Seminary girl monthly expenses

amother

Turquoise

Sat, Feb 24 2024, 11:02 pm

We paid tuition, insurance and phone, my daughter used her savings for spending money. She budgeted $100 a month and mostly stuck to it. Her biggest expense was busses, she ate out occasionally and rented a tzimmer for Shabbos a couple times. Once or twice, I felt she was being too thrifty so I sent her some money so she could buy something specific.
I think she was so careful because it was her own money and I think it taught her an important life lesson.
edit- this was last year

amother

Peach ↓

Sat, Feb 24 2024, 11:18 pm

amother Currant wrote:

And kids made a tiny amount of money years ago. Yes, I was babysitting 40 years ago, but I made $1.50 - 1.75 an hour.

I babysat 35 years ago and made at least 10 dollars an hour.
You seem to have greatly under charged.

amother

Skyblue ↓

Sat, Feb 24 2024, 11:18 pm

Twenty years ago, when I was in seminary, our high school principal recommended a budget of $150 a month
But then intifada happened. There were bus bombings and car bombings. Seminary started making rules that we were only allowed to take taxis to the Kosel (so we can drive through Shaar Yaffo).
And there were weeks that the alert level was so high that we were not allowed to take busses anywhere, only taxis.

It was very frustrating that my parents were insistent on me keeping that $150/month budget, even though the situation changed. There were weeks that I put off buying basic toiletries, batteries, or underwear.

All I'm saying is that I learned the importance of setting up a flexible budget. Israel is ever-evolving and the security situation, travel situation, the ability to go out or have to stay in means that their budget needs can change.

amother

↑ Skyblue

Sat, Feb 24 2024, 11:20 pm

amother Peach wrote:

I babysat 35 years ago and made at least 10 dollars an hour.
You seem to have greatly under charged.

Where? And how old were you?

I babysit 25 years ago as a 15 year old in a typical large OOT community and I got $4 maybe $5 an hour.
My Monsey, Lakewood and Brooklyn friends got $5 an hour.

amother

Cinnamon

Sat, Feb 24 2024, 11:28 pm

amother Peach wrote:

I babysat 35 years ago and made at least 10 dollars an hour.
You seem to have greatly under charged.

I babysat 25 years ago and made $5 an hour.
That was considered extremely reasonable. I lived in a nice neighborhood in chicago and that was the going rate.

amother

Dustypink

Sun, Feb 25 2024, 12:04 am

Current daughter in sem -
Phone, Rav kav, going on buses or trains to relatives outside yerushalayim for shabbos, medicine if they get sick ,gifts for shabbos hosts, waxing, occasional dry cleaning, food to bring back to dorm like vegetables, crackers, drinks etc, eating out when supper is inedible…nosh…occasional taxi if running late or going someplace where bus or train passes though unsafe area.
Figure $500 a month - it balances out between the months that they need more in beginning of year and less…
She uses -
TD debit card - no international fees
Chase credit card - no fees.
Sent cash with a relative to leave in the school safe because the exchange rate was fantastic and it made sense to change a lot of dollars into shekels back in December…

amother

↑ Peach ↓

Sun, Feb 25 2024, 12:08 am

amother Cinnamon wrote:

I babysat 25 years ago and made $5 an hour.
That was considered extremely reasonable. I lived in a nice neighborhood in chicago and that was the going rate.

I dint know what to tell you. I grew up in mo community in nj and that was the going rate.

amother

↑ Peach ↓

Sun, Feb 25 2024, 12:10 am

amother Dustypink wrote:

Wow, thats nearly 2000 shekels. Thats a lot of money for one person to spend on in one month.

amother

Coffee ↓

Sun, Feb 25 2024, 1:18 am

Currently have a daughter in sem, I'd say about $200 a month. She went pretty well stocked with toiletries. She got linen, seforim, and other things from a friend who was there the year before her. She mostly spends on busses and rarely go out to eat.

amother

↑ Currant

Sun, Feb 25 2024, 10:03 am

amother Peach wrote:

I dint know what to tell you. I grew up in mo community in nj and that was the going rate.

I'm the one who posted she made $1.50 an hour 40 years ago, and I too grew up in a mo community in NJ. I cannot believe $10 was the going rate just 5 years later. 5 years later I was working in a real office job for the summer and didn't make anywhere near that per hour.

amother

↑ Coffee

Sun, Feb 25 2024, 10:36 am

amother Currant wrote:

About 40 yes ago I got paid $2 an hour for babysitting a family of 6 kids and I was 12 years old. About 5 years later at 16-17 we were earning $4-5. Sometimes someone would pay extra like $10.

amother

↑ Peach

Sun, Feb 25 2024, 10:39 am

amother Currant wrote:

Im almost 45. Istarted babysitting when I was probably 14. Thats just about 30 years ago. I made $10.
Not sure what there is to not believe. Thats what actually happened.

amother

Yellow

Sun, Feb 25 2024, 2:02 pm

amother Peach wrote:

Im almost 45. Istarted babysitting when I was probably 14. Thats just about 30 years ago. I made $10.
Not sure what there is to not believe. Thats what actually happened.

I was babysitting in a yeshivish oot community around the same time and the going rate was around $5. OTOH my cousin in a modern, wealthier NJ community was receiving around $10, from what I recall. So both rates make sense, it was location dependent. (And 30 years ago vs 40 years ago makes a difference, too!)

As far as spending money now....the posts that detail hundreds of dollars mention things like clothes shopping, birthday gifts for friends, and frequent going out to eat.

Don't most girls bring enough clothing to manage on? Sure, over the course of the year a girl might need to buy a pair of shoes or sneakers, maybe a skirt or a top, but can't they manage without regular shopping sprees? (Someone mentioned underwear....how much underwear does a girl need to buy over the course of 1 school year when presumably she came with a normal amount?)

Why the need also for extravagant birthday gifts? I assume those refer to the expensive deliveries I see advertised in magazines. Those are geared for parents out of the country to sponsor, not students on a student budget.

Even if a sem doesn't have great food, there's a big difference between getting a slice of pizza or falafel and going to expensive eateries on a regular basis.

I think a post mentioned jewelry. ???

Etc....

amother

Pumpkin

Mon, Feb 26 2024, 12:42 am

amother Peach wrote:

Im almost 45. Istarted babysitting when I was probably 14. Thats just about 30 years ago. I made $10.
Not sure what there is to not believe. Thats what actually happened.

wow. you and I are the same age. I grew up in England. I was paid between 1.50 and 1.75 an hour. Pounds sterling. That was in the mid 1990's so I guess it was 25-30 years ago.
Cant get over how much girls charge for babysitting nowadays!