living in Israel | Imamother

mimivan

Mon, Apr 30 2007, 2:07 am

The most common types of jobs for English speakers are telemarketing jobs that can be done from home in the evening hours (sometimes in an office) you are usually offered a base rate and commission. Jobs like these are advertised frequently at www.janglo.com (yahoogroup, requires signing up)

Food is cheaper here, but I find cereals and processed foods to be quite expensive. If you make a lot from scratch and shop at the shuk (Makane Yehuda) you can save money. We spend around 300-400 shekel a week for a family of four (and would spend less if we lived in a religious neighborhood close to a cheap supermarket with good heksherim rather than having to spend more at the local makolet for bread, cheese, milk with good heksherim). This doesn't include meat which we order and is probably an additional 60 or 70 shekel a week.

Rent, of course, depends on where you live. We live in Katamon and pay around $600 for a two bedroom. Katamonim is even cheaper, but is kind of rough. In religious neighborhoods like Har Nof, I'm not sure how much rent is these days, but I hear it is expensive.

You can pm me if you want to talk some more.

shabbatiscoming

Tue, May 01 2007, 10:05 am

amother wrote:

What I meant is a young couple going for a year or two to live in Jerusalem. The husband plans on learning and I don't think that the wife will get a job, what kind of job could she get? Like what is rent and is food more there?

it really depends on where you rent. if in yerushaliyim there are areas that are cheaper than others and then there are other areas that are pretty expensive. that is the large expense (and with rent comes arnona - kind of like a city tax - and the bigger the apartment the higher the arnona).
after that I would say that in the winter months the electric bill (because of heat) is the most expensive.

there are many types of jobs that a wife could get. first of all, a wife that does not speak hebrew (is that what you were saying?) could be a mitapelet for an english speaking family (I did that for a stint - there are many such families all over yerushaliyim), jobs that you can do on the computer (ok, it may be at weird hours, but it is duable)

suomynona

Tue, May 01 2007, 10:24 am

if you plan on living in yerushalayim (not the outlying parts, but closer to the center, near lots of Americans) and you don't plan on working and you plan on going to America to visit once a year, having international health insurance etc. basically living on the standard of most of the Americans I see around here who come for a couple of years, it really adds up. I really don't think it's much cheaper than living in America. I would estimate 40k a year, give or take.
Anyone disagree?
I find that the people who say it's cheaper usually don't take into account a lot of expenses such as plane tickets, making yom tov, giving birth etc.
I'm not talking about people who move to an area with the cheapest rent and cut corners on everything because it doesn't sound like that's what you're looking for.

suomynona

Wed, May 02 2007, 6:31 am

yes, Sorotzkin is expensive. Rent can be about $1000/month but if you want a low floor, I think it can go a lot higher.
And the number I gave was per year so it makes no difference how many years you plan on staying.
I'm just warning you, people might tell you it costs $24k to live there because they are getting $2k a month from their parents. But they aren't taking into account all the other expenses. For example, when they go back to visit America, they do tons of shopping on their parents' credit card. So while it's not included in the monthly expenses, it is part of the parental support.

mimivan

Wed, May 02 2007, 8:44 am

suomynona wrote:

Yes, I think it is wise to quote the higher rather than the lower end of the spectrum so she doesn't get an unpleasant surprise.
What I was telling her is what we do, but we do cut corners on a lot of things...and I'm also thinking that wasn't the standard she wanted.

PinkandYellow

Thu, May 03 2007, 12:43 am

Quote:

I want to know the cost of living besides apartment and food?

actually, here the main cost of living is apt and food. ppl think its so cheap to live here but its a myth. alot of the food here is more expensive. chicken for ex, in the states we would get 4 pieces (thighs legs) for $4-5. here, each piece can cost $3-4. so in america we had ckn for dinner 3-4 times a week, here only on shabbos. there are alot of things like that. don't fool yourself into thinking that there is a low cost of living in israel just bec you make less money here.

Marion

Thu, May 03 2007, 1:23 am

I don't know ANYBODY who spends $3-$4 per piece of chicken! Skinned, deboned chicken breasts (the most expensive part) have never cost me more than 24 shekel a kilo, which at the current exchange rate would be just under $6 a kilo, or $3/lb. I get 4 pieces, at least, per kilo, which puts the cost at roughly $1.50 per piece. Thighs/legs are cheaper, as are whole chickens. I tend to buy a whole chicken and ask them to cut it in 10 pieces + the neck (so 16 shekel a kilo or $2.25/lb). A whole chicken will feed us, plus all our guests for a meal, with leftovers (usually), and runs roughly 20-25 shekel (no, I don't buy the biggest, nor the smallest ones around). I pay around 20 shekel per kilo for ground beef and we eat meat balls or meat loaf as well. I don't do cholent, but I understand that stewing beef/cholent meat is not all that expensive either.

shalhevet

Thu, May 03 2007, 2:01 am

MosheDovid'sMom wrote:

I just realized marion, that the discrepency in price could be bec of hechsher? where we go, hockers (in sanhedria) the ckn\meat is either r' rubin or shi'eiris, which might be at the more expensive end.

