Tips For Creating Greater Financial Security To Avoid Stress!
Above: My succah, the year that I was frugal with both time and money by re-using the decorations from my son’s bar mitzvah celebration!
Raising a family is expensive, period. Jewish families, especially those who live by Torah values, face an increasing cost of raising their families while living a kosher lifestyle. Besides the standard costs of raising a family, such as the high costs of buying a family home, Jewish families face specific costs like synagogue memberships, a kosher diet, the cost of Jewish days schools, and celebrating week long festivals like Succot.and passover. Practicing good financial habits can help maintain financial security and most importantly avoid the stress of scrambling to cover expected and unexpected expenses!
Get Your Debt Under Control – Particularly High-Interest Debt
In Jewish communities and countries such as Israel, costs such as consumer goods cost as much as double the average price. This means that every item, including groceries, may be purchased with credit, leading to many families financing their living costs with debt. Tackling high-interest debt such as credit cards means you’re freeing up income that is being paid towards servicing these debts, and improves your prospects of securing future credit such as mortgages. You will also want to settle any outstanding grievances, including those in collection, to ensure your credit record is accurately reflected. When disputing a debt, start by drafting a written request seeking proof from the agency within 30 days of being contacted. Ideally, you want your communication with these collection companies to be written so that your rights are protected. Debt validation letters should be professional and concise, so it’s a good idea to use a template, which can be found online: you can find the letters here.
Don’t Let Your Emergency Fund Become Your Necessity Fund
The high costs of maintaining your Jewish obligations often mean that families, even those with high-income earners, admit that they have very few savings to their name. Combined with the standard costs of raising a family, the need for a rainy day fund becomes quite visible. This is where going back to basics on your spending habits can help. Tricks such as automating standard savings transfers or swapping brands for generic products can help you achieve these savings.
Get Frugal With Food And Clothing Purchases
The higher prices charged on kosher produce in the supermarkets mean that families can spend twice as much to eat. Of course this is non-negotiable as far as compromise, but one can eliminate many junk food items and prepared foods that bring up the food bill (and end up raising the dental bill!) Consider buying in bulk and looking out for sales to reduce the cost of kosher food. Getting creative and frugal with high-cost items like meat helps in taking it further. Consider eating a more plant-based diet at least during the week to lower the food bill and raise the health benefits at the same time!
As far as clothing goes, buy basic kid’s items at end of year sales, for the next year, and start early with children when it comes to the values of being penny-wise and living within your family’s own means. Saying no to children’s desires for new clothes may be difficult, but in the long run you will be doing them a favor. In large families the expenses of new clothing can be great, so one should also look for special community sales before holidays, and when there is an amazing deal, say on shoes, buy a bunch in larger sizes to have on hand. Having to rush out and buy shoes for a child who suddenly has developed holes in his/her shoes can get expensive, so plan ahead for this very likely scenario!
Achieving financial security isn’t entirely in our hands, but we can take steps to help avoid financial crises, even little ones! Wishing everyone a new year filled with good health, blessings and parnassa b’shefa!
