean early and often to minimize cost of extra help.

Compare prices and keep lists.

Ask shailos. You may not need to do or spend as much as you think.

We average 10-15 people over age 5 for each Shabbos/YT meal; more for the sedarim, less for the lunches.

Cleaning: I spent an extra $200 this year.

Covering - we use large rolls of light sticking carpet protector for tables and counters. We invest about $50 and it lasts for several years. We are all set for this year.

Wine: We use Sara Bee from Trader Joe's, plus wine we have gotten as gifts for hosting. Cost, $6/bottle for about 8 bottles used during 2 sedarim, plus about $8 sparkling grape juice ($4/3 bottles at BJ's) and $9 (128 oz for 2 64 oz bottles at Costco). Total - ~$70.

Matza: about $100 for 7 lbs shmura matza and another $10-15 for machine matza (some of both are whole wheat).

Meat: beef from Lakewood wholesaler, chicken and ground beef from Costco - $300-400. Hard to be exact because we buy a lot at once, not just for Pesach, and we turn over early. Probably not all of this amount is for Pesach.

High quality chocolate is a planned for luxurious "necessity" for us year round, and we use a lot on Pesach. We buy a case of Schmerling to get the slight discount. ~$50.

Dry goods - we get what we can @ 50% off end of Pesach sales and store/freeze. I found KLP jams and shelf paper at about 70% off at salvage stores during the year. Matza meal stuff, marinara, duck sauce, spices, ketchup, nuts and oils, canned goods, quinoa, pareve milk, treats, etc. Maybe $300.

Fruits and veggies, salmon, OJ and eggs (18 dozen) - Costco, BJ's, local cheapest produce place - about $300.

Dairy - about $50 on cream cheese, yogurt, cheese and milk.

Frozen goods - gefilte fish, KLP kishke - $20.

I save a little in the budget for kitchen utensils. Last year, I got an immersion blender; great help!

So, for us, around $1500. That doesn't include the restocking costs at the end for flour, cereals, soy sauces, snacks, etc.

Ruchel

Tue, Mar 25 2014, 1:00 pm

There are two main ways to make it.

"It's Pessach, let's enjoy, refine the mitzva, splurge"

or

"It's only one week"

Both are valid. I try hard to remember the second when passing near the (so many nowadays) Pessach cakes, pasta (!) etc. But I also don't go fully Polish and have potatomeatmeatpotatoegg all week, either.

Cleaning wise the more you do yourself, including the car etc, the less expensive. Food wise it's the same, manufactured products are crazy.

Buy as much as possible in advance. Prices go crazy because many who don't keep kosher kehilchata or even have treif meat, buy Pessach products and kosher meat for Pessach...

Ask your rav what exactly YOU need to buy klp. Water (yes I learned it exists), milk, which spices... what you can buy plain, just keep closed until P...

While annoying it may be worth it to "cook" and not buy manufactured. Also it's nice to adapt to your own taste and show family recipes to kids Wink

)

MamaBear

Tue, Mar 25 2014, 1:19 pm

The person who wrote what the extra expenses are replied the best. Pesach may cost us over a $1000 but we don't eat for free the rest of the year, ya know?

amother

Tue, Mar 25 2014, 2:25 pm

OK, so I'm the amother who said $1500-$1800. It usually costs us $300-$400 a week for food and paper goods. So it's at least $1100-$1500 more for Pesach, and I am probably underestimating.

Maybe I'm doing something wrong or maybe not, but it is VERY EXPENSIVE. Still cheaper than a hotel, but not small change. And this is without getting the things that would make Pesach easier and more pleasant, like Pesach toys, new Haggadahs for kids, Chol Hamoed trips, and the work I can't do (I freelance) because of Pesach preparations.

amother

Tue, Mar 25 2014, 2:37 pm

Sorry to be anon

I think we actually spend less. It is a combo of factors. We go to family for sedarim and they really go all out multiples salads, meats and chicken, side dishes and desserts. So when we get home, I'm already feeling like I need to detox from all the food and the idea of more food isn't greatly appealing. I always say I will eat less when we are at family, but the food fest pulls me in.

We are more "lenient" in the home as per our custom so certain products others can't use, basically things with hashgacha and no chametz, but kitniyot derivative. I tend to wash off sealed canned products we use in my sink in case some chametz landed on the can when I am cleaning and closing off the pantry area, so chances are I bought the product on sale or at a regular price.

I have the attitude of it is only 5 days at home, so let's not go overboard. Whatever is leftover we still need to eat. It cuts down on experimentation and we end up sticking to basic food.

On our way back from family, we will stop in whatever BP store has super inexpensive yogurts or whatever and the kids are pretty much set.

I guess when it is all over, I just want to enjoy the time with the family and not have a lot leftover that no one wants to eat.

amother

Tue, Mar 25 2014, 2:46 pm

We spend about $400 on food and cleaning products. That's it. But there's only two of us and we have a small apartment, plus I make pesach very simply... we don't have guests either...

lovingmother

Tue, Mar 25 2014, 8:30 pm

another with the light sticking carpet protector for tables and counters, can you tell me more about it?
Thanks!

amother

Tue, Mar 25 2014, 9:04 pm

Home Depot carries it. That's where we got it first. Amazon also sometimes has it.

It works best with 2 people, but one can do it. The outside of the roll is the sticky part. You hold it down and then unroll, smoothing as you go. When you have enough, you cut it and move on to the next section. You can cut smaller strips for around the sink and stove.

amother

Wed, Mar 26 2014, 1:04 pm

Wow we are four in Israel but we are way higher in expensive. I make everything from scratch year rounds and Pesach is no different. But we eat tons of produce and protein so it $$$$$$$$$$$$$
Say 1500 at least for food
100 new clothes
50 new books and toys as we sell yr round stuff.
Wine 200
grape juice 12

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