They are definitely very expensive. There are other hechsherim which are just as good and not so expensive - check with your own rav.

Also buying whole chickens is much cheaper.

I am also incredulous that some people mentioned that a couple needs 40K to live here for a year. If we say they are renting for 1K a month (why do they have to live somewhere so expensive?) then that leaves 28K a year = more than 2K a month = about 9000 shekels a month!!!!! We live on far, far less (a family of 8, bli ayin hara). What is a couple spending all that money on? And I presume they come with clothes etc from America. And no household repairs b/c they are renting. So it's only food and utilities, travelling.

suomynona

Thu, May 03 2007, 3:25 am

Shalhevet, it's very hard for you to understand because it's so far removed from your way of life.

shalhevet wrote:

I am also incredulous that some people mentioned that a couple needs 40K to live here for a year.

They are basically living on an American standard and that's how much it costs to live there.

Quote:

If we say they are renting for 1K a month (why do they have to live somewhere so expensive?)

they want to and they can afford it.

Quote:

then that leaves 28K a year = more than 2K a month = about 9000 shekels a month!!!!! We live on far, far less (a family of 8, bli ayin hara). What is a couple spending all that money on? And I presume they come with clothes etc from America. And no household repairs b/c they are renting. So it's only food and utilities, travelling.

First of all, the food bills are much more expensive. Most of these people are NOT looking to save money. They buy any products in the store without comparing prices, don't go to the cheapest stores to shop. Most of the stores here have American products which are sometimes expensive. The things you would think are a luxury are not a luxury for Americans. Ex. breakfast cereal, rolls etc. In America, most people eat fleishigs almost every night of the week, so the Americans in Israel do the same. I can go on and on. The Israeli standard of living is so different. In another thread you mentioned that $5 is a lot for an Israeli. Well it's nothing to most Americans. (there are exceptions). These Americans in Israel that we are talking about don't suddenly switch to an Israeli standard of living when they come here. They are getting money from America and they continue living on the standard they are used to for the 2 years they live here.
Also I included clothing, baby items and everything a person needs to buy during those years in the 40k. Travelling to America for pesach is at least $2000. Health insurance is more than that. (most Americans aren't on Bituach leumi so we need insurance to pay the hospital when we give birth, and most Americans take private Drs.)
I can go on and on. Americans who stay here for long term will usually lower their standards of living and move to a cheaper area (unless they are from very wealthy families). But we are talking about people who come here for 1-5 years.

BeershevaBubby

Thu, May 03 2007, 3:26 am

Don't know when you last checked the exchange rate, but the shekel is now 4NIS to the dollar.

Also, if they're not making Aliyah, they may not be entitled to extra baggage, so there's only so much they can bring with them from the US.

There's food, utilities, medical, rent.

If they're here for 2 years, chances are a baby will factor in sooner rather than later.

And there are the trips back to the US for Chaggim, which aren't cheap. (Cheapest we were able to find for last Sukkot was $800).

mimivan

Thu, May 03 2007, 3:57 am

Yes, I find it almost impossible to comprehend another's budgeting and standard of living either at the very high end or at the very low end. I was not exactly a spendthrift in the U.S. and lived very modestly, but I experienced shock when I first made aliyah and had to forego all of those things (like central heating, dryers, Tropicana) which I felt were necessities. In addition, I was getting 25 shekels an hour as a babysitter! I can imagine how people would feel who are used to a higher standard. Better tell them they need more money than they actually need than less!

creativemommyto3

Thu, May 03 2007, 4:24 am

suomynona wrote:

Shalhevet, it's very hard for you to understand because it's so far removed from your way of life.

shalhevet wrote:

I am also incredulous that some people mentioned that a couple needs 40K to live here for a year.

They are basically living on an American standard and that's how much it costs to live there.

Quote:

If we say they are renting for 1K a month (why do they have to live somewhere so expensive?)

they want to and they can afford it.

Quote:

I live in Israel too and I noticed that the Israelis are always serving shnitzel, chicken and fish quite often. More often than I ever did in America. I think it all depends on the size family and what they are willing to eat.