No-name food shopping: Which store-brand grocery items we swear by – and which we don’t
Grocery prices keep going up and up, and it’s easy to feel like sticking to a budget gets harder every month. We might assume that store brands or less popular brands are not as good as the name-brand products we are used to. While prices continue to change, it can feel safer and quicker to…
Back to school on a budget: 8 ways to start the year with more money in your pocket
It might be hard to believe, but our kids will be heading back to school in about three weeks! If you haven’t done so already, it’s time to get ready for some back-to-school shopping. If you’ve done this before, you know that costs can add up quickly. Here are some ways to bring down those…
Do you belong to an Israeli discount club? You’ll want to after reading this post.
Happy summer, friends! If you have kids, you know that summer can be a VERY expensive time. Camp is a fortune and when there’s no camp, we have to put up with that ever present “I’m bored… I’m bored… I’m bored…” We’re not saying that you should induldge their every whim or that it is…
10 simple set-it-and-forget-it ways to save money in 2025
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…
10 more ways to save money at the supermarket in 2025
It’s been a while since we last posted about ways to lower your food costs. With the VAT increase set to take place in 2025, prices are expected to rise yet again. If you haven’t read our previous grocery shopping posts, make sure to check them out before continuing. (It’s okay. We’ll wait.) Now, if…
Going out for dinner? Make sure to read this first.
Eating out tends to cost us 5-7 times the price of creating a similar dish at home, yet we do it anyway – occasionally. There’s something special about not having to cook or cleanup, and the ambiance of a restaurant definitely adds to the experience. This is also a good time to patronize small businesses…
8 great ways to save on your next big purchase
This is not a post about about how to lower your grocery bill. (We actually have two of those, which you can read here and here 🙂 ). This post is about big purchases and how to make them wisely and responsibly. We’re talking new appliances, new furniture, vacations, clothing – really anything that will…
9 great apps that support our Fionist lifestyle
It’s pretty cool that we have the entire world at our fingertips, isn’t it? We can learn about any subject under the sun, watch TV shows from our childhood, count our steps, control smart appliances in our homes, get into fights with strangers, order junk we never knew we needed from China, or… or…. the…
10 simple habits that will save you money
You know us. We’re all about saving money where we can in order to live our best possible lives. This post isn’t about how to find deals, or to deprive yourself of life’s great joys, but rather to encourage you to stop and think. To be more mindful with your money. Not all of the…
16 “must have” baby items we never bought
It’s official! With our youngest finally toilet-trained and starting public nursery school this week, we no longer have a baby in the house. Mazal tov to us! While it is bittersweet thinking about how our baby isn’t a baby anymore, we’re looking forward to all of the big kid things in our future – including…
9 great ways to beat the heat
If you live in the Middle East like we do, or anywhere else with a similar climate, you know that it gets HOT! The story goes that in July 1936 a housewife fried an egg on the pavement on one of the main streets in Syracuse, New York. There were no air conditioners in those…
How to shop like a Fionist
By this point, we’re sure you’ve read our top ten and ten more ways to save money at the supermarket. You’ve found the ones that work for you, finetuned your shopping habits and are already saving money. But like you, we are always striving to learn more and optimize our shopping habits. In a previous…
Exposed: Our grocery costs
Edit: This post was written in May 2023. One year later, in May 2024, our expenses have gone up to about 2,300-2,600 shekels. Some of the prices listed below have gone up, but the idea remains the same. We talk a lot about saving money on grocery shopping in this blog. Why? Because unlike your…
Sit. Stay. Save! – 12 ways we save money on dog expenses
If you’ve been reading our blog for a while (or if you look at our logo), you’ll know that we have a dog and we love her to pieces. A few months after getting married, we brought home an awkward, terrified rescue puppy and never looked back. It’s hard to believe that our big furry…
10 more ways to save money on your next grocery shop
One of our very first posts on this blog was about how to save money at the supermarket. (Make sure to read it if you haven’t yet!) Now that you have implemented our previous tips, we are excited to share ten more with you, to bring your grocery bill down further. Which of these do…
How to (almost) never pay full price for anything
We tend to be known in local circles as the couple who (almost) never pays full price for anything. We find thrill in chasing down the best deals and love stretching our money as far as it will go. Why pay more money for something when you can get the same thing for less? This…
13 inexpensive ways to keep warm this winter
Winter is here. The days are cold and nights are colder. And electricity prices just keep going up. All we want is to keep warm without going over budget. Here are a few tips that can be used to stay warm this winter. What things do you do to stay warm in the winter?
8 more ways to lower your monthly expenses
As of writing this post (December, 2022), inflation in Israel is at 5.1% year to date. We all have been feeling the cost of living going up. If you have been reading our blog for the past few months we are strong on budgeting and tracking expenses. Unlike fixed monthly expenses such as rent or…
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.…
Buying these “luxuries” costs us over ILS 70K per year (but we buy them anyway)
After listing all of the things we don’t spend money on, we’re following up with the expensive things we DO spend money on, lest you think we’re stingy. 😂 Our Fionist lifestyle isn’t about living as cheaply as possible. It’s about changing our mindset and prioritizing our spending on things that are important to us.…
Not buying these things saves us over ILS 80K per year
In our journey to financial freedom, we have found creative ways to go with less. Not only is saving in these areas great for our wallets and our investments, many of them are great for the environment as well, so win-win. 🙂 As always, remember that drastic changes often don’t stick (and can make you…
Top 10 ways to be smarter at the supermarket
While the war in Ukraine and supply chain issues have raised the costs of – well, everything – we all still need to eat. Over the years, we’ve learned dozens of ways to lower our food bills. In this post, we want to share ten of our favorites with you. What tricks do you use…
Chasing the Fionist Dream 