Buying Furniture in Tel Aviv

At the beginning of the month I moved in with my fiance, and since then we have been working steadily to set up our new home.  I'm sure you've all gone through this when moving into a new place, as you have to arrange it the way you like, plus you have to buy any furniture and household goods that you don't have.

We were pretty set with kitchen stuff, thanks to my family, but since both my fiance and I came from furnished apartments we started off with no furniture.  Most people would say no worries, just go to Ikea where they have everything you'll need (sspecially in Israel, as Israelis love to cheap options).  I know Ikea can be great for certain small things; however, the lack of quality that comes with the low prices pushed me away from making any large purchases at Ikea.  

Now in the states it would be a lot easier for me to find low-cost furniture as there are actual rules and logical principles that point you in the direction of affordable furniture.  In the US there are warehouse type stores and outlets where you can find great quality goods from last season that have been discounted.  Sometimes you can even go to factory stores and by furniture at wholesale prices.  In Israel things at outlets can even still be quite pricey, plus I have yet to hear about affordable outlets for furniture.  In addition, logic would tell you that furniture from a chain store would be cheaper because of the lower markup, whereas in Israel chains can be the most expensive establishments.  

My solution for those of your looking for good quality and affordable furniture in Tel Aviv:  Herzl Street in South Tel Aviv.  Herzl street has everything that you'll need in terms of furniture.  I bought both my mattress and couch from stores on Herzl Street and have been very happy with both purchases.  Whenever I've mentioned prices of both pieces to others I've gotten an overwhelming amount of positive reactions to the prices and products.  

It's really hard for me to explain the great deals on Herzl other than the fact that you have the power to negotiate.  Most of the places on Herzl are small businesses where you're speaking to the business owner, and this gives you wiggle room in terms of price.  Plus, if you pay cash at certain places this can get you an even larger discount.  

A few tips for those of you who are about to make your way down to Herzl Street.  First of all, get anything that you agree to in writing.  I'm talking everything from the model and specs of your furniture down to the delivery date, time and total price.  I know a few people who have been screwed over because things weren't in writing and the sellers went back on the original agreements (I didn't have my delivery date and time for the mattress written down and it almost cost me big time.)  That being said, most of the people there are OK, but when it comes to money you can never fully trust a merchant, so get everything in writing.

Also make sure to never pay for everything up front, especially if you're getting something custom made.  For example, I have an L-Shaped couch that was custom made (I choose the fabric and hardness of the cushion material).  I made sure to pay the guy a small initial deposit, half before the delivery and half on delivery to make sure that everything would be delivered in a timely manner.  I learned from my fiance's co-worker who has waited over two months for her couch because she paid everything up front.  My guy seemed very trustworthy, but still cover yourself and never pay up front for everything.  

Feel free to message me if you're about to buy furniture, and I can recommend a couple of solid places on Herzl.  Good luck with setting up your new home!

Check out my couch and bed below (the bed doesn't look like much, but it's a really nice mattress).

A Gym Lover's Dilemma in Tel Aviv

Back home in Philadelphia I had a gym membership ever since my freshman year in college.  While completing my Bachelor's Degree I attended the University gym, which was by far the nicest and least expensive gym I've ever used (sure it was highly subsidized from alumni donations and because of my tuition, but still an amazing gym.  Was actually like four gyms, but what do you expect when you have a college campus of 40,000+).  My most recent gym back home, Planet Fitness, was also great, as it had everything that I needed for a great workout , was open 24/7 and only cost $10/month! Here's what it looks like on the inside:

If you can just get past the purple and yellow color scheme then you'll see that it's an excellent gym for an amazing price.

And that brings us to Tel Aviv.  I've been inside a number of gyms and Tel Aviv, and haven't been able to find one for less than 200 Shekels/month (equivalent to $50 USD/month!).  Most of these gyms are far smaller and more limiting than the gyms back home, and at a minimum of 200 NIS/month (most of them are closer to 300 NIS/month) it's difficult for me to justify the cost.

In addition, a smaller gym means that it's more crowded, which takes the joy out of exercising because you feel like you have no room to move and breathe.  Plus, most gyms that I've been to are not properly cleaned, which just grosses me out.

My alternative has been the outdoor Tel Aviv Gyms.  Although they don't have all the fancy weight machines or free weights they provide plenty of nice body weight resistance machines and tools that could let anyone get a nice workout.  I primarily go for the pull-up and dip bars for a nice upper body workout.  Check out some of the prime spots in Tel Aviv for these outdoors gyms:

As you can see, these are better than nothing, but still not complete solutions for those of you who like weight training.  I'm not at the point where I'm debating going back to the workouts that gave me my best results ever, which were free weight workouts at home.  In the past when I dabbled with DVD workouts like P90X and Insanity I felt great and had excellent results.

I like the versatility of a gym, and not having to buy and hold my own equipment is also nice, but it's so difficult for me to justify the cost for the tiny and dirty gyms in Tel