Pesach Freak Out | Imamother

amother

Chartreuse

Mon, Feb 27 2017, 4:37 pm

I have started to think about pesach costs. The usual "catch 22." You want to have a nice, festive and delicious pesach but it costs a fortune. I have already cut many of the obvious corners. I don't buy baked goods or prepared or packaged foods, except for tea, coffee and chocolate, dairy products, and of course, wine, grape juice and matzah. I shop for anything I can at Costco and we will have beef at most once. But last year even with these measures Pesach cost us $500. I am a widow with a DD and this is a ton of money for me. Can it be done NICELY for less or is this just what it is?

amother

Red

Mon, Feb 27 2017, 4:49 pm

It does cost a lot no matter what. $500 for the 10 day period? What does food cost you usually for that time frame? I find I end up paying double or so.
Can you get help from an organization? And boxes of food?
Hug

amother

Chartreuse

Mon, Feb 27 2017, 5:04 pm

During the year I spend about $85 a week on food, so I guess that means a 10 day period would be about $120. But matzah, wine, etc costs a lot. We eat some yom tov meals where it's basically soup or melon to start and a salad set up nicely, but even so, eating two meals a day costs. I would rather not get help if I can avoid it.

Obviously if you are spending about double your during the year costs, you are good at this. any hints?

amother

Red

Mon, Feb 27 2017, 5:09 pm

amother wrote:

I think the reason I am spending double is because I dont shop much the weeks before when I use up the food in the house so I lay the money aside. So using your example of $120 for a 10 day period, I would probably end up spending $500 but I calculate that as $240 extra for pesach since I had the 3 extra $85 x 3 to spend from the previous weeks.

amother

Chartreuse

Mon, Feb 27 2017, 5:15 pm

I hadn't thought of that. And I like your idea of setting aside the $ I don't spend in the weeks before when I am also trying to finish up what's in the house.

Raisin

Mon, Feb 27 2017, 5:43 pm

Are you buying handbaked matza? How much wine do you drink? You shouldn't need more then a bottle per person for each seder, and another couple of bottles for the rest of pesach.

Otherwise I am not sure why food should cost so much more...how much more do you spend on pesach then on say, sukkos? (a week with a similar amount of yom tov meals)

Also do you end up with a lot of extra unused food eg you order ten chickens but only use four? That definitely happens to me but I am cooking for an unpredictable amount of people. That food can all be eaten after pesach.

amother

Green

Mon, Feb 27 2017, 6:00 pm

Raisin, a lot depends on where you live. Prices in the big communities like Lakewood and brooklyn are way cheaper than elsewhere, and when they have a sale it's cheaper yet. Here's an example: Hand shmurah in some places is as cheap as $10 a lb. Where I live the cheapest brand is about $20 and it goes up from there to almost $30 depending on the brand. What do you pay for chicken? Our cheapest version, a whole chicken uncut, is $3.20 a lb.and anything cut up is considerably more, up to $8 or $9 a lb. for cutlets. Cholent meat is $10.50 a lb. Cholent meat, not steak. And that's in the cheaper of the two supermarkets that carry kosher food.

amother

Chartreuse

Mon, Feb 27 2017, 6:13 pm

Raisin, I do not over buy and certainly don't end up with an extra 5-6 chickens. We do use only shmura matza but we drink very little wine. Again -- this is a mom and a kid. I usually buy two bottles for the whole week, plus grape juice. But Green is on target. In my neighborhood prices are pretty similar. I save a few dollars a lb on chicken by buying at Costco, but they stopped carrying beef. Things like shmura matza are a minimum of $20 a lb. I guess what we are saying here is that this is just inevitable.