Pesach is one of the most festive events on the calendar, but it is also one of the most expensive: cooking, eating, hosting, traveling, shopping, shopping, and more shopping.
If you’re feeling the pressure and need to cut back on expenses, here are a few ideas that may help you start saving now.
Buying a Present for Yourself—Should You Really?
The holiday season is not an easy one. We work hard at home; some of us are hosting guests, while for others, it’s just as challenging to be a guest elsewhere. This season can also bring up feelings of loneliness and tension, often centered around questions such as “With whom will we celebrate the holiday?” Many of us resort to compensating ourselves by buying gifts and luxuries, thinking they will lift our spirits before the holiday. Stores encourage such purchases by offering discounts and sales.
Instead of increasing unnecessary purchases during this already expensive time, we should consider other ways to give ourselves a break—such as stepping outside to enjoy the fresh spring air after a long winter and an extended period of lockdown.
Eating Out the Week Before Pesach
The week before Pesach is extremely challenging for many. Kids are on vacation, and we are busy preparing the house for the holiday. It may seem like the perfect time to relieve ourselves of cooking duties by sending the kids to grab a pizza. While this might sound like a great idea, we must remember that eating out can quickly become expensive—especially when it turns into a week-long habit.
We Don’t Need, but We Buy
During Pesach, we buy a lot of gifts—gifts for people we don’t necessarily wish to thank, gifts for our hosts and guests, gifts for our neighbors, and gifts for our children. When we head out to buy these gifts, we become even more tempted by discount signs and special offers—not because we truly need the items, but because the deals seem appealing.
Despite the tempting prices, it’s important to remember that excessive purchases this month may lead to overdraft in the next. Those ‘great deals’ become far less attractive when we consider the high interest rates associated with overdrafts.
Home Renovations
As we do our annual Pesach cleaning, clearing out all the nooks and crannies of our homes, we tend to notice things we previously overlooked—dirt on the walls, chips in the furniture. As we clean and rearrange, we may feel the urge to take advantage of this opportunity to make home repairs, thinking this is the perfect time to do so.
However, it’s best to avoid tackling all repairs at once. Instead, make a list, prioritize the fixes based on importance and urgency, and only after the holiday, reassess your budget to determine the right time for renovations. This is certainly not the month to take on additional expenses, especially when food costs alone can double!
In Conclusion…
Prepare a list of holiday expenses and be sure to account for all categories: food, household goods, and even Chol Hamoed activities. Organize the list by priority—what must be purchased now, what can wait, and what can be skipped altogether. Exercise control and allocate your money wisely. You may even find yourself crossing off unnecessary items once you start shopping!
As part of its holiday preparations, Paamonim helps more families emerge from crisis and achieve financial independence—ensuring they have the means to celebrate Pesach and future holidays with financial stability.
