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Top Ten Ways To Save Money in Israel

by Jody Blum on Mon 11 Jul 2005 01:14 AM PDT | Permanent Link | Cosmos

You're intrerested in saving money, right? Of course you are, why else would you come to the minusPLUS website? Well, we know that everyone loves a top ten list. So we're delighted to kick off our article archive with our first ever list: The Top Ten Ways to Save Money in Israel.

Tip #1: Don't go shopping as an activity

Come on, how many of you every once in awhile think: waht am I going to do today with the kids? I know, I'll take them to the mall! We won't buy anything, of course. Just window shop. Right... Here's what really happens: you go to the mall to get a slice of pizza. Along the way you see a pair of shoes that really speak to you. NIS 150 on sale. Wow! Then your five-year-old demands to be taken on his favorite bouncing helicopter ride. Only a few shekels, you think. But then he demands another. And how can you say no? Pizza was a good idea, but what about drinks? And as it's coming up on Hanukah time, how can you refuse a couple of sufganiot? You get the picture. Before you know it, you've spent a few hundred shekels you never would have spent in a less "tempting" activity.

Tip #2: Live within your means - buy only what you can afford rather than on payment plans

This is the credo of everything we teach at minusPLUS. If you can't afford it, don't buy it. Payment plans are as tempting as the aforementioned sufganiot. Ten payments of only 50 shekels - that doesn't seem like too much. But it's still 500 shekels...500 shekels you didn't have budgeted. Here's an extreme example, but it's one we've had to live with ourselves. Our dishwasher broke two months ago. We didn't have the repair costs budgeted. We could have gone further into overdraft. But instead we put off the repairs until the money was there. My husband Brian has to do more dishes. He grumbles, but he knows it's the right thing to do.

Tip #3: Take care of what you have

We have a decent collection of CDs. Both music and CD-ROM games for the kids' computer. But the kids sometimes leave their CDs out of their cases. More than once, something has spilled on the CD - food or drink. Another time, Brian accidentally dropped a CD and ran over it with the rolling chair in our office. Guess what? We had to replace those CDs. What a waste! If only we'd taken care of what we had, that expense would be saved, our things would last longer and we'd spend less. You know, my grandmother always told me "you've got to take care of your teeth. If you do, they'll last you a lifetime." I listened. And to this day, I actually love going to the dentist because I get such positive reinforcement.

Tip #4: Wear it out

In keeping with the previous tip, let me ask you this: how often do you replace your car? Once every few years? Of do you keep it up, keept it in really good shape, get all the check-ups it needs, and then drive it until it wears out? OK, maybe the jury is out on the economies of replacing cars. But what about your clothes? Are you compelled to buy an entirely new wardrope every year? Or do you wear things until they're done and dead? I know that doesn't make you the most fashion savvy in town. But when you're trying to save, keeping up with the Cohens is not always the smartest strategy. If all else fails, think about your kids. You got it: hand-me-downs. Most kids don't mind. And it makes great financial sense. Bottom line: take care of your things and then pass them down until they wear out.

Tip #5: Fix it Yourself

This might not be for everyone. But there are those among us - and I'm one of them - who are born handymen or women. Or at least we enjoy trying! Most of the time, we succeed. Take plumbing. Our showerhead broke. Twice. The first time we called the plumber and he fixed it for us. For a few hundred shekels. But I watched what he was doing and realized it wasn't that hard. So the next time, I tried myself. And guess what? It worked! I saved the money and had fun. I'm sure you can think of lots of places where you can hammer or stitch or plaster or paint it yourself. In addition to the money you'll save, you'll feel great!

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You know what...this has gone on for longer than I expected when I started writing the article and I don't want to wear out your patience. So with your permission, I'll post the final five - the rest of our Top Ten Ways to Save Money in Israel - in a subsequent article.

BTW - the source for many of these great tips is the late Joe Dominguez, author of Your Money or Your Life, one of the books we recommend in our "Overcoming Overdraft" course. Joe actually lists over 100 different money-saving tips. We picked out what we thought were the most suited to Israeli life, and added some of our own as well.