Stop trying to impress people!
You know what I mean. You need to ahve the fanciest Shabbat meal. Or you have to buy a nicer car than you need. Or you can't use the less expensive soad, it's gotta be the Real Thing. The sooner you can shake this kind of thinking, the sooner you'll be free to save more money. And although I'm not a psychologist, I think it will be healthier in the long run as well!
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IN THE PRESS - DECEMBER 2003
During November, the Central Bureau of Statistics reported that the gross average salary in Israel experienced another drop of 3% over the summer.
Read the depressing news at:
http://www.geocities.com/jodyblumus/Article-Gross-Salary-Falls-August.html
On the other hand, we're moving forward in another area: you can now save time and money paying your bills online. Visit the Israeli Government ePayment Service and you'll be able to take care of everything from VAT to speeding tickets to television tax. The main interface is in English, although some of the specific payment sections are in Hebrew only.
The web address is:
http://ecom.gov.il/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/base/main.d2w/report?setlang=ENG
Here's a fascinating article about how Israelis perceive national brands vs. a supermarket's in-house label. Apparently, nearly half of us (47%) now believe the in-house brand is just as good. Which is great news for budgeting, since the in-house labels are almost always less expensive.
For the full story, visit:
http://www.geocities.com/jodyblumus/Article-Supermarket-Fight.html
Bad habits or bad luck? Chris Widener is a popular motivational speaker in the U.S. He's written a great piece that relates directly to a number of the money saving tips I described above. It may be bad luck, he says, if while you're away on vacation, a gas line breaks and your house blows up. But it's bad habits if you don't take care of your house and that neglect leads to all kinds of unnecessary and expensive repairs - including maybe your house blowing up!
Great reading at:
http://www.pioneerthinking.com/cw_badhabits.html
First it was Burger King which threatened to go belly up and deprive us Westerners of our fast food fix. Now it's Domino's Pizza that's on the road to bankruptcy. But hey, maybe this is an opportunity for you to bargain down the price! Too bad they're not kosher so we can all partake. Oh well...
The Jerusalem Post Online has the full story:
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=Jpost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=
1070165917356&p=1006688054984
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