Tel Aviv: The Price Is Wrong

Warning: Coupon Cutters take caution before reading.

Some of the following content may be shocking and disturbing in nature.

Simple pleasures, like milk and eggs:

Milk: roughly $5.00 per quart, or you can go for the more affordable plastic bag version for $3.00/ quart

Eggs: $8.00/ dozen

I have been totally caught off guard by sticker shock. When preparing to move overseas for the first time, one takes some measures to prepare themselves for culture shock and cultural immersion. Somehow I missed the part where spending $5.00 on a quart of milk would leave me losing sleep at night. I just can't get over it. Everything here is sooooo expensive, and I mean EVERYTHING. It also doesn't help that I have spent the last 11 years buying my groceries at the Commissary, where things are priced at a considerable discount. We heard Tel Aviv was expensive, but it is not until your Grocery bill for the week is $400.00 + that you start to realize.....yes Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore.

I have asked as many people as I can (which let's be honest - at this point that is probably about 5), and no one seems to know WHY everything here costs so much.

However, have a gander at these stats:

• Tel Aviv is the 17th most expensive city in the world and the #1 most expensive in the middle east
• Want an iphone here? Be ready to shell out $900.00
• How about a car? More expensive than the US, and then you'll have to pay 100% sales tax. That puts a basic Ford Focus topping $40,000.00. You can only imagine what the luxury cars cost.
• Sales tax? 17%
• McDonald's cheeseburger (hold the cheese if it's Kosher): $4.00
• Pair of crocs: $65+
• Running shoes: $200
• Housing: outrageous

Apparently, the Israelis are all too familiar with this, and they are very frustrated with the high cost of living. Most families here are dual income as they can't afford to live any other way. Currently, they are in the midst of a 3 week long protest demonstration. So, in protest, many have set up a "tent city" in downtown Tel Aviv, where they have been camped out for weeks. Tonight is supposed to be the biggest demonstration yet. Last week's topped 150,000. This week they are hoping to break 500,000. Oh, and I almost forgot: all this started over the price of cottage cheese.

"Tent City" is taking over downtown Tel Aviv.

Read more about the protests here.

Shalom y'all.....we're off to watch the protests.