Is $50k enough? | Imamother

amother

Wed, Nov 27 2019, 12:33 pm

I'm sorry, I know these questions are annoying.. we are considering aliyah, mainly because we can't seem to make it financially.

Dh has a job offer that would pay $50k a year. It's in the Jerusalem area, so we would want to be fairly local. My income would not be reliable in the beginning (self employed), so I'm not counting on that. We have four kids preteen and down, would like three of them in a moderate school system. Someone mentioned shulamit for girls as a possible good fit, if that tells you anything. The baby can be home with me until whatever age is cheap to send out.

We are used to living fairly frugally. Dh would need a car for work. He's used to shopping in a few stores to save money on groceries. We don't need cleaning help.

Can anyone chime in and let me know if this is realistic? I really, really don't want to bring my kids into a situation where they will be adjusting to a new language and culture and also struggling financially.

Elfrida

Wed, Nov 27 2019, 12:44 pm

Are you expecting to pay rent, or do you own a house that you could sell to enable you to buy here? That (and the amount of mortgage you might have to pay) will make a big difference to your budget.

Some things are cheaper here while others are more expensive. Running a car cost a lot more here than in America. Would he be willing to use public transport until you are more settled?

You might need to pay for extra help for the children while they settle down in a new system. If you are even considering aliyah, get them the best hebrew conversation lessons that you can manage. You'll see the benefits when you get here.

grace413

Wed, Nov 27 2019, 12:50 pm

It's not annoying for you to ask. The big question is how much your housing will cost. Rentals are expensive in Jerusalem. You may want to look at satellite communities such as Kochav Yaakov. Buying a car is also expensive. Gan is free from age 3, 7 am to 2 pm. I'm assuming 50000 is gross and I'm not sure what you would net. Probably doable but tight.

Hatzlacha.

rivkam

Wed, Nov 27 2019, 12:50 pm

Schooling is cheap here. Sending a baby out is expensive but is somewhat subsidised depending on your income. Once they are 3, it is free (but school finishes at one so you need to pay for tzaharon).

If you're talking about paying for rent, food, car and bills in jerusalem on that income alone is kind of a stretch. Rent is very expensive in jerusalem. If you own a home here outright then you could definitely manage on that income but forget savings anything.

I hope you get to come here and live the dream!

amother

Mint

Wed, Nov 27 2019, 12:58 pm

Rent in Jlem is expensive.
Do your kids have their own rooms now?
Are they OK with downsizing your standard of living?
If you take away a lot of their creature comforts they will not be happy that you made aliyah.
If you want more than 1 bathroom, AC, etc, it will cost you.

I'm pretty sure Beit Shulamit is a private school and not as inexpensive as public school.
If it doesn't work out for your kids to go to whatever public school (mamad, chemed, chareidi), private schools are quite expensive.
My DS was in semi-public school and it was not a good fit for him. The school which was a good fit for him was $6k a year. Cheap compared to America but not on a $50k salary.
A car is at least twice as expensive here. No such thing as a small cheap 2 door that your DH will only use for work. The smallest used car in decent condition can be NIS 40k ($12k). Gas is crazy expensive. Public transportation in the big cities is excellent and most people rely on that.
Apartments don't have much storage space. Although you may be used to shopping in large stores and stocking up, that doesn't always work out when you don't have a place to store 99 rolls of toilet paper and the makolet down the street costs more.

Most families expect to spend a lot more the first year to make sure the kids are happy. That means treats, tiyulim, etc.
They will probably need extra tutoring to catch them up with the Hebrew. They may need tutoring til they graduate.

amother

Oak

Wed, Nov 27 2019, 1:01 pm

Plenty of families do make it on $50k (₪180k). It's tight though, with 4 kids. If you can get a side job that can bring in even $15k I think that would make a big difference.

Rent+arnona is probably going to cost in the area of $2k/month, so that's $24k right there. If you look around, you can find 3BR for 6k in Jerusalem, but it's not easy.

Tuition is between $400-$2000 per kid for elementary school, depending on gender and school.

You should be able to keep food to $1k per month comfortably, but unlikely to be too much lower. $150/week is possible but VERY tight.

Utilities will probably be another $180/month.

You should be able to get auto insurance for ~$100/month. Gas isn't cheap (twice price of USA). You can get a decent used car for 25k-30k.

Clothing isn't so expensive. Assume a couple hundred dollars a person.

Each Yom Tov obviously comes with it's expenses.

You can probably survive to the penny with $50k, but no savings for simchos and weddings, and not much money for unexpected expenses. High school tuition isn't so cheap either.

A side $15k would give a lot more breathing room, I think.

amother

Wed, Nov 27 2019, 1:06 pm

I appreciate all the responses. Right now we have all four kids in one bedroom. However, as my two oldest of different genders are getting older, I would like to separate them. So I would need three bedrooms. We live in a condo now, not tiny by Israeli standards but definitely small by American standards (1000 square feet). I will definitely have to look into appropriate schooling and related costs. We're fine living outside Jerusalem (probably prefer it), as long as my kids would have some English speaking friends around, and close to their schools.

ETA we can make around $200k if we sell our current home but I would like to rent at first and save that money towards a home down the line once we're more settled.

byisrael

Wed, Nov 27 2019, 1:21 pm

if you move out of j'lem housing is cheaper
be careful about not buying right away - many families that I know ate into the money earmarked for the downpayment by not budgeting how much the transition period would cost
I think its doable if you move out of jerusalem
for example in efrat you can get a 3-4 bedroom for 3,800 nis
https://www.yad2.co.il/realest.....s=4-5
kochav yaakov for less...
https://www.yad2.co.il/realest.....s=4-5

Last edited by byisrael on Wed, Nov 27 2019, 1:37 pm; edited 1 time in total

amother

Mint

Wed, Nov 27 2019, 1:26 pm

So if you can move to a 3 bedroom in a place like RBS, your kids will have English speaking friends and your rent and arnona will be much less.
The buses from RBS to Jlem are frequent and reliable. Tons of my friends and neighbors work in Jlem and exclusively use public transportation.

amother

Wed, Nov 27 2019, 1:37 pm

amother [ Mint ] wrote:

Unfortunately we checked out RBS and didn't feel it was a good fit for us.

Dh will definitely need a car as his job entails driving throughout the day. It's possible he will get a gas stipend though.

amother

Orange

Wed, Nov 27 2019, 1:48 pm

If it helps any - just for comparison - we have an annual income of about 120,000 ש"ח, maybe a bit more but not always. That's about 40,000 $ (?). We live in a yishuv an hour's drive away from Jerusalem, own a tiny house with 4 very small bedrooms, have got 2 cars which we bought used and have 3 children, preschool and primary school age. We have a bit of savings, no debts and no mortgage. Overall we are doing fine but I do think before spending money.