Friday, June 8, 2012

Price list

I have mentioned that it is expensive to live here in Israel, so I thought it would only be fair to write you up a little example receipt to give you an idea of what "expensive" means to me.  I could have bored you with a much longer list, but I decided to go for something similar to what would be found in a baby book... just a couple of random items and their costs.  Hopefully this will give you a good idea of the big picture.

Now, some of you may laugh at me and my idea of what is expensive.  Just remember, I haven't actually lived in America for 10 years, and at that, I am from Oklahoma - a state in the country that has lower prices than other areas.  Despite my simplicity, though, I do think you will agree with me that $9.60 is awfully steep for hairspray!

And, just because it humors me to see McDonald's menus in other languages, I will leave you with the following picture.  Don't be fooled in thinking that the Big Mac menu has been pushed to the end of the list in order of importance, though.  Just remember that Jews read right to left and you will see that the old standby is still #1.
In case you were wondering, Israeli currency is the shekel and the exchange rate is: 3.75 shekels to 1 dollar.

{A side note to my children, who may be reading this post 20 years from now:  Yes, sweethearts, times and prices do change!  I'm sure by now you have fallen over on the floor from laughter because these amounts of money are what you pay for a stick of gum and you are probably wishing these were real-time prices for you.  Just remember what generation I live in, though, and think of how the times will change a generation after you!}

13 comments:

  1. WOW!!! Looks very expensive to me! (Unless the milk/meat is organic/grass fed. :-))

    Do the salaries for Israelis match the expensive prices? It would be fun for comparison to do this same list with items in UA.

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  2. I was wondering the same thing...How do the people live overall (make a good salary, live poorly and struggle etc..) ?

    The eggs would kill us! We pay 30 pesos (just over $2 right now) for a flat (30 eggs). We go through 4 or 5 flats easily a week. That would cost us upwards of $60 a week for eggs!

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  3. Good idea! I'll need to steal it for a future post!

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  4. Yep -- more expensive than Oklahoma (we were there this year) and more than Decatur, Texas (I know you are very familiar with that city!!) And, yes -- a generation later, these prices seem so odd. When we bought our first home in 1968, my parents were very concerned that our house payments were twice the amount theirs was. Why, they were paying $54/month and didn't know how we would be able to handle payments of $100. That's when a dozen eggs were a whole 60 cents -- a nickle an egg. How funny those sound today!!!

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  5. Thankfully I do not eat at Mc D's nor do I use hairspray :-0 Wow!! Those are outrageous prices. I'd be buying me some chickens to lay some eggs!! haha!

    Thank you for the peek into life there. I'm enjoying my virtual field trip with your beautiful family.

    ~Cinnamon

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  6. I can relate.The price for McDonalds and hair spray here in Brazil is outrageous too :)

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  7. I had to change the prices to Euros and Israel is expensive in some areas. I compare it to Finland.
    I can get dozen eggs here with about 1.49€ in dollars it would be about 1.86$.
    But then again, the rent is something that you can easily have to pay here too, if you live in or near a big city. We have a one bedroom apartment and our rent is 450€ (+17,5€ water paiment per person) so about 561.79$ (21.85$) but we dont live too near to big cities.

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  8. Ginger ConsfordTuesday, June 12, 2012

    Love to read your posts

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  9. Me too!! I Enjoy them!! Thank you!

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  10. Love that you put the price of a can of Dr. Pepper!!! That would certainly be on my list. ;)

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  11. You should show the same list with Ukrainian prices, so people can understand even better how expensive all that was. Our FOUR ROOM apartment is only 1000 grivna a month! That's what... about $100?

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  12. Woahhh Craziness!!! haha :D What's it like in the UK?

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    Replies
    1. I hope to do a blog post to answer your question very soon...

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Thank you for your encouraging comments! "As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country." Proverbs 25:25