Monday, 16 December 2013

Kibbutz economy: Why the hell aren't we getting paid on time, again?

 For the past month or so we as volunteers have not been paid on time. We are meant to get 500 shekels at the end of every two weeks. Friday should be pay day or Sunday at the latest (the first day of the week here) but due to the quirks of the kibbutz money system this hasn't been happening. The smokers in the house are going nuts about this. Cigarettes are super expensive so they are pretty much always desperate for pay day. I tend to manage to have enough money survive on even if we get paid a few days late.

All the members of the kibbutz and the volunteers get paid from the same bank account ans the problem is there is only one single person on the whole kibbutz who can take money out if that account. I was informed yesterday that they are now also managing the kibbutz factory as well as all the money. If this guy is too busy to go to the bank on the day we are meant to get paid then you get an angry house of volunteers.

Before credit cards apparently the whole kibbutz had major headaches. Any time a kibbutznik wanted to buy like a durable good, say a fridge, they would have to get the one person with the access to all the  money to come with them you to buy it in the shop. There also used to be problems with families getting into lots of debt as there was no one really policing it. Anyone who managed to live within the money they got paid by the kibbutz were supporting the over expenditure of others. Now a days they have that under control with people reviewing people's expenditure on a regular basis but It inevitably slows things down a bit by the sounds of it.

Still to not have pay taxes, worry about health insurance, your kids education, saving for a pension, it all seems like a pretty good deal to me.

In other news the weather is bloody cold here! Was 3 degrees yesterday. I know you Brits out there will be calling me soft, is probably icy as hell over there right now. But when you combine that temperature with no central heating  and a massive storm that causes a blackout all night. Oh and windows that are not built to provide any barrier against the cold and wind.  Brrr! I did not bring enough winter clothes for this. 

Jerusalem even came to a stand still due to snow earlier in the week!

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