When Ben first came to Israel, I was somewhat skeptical about his frequent claims about the high cost of living. Now that I am here, I can see that, if anything, he understated the case.
It is shocking how much things cost, and this is not just because of our weak currency…it is expensive here relative to Europe and the US as well. Not infrequently you hear of Israeli products that are cheaper in Europe (and in euros) than they are here! (Those little peanut biscuits, Bambas, for example).
Mike has developed the “six dollar” rule which, put briefly, is that no matter how trivial your purchase, it is likely going to come out to at least six Canadian dollars…to wit: A small box of local cereal, a small jar of JIF, a 4 pack of small yoghurts, a loaf of bread… you get the idea.
A small ice-café from Aroma…$6, a take-out roast chicken with potatoes $25-$30 depending on where you get it, a nine-roll pack of toilet paper $9 on sale. A single box of Kleenex…on sale…$3.40. I could go on…
After a while, I just forget about currency conversion, and buy what seems reasonable relative to everything else. I did that recently at a “40% off” shoe sale, and came home with what turned out to be a C$ 450.00 pair of boots. And that was the SALE price, after 40% off and with an extra 7% for joining their frequent buyer club…what was I thinking! I console myself with the recollection that since I put them on our US credit card, the bill will show only US$ 356.00. That looks much more reasonable. I bought them to wear when it rains, but now that I see what they really cost, I realize they are way too expensive, and much too nice, to wear in the rain, so now I have to go out and get a pair of real rain boots…sigh…
In my partial defense, I had not realized that when Israeli stores have a sale, the prices you see on the items are already marked down, so I thought the ridiculous price would be reduced to just slightly over the top…and by the time I realized my mistake, I was at the cash register with my extremely charming, young, and patient Israeli salesgirl, who turned out to be at the same school as my son Ben… so there was no backing out…
They really are very nice boots…and from Italy.
