I know it’s been a while.  But I am back and hope to try to update more regularly.

So, without further ado… preparing for snacks

Consider the following situation:  Your wallet is empty and you need ₪100 in order to buy groceries.  You can either (1) go to the atm next to the supermarket and pay ₪3, (2) walk 20 blocks to your bank’s atm and take out money for free, or (3) you pay an extra ₪2 to pay using your credit card.

In this case, you’re probably weighing a simple ₪1 difference to see if it is worth it to use cash or credit; it hardly seems worth it to walk 20 blocks back and forth for ₪2.

But there is another way to look at this. You would have saved money had you taken out money from your atm before you went shopping in the first place.  In retrospect, you’re paying a ₪2 fine for not planning in advance.  But this goes far beyond ₪2 when shopping.

Consider a family going to the mall.  The children so desperately want some candy from the store.  The parents look for the cheapest candies and find some bamba for ₪5, the cheapest item in the store, and get it; after all, the children have been behaving well and deserve something.  The problem here is that the economic choice is being viewed as the best option available at the time.  But another option existed and was missed.  Had the parents picked up bamba at a ₪1 store and kept it with them in the car for these occasions, then they would have saved a bundle.  In fact, the parents could stock up on potato chips, energy bars, cheetos, or bisli and pretty much never run into the situation of getting the ₪5 bamba.

The practical applications are limitless and go far beyond brining your own water to the movie theatre (judging by the price for the water they sell there, it is probably laced with gold.)  Bring a book to the airport instead of buying one for retail in the bookstore in the airport.  Pregnant women should carry snacks, in case they get hungry.  And men, never wait until you’re in the airport to buy jewelry.  Basically, be prepared and think in advance – it’s the most economic option.