How do people afford to make Pesach?

amother

Periwinkle

Thu, Apr 11 2019, 8:49 pm

amother [ Salmon ] wrote:

Many people have 2 kitchens. It's standard in a lot of developments.

Ya but it’s part of the price of the house and usually all the connections use the ones in the regular kitchen. Many ppl I know don’t have full appliances in their pesach cabinet. They use it to store the pesach things year round and maybe buy a cheap oven with stove top type.

amother

Periwinkle

Thu, Apr 11 2019, 8:54 pm

amother [ Cerise ] wrote:

You purchased a house of a size that allowed you to install a second kitchen. That extra space costs you thousands of dollars in mortgage payments, property taxes, heating bills, and other expenses each year.

You've also purchased a home large enough for you to buy in bulk. Still more money.

Hardly sounds frugal to me.

Oh, and patting yourself on the back that you wouldn't dare touch ketchup isn't so healthy either. You might pull a muscle. We eat quite healthy. But realistically.

Sorry to call you out but no one made u the frugal police. It’s not frugal to spend 60$ on maple syrup or other things ppl mentioned but this is not a contest it was just a sharing of “how do ppl? “ not “ what is the cheapest way?” So ppl of different means/ priorities etc are responding. It’s nice to see the variety and I’m happy for the ppl can afford extras or different things than me.

And while I’m far from a healthy cooker, I do hear that another’s point- the ketchups/ sauces/ ready snacks do add up a lot so if u don’t use that it will definitely impact ur bottom line- pesach and year round.

amother

Mauve

Thu, Apr 11 2019, 9:01 pm

amother [ Cerise ] wrote:

Uncalled for. Everyone has different needs.for the record, I have never bought ketchup and lots of stuff ppl eat.
I don't pretend to be frugal as bh I don't have to be super cautious.
I happen not to want a pesach kitchen. I love the turning over and being able to start with the cooking and baking. I have a nice sized house and never thought to put one in, but it I did dh would don't himself also since he is handy and enjoys house projects.
And FYI, you don't have to have a huge house or even anniversary sized one to have a pesach kitchen. For lots it's literally a closet that they made into a kitchen cuz it was important to them. And storage can also mean a shed or attic....

renslet

Thu, Apr 11 2019, 9:17 pm

My pesach kitchen consists of two counters - the top of the dryer and matching machine, a sink ( with only cold water) and my mother in law's old pesach tiny stove. About two people fit into that space. For me it's amazing, I w already started cooking but I can still serve chometz .
Back to the beginning of this thread, the way to make pesach and survive financially will be different for each person and their circumstances. Some people need $12 maple syrup, I need a cleaning lady, someone else might need a lot of meat. Fact is depending on what you need, in order to make a workable budget, you then have to cut down on things that you don't mind or are not essential for you

amother

Apricot

Thu, Apr 11 2019, 9:36 pm

To answer op's question, irs refund. And by refund, I mean refundable credits. Not money overpaid during the year.

And that's because our income is bubkis. If our income was actually enough, we would budget accordingly.

And being chabad, very minimal processed foods. Still expensive. But very few specialty products.

We did buy some clothes, but they were clothes my kids needed anyways.

DREAMING

Fri, Apr 12 2019, 12:10 am

amother [ Cerise ] wrote:

I don’t live in a big space and while I wouldn’t give up a closet for this I have neighbors that did put a closet in the kitchen or basement and have a small Pesach Kitchen (stove, sink, small counter)
If the lines are already there it’s not a big deal ans a one time expense

I find pesach cost a lot more because we eat more real meals. And matzah alone is a lot. We don’t use processed food And definitely use a lot more meat/chicken in the one week than a regular week

amother

Chartreuse

Fri, Apr 12 2019, 1:23 am

We are planning to put in a pesach kitchen and it’s not a huge expense. We have an empty kind of storage room where our spare fridge and freezer is. We are putting in one counter with cabinets above and below and an oven/stove. There is already water lines there and will put in a small sink. I am doing cheap bottom Of the range cabinets a basic oven and very simple finishings. I didn’t buy the house with a pesach kitchen in mind but the space is there.

