Chasing the Fionist Dream

If you are a frequent reader of this blog, you know we have many many many posts on ways to save money. A good number of those tips require you to be on your toes, actively on the lookout for better prices and deals, making decisions to help you save every day. While it is crucial to be vigilant with your finances, we want to show you ten ways in which one single action can save you money each month for at least a year.

Each item on this list can save you a minimum of a hundred shekels per year on its own, while some items can save you thousands. We challenge you to adopt as many of these as you can and enjoy the savings.

1. Cancel your credit card fees. Are you still paying a monthly fee for yours? Contact your credit card provider and ask them to waive the monthly fees. If they don’t agree, it’s time to find a new credit card. We both only have non-bank credit cards since our bank refused to cancel our credit card fees.
   
   
2. Lower or cancel your bank fees. You should be paying no more than 10 shekels a month for your personal bank account. If you’re a medical professional, high tech employee, teacher, student, or have an income over a certain threshold, many banks will offer you an account with no fees . You might need to call every few years to renew these terms.
   
   
3. Axe your investment portfolio management fees. While banks will let you start investing with any amount, their management fees tend to be much higher than those of investment firms. Once the value of your portfolio reaches 20,000 shekels, move it out of the bank and into an investment firm. Make sure to compare fees and negotiate to get the best deal. Just like other investments, the same rings true for your pension plan and keren hishtalmut. Remember, more fees = less compound interest. Last week, we got a call out of the blue from our bank, inviting us to move our portfolio back there for attractively low management fees. We sent that offer to our investment house, who in turn, lowered our fees even further.
   
   
4. Review your insurance policies. When was the last time you checked what insurance coverages you have? It could be that you are covered for the same things multiple times. Remember that insurance agents don’t have your best interest at heart and will do anything to make a sale. Use this website to see your policies and find out if you are double-insured. No need to pay for the same thing twice.
   
   
5. Apply for an Arnona (municipal tax) discount. Are you eligible for a discount? You might be if you are a senior citizen, single parent, low-income, new oleh, disabled, or any of a bunch of other categories. Check your municipality’s website to be sure. And while you’re at it, check out our other ways to get money back from the government.
   
   
6. Update the water company. Each member of an Israeli household is allotted a certain amount of water per month at a lower fee. Pass that threshold and the price jumps. If you have more than two people in your household, make sure to report the correct number to the water company. You should be able to do this online.
   
   
7. Change electricity providers. While all electricity still technically comes from the same place, it is now possible to buy it from a supplier other than the electric company and save up to 7%. We recently did this.
   
   
8. Pay less for your phone and internet. Ask your current providers to lower their rates or use sites like Kamaze to find the best deals and change providers.
   
   
9. Scrap some subscriptions. Do you have Netflix, Disney+, Spotify Premium, YouTube Premium, or any other monthly subscriptions? Do you use them all? Do you need them all? Canceling one or some of them will save you money every month. We were Netflix people for a long time and eventually got bored with its selection. So we canceled our subscription and moved to Disney+. Eight months later, we stopped Disney+ and moved back. When we get bored again, we’ll try something else.
   
   
10. Increase your monthly pension deposit. As an employee at an Israeli company, you deposit 6 or 7 percent of your gross salary into your pension plan each month. If you don’t remember actively choosing seven percent, you probably didn’t, as six is the default. Depending on your salary and years left until you stop working, adding one additional percentage of your salary into your tax-free pension plan can leave you with tens or hundreds of thousands of shekels more in retirement. Thank you, compound interest!

What other things do you do once that helps you save in the long term?

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