Kollel Budgeting

[Baruch]

Doesn't Shabbos not go into the calculation? (Levu alai va'ani poreah)

But does that mean you can buy a thousand dollar bottle of wine?
And if it doesn't include a thousand dollar bottle - what's the line?

[dealfinder85]

Meh. I live in Queens too. Aron's regular prices are pretty good, and between Season's and Aron's sales you can usually stock up on certain items cheaply. There are also plenty of items that it just makes sense to buy elsewhere, be it the non-kosher supermarkets (Key Food, Stop & Shop, etc.), Costco/BJ's, Target, CVS, etc.

arons is also a pain to shop in bc there isnt room to navigate a cart
seasons is spacious, but non sale items are expensive
i also like supplementing with the non kosher supermarkets

[skyguy918]

arons is also a pain to shop in bc there isnt room to navigate a cart
seasons is spacious, but non sale items are expensive
i also like supplementing with the non kosher supermarkets

Agreed, but if you go at the right times Aron's is fine.

[dealfinder85]

Agreed, but if you go at the right times Aron's is fine.

ya
i live closer to seasons so i try to stick to there and time the sales right

[AnonymousUser]

I just made a chesbon with my wife, and we came out with $55 for shabbos without budgeting or being careful. I don't think most people in kollel are buying London broil for shabbos.

[skyguy918]

I just made a chesbon with my wife, and we came out with $55 for shabbos without budgeting or being careful. I don't think most people in kollel are buying London broil for shabbos.

Or even many non-kollel people.

[12HRS]

arons is also a pain to shop in bc there isnt room to navigate a cart
seasons is spacious, but non sale items are expensive
i also like supplementing with the non kosher supermarkets

use the smaller carts at arons.

[dealfinder85]

use the smaller carts at arons.

if i bring my son i need to take the bigger ones, as the small ones dont have a place for a child
and no need mima nafshach
if its empty, bigger ones are better
if its crowded, no small ones left

[Redbull3]

When making a Budget with my wife for our year of Shana Rishona we came to this conclusion.
We will not be supported together we will be earning $2600 a month I will be tutoring and she will be working as an English teacher in the afternoons.
Our expenses are as follows
Rent including all utilities-$1100
Grocery's-$120 a week = $480
Car insurance-$111
Gas and tolls-$100 (two tanks)=$400
Total being $2191
The extra will be for stuff that come up Ex. Dry cleaning)
I Have a car from When I was a Bochur
We both have cell phones from when we were single
I plan on applying for Jersey care (as of now I am still on my family plan)
Are we missing anything?

That's support in my book...

Clothing (unless you guys are simple in that area)...

Also there are 52 weeks in a year, not 48, so keep that in mind with your grocery section (said another way, there are 4 months with 5 weeks in them).

In any event don't forget to save a little each month. Even 50 bucks. There is always something that will come up requiring a bit of cash like emergency lock smith/plumbing, driving/parking tickets, and gd knows what else.

Good luck!!

[Ergel]

That's support in my book...

Why the need to nitpick?

[Redbull3]

Why the need to nitpick?

Ha you noticed? I thought my smiley face and "good luck!!" softened it, guess not... Couldn't help it sorry. Pet peeve around expectations of and appreciation for support.

[Sport]

I just made a chesbon with my wife, and we came out with $55 for shabbos without budgeting or being careful. I don't think most people in kollel are buying London broil for shabbos.

Or even many non-kollel people.

Perhaps, but the $5 extra that I spend on meat is easily made up by doubling it as my side dish for lunch.

[skyguy918]

Perhaps, but the $5 extra that I spend on meat is easily made up by doubling it as my side dish for lunch.

If you had other sides for Shabbos day instead you'd be saving money. Obviously it's something you enjoy for Shabbos, so kol hakavod, go for it - but it's still costing you more than having chicken Friday night and a different extra side for Shabbos day.

[Sport]

If you had other sides for Shabbos day instead you'd be saving money. Obviously it's something you enjoy for Shabbos, so kol hakavod, go for it - but it's still costing you more than having chicken Friday night and a different extra side for Shabbos day.

You may be right, that's why I want to see what other people buy for shabbos and how much they spend. Only then can we really have a good comparison.

[chuchem]

I also was once in kollel and our shabbes was not even close to 70 dollars if we wanted to save

1) fish, one roll can last for 3 weeks for a couple
2) soup is cheap to make
3) meat- why do you think meat is a must. Whats wrong with chicken?
4) my wife made her own coleslaw and kugel
5) my wife made her own challe
6) tshulent isn't so expensive for 2 people if you don't put 2 pounds of meat in ii
7) liver and egg was homemade
schnitzel and kugel for after tshulent as well and one pack of cold cuts is more then enough


I would say half of 70 dollars can get a couple a decent shabbes.

Problem is today one expects London broil and a lot of stuff get bought and not homemade....
If you want to save you can, it's just a question of effort

[TimT]

I also was once in kollel and our shabbes was not even close to 70 dollars if we wanted to save

1) fish, one roll can last for 3 weeks for a couple
2) soup is cheap to make
3) meat- why do you think meat is a must. Whats wrong with chicken?
4) my wife made her own coleslaw and kugel
5) my wife made her own challe
6) tshulent isn't so expensive for 2 people if you don't put 2 pounds of meat in ii
7) liver and egg was homemade
schnitzel and kugel for after tshulent as well and one pack of cold cuts is more then enough


I would say half of 70 dollars can get a couple a decent shabbes.

Problem is today one expects London broil and a lot of stuff get bought and not homemade....
If you want to save you can, it's just a question of effort

If the wife is working full time she might not have time or energy to cook all that.

[elit]

Off topic: lot of queens people on here I'm surprised

[Sport]

I also was once in kollel and our shabbes was not even close to 70 dollars if we wanted to save

1) fish, one roll can last for 3 weeks for a couple
2) soup is cheap to make
3) meat- why do you think meat is a must. Whats wrong with chicken?
4) my wife made her own coleslaw and kugel
5) my wife made her own challe
6) tshulent isn't so expensive for 2 people if you don't put 2 pounds of meat in ii
7) liver and egg was homemade
schnitzel and kugel for after tshulent as well and one pack of cold cuts is more then enough


I would say half of 70 dollars can get a couple a decent shabbes.

Problem is today one expects London broil and a lot of stuff get bought and not homemade....
If you want to save you can, it's just a question of effort

First off your fail to post costs, I guarantee that the total is closer to 70 than 35.
Second, I'm not in kollel and don't "expect" London broil. Although I don't think spending a little extra for shabbos is going overboard. 

[Emkay]

But does that mean you can buy a thousand dollar bottle of wine?
And if it doesn't include a thousand dollar bottle - what's the line?

Yes

[elit]

But does that mean you can buy a thousand dollar bottle of wine?
And if it doesn't include a thousand dollar bottle - what's the line?

According to the posek i asked it has to be within your normal means