But until then. I find the first few years of pesach very expensive. Now I’ve got my main supplies.
I don’t use any products except cocoa, potato starch, nuts, oil and sugar. I use meat chicken eggs fish and dairy.

Nuts are super expensive so I don’t make nut cakes.

I make some brownies and sorbet and that’s the nosh.

Salmon is expensive so use sparingly.

I try and stretch meat. Using ground beef etc...

I find a big soup at beginning of lunch and supper and a huge fresh salad seasoned with a squeeze of lemon, evoo and salt with every meal helps keep everyone full.

I cook simple basic and hearty foods and it’s only 8 days.

groisamomma

Fri, Apr 12 2019, 1:36 am

Pesach itself isn't such a huge expense because, like others, we've added to our collection a little bit each year. Food, however, is double or triple what we pay for regularly. That's without counting matzah. We use grape juice so no wine expense here.

Clothing is by far our biggest expense of the season. I abhor shopping so we do as many hand-me-downs as possible, but if I'm out buying the kids clothing for Y"T I automatically fill in the missing summer clothes and shoes. The alterations bill is sky high before Pesach! This only works because dh has a job from Purim to Pesach and that $ is dedicated to Pesach and summer clothing expenses (for the kids, both weekday and Shabbos).

baby12x

Fri, Apr 12 2019, 1:38 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

I think what I’m doing wrong, and I’m realizing from this thread, is that I need to save for Yom Tov. I guess we’re fairly new at making Yom Tov so haven’t been thinking about it smartly.

We put aside 10% of every paycheck for Tom Tov and clothing expenses
I put it in a separate account so it doesn’t get spent accidentally. I use this fund for summer expenses as well. Bonuses and tax rebates have a portion put in as well.

I write about this in detail in my blog.
https://adimesaved.com/budgeti.....ystem

Yom Tov is very expensive even if you cut every corner. I don’t get paid leave so I also lose income every day of Yom Tov. The only way to do it is to save, save, save and be as frugal as you need to be to stay in budget

amother

Wheat

Fri, Apr 12 2019, 2:37 am

no disposables
many potatoes
many vegetables and fruit on sale (this year apples, carrots, cucumbers, bellpeppers, pumpkin, melon)
I buy what we NEED (mazzah, tirosh, eggs, oil, nuts, sugar, etc.)
what costs a LOT is meat, and I agree that we use A LOT (maybe too much) but I also stretch it as well as I can. I could save much more buy serving less meat Smile

after hanukah we start saving up

we only buy clothes that we NEED (which sometimes might be a shirt or a pair of shoes for the kids)

we serve at least 15 portions (4 courses each) per meal and have guests every seuda. (for example, tunapatties with spinach in sauce, chickensoup with mazzahballs, chickenthigh or gulash with mashed potatoes and salads, nutcake and fruitcup)

I do take 3 days of cleaning help (12 hours in total) while I take a morning off from work and kids are in gan/school.

we make nice tiyulim for free: bbq in a park, taking our bikes and riding around a near lake, we coupon a kids museum...that sort of things

it makes a total of 1800 euro.

december-march we try to put 300-400 euro aside,
if you budget in advance it is much easier BUT I agree it is VERY VERY EXPENCIVE. also you can only put money aside if you have the money to but aside.
one year dh started a side hussle that provided some extra income in that period, another year I cancelled a subscription and started tutoring...

our community also provides discouts for people with very little income.

obviously we could choose to host fewer guetss, serve smaller meatportions or cancel the cleaning help. but at this stage of life the route we chose fits us. every situation is different.

as newlyweds or after a jobloss our pessach differed from now and we were b´´H invited for meals too.

dont compare your pessach to other peoples'.

hazlacha to all of you, may H provide you with what you need and can enjoy.

and dont feel embarrassed to ask for help. your struggle is real, pesach and other yomim toyvim really add up

FranticFrummie

Fri, Apr 12 2019, 2:53 am

I only eat matza for the seder, so that's not too much of an expense. I don't buy processed foods or cake mixes. I don't eat a lot of meat during the year, so I can afford to buy a nice roast and make it stretch.

