How much do you need a month- couple Jerusalem

amother

Plum

Fri, Apr 08 2016, 11:04 am

I used to live in Jerusalem when DH was in kollel.
We got $2000 a month. It was so hard. I'm wondering I it was because I wasn't frugal enough or was it really unlivable?
Just to satisfy my curiousity- what are you all living on?

Maryann

Fri, Apr 08 2016, 11:22 am

Interesting, how much was ur rent? We had like 1500$ and it was enough maybe not plenty plenty but definitely enough

shabbatiscoming

Fri, Apr 08 2016, 11:23 am

OP, Im going to guess that your rent was high because thats about 7500 shekels and thats a nice amount for a couple to live off of.

shabbatiscoming

Fri, Apr 08 2016, 11:25 am

amother wrote:

We lived in the tiniest mouse hole for $1000 a month

So here you have it then. if half of your income was going toward rent then that is going to be tight.

lfab

Fri, Apr 08 2016, 12:14 pm

Don't know specifics for Israel but $2000 a month sounds doable if you are really careful. We lived off of just about that much per month for the first year we were married in NYC. Our rent was $1100 for a very small 1 bedroom apartment. All other expenses totaled $800-$1200 per month (so averaged out to $1000 per month). But we really didn't spend money on pretty much anything.

tichellady

Fri, Apr 08 2016, 1:19 pm

lfab wrote:

We lived in nyc for about the same amount but we were definitely frugal. But it was doable. No idea how Jerusalem compares

amother

Cobalt

Wed, May 04 2016, 5:04 am

in kollel in jerusalem now, stretched fairly thin on way more than that (dh works bein hazemanim at an extremely high-paying job BH, and has been working like a dog since rosh chodesh. I work full time at a professional job. we came to kollel after grad school), but we have two kids in full-day daycare and live in a more expensive neighborhood (falling-apart 2BR, rent is a steal for what it is). for newlyweds $2000 should be plenty to at least break even if you live in a 1BR or 1.5-room apt.

kollel wife

Wed, May 04 2016, 10:08 am

I'm trying to understand - if the rent is $1000 a month, $1000 sounds like a lot for a young couple with no kids.

Are there utilities? You need phone, electric, water, gas - how much is that?

Food and bus fares? What else costs so much?

finallyamommy

Wed, May 04 2016, 11:00 am

I'm confused why everyone is talking in dollars to compare expenses in Jerusalem. So $1000 - around 3500 shekel rent? And 7000 income? Yeah, that should be plenty - minimum wage is 4000 (or was, I think it's gone up recently), and we lived most of our first three years of marriage on one minimum wage salary with apartments ranging from 1200 (okay that wasn't in Jerusalem) to 2500. There are lots of ways to cut costs, most of which we've been doing for years - fleishigs only on Shabbos, cheaper fish like tuna instead of gefilte for Shabbos, no disposables (we're cloth diapering, too, now that we bh have a baby), cook from scratch. But it's true that Jerusalem is very expensive - we moved out of town and I keep noticing random things like that the exact same jar of mayo is 3 shekels cheaper over here.

greenfire

Wed, May 04 2016, 12:33 pm

when there's a will there's a way ...

my kids found an apartment for $550 brand new and clean outskirts of jerusalem - tiny but perfect for a couple

they also were frugal in how they bought food

amother

Beige

Wed, May 04 2016, 12:39 pm

We are a young couple, manage to put at least 100$ money into savings every month, save for things like vacations , new clothes....

We have a pretty decent standard of living ( we do go out to eat/coffe/ ice cream , will splurge on things like salmon/ meat once in a while) but are pretty frugal overall. I walk instead of buses/taxis, shlep to osher ad/ sharei revacha/shuk for cheapest shopping, am very careful with a/c heat ect.

We live in Ramat Eshkol - pay 3,400 NIS rent

Our income (no support) is 7,000 NIS most months (my husband is learning but plays music at gigs once in a while so it can be a little more)

So yes I think 2,000$ is plenty....

(We also pay for a 500 NIS psychiatrist every month and for part of my therapy)