A Basic Primer on Household Finance
When his first daughter got married, Yehoshua Zauderer thought of all that she would need to know about navigating life in her own home and wrote up what he learned from his own experience in a book,
The Chosson and Kallah's First Guide to Money. It is available as a paperback at Amazon for $14.39.The book is clearly intended for the more right leaning Orthodox crowd who tend to marry on the young side with no experience of living on their own before setting up house after marriage. Read what I have to say about plus some of my own tips for a household budget at http://www.examiner.com/jewish-bridal-in-new-york/the-basics-for-those-setting-out-on-their-own-for-the-first-time
Visit my site www.kallahmagazine.com -- not just for kallahs. You can also see posts at http://www.examiner.com/x-18522-NY-Jewish-Bridal-Examiner
Comments
In the intro the author speaks about none of the stories of those wh dont have to concern themselves with kosher, tuition, etc as people he could relate to. Such is a common attitude, but flawed in my opinion because changing financial habits is a function of behavior. Sure, I might not be able to live out in Nebraska, but I can choose a more inexpensive area with a shul. Sure, I might not be able to stock up on non-kosher ground beef at 99 cents a pound, but I can learn about freezing, stocking, coupon shopping, etc.
The book doesn't really have a lot of real money saving tips. Some of them make very little difference -- like unplugging your cell phone charger and such when you don't need it and buying the light bulbs that use less electricity. I get the impression he envisions a young couple that can always fall back on their parents and even stay on with them if they don't manage to find an apartment in time. He suggests that they can do laundry at their home and so save the cost of the laundromat and the detergent (there's nothing wrong with that, but it only works for those who live pretty close to their parents). Some topics he brings up are also either too obvious or not really thoroughly examined, like wardrobe costs that include dry cleaning and the purchase and maintenance cost of sheitels. He doesn't cite actual figures here or get into the fact that many kallahs expect their mothers or MILs to foot the bill for the first sheitels and so go for the top-of-the-line models.
The thing is that the writer admits he takes out coffee everyday, so he probably looks at these things as small expenses, though he admits his wife packs up lunches as a rule. Perhaps the ideal book would be written by a couple who would have experience in planning economical meals as well as reviewing lease terms.