Lots of fruits and veggies, and there's plenty to choose from this time of year. I'm not particular to only have things that can be peeled, so I can eat grapes, cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, etc. I don't do any baking.

I went through several cans of food that I already have, looking to see what is KLP, and found quite a few things, so I've set them aside.

My mantra, whenever I think I have a craving for something, is "You can live without it for a week". A lot of the MM I got is KLP, so I have chocolate and potato chips on hand. Very Happy

My only big expense this year is going to be spices, because all my Pesach spices finally went off. I'd kept them over for several years in the back of my freezer.

B'H, I have way too many clothes, and tons of jewelry.

Mayflower

Fri, Apr 12 2019, 3:46 am

We budget around $1000 extra for pesach. We have a tiny pesach kitchen in our basement, we have all the appliances we need, but often if something breaks during the year (platta, shabbos kettle, mixer...) we take out the pesachdige one. So almost every year we end up buying something new.

Matzos is around $150 for our family of 5 (3kg).

We make almost everything from scratch but I use a lot of nuts, walnut oil and other expensive ingredients so that's another $400 extra.

Plus a few hundred for yom tov clothing for the kids (I usually get myself some new things for shvuos instead of pesach).

Oh and I almost forgot chol hamoed outings.. Probably another $200.

I always receive a bonus in May, so we put our pesach expenses on our cc and pay the next month.

watergirl

Fri, Apr 12 2019, 6:33 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Sorry let me clarify. Someone commented that she would like to help me spend my money more responsibly. Even with everyone’s posts on how to save money, it still feels expensive to me. So the conclusion I came to is that it would be wise to try to save money.

Gotcha. Pesach sounds daunting because of all the hype, which I think is sad. You can do this! We all needed a few years to figure it out. You’ve got this!

naturalmom5

Fri, Apr 12 2019, 7:46 am

Been making Pesach for 30 years..
Either tape showers curtains sealing off every room you don't absolutely need or rent a cheap pesach apt or go to a motel

Buy matzo, potatoes, eggs, cheese, and meat for yom tov. Often , I get from the distribution for low income families.
But if I was buying in a store, its about 200$

Dishes , still using from in-laws a"h.

Pots, pan , appliances, still from what we got at our wedding

Clothing for husband and son come from DejaNew.

My clothing from sales at Dressbarn or 2nd hand websites.

When, you are forced to live within your means, you do....

shevi82

Fri, Apr 12 2019, 8:45 am

I agreee with the above re saving, besides for the clothing part. I buy all my kids new clothing and shoes if needed lekoved YomTov. Just not all at once on Erev Pesach.I start shopping Chanuka time. If I see a good skirt for girls on sale I will put it away for chol Hamoed. In December there was a suit sale so got new suits for three kids. We wear the new clothing on pesach and chol hamoed it's part of vesamachta bichagecha.
I always say it is wonderful to spend on Yomtov and try to make it as beautiful as can be.
The food bill is defenitly higher but I find that the month after pesach the bill is lower, we still have stuff in the house and after a week of heavy meals I try to make it lighter.

southernbubby

Fri, Apr 12 2019, 8:53 am

I love frugal threads.

I sew so much of the alterations for grandchildren's clothes is done by me.

I do see that Monsey has some cheaper stores for kids clothes but I also see lots of people buying trimming from Threads to lengthen skirts and dresses bought at chain stores.

My husband's podiatrist said that there is nothing wrong with wearing shoes from Walmart.

One of my kids took out a membership to a science museum and they use it for chol ha moed, rain or shine.

Chol ha moed meals can be cheese omelets with salad, potato latkes and applesauce.

A new board game can take the place of an outing.

Dryel or other home dry cleaning can cut dry cleaning costs.

The Ukrainian shmurah matzo was the cheapest.