Cost of mm | Imamother

amother

White

Mon, Feb 04 2019, 12:35 pm

amother wrote:

For adult mm, what do you put in that costs a total of $2, junk food?
Do you give $2 mm to teachers and Rebbis as well?

No, not junk food at all. Usually homemade food like 2 rolls, 2 dips, and a drink. I get the drink on Amazon when Dan's deals posts a great price. I package each item in an appealing way because I'm particular about how food is presented. I know that on imamother people have issues with homemade food, but I give to close friends and neighbors and it's always well received. Lots of people message me on Purim that they ate it for lunch and loved it. I also keep my eyes peeled all the time for cheap packaging that is also pretty. Small touches make a big impact.

ETA teachers and rebbeim get a nice bottle of wine too and a check enclosed Smile

amother

Oak

Mon, Feb 04 2019, 12:46 pm

amother wrote:

You spend $1000 on MM??!!

Family gives about 15 to 20, and we usually spend between $5 and $10 a piece. The kids' are included in that, except for the one kid who lives away, and he gives a couple of his own, to his roommates.

Our schools organize a Purim gift for teachers, so everyone contributes however much to MM/gift, so teachers aren't drowning in junk.

As someone said up thead, it varies with the community. Mine aren't the most lavish by far. You have to see the ones we receive.

groovy1224

Mon, Feb 04 2019, 12:49 pm

amother wrote:

As someone said up thead, it varies with the community. Mine aren't the most lavish by far. You have to see the ones we receive.

Just curious, can you give an example of what's in them?

Is it expensive because it includes expensive wine? Or the packaging is expensive (I.e. packaged on a lucite challah board kinda thing?)

flowerpower

Mon, Feb 04 2019, 1:08 pm

To the people that bake and include little challah rolls etc... have you heard feedback from the recipients that they actually eat it? I get quiet a few homemade mm from
Neighbors and friends. There are a few that I sadly throw out every year due to bad packaging( food arrived hard or stale) or I am not comfortable eating from their kitchen.

amother

White

Mon, Feb 04 2019, 1:15 pm

flowerpower wrote:

Yup, like I wrote, I'm very particular about food quality and packaging so I make sure mine looks and tastes very appealing. And I do get lots of positive feedback. But I live oot where there's more of a sense of community.

Raisin

Mon, Feb 04 2019, 1:20 pm

groovy1224 wrote:

Just curious, can you give an example of what's in them?

Is it expensive because it includes expensive wine? Or the packaging is expensive (I.e. packaged on a lucite challah board kinda thing?)

It's not hard to spend $25 on a mm. A nice box of chocolates and a bottle of wine alone can come to that. I can think of 10 different ways to spend that money.

watergirl

Mon, Feb 04 2019, 1:26 pm

flowerpower wrote:

Yes, I get feedback and people love what I send. Like I've said before, I only give to people who I know will eat it. The people who have a table covered with mm dont need mine to add to the pile. I make mine the night before and package them in the morning, its very fresh. I dont waste money on pretty packaging, the food goes into sandwich ziplock bags because its the best for the job, and it all goes nicely into a takeout container. It looks very appetizing but not fancy. People usually tell me that my pretzeldog comes into the car with them and one of their kids eats it as their only real meal of the day before the seuda.

I've always learned that the mitzvah of giving mm is to give actual food, and to give it to people with whom you would like to engender good will. This is not the time for social requirements or impressing people. To that regard, I give to a few close friends and also to people who I would like to get to know better (but who I still know will eat my food). I have the same rule with the mm that my kids give out. They can each give to 5 friends and at least one of them has to be to someone who they are NOT yet friends with. And those kids who live farther away? They are on the list also.

I've also always learned that you should give more to tzedakka than you spend on mm.

ShishKabob

Mon, Feb 04 2019, 1:28 pm

I agree with Raisin. It's not hard at all to spend that amount on mm. The people that spend less are consciously making an effort to get the most bang for their buck. Other's wont be as careful so you can have 2 mm that look the same moneywise but one will cost $10.00 and the other will cost $25.00.

amother

Smokey

Wed, Feb 20 2019, 1:38 am

I try to spend around $2-2.50 for our main ones. we give around 30 of these. I've done the iced coffee/pastry. the snapple and tea biscuits, the carrots and chummus pita chips. I think my mm are well received, the food is edible, not candy or homemade and it's packaged nicely.

teachers/rebbe mm cost around $15

the kids are probably around $1.50 max.