The series on how to grow and maximize financially while learning in Kollel
Before I begin, I want to just state (though I am sure you all realize) everything is siyata dishimayim. So, one person can come with all the money in the world and still not be able to make ends meet. And another can come with a lot of student loans and have extra to spare at the end of every month. The following series is just tips for how to do your own hishtadlus.
You are a newly married couple, which probably means that you are entirely new to the idea of money managing for a household. Sure you knew that if you made 15$ babysitting, you couldn’t afford going out with friends for 25. Simple math. However, money tends to disappear when you are running a household. There is the grocery, the gas, the water, the rent, and the ‘you-name-it-and-it-exists’ bills to pay.
The first thing you have to do is figure out how much money a month you can, or are willing to spend. Creating the budget after that is easy. Write down all the things that you know the cost of beforehand, like you know that rent will cost roughly 1000$ a month (for a single bedroom apartment in Jerusalem), arnona (property tax) will cost x$… Add up all you known costs and see what you have left. The leftover money should go to ‘unknown’ costs, like groceries.
Now that you have a plan-stick to it. Its great to write this all down on paper but if you end up spending 5$ here on a coffee and 10$ on lunch, you will end up short on cash at the end of the month. Its not easy to leave your parents home, where (hopefully) money is a little more free flowing-but if you don’t want to end up taking loans, be money conscious. Watch it like a hawk, or it will fly away from you.
(picture by flickr)
