Money Diaries

8:00 a.m. - It’s Shabbat tonight and we are going out for both meals over Shabbat so we need to go shopping. We go to the bakery to get challah for our Friday night meal and pay 20 shekels for two challot. Additionally, we head over to a local grocery store to buy stuff that we need for the week and items for the salad we will be making for Shabbat lunch. I also buy some chicken wings that I will be making Saturday night for the big college football game that luckily I get to watch because it starts at 7:00 pm Israel time.

My alarm goes off and I’m supposed to go for a run but I didn’t sleep well last night so I snooze until 8:15. #Runcrastionation is real.

My wife is a high school teacher and has been home with the kids while I’ve been working in the office most of the summer. I’ve decided to take off a couple of days to do things with the family, so we’re actually getting everyone up at a decent time to eat breakfast and head to Jerusalem for the day.

2:00 pm: I just woke up. Ordinarily, I’d start packing a peanut butter sandwich for lunch at work but all of us were let go without warning last Thursday. Breakfast is instant coffee and some homemade muesli: a single plain yogurt mixed with a handful of oats and raisins.

Many trips to and from the bathroom with a feverish, sick preschooler… finally get her comfortable and asleep.

Taxi to the car rental place to pick up the jacket I forgot a couple of days ago, and from there to my workplace. Ate free cereal and fruits we have in our office.

6:30 am: My baby wakes me up just before my alarm goes off. He was up frequently last night screaming and touching his ears. I plan to call the doctor as soon as the office opens to try to get in for an appointment to check for ear infection. Meanwhile, I eat cereal and drink coffee at home.

6:00 a.m. - Is it already morning? My son is awake and my husband is already gone for the day. Get up, get my son dressed and ready, get myself dressed and ready.

After Shabbat, I went out to the mall with my roommate to buy a couple of last minute additions to my Purim costume. I own almost everything I need for this costume (#lazy) but I spent ₪3.99 on a bow from Beauty Care and a 1+1 packet of tights from H&M for a total of ₪19.90.

The worst part of my job is to wake up time. I am a morning person, and it still seems insane to me. Breakfast is cereal, then I get the kids' lunches ready, then off for my hour-long commute. Most days I carpool with a coworker, which work pays for.

I’m not a morning person. It takes all of my strength to get out of bed, caffeinate myself and begin my morning routine of spiritual and physical sustenance: G-d, bakery and makolet. Pocket change for tzedaka, ₪15 for 15 rolls and ₪12 for 2 liters of milk that will last a few days (maybe).

I’m not a morning person. It takes all of my strength to get out of bed, caffeinate myself and begin my morning routine of spiritual and physical sustenance: G-d, bakery and makolet. Pocket change for tzedaka, ₪15 for 15 rolls and ₪12 for 2 liters of milk that will last a few days (maybe).

Woke up, made my morning matcha (started switching from coffee to matcha recently) and did yoga. Had a quick breakfast of chia seed pudding that I made the night before and pomegranate seeds.

Jump out of bed to make it to the bus which takes me to the train. I bought a monthly train pass which cost ₪300 (my company covers the cost at the end of the month). This covers unlimited buses in Tel Aviv and Airport City for free for the month and includes the train back and forth from the cities.

We hired a weekly cleaner once I returned to work after my third was born. She is coming today for four hours. She takes ₪60/Hour + bus fare. I leave ₪250 for her on the table.

I woke up a little late today because the alarm clock (aka kids) only woke up now. They were tired from our trip back from Haifa. Glad I’m starting the diary today because the gas was exorbitant.

I wake up at 6, have my coffee, and look at messages while drinking… I then shower, dress, daven, and eat oatmeal with my coffee

Today, I wake up early because I volunteer in the local high school teaching English to ninth grade. E. usually take the car to work, but since I am volunteering, I drop E. off at the bus stop and then continue to the high school. I eat my granola and yogurt (that we make at home) in the car before heading into the school.

6:45 a.m.…...at least I think that’s what time the alarm went off! I stayed with friends in the suburbs of Tel Aviv because I landed at Ben Gurion late in the evening and didn’t want to go back to all the way back to Jerusalem and then back again to Tel Aviv this morning.

Slowly got out of bed to wake up the kids for school. Two boys take their time, one daughter has moved in to the bed with wife and I play annoying kids songs for the early riser. Eldest daughter heads off to Sherut Leumi.

Hopped on a bus to work and paid with my Rav Kav. I have a monthly pass that work covers.

Woke up late after staying up too late last night. Luckily I have some leftovers from shabbat dinner I’ll pack to have for lunch today.

Get out of bed easily today because I know we have exciting errands and it’s the end of the week. My husband, B. is already on the shuttle on the way to school and I head to work which is around a 6 minute drive away.

I am working from home today because I have a meeting in Baka smack in the middle of the day. This means I can wake up a bit later than usual, since I don’t have my normal 45 min (or more) commute to my office.

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).