Day One

5:20 am I’m up about 10 minutes before my alarm is set to go off. We recently moved to Tzur Hadassah from Jerusalem and our new apartment is at the very edge of the Yishuv, which also happens to be the Green Line (we’re on the “Israel” side). I’m still getting used to the meuzzins that blast the call to prayer in the village down the hill, Wadi Fukin. I get up and make coffee, chocolate milk for the kids, and start prepping lunches, snacks and breakfast for the family.

8:30 am – I got to the office about an hour ago and am finally eating my breakfast, which my husband, Y., prepped last night. Every night he prepares overnight oats (oatmeal, peanut butter, chocolate almond milk and chia seeds) and in the morning I add some frozen berries and eat it at my desk.

10 am — In between meetings I run upstairs and put money into the collection envelope for one of my colleague’s son’s Bar Mitzvah present.
₪100

1 pm — Last year my doctor had some concerns about my blood pressure and I worked with a dietician to come up with a meal plan that is filling, healthy and tasty. Most days I eat a chopped salad with hard boiled egg and some homemade salad dressing. Honestly, the lunch kind of sucks but if I prep it in the morning I can save myself from buying lunch or eating too much garbage.

3:15 pm — I leave the office and drive to pick up my kids from Tzaharon (after school care). My older son is in Kitah Bet at the local public school and their school day ends between 12:30 and 13:45, depending on the day. My younger son is in kindergarten, which ends at 14:00. We pay around 900 NIS/month for each kid for private after school care, which means they are cared for until 16:30. I try to leave the office with plenty of time because traffic in our area of Jerusalem is unpredictable and working 35 minutes away from home makes me nervous about being late.

5:20 pm — We get to the soccer field on the Yishuv and it is already dark. The little one has soccer practice so the big one and I watch him for a few minutes before crossing the street to return some books to the library. Normally we’d watch the whole practice, but it is cold out and the library is nice and warm, so we hang around for a while.

6:10 pm — Y. bikes back to Tzur Hadassah from Jerusalem and meets up with us at the end of the soccer practice. There aren’t so many local options for food so we end up at New Deli for sandwiches. We are still new to the community but we luck out and run into a couple of women I’ve met who were also wrangling all their kids. Through the mayhem, one of them manages to introduce us to a father out with his three kids. Turns out his older daughter and my older son are in Tzaharon together and we talk all through dinner. We didn’t exchange numbers but they just live down the street.
₪140

7:30 pm — The kids are in bed and Y. and I sit down to have a Skype meeting with our interior designer. We bought our apartment on paper four years ago and moved in as soon as we got the keys two months ago. I could write a whole blog post (dissertation?) about the pros and cons of buying on paper, but financially it was our only way of owning our own property in Israel. We moved before we could install things like closets and build an entryway, and with our busy schedules we realized it made more sense to hire a professional to help finish the job.

Daily Total: ₪240

DAY TWO

5:30 am –  Y. is in training for a 50km trail race so he left the house about half an hour ago to go for his long run. He won’t get back until around 9:30 so I’m on kid duty this morning. Normally I leave the house at 6:45 to get to the office early, so I enjoy having a slower morning with the kids. I drink three cups of coffee (and wonder all morning why I’m peeing so much!) and teach my seven year old how to make an omelet. He’s mastered scrambled eggs already, but omelets are still a challenge. I love watching him crack the eggs and turn on the stove – he’s orderly and systematic – but I don’t mind lending a hand when it’s time to flip the omelet. Next time he’s on his own!

10:00 am – I was in meetings all morning and haven’t had time to eat the overnight oats Y. made for me. I wolf it down in a post-meeting meeting and just do not feel satisfied.

