Living in Israel- Budgeting

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amother

Mon, Apr 05 2021, 11:03 pm

Does anyone have real experience living in Israel as a couple and can give real examples of a budget including breakdowns for expenses and how much everything costs? Rent, food, bussing, health insurance, other costs, etc. Trying to figure out a realistic budget. Thank you in advance!

amother

Natural

Tue, Apr 06 2021, 1:33 am

Do you mean a budget for olim or kollel living for newlyweds living in an American neighborhood for a few years? Big difference.

Rappel

Tue, Apr 06 2021, 1:59 am

amother [ Natural ] wrote:

Do you mean a budget for olim or kollel living for newlyweds living in an American neighborhood for a few years? Big difference.

Very relevant question.

My 10k do not cover the same needs as 10k for an American couple living with a foot in both worlds.

But I'll start a list of things to budget, and I'm sure other mothers will add things on that I forgot:
Rent
Arnona
Gas
Water
Electricity
Transportation (buses, car rentals, gas +car maintenance)
Food
Kupat Cholim (+copays for medicine)
Cellular plans
Clothing
Household maintenance (furniture, lightbulbs, paint, etc.)
Savings
Personal enjoyment

israelmama

Tue, Apr 06 2021, 2:40 am

Kollel doesn’t make a difference- there are Olim that spend on every American amenity and also kollel people who are very budgetable. it’s all the attitude of what you want to spend money on and if you want to budget. OP, Are you looking for a budget that includes American style amenities or more of an Israeli lifestyle?

Sesame

Tue, Apr 06 2021, 2:49 am

Lol, depends who you ask!!!
Breakdowns vary greatly!!! Even between friends. Your question includes too many variables. Which part of the country, what size apartment, what level of religiousness (eg Eida food is much more expensive than rabbanut), lifestyle, do you wear a wig that needs washing, are the couple in kollel, what do you consider necessity vs luxury, where do you shop........
Ive got an American friend that will easily spend 1000 shekels on a Shabbos, whereas I have an English friend who spends about 130 shekels. We all shop in the same place and live within one building complex.
To add to the great list - bituach leumi, Vaad habayis, internet, aliyas in shul, bank fees, wig wash and set, beauty (eg laser), Shabbos (eg flowers, magazines)
Don’t forget emergencies such as dental buying glasses, or random things such as vitamins
,dry cleaning. Also will they need a budget to furnish their apartment or are they going to a furnished apartment.

Sesame

Tue, Apr 06 2021, 2:50 am

Oh and add Mikva fees to the list too!

amother

Natural

Tue, Apr 06 2021, 3:33 am

amother [ Natural ] wrote:

Do you mean a budget for olim or kollel living for newlyweds living in an American neighborhood for a few years? Big difference.

Why the hug? Different lifestyles require different budgets.

amother

Aqua

Tue, Apr 06 2021, 4:17 am

israelmama wrote:

As I'm not American I'm curious what American style amenities means vs Israeli lifestyle.

essie14

Tue, Apr 06 2021, 4:42 am

amother [ Aqua ] wrote:

As I'm not American I'm curious what American style amenities means vs Israeli lifestyle.

Many Americans buy American brand food items and toiletries which can be more expensive.
Areas with a lot of Anglos olim may have higher prices in general.
Americans are more used to running the AC and heat while Israelis in general use it less.

ora_43

Tue, Apr 06 2021, 4:47 am

If you know where you'd be living (city, neighborhood) and roughly what kind of apartment you'd want (number of rooms, general condition, furnished/unfurnished) that would really help. If it's just the two of you, rent is probably going to be your biggest expense. And rent varies wildly depending on location.

amother

Orchid

Tue, Apr 06 2021, 4:50 am

An actual sample budget. This may or may not be helpful depending on where you're living so you can adjust based on real numbers once you get them. Non Kollel Dati Leumi couple.

Housing: 5,000 shekel for a 3 bedroom 1 and a half bathroom apartment
Food: Try and stay under 400 shekel a week can probably get it under 300 if I worked harder
Bussing: N/A, but gas is generally 200ish every week and a half, covered by DH's work. When we used the bus, we just filled up our rav kavs with an amount and filled it up again when it ran out
Health insurance: Basic Maccabi was under 100 a month, we just upgraded to Sheli for 220 but will probably get reductions on medications being used so it'll even itself out

Other expenses:

Arnona: 1100 every two months, but you can get a small discount if you pay it all in January. This number changes depending on the size of your apartment.
Vaad Bayit: 127 a month, also changes based on age of the building and whether or not it has an elevator or two.
Electric: around 1300 every two months in the summer, way way less in the winter (this year was prob around 600 every two months)
Gas/Water: Both around or under 100 each. Water is surprisingly cheap, and the gas stovetop is the only thing that runs on gas.

shabbatiscoming

Tue, Apr 06 2021, 4:55 am

amother [ Orchid ] wrote:

An actual sample budget. This may or may not be helpful depending on where you're living so you can adjust based on real numbers once you get them. Non Kollel Dati Leumi couple.

Housing: 5,000 shekel for a 3 bedroom 1 and a half bathroom apartment
Food: Try and stay under 400 shekel a month can probably get it under 300 if I worked harder
Bussing: N/A, but gas is generally 200ish every week and a half, covered by DH's work. When we used the bus, we just filled up our rav kavs with an amount and filled it up again when it ran out
Health insurance: Basic Maccabi was under 100 a month, we just upgraded to Sheli for 220 but will probably get reductions on medications being used so it'll even itself out

Other expenses:

Arnona: 1100 every two months, but you can get a small discount if you pay it all in January. This number changes depending on the size of your apartment.
Vaad Bayit: 127 a month, also changes based on age of the building and whether or not it has an elevator or two.
Electric: around 1300 every two months in the summer, way way less in the winter (this year was prob around 600 every two months)
Gas/Water: Both around or under 100 each. Water is surprisingly cheap, and the gas stovetop is the only thing that runs on gas.

You spend under 400 shekels a month on food? What do you eat?

amother

Orchid

Tue, Apr 06 2021, 4:57 am

shabbatiscoming wrote:

You spend under 400 shekels a month on food? What do you eat?

Lol, I should edit that to a week. Thanks for catching that!

shabbatiscoming

Tue, Apr 06 2021, 5:01 am

amother [ Orchid ] wrote:

Lol, I should edit that to a week. Thanks for catching that!

That sounds more like it Smile

I was wondering what you could possibly live off of for that amount Smile

or you were beyond frugal Smile

amother

Orchid

Tue, Apr 06 2021, 5:04 am

shabbatiscoming wrote:

That sounds more like it Smile

I was wondering what you could possibly live off of for that amount Smile

or you were beyond frugal Smile

I am quite possibly the least frugal person out there. :p Or rather, I'm not purposely frugal but I try and keep the spending down.

Bnei Berak 10

Tue, Apr 06 2021, 5:30 am

Each city has it's own arnona fees parameters and reduction you could get. It the time when I lived in tel Aviv there were seven levels of arnona based on where in the city you lived.

Elfrida

Tue, Apr 06 2021, 6:08 am

If they make aliya healthcare is very cheap. If they are here on a tourist/student visa, they need to budget a lot more for health insurance.

Also, if they are a kollel couple here on a student visa, that's going to limit the kind of job she can get, and probably means a lower salary.

amother

Tue, Apr 06 2021, 12:46 pm

Thanks, everyone! Sorry, let me be more specific. I'm wondering if you can help make a reasonable budget, based on experience, for an American kollel couple living in Jerusalem, and living frugally. Not necessarily leaving behind the complete American mentality but definitely lower maintenance e.g. not going out to eat or buying all American products but would need A/C in the summer. Any input would be so appreciated since trying to get a sense of a realistic budget and how it can be done with only one salary.

israelmama

Tue, Apr 06 2021, 1:00 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Feel free to PM me

Elfrida

Tue, Apr 06 2021, 1:10 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

I think the biggest question is what kind of salary we are talking about. Does she have any qualifications? Is she going to be working an American job on line and getting an American salary? Is she able to work in her field in Israel? (Maybe including speaking Hebrew.) Will her visa allow her to work legally? If not she is likely to be limited to low paying semi-legal jobs with no benefits, and it will be a lot harder.

In my mostly chareidi neighbourhood of Jerusalem, a two room apartment seems to be around 3-4000 NIS per month.

A monthly bus pass around Jerusalem is 216 NIS per month.

Beyond fixed expenses it's very hard to estimate a budget for someone else. A y0ung couple can buy a whole chicken and cut it up, using the bones for soup, the white meat for schnitzel, and cooking the wings and chicken bottoms. That's most of their Shabbos meals covered. Are they willing to do that, or will they want multiple fleishic dishes at each Shabbos meal? Everyone approaches these things differently.

I think an initial budget needs to be estimated, but maybe adjusted after the first few months, when the couple see what they need on a weekly to monthly basis. They would need to keep track carefully, and be prepared to let go of some things they are used to in order to stay within budget.

Last edited by Elfrida on Tue, Apr 06 2021, 1:16 pm; edited 1 time in total

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