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Your step by step guide to using BuyMe
Disclaimer: This post is not sponsored by BuyMe. It is legitimately confusing to use (on purpose, I’m pretty sure) but just about all of us get it, it is valuable, and it can free up real money for other uses. Chaval not to use it. I recently treated a friend to a much needed gals’ […]
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5 ways to get “free” money from the government
While the Israeli government taxes us and takes our money left and right, it also has several programs you might not know about where you can get some of it back. Most people are not eligible for every single one of these, but as we say, knowledge is power. Even being eligible for one can […]
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When it’s chilly, make some chili.
Like many young couples thrown into the adventure of new parenthood, we were low earners, making slightly above 11K net combined, and suddenly had to stretch our same income to cover daycare and baby equipment. We had to figure out how to get the best deals on diapers, wipes and formula (which we only optimized […]
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“Markets are DOWN. It’s a TERRIBLE time to invest.” (…or is it?)
You may have noticed that your pension and keren hishtalmut have lost money this year – as have many other investments. It’s been a bad year for stock markets around the world. So… it must be a bad time to invest, right? Why throw my hard-earned money into something that’s losing money? If you’ve been […]
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Our 2000 shekel chol hamoed family vacation in Israel
As a few of us have birthdays in the fall and it’s off-season, that is generally the time of year we choose for family vacations. By September, we had built up a slush fund since we decided months ago that we wanted to vacation this fall, but we still hadn’t booked anything yet in the […]
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5 money mistakes to avoid
We all make mistakes. Everyone does, even the likes of Warren Buffett, Elon Musk, and Bill Gates. The most important thing is to recognize them, learn from them, and find ways not to do them again. Today we want to share five common money mistakes that might seem like no big deal now, but can […]
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10 basic rights that your Israeli employer must give you
Have you ever seen a job ad that promises “full social benefits” (“תנאים סוציאליים מלאים”) as a perk the company offers? These ads irk us to no end and are even a potential red flag. Why? Because the company isn’t doing you a favor by giving you these benefits. Israeli law requires them to give […]
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Your financial life boat
In March 2020, COVID hit us by storm and the world locked down. Families across Israel – including ours – and the world had one or both wage-earners furloughed or laid off. While the Israeli government paid extended unemployment benefits, no one knew how long they would last or what the future would be. This […]
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8 secrets service providers don’t want you to know
We talk a lot about tracking your expenses and building a budget. But how do you actually bring your expenses down? All businesses have the same goal – making money. But equally important is retaining customers. While the companies on our list will never publicly advertise these discounts – ask and you (likely) shall receive. […]
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Rosh Hashana is upon us. Here are our New Year’s resolutions. What are yours?
While we have always saved and invested, almost exactly one year ago we made the decision to increase our investment rate and actively pursue financial independence. We had both experienced challenges in our work situations, COVID-related and not, and realized that we don’t want to spend the next 30+ years of our lives in a […]
Chasing the Fionist Dream
Our journey to cut expenses, be smarter with our money and reach financial freedom by our 50s
"fake out" (1) all year round (1) budgeting (12) buyme (2) chili (1) emergency fund (1) employee rights (1) ETF's (1) fake money (2) fake take out (1) FI (1) financial independence (1) first post (1) frugal cooking (2) frugal shopping (1) gift cards (1) government (1) holidays (4) investing (5) Israeli law (1) knowledge is power (2) little kids (1) lowering expenses (1) mindset (1) New Year (1) opportunities (11) pizza (1) planning for the future (9) quality time (1) recession (1) retirement (1) saving (7) saving money (1) shopping (8) slush funds (5) snowball effect (3) spending (1) stock market (1) Stocks (1) summer camp (1) supermarket (1) tracking (4) vacation (2) winter (1) working in Israel (2) yum (2)
Chasing the Fionist Dream 