Pesach Posts- PSA before the madness starts, we're different

watergirl

Thu, Jan 18 2018, 12:44 pm

This is a friendly reminder before the pre-pesach posts start to pour in (some have already started!). People ask often on here how much does it cost to make pesach, or complain about the cost of pesach. Of course its expensive. But before people start to throw out numbers and make assumptions on the frum world's pesach practices, I would like to offer this friendly PSA.

People on here often assume that everyone on this board only eats shmura matza and therefor tack a hefty price tag to the cost. Ask the poster if they only eat shmura before assuming. A family who eats only shmura will spend many hundreds possibly. A family who eats boxed will spend $25.

Same goes for wine. We buy very little wine, just a few bottles. Pretty much everyone uses grape juice for the 4 cups. Better to ask and not assume.

People talk about the cost of "wine, matza, and meat". Meat refers to cow/lamb/etc. Well, I've covered wine and matza. Now for meat. For many families, mine included, meat on pesach means maybe some ground beef and a pack or two of hot dogs. MAYBE a small roast if its crazy cheap. Other wise its chicken (substantially less costly than meat). Please dont assume that everyone on this board consumes tons of meat, or any, without asking before you give advice.

I often see people talking about new clothing, disposables, etc. Not everyone does this as well.

I just think its best to remember that we are all different and just like our wallets all look different, our minhagim (or what we consider to be halacha like shmura matza/wine) look different. And so do our personal preferences.

mommy3b2c

Thu, Jan 18 2018, 12:49 pm

I completely agree with you.

But then, I never really understand the posts: “how do people afford: day camp, vacations, tuition, etc....” the answer is everyone makes different amounts of money, has different size families, and spends on different things....”

The people who spend more money then you, probably have more money than you. Or they have maxed out credit cards.

amother

Slategray

Thu, Jan 18 2018, 1:56 pm

watergirl wrote:

Very true. May I just add that not everyone hires (extra) cleaning help either.

keym

Thu, Jan 18 2018, 2:38 pm

And many people do or dont use specific products, hashgachos, recipes etc because of chumros.
For example, my family only uses shmura hand, but because we eat specific (cheaper) hashgochos and we are extremely makpid on gebrochts, we buy very little matza. And mostly for shleimim. Just an example how we could spend $50 on hand shmura for the whole pesach. But if you do matza brei, matza and butter or mayo all pesach, you will spend a lot more.

watergirl

Thu, Jan 18 2018, 2:47 pm

keym wrote:

No you wont necessarily. Here is a great example of my point of this thread actually. If one makes matza brei and matza pizza and everything with SHMURA then yes, its a lot more. But you can buy 10 lbs of boxed machine matza thats totally acceptable by many many frum jews (like streitz, yehuda matza, manischewitz) for $5! You can eat matza all day and night and not spend $30. That stuff is dirt cheap. So everything will depend on what you do and how you hold. See what I mean? Smile

keym

Thu, Jan 18 2018, 2:53 pm

watergirl wrote:

Totally. Understood. I was responding to those who those who assume that keeping specific chumros = spending a fortune. We barely eat matza so our shmura matza chumra is not forcing us to spend a fortune. We eat a lot of potatoes, carrots, onions, apples, eggs so we are not hungry.

keym

Thu, Jan 18 2018, 2:56 pm

mha3484 wrote:

Also where I live I can buy broken hand shmura. It is much more affordable. We use it anytime someone wants matzah outside of a sueda. I cant change my husbands minhagim but I can work with it the best I can.

True. And I should probably start a spin off. But you do need 12 or so shlaimim which does necessitate several pound at least. Do you have a different solution for the at least 12 shlaimim?

amother

Chartreuse

Thu, Jan 18 2018, 3:05 pm

watergirl wrote:

The only time people post how much they spend is when an OP asks for amounts either so she can anticipate what it will cost or to do a cost analysis of how much she has already spent. Why is this a problem? Nobody just randomly says this is how much pesach must cost you.

watergirl

Thu, Jan 18 2018, 3:07 pm

amother wrote:

Because when people give amonts, they typically say things like “$1000 for matza” and “$500 for wine” and “$300 for meat”. So my point is not to assume.

amother

Chartreuse

Thu, Jan 18 2018, 3:12 pm

watergirl wrote:

Because when people give amonts, they typically say things like “$1000 for matza” and “$500 for wine” and “$300 for meat”. So my point is not to assume.

Nobody assumes when they see that 2 posters write $50 for matza, 4 write $250 and 3 write $1000. Obviously the OP sees the vast range, asks questions and calculates accordingly. Isn't that what imamother is about, seeing the broad range and learning through that? Smile

I've never seen a thread where 50 posters write all the same thing and there is no range between the responses.

watergirl

Thu, Jan 18 2018, 3:16 pm

amother wrote:

I've never seen a thread where 50 posters write all the same thing and there is no range between the responses.

I’ve been on imamother for a long time. I obviously disagree, which is why I made this thread in the first place.

cozyblanket

Thu, Jan 18 2018, 3:22 pm

Thank you for posting!!

Now, if I could only figure out what our minhagim are! We r both Ftb from bt families so we don't really have minhagim. And now I am making my first peach at home this year!! In the past, we had whatever our families did bc oup was fine in their house and we wouldn't ask them to change for us. In our own home, we will probably change what we do somewhat...

I guess I have to make a list of sheilas for our rav who know us well. What do I ask other than matzah? Peeling produce? I feel like a total peach novice! Sorry to go on a tangent. I appreciate any one who can help me clarify the mumble jumble in my head.