1:00 pm – We were totally out of vegetables so no salad for me today. There is a little sandwich stand in the building across the street so I bought a chavita sandwich on whole wheat bread. It is an underwhelming sandwich but it doesn’t cost much, and a colleague gave me some spicy pickled peppers to make it better.
₪20

4:00 pm – I finally made it to the grocery store. Sometimes we have our food delivered but we really need to be organized and reserve a delivery time far in advance for it to be convenient (it was easier to do delivery when we lived in Jerusalem). Most of the time I just go to a grocery store near work and drive home after. I can only shop after work on Thursdays but I’ve found that even though it is the day before Shabbat, this particular store isn’t usually so busy. Today, in addition to our regular groceries, I have a bunch of other household stuff, like laundry detergent and dishwashing liquid, to buy so it is a more expensive shop than usual.
₪785

6:00 pm – When we lived in Jerusalem I rode my bike to and from work most days. It was cheap and quick and helped clear my mind. Becoming a car commuter is really my main complaint about moving away and I’ve been worried about how to incorporate exercise into my day-to-day life. Finally, last week, I decided to start a Couch to 5K training program and I need to run (walk) three days a week. I knew that if I didn’t go immediately after I got home it wasn’t going to happen, so I quickly changed and went for a run.

9:00 pm – Y. and I are both morning people and rarely go out at night. Tonight is no exception so when we finally finish our work and tidying up, Y. makes us each a drink and we watch some TV before bed.

Daily Total: ₪805

DAY THREE

6:00 am – Got up and started getting the kids ready for school. Fridays are short school days, but because we don’t work and the kids are out, we like to maximize our time. I did food and kid wrangling while Y. got all our mountain biking gear together and put our bikes on the car.

10:30 am- Y. and I finished a 15km loop in Park Canada and drank a cup of coffee before getting back in the car to head home. We always keep folding chairs in the trunk of the car so on days like today, when the park is busy, we can still sit out and enjoy. On our way home we stopped at the gas station to check pressure in the tires. I ran into the shop and picked up some chips and drinks.
₪19

1:00 pm- The big kid was picked up at 11:45 and came home and ate a quick lunch. We went to the little one’s gan at 12:30 for a family kabbalat Shabbat. We send to a public kindergarten (not religious) but this is Israel so ya, kabbalat Shabbat. The whole family got in the car and dropped the big one off at a birthday party in Bar Giora and Y. and the little one and I continued on to Nes Harim, where there is a garden center. We spent almost an hour and a half picking out the trees and plants we want for our new patio and decided, in the end, it was worth it for them to do the planting and delivery. It cost more than we were planning on (by a lot!), but it is an investment and it should really beautify our outdoor space.
₪1900

2:30 pm – We have about 30 minutes to kill before getting the big one from his birthday party so we stop at a local restaurant/coffee shop/KKL info centre/trailhead and got some hot chocolate, popsicles and pastries.
₪56

5:00 pm – We LOVE Shabbat but we aren’t Shomer Shabbat, so that means I cook up a storm and we usually watch a movie together as a family. Tonight the kids picked the movie, so Lego Ninjago. Then early to bed for everyone!

Daily Total: ₪1975

DAY FOUR:

6:00 am- The big one woke up the whole family WAY too early but I refused to get out of bed. Y. made the coffee and dealt with the kids while I lay in bed reading.

10:00 am – Finally got our acts together and got out of the house. Drove to the Ben Shemen Forest to ride the Hertzl Trail – a single track that is easy enough for our 5yo to ride but fun enough that Y. and I can make it interesting. We packed a lunch and snacks and lots of water but thankfully it wasn’t too hot. There was thunder and the sky was really grey, so we turned around early.

2:00 pm – We still had a quarter tank but we stopped to get gas because it was convenient and the little one was sleeping so it bought us a few extra minutes of nap time.
₪216

5:00 pm – Dinner, showers, and kids watched a few minutes of TV before bed. Then I went for my stupid run as part of the stupid couch to 5k training. I guess it feels good, but also running sucks.

7:00 pm – Trying to get ahead of the week by prepping some food. Roasting beets and cauliflower to put into salads and making an thai curry orange soup that I’ll portion out and freeze.

DAY FIVE

5:30 am – Drag myself out of bed and begin the daily routine. Coffee, chocolate milk, put away dishes, start prepping breakfast, aruchat 10, lunch, etc. Confirm that the seven-year-old put his English books and his soccer uniform in his bag and try to get out of the kitchen. I remember that the water heater is, for reasons entirely beyond me, set to heat up only to 40C and decide not to shower. Argue with Y. about who has to call the guy to come fix the water heater (Y. loses and makes the call).

