Day One

Sometime between 6:45 a.m. and 9:15 a.m. – 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.  My friends told me the alarm went off a few times before they came in to wake me up at 7:15am (jet lag is real!). I made myself coffee (nespresso) at my friends’ house, those pods can be expensive, so anytime someone offers me one, I take it! No time for breakfast this morning before the commute, but I keep a box of granola bars at my desk for times like this!

I used my monthly Rav Kav bus card to take the train to the suburbs last night and then again in the morning to work in Tel Aviv. I have the card that is roughly ₪500 monthly, that allows me unlimited transport to and from Jerusalem and Tel Aviv as well as within the cities themselves.  This includes buses, trains and light rails.

9:15 a.m. – Usually I take a bus from the train station to work but I have my luggage with me, so I take a cab to the office. I’m usually VERY conscious about my transportation costs and sticking to public transport since it’s easily accessible, but I know my limits.
₪30.50

9:30 a.m. — HEAVEN. My office carries nespresso.  As mentioned before… JET LAG IS REAL… relying on free nespresso pods today.

12:15 p.m. — SO HUNGRY. I didn’t have a chance to eat my granola bar breakfast because of all my morning meetings (it happens when you’re out on vacation for 3 days and playing catch up), so now I’m STARVING. Since I came straight from the airport, essentially, I didn’t pack a lunch (which I normally do).  I go to a local restaurant with colleagues and we get take out to eat in the office. I got a more expensive lunch than usual so I would have leftovers for dinner (no time to go to the grocery tonight because I need to go straight from work to voting in Jerusalem for the mayoral run off).
₪118

5 p.m. — My normal commute is very relaxing since I sit on the train and don’t pay attention to traffic. However, today I had my luggage, I was tired, I certainly was HANGRY and I wanted to get home ASAP so I that could vote in the election. One of my co-workers was driving back to Jerusalem to vote so the plan was to drive with her so I didn’t have to schlep my luggage on public transport again. Well…due to a miscommunication I needed to get to my coworkers car on the other side of Tel Aviv. Since I was already tired and had decided that I wouldn’t have time to be a responsible adult this week,I just leaned in to hemorrhaging money. So I cabbed to the car with my luggage and off we went to vote!
₪28.50

7 p.m — Dropped off my luggage. Walked to vote. Voted. (WHY ARE THERE NO “I VOTED” STICKERS IN THIS COUNTRY?!?!?( Walked home. Made eggs for dinner – this stemmed from a combination of being tired, cheap, and not having gone grocery shopping. And then I passed out! #JETLAG

Daily Total: ₪177

DAY TWO

6:45 a.m. — I felt totally off this week. Flying to America for 80 hours was worth it, but I have no idea what time it is, what meal I should be eating, what temperature it is, etc. I flew to American for 80 hours to celebrate the wedding of a good friend!  Some think it’s crazy but it’s important for me to stay connected to my friends and family in America. I have an American credit card that has great miles benefits. I try to us it as much as possible so I can fly back to the states! 5:45am-6:45am is a blur. I finally wake up. Shower. Coffee at home. I have some Bed Bath and Beyond, nespresso-esque pods at home from the last time I was in America (Yes.) Used my Rav Kav to get to work. Made it to the office. Made ANOTHER coffee (Nespresso pods – FREEEEEEE) and got back to work.

12:15 p.m. — OH MY GOODNESS. Got to work this morning, had my to-do list, got started and then our team got pulled into a last minute (but big opportunity) assignment. We didn’t do anything all day except work on a program that needed to be finished in 48 hours. Since I didn’t grocery shop last night and didn’t have any food in the fridge I bought lunch. I stuck with something readily accessible (and moderately healthy) so I could eat while working – a salad with eggplant and feta. It was good. I go to the restaurant because I like their bread :-) Most of my coworkers are regulars at this local shop!
₪36

6 p.m. — My brain is fried. I commute home on auto-pilot. I bus in Tel Aviv to the train station. Train station to Ben Gurion. Ben Gurion speed train to Jerusalem. Tonight I’m helping a friend from grad school with an assignment. She picks me up from the train and drives me home. This saves me 30 more minutes on a bus from the city center of Jerusalem to home.

7:30 – 11:30  p.m. — Grad school study group. I don’t know how I survived. But we did it! And now I pass out. Still haven’t gotten my sleep schedule back to normal.

Side note about grad school – I did a one-year MA program here in Israel and while school finished in August we have a few extra months to turn in all assignments. I started my full-time job after finishing my in-class hours, but still had 3 papers left.  Not recommended – I should have finished all my assignments before starting work because now I spend my weekends finishing homework.

Daily Total: ₪36

DAY THREE

6:45 a.m. — Woke up on the WRONG side of the bed this morning. Was tired. Was cranky. Felt like I slept 3 hours. My fitbit confirmed it was 6, but it felt like less. I didn’t have time to make coffee at home, so the whole commute to work was an internal negotiation about buying coffee and food for breakfast.

