How hard is it financially to make it in Israel?

[Emkay]

This

I always buy fresh. If i freeze then i cook and consume. Otherwise prep and freeze ready to be cooked full meals, i.e. breaded cutlets .

Contradicts this

Our meat gets frozen only once. Either before prep or after its bought fresh and cooked.   

But I'll stop learning this like a Gemara.

[chevron]

I lived in yehuda and shomron mostly, 6 months in gush katif, 3.5 years jerusalem total.

When I had my online business from Israel, I had nightmares always, a broken laptop charger ? 100+ nis to fix the cord.. good luck buying another. The high cost of electronics there and pretty much everything else still pisses me off.

Something that is a 8$ uber in miami is a 150 shekel taxi ride in jerusalem

I detest that everything is a game with them, its dishonest to me that innocent tourists get ripped off and I hate the fight, its childish. I want a stupid taxi ride / air conditioner, give me a reasonable quote.

I dont know how stuff like online shopping has changed things, in my day the only place to pay decent prices on books was sefer vasefel on 2 yabetz.

But in my opinion, anything that is not mass market junk, is prohibitively expensive.

Fish is expensive like hell and you cant rely on it for sushi / gravlax mostly as they dont inspect for worms.

As @hvaces42 said, the meat cuts are laughable. Sure you can go to butcher shops and have fresh cut meat to your liking but its expensive

Gas at 4$ a gallon, 17% VAT. and its endless.

I have my issues that extend far beyond the simple economics. The protektzia, the ineptness of the government and private sector, the cartel and monopolies of the private sector, mafia dominated control. Political system is a joke every one is fighting.. The chareidim dont work, the Chilonim I dunno..

America isnt perfect but after 7-9 years of Israel, ive come to appreciate America. 2nd amendment, Habous corpus, trial by a jury of your peers.. the constitution and the bill of rights.

I was in Gush Katif, I was in  Amona. As they say about conservatives here, once you get arrested.. etc.

I love eretz yisrael with all my hear and soul. After watching 200+ get transported to the hospital at amona, i'm done with the state of israel. I still remember the head of MDA jerusalem screaming at this high ranking general that MDA has no more available ambulances in the region

[hvaces42]

This

Contradicts this

But I'll stop learning this like a Gemara.

It doesnt. Buy fresh, freeze raw and cook once. Buy fresh, prep and freeze to be cooked. Buy fresh cook and freeze cooked.

Thats all.

Never buy frozen. And for sure Never buy frozen, thaw, cook and refreeze

[sky121]

When I'm in Israel for longer periods Osher ad generally has great produce. But I've been there on days when some of the produce wasn't that nice.

I'm general I'd say like all countries they have produce that tastes better there and things that don't. And certain things you can't get.

Not that this pertains to finance exactly.

[chevron]

It doesnt. Buy fresh, freeze raw and cook once. Buy fresh, prep and freeze to be cooked. Buy fresh cook and freeze cooked.

Thats all.

Never buy frozen. And for sure Never buy frozen, thaw, cook and refreeze

buy fresh, cook, eat.

[hvaces42]

buy fresh, cook, eat.

You're obviously not cooking for a family with 2 working parents.

[yitzgar]

You're obviously not cooking for a family with 2 working parents.

+1000000 more like buy fresh on Sunday cook freeze for the week

[chevron]

You're obviously not cooking for a family with 2 working parents.

Nope, 32 and single. Fish store near my office on the way home. I eat fish 5 days a week, stop by store every other day.

[shwarmabob]

I lived in yehuda and shomron mostly, 6 months in gush katif, 3.5 years jerusalem total.

When I had my online business from Israel, I had nightmares always, a broken laptop charger ? 100+ nis to fix the cord.. good luck buying another. The high cost of electronics there and pretty much everything else still pisses me off.

Something that is a 8$ uber in miami is a 150 shekel taxi ride in jerusalem

I detest that everything is a game with them, its dishonest to me that innocent tourists get ripped off and I hate the fight, its childish. I want a stupid taxi ride / air conditioner, give me a reasonable quote.

I dont know how stuff like online shopping has changed things, in my day the only place to pay decent prices on books was sefer vasefel on 2 yabetz.

But in my opinion, anything that is not mass market junk, is prohibitively expensive.

Fish is expensive like hell and you cant rely on it for sushi / gravlax mostly as they dont inspect for worms.

As @hvaces42 said, the meat cuts are laughable. Sure you can go to butcher shops and have fresh cut meat to your liking but its expensive

Gas at 4$ a gallon, 17% VAT. and its endless.

I have my issues that extend far beyond the simple economics. The protektzia, the ineptness of the government and private sector, the cartel and monopolies of the private sector, mafia dominated control. Political system is a joke every one is fighting.. The chareidim dont work, the Chilonim I dunno..

America isnt perfect but after 7-9 years of Israel, ive come to appreciate America. 2nd amendment, Habous corpus, trial by a jury of your peers.. the constitution and the bill of rights.

I was in Gush Katif, I was in  Amona. As they say about conservatives here, once you get arrested.. etc.

I love eretz yisrael with all my hear and soul. After watching 200+ get transported to the hospital at amona, i'm done with the state of israel. I still remember the head of MDA jerusalem screaming at this high ranking general that MDA has no more available ambulances in the region

[Dan]

Nope, 32 and single. Fish store near my office on the way home. I eat fish 5 days a week, stop by store every other day.

Not worried about mercury?

[chevron]

Not worried about mercury?

The amount of mercury in certain types of fish varies greatly. For instance, the average adult could eat 13 ounces of fresh salmon per day while staying under the EPA recommended maximum. You should avoid swordfish, though—eating just 0.14 ounces, a mere forkful, would put you over the limit.

I eat mostly salmon from Farroe islands http://salmon-from-the-faroe-islands.com/

I switch around to other types too. I eat red meat once a week, max 2. Chicken also 1-2 times a week. I cut out anything processed, no white rice or white bread, only brown / black and organic, occasionally Zak bread.

I am trying to eat mostly vegetables, fish, eggs, fruits and grains

And of course wine, thats the staple of my diet, half a bottle or more a day and I weigh 158 and im 5'10

[chevron]

Also recently cut out white potatos. I eat a ton of bok choy, asparagous, brocoli, cauliflower, sweet potato, squash / zuchni, carrots etc If you how to sautee and oven roast this is the most incredible food.

[Ergel]

One thing I have not found at all is the government bureaucracy everyone talks about. My interactions with the misrad hapnim, misrad haklitah, etc. Have all been extremely efficient and everyone has been friendly. I don't know if I just got lucky or things are changing.

[Mordyk]

One thing I have not found at all is the government bureaucracy everyone talks about. My interactions with the misrad hapnim, misrad haklitah, etc. Have all been extremely efficient and everyone has been friendly. I don't know if I just got lucky or things are changing.

that

[Proisrael]

One thing I have not found at all is the government bureaucracy everyone talks about. My interactions with the misrad hapnim, misrad haklitah, etc. Have all been extremely efficient and everyone has been friendly. I don't know if I just got lucky or things are changing.

+100

[Proisrael]

how long to learn the language? how did your kids adapt?

I moved here with 4 kids ages 6-4 month old, within 3 weeks they were talking a better hebrew then I was. Granted I moved to Haifa so they had almost no interaction with the English language at all. They all loved their Gan and Schools here without one day of tears about their old school. I thank Hashem for this because I have heard the horror stories. Butwe made aliya with the idea we would not live in an "Americanized" area in Israel, we wanted all hebrew with a few american families. We lucked out BH!!

[Freddie]

I eat mostly salmon from Farroe islands http://salmon-from-the-faroe-islands.com/

I switch around to other types too. I eat red meat once a week, max 2. Chicken also 1-2 times a week. I cut out anything processed, no white rice or white bread, only brown / black and organic, occasionally Zak bread.

I am trying to eat mostly vegetables, fish, eggs, fruits and grains

And of course wine, thats the staple of my diet, half a bottle or more a day and I weigh 158 and im 5'10

Oh, man. Are we gonna have this conversation again?

[Ergel]

that

I don't think that's true. I think there are other factors involved, but we can leave that for another day.

This thread is too funny.
If you need access to every cut of meat at cheap prices or sushi will decide where you are going to live, then yeah, Israel is not for you. (Funny they just yesterday my Israeli friends were making fun of Americans about sushi). But it's not the way it was 20 years ago. You won't suffer from lack of access to things. Is it frustrating that LED bulbs die a few months after installing them? Yes, but I choose not to let that bother me.

If you want to be מקיים מצות ישוב הארץ, live in the land אשר תמיד עיני ה' אלוקיך בה, in the Jewish Homeland, throw your lot in with the destiny of the Jewish people, in communities where רוחניות is the main goal, that are built around תורה and יראת שמים and are willing to compromise on some creature comforts to do it, then you can have the discussion in this thread. Are there challenges? For sure. But it's largely a question of attitude.

If anyone is serious about this and want to discuss תכלית, feel free to PM me and we can set up a time to discuss. Or if you want to come check it out and need accommodations RBS A for shabbos, just drop me a line.

[satturn]

One thing I have not found at all is the government bureaucracy everyone talks about. My interactions with the misrad hapnim, misrad haklitah, etc. Have all been extremely efficient and everyone has been friendly. I don't know if I just got lucky or things are changing.

My first years in israel i had some issues. Last five years where overall pretty straightforward and simple. I used to hate the banking system- its improved immensely. Misrad hapanim is not 2 bad. Gun permit is simple, as long as you qualify. 

[sky121]

I think we can all agree that most people are going to need some time to get used to things when moving to Israel.  It's a different country. With different rules. Things run differently there. It's a whole new language for some.    Needing a good few years to really get to a place where you're used to things doesn't seem far fetched.
I think the average person who makes Aliyah will struggle at some point. There's a lot of change to get used to. And I don't think that has much to do with financial issues.