3:00 pm – Finish a fairly quiet day of work and rush back to Tzur Hadassah to begin the afternoon stuff. The seven-year-old had packed his English book but forgot his uniform, so I quickly stopped by the house and picked it up before getting both kids from their respective after-care locations. Warned the big one that next time he forgets he will have to practice without his uniform and he asked if I could just put it in the car in the morning so that he doesn’t have to carry it from school to tzaharon and then keep it in good shape until soccer. It is an excellent proposal so we will try that next week.

5:30 pm – By the time we get home from soccer and the library it is already dinner time. Thankfully I cooked up a storm before shabbat so dinner tonight is leftovers. Everyone eats and happily gets into pajamas at a reasonable time. Y. gets home around 6:30 and reads stories to the kids while I clean up the kitchen.

7:30 pm – Anticipating a big meeting with the closet people in the morning, Y. and I spend an hour going over our finances and expenses. We are in the midst of what I hope is the most expensive period of our lives and we are really trying to do our best to keep in the black.

Daily Total: ₪0

DAY SIX

7:30 am – The day gets off to an annoying start. I have a meeting in Talpiot to select the closets and office furniture for the house but it means I get stuck in the traffic going from Gush Etzion to Jerusalem. I finally find a spot and meet my interior designer at 8:30.

10:30 am – The meeting took forever but we selected everything. We wanted to pay by tashlumim (monthly payments) but we don’t have a credit card that has a high enough limit to block off the full amount (we aren’t usually high spenders and have never tried to raise our credit limit because we don’t make large purchases). In the end we agree to pay everything upfront, which meant writing a check for ₪4000 and agreeing to bring a bank check for the remaining ₪22,800 at the beginning of December. I went to a different store to buy some handles and hooks and rushed to work.
₪4,090

4:30 pm – I finish work and rush home to begin the next part of my day. I ate a quick dinner and got the older kid into the car and drove back to Jerusalem. He has a physics chug that starts at 6:10 in Gilo and we are mostly going against traffic but the tunnels can still be busy.

6:30 pm – I don’t have time to go home while the older kid has his chug so I took the time to go for a run. The weather is nice and cool and I enjoy the time alone when I don’t feel like I should be doing something else.

8:00 pm – We’re back from Jerusalem and I realize we have no bread at home. It isn’t worth it to convince Y. he wanted to get dressed and leave the house, so I ran out quickly to the store. I’m in and out in about 10 minutes and return home with two loaves of bread (white and brown) and two liters of milk.
₪35

Daily Total: ₪4125

DAY SEVEN

6:00 am – I drive Y. to work on Tuesdays so I get to sleep in until 6!!! But it also means that all four of us are trying to get out of the house at the same time so things do not go smoothly. We manage to make both kids cry before even leaving the house at 7:20.

3:15 pm – I had a meetingful day and even though I still have a lot to do, I need to leave the office and pick Y. up on the way home. We do pickup together and get the kids home with a few minutes before we need to leave the house again to do carpool and get to the soccer field. Y. works a little while the five-year-old plays with LEGOs and the seven-year-old (the kid who has soccer) ends up crying because he can’t find a long-sleeved t-shirt and he can’t go to soccer practice without one.

5:20 pm – We find a lone long-sleeved tshirt on the drying rack and are unpleasantly surprised to find that we forgot to buy him any for this year. So after I do my carpool round I drive to Beit Shemesh and buy him some shirts (5 for ₪100). This is an unplanned trip and I’m starving, so I pick up a small smoothie at ReBar before heading home
₪121

8:30 pm – I got home from Beit Shemesh and the kids were in their room talking, not sleeping, so I went and said my goodnights. I had some time to catch up on work that needed to get done before heading downstairs to our neighbor’s apartment for a building meeting. Unlike in North America, apartments are privately owned and the buildings are maintained by a small-scale homeowners association (va’ad beit) made up of the individual owners. Because our building is brand-new, we had a get together to meet everyone and discuss how to set up our va’ad. We were very pleasantly surprised to find out that all our new neighbors are lovely and have a similar vision for how the building should be maintained. I left the meeting early because Y. and I had left the kids home alone and I still had a few things I needed to get done before bed.

Daily Total: ₪121