Many of you have been surprised that my monthly food budget stays the same, regardless of holiday food expenses, particularly at times like Purim and Pesach.  I do this by thinking ahead.  The reality is that a month which has a holiday in it is going to be more expensive than months that don’t have holidays.  That’s the reality, but it’s a predictable reality that you can plan for.  Too many people are for some reason surprised two weeks before a holiday at the necessary expenditures.  If it’s the first time they’re dealing with it, that’s one thing, but I hear the same shocked comments every single year, and most of them come from people who have been preparing for __________ (fill it in with the name of the holiday) for years.  What a shame to go into any holiday with a sense of financial doom, especially since it’s just not necessary. 

Right now is the time that I consciously plan for Purim expenses like mishloach manos and matanos l’evyonim.  They don’t go on a credit card – they’re budgeted for in cash in advance.  However much I might want to do, I have the natural constraint of keeping my costs within the money available, which is very different from being able to put a little more on the credit card if I feel it’s necessary.  Also, I try not to be elaborate in what I send to others – I’ve never believed it a service to the community to participate in overly high standards that leave everyone feeling pressured to keep up.  We have way too much of that pressure in our communities and I don’t want to contribute to it. 

As far as food, it’s not too soon to start keeping your eyes open to suitable possibilities for Pesach food.  Many foods that we use on Pesach are suitable for Pesach all year long and don’t require special supervision, or have Pesach supervision all year long (grape juice comes to mind).  Ground beef on sale?  Chicken, turkey, lamb, roast?  Now’s the time to buy it (obviously assuming it’s kosher l’Pesach) and can be used and put it in the freezer.  You know that it’s not going to be less expensive the longer you wait, right?  (Does the term price gouging mean anything to you? :)).  I put the meats (which are already wrapped) into the freezer inside a clean bag on a separate shelf from everything else so that no chometz gets on it; the non perishables are likewise stored away from other things. 

What about clothes?  Shoes?  If these are things you want to buy for yourself or children for the holiday, get them now.  Spring clothing is already in the stores. Don’t wait to do this when you’re trying to buy everything else.   In addition to the huge financial wallop all of this packs when done within a very short time, there’s also the time pressure of too much to do, too little time. 

Take a little time now to make a list of what you expect to need for both Purim and Pesach.  Look at what can be done in advance, and spread that shopping out over a period of a few weeks so that it’s only a little bit more to do each week.  You will feel so much more relaxed when yom tov comes around.  Simchas hachag should be a term that means something, not something about which we roll our eyes in disbelief that it’s expected of us!

Avivah