Why does Pesach need to cost so much?

[mamamoomoo]

 I hear people going on and on about how expensive Pesach is, how they need to spend hundreds if not thousands on Pesach.
To be honest, the most expensive parts of pesach, at least for me, is to need to buy everything new; i can't rely on items in my stockpile- I need to buy a lot all at once. Yes, this food will last a long while even after pesach

Comments

Why does Pesach need to cost so much?

[hipstamom]

Interesting. I was lucky in that the local kosher food pantry by me typically have tons of KLP dry goods. So I stockpiled them for the past six weeks.

ITA about the KLP cereal. My cheap hubster used to always pick them up. For some reason my son likes the chocolate Ringeeo's. I think he's the only person on the planet that will eat that.

The major expensive for me is the paper/plastic goods and the booze. Everything else is covered by the food pantry and my passover food voucher.
I'm trying to stick to fresh fruit and veggies as much as possible because I love my stomach.

[anonymous]

We keep the same chumra - for financial reasons too. :) I do buy one thing - a little bag of jelly beans. I plan my menus from a list of everything that doesn't need a special klp hechsher. Last year I almost managed to buy food from our regular budget, and this year I hope to not exceed it at all. We'll see! So far, so good, and all that's really left to shop for are vegetables.

[anonymous]

(That was alpidarkomama, BTW. :))

[mrn613]

Hmm I'm just about the last person on the planet who should be giving mussar but it is strange that you are giving mussar on how to save money which goes against so many torah precepts. don't we read this passage from the gemara every day: Eeelu dvarim sheh adam ochel perotehem... which includes kibud av v'am (respecting your father), gemilut chasadim (helping your sister), and hachnossas orchim (hospitality to guests). Not to mention how many other mitzvahs you have given up performing (maot chittin) by asking others to pay for their matzah.

[mrn613]

First off, where was I giving mussar?
Second of all, where am I not respecting my father, not helping my sister, and not doing hachnasas orchim?

My sister was going to host the seder for my family and we were going to stay home. The second I heard that it was too hard for her to do it, I offered to host it to spare her the effort, even though it is harder to host a seder for 10 than it is for 4. Additionally, we were also invited out to a few different places that we said "Ehh, we'd prefer to stay home". So even though we would prefer to be just us, yes, the fact that my father will be providing the matza and the grape juice/wine helped convince me to do the mitzva of hachnasas orchim, gmilus chassadim, etc.

[mrn613]

Oh, that was me. Don't feel like signing in.
Mamamoomoo

[mrn613]

"Although my husband would have preferred to have a seder with just him, me and the kids this year, we decided to have the whole gang for seder as that would mean having my father pay for the wine, grape juice, hand matza as well as chipping in for the cost of the seder meal."

You probably didn't mean it this way, but this quote makes it sound as if the key factor in your decision to have family over was their willingness to contribute to your pesach expenses. This jumped out at me as I was reading your post, and it probably surprised mrn613 too. Knowing what I do about you, I doubt this was the case- you might consider editing to better express your true intentions.