9:15 a.m. – I gave in to temptation. I stopped at the bakery on the way to work and bought CARBS. LOTS OF CARBS. NO idea what I ended up getting but it was a mix of savory and sweet pastries. And it was worth it.
₪18.70

1:15 p.m. — Staff meeting all morning. Thank goodness I had carbs and coffee this morning. So happy to have lunch roll around – I am trying to see friends who also work in TLV and also trying to learn the area.  Had a great catch up with a friend and tried a new restaurant – American Jewish comfort food. Yes, chopped liver. So good. Lunch was MUCH more expensive than I was expecting, but again, leaning into hemorrhaging money since I usually meal prep on the weekends and I was away.
₪71

5 p.m. — Nothing special on the commute home other than waiting FOREVER on a bus inside Jerusalem to get me home. It was cold and a little rainy. And the streets were full of soldiers going home and people going to the shuk to get groceries and be social. I wanted my bed. By the time I got home I realized my options for dinner were ordering food (again, spending money) OR cereal. Blech. What to do.

7:30 p.m. — My roommate was tired from work too. We order sushi take out. Again, MONEY MONEY MONEY – I am going to regret this when I eat ramen noodles all week next week. But honestly, the sushi and noodle take out was SO GOOD.
₪115

10:30 p.m. — BEDTIME.I start feeling like I’m getting sick and all I want to do is get into bed and watch TV. My go-to sick tv show when I lived in America was SVU but I couldn’t get it on Netflix in Israel. Since I don’t pay for Netflix (shout out to the friends in America who give me a profile on their family’s account), I decided to purchase a VPN for the year. This was an expense I had been contemplating for a while. Clearly my mind was saying “SPEND MONEY” this week, so I purchased it.
₪371 (100 USD for the year)

Oyyyyy….I also paid the electricity bill tonight….my portion was ₪139.32 for Sept-Nov.

Daily Total: ₪575.70

DAY FOUR

12:30 p.m. – WOWZA… slept for 12 hours. Clearly I needed it. (#JETLAG) . . . but I also woke up with some sinus pain.  I want to stay in bed. I cancel all my shabbat plans, but I know if I didn’t make it to the grocery store I will have to eat out all next week. My weekends are my meal prep days.

1 p.m. – Couldn’t make it to the grocery store, so I went to the convenience store down the street. I can get almost everything there, including vegetables, other than fresh meat. I can get deli and survive. I got milk, eggs, tofu, deli meat, cheese, red peppers, broccoli, and mushrooms. Oh, and I got a 30 NIS cake to eat over Shabbat. They are so smart. They keep it at the register.
₪271.80

10 p.m. – Slept on and off on the couch all day. So tired. Don’t feel well. Thanks to the new VPN and Hulu (which I also DO NOT pay for, thanks other American friends!!), I watched SVU all day.

10:30 p.m. — BEDTIME. Took some sinus meds (I bring everything back from America) and went to bed.

Daily Total: ₪271.80

DAY FIVE

Great day. TV. Sleep. MEAL PREPPED! Cooked roasted veggies, some ground beef I had frozen from a prior shopping trip, etc. My goal is to only eat ONE lunch and ONE dinner out this week; meaning, I am going to be bringing my lunch most days. This is tough because most of my colleagues buy everyday.

Daily Total: ₪0

DAY SIX

6:45 a.m. — Woke up feeling normal today!! Made my coffee at home AND my lunch! Deli sandwich, cut up fresh yellow pepper, some nuts and dried fruit, and a few pieces of my leftover shabbat cake.  Took my normal commute to work.

12:15 p.m. — Short break for lunch today – ate my home-brought lunch outside in the TLV sunshine!

6 p.m. — HERE is my ONE dinner out this week – my office is going to HAPPY HOUR!!!! So excited to sit down and relax!! Here’s the trick – find a great HH that has deals! We went to this place on TLV where everything – food and drink – is 50% off for happy hour! I had 2 glasses of wine AND split 4 entrees (size in between American Tapas and Israeli Mains) with a colleague.  Tax and tip came to 106, which would have been one main and one glass of wine without HH prices!
₪106

8:30 p.m. – 11:30 p.m. — Commute home (took the 405 bus; still covered on my Rav Kav) and got into bed!!

Daily Total: ₪106

DAY SEVEN

7:45 a.m. — What a morning! I was able to sleep in a little because I had a personal appointment in the morning and then an errand to run in Jerusalem for work. I moved around the city using my Rav-Kav.

11:45 a.m. – Didn’t have breakfast or coffee this morning so I was STARVING by the time I got to the office.

12:15 p.m. — Got to have “outside” food today without leaving the office. I ate my leftovers from Thursday night’s sushi! Oh, and I had a TON of the free-office Nespresso!

7 p.m. – Went on a date tonight! Had beer and tacos – my date paid so I don’t know the total.

Daily Total: ₪0