I specialize in families who deal with a fluctuating income and are financially challenged every month. They have to prioritize expenses in order to adhere to the golden budgeting rule: “Spend less than you earn”. August and September are when most families are financially challenged, so this article is a guide for all families, whether they have a fixed or fluctuating income.
Make sure you pay all the critical expenses that must be paid each month: those with a fixed or variable amount, such as mortgage, rent, arnona, water, electricity, communications and insurance. Not paying these expenses means that you will be charged interest, a situation we all need to avoid. There are other expenses where we have more control over either with the amount or when we need to pay them.
TIPS
To save money, you need to be organized, but like with most things in life, the results are worth it:
Day Trips – Cost Comparison
| DIY | COST | EXTERNAL | COST |
| Bottle of water |
2.00 |
1 bottle of water |
10.00 |
| Homemade sandwich |
3.00 |
Restaurant sandwich |
20.00 |
| Pretzels |
3.00 |
Kiosk pretzel |
9.50 |
| TOTAL |
8.00 |
TOTAL |
39.50 |
Tip to keep the water really cold, put one bottle in the freezer the night before, the rest in the fridge and then put all the bottles in a cooler.
As you can see, the savings are substantial if you prepare in advance. Remember to leave some money for ice-cream!
For day trips here is some money saving tips for refuelling:
| Refuelling yourself | Savings of NIS 76/month |
| Use Waze to find the cheapest place to refuel | Savings of NIS 124 p/month |
Going to the Movies
Most families have a screen you can use to watch a film on DVD, or order a VOD film or download a film. Here the savings are quite substantial:
| HOME | COST | MOVIE THEATRE | COST |
| Order a VOD film |
19.90 |
Going to the cinema – family of 4 |
120.00 |
| Microwave popcorn (6 packs) |
11.90 |
Popcorn at the movies – 1 x medium bucket |
24.00 |
| Bottle of cola |
6.90 |
Cola at the movies – 1 x medium cup |
15.00 |
| TOTAL |
38.70 |
TOTAL |
159.00 |
The temptation to cool down together with the kids at the cinema is great, yet the same atmosphere can be created in the comfort of your home. We all know that a trip to the cinema is quite an outlay; maybe the kids would enjoy other attractions, for example, a museum.
All in all, you can save the following amounts if you take advantage of these tips:
| Food DIY |
31.50 |
| Home movie |
120.30 |
| Refuelling tips |
200.00 |
| TOTAL SAVINGS |
351.80 |
So, these are just a few tips on how to make your money more efficient. None of them entailed investing hours of work – just a couple of minutes of organization.
If you want to receive more tips on How to Save Money in Israel, please my booklet. Just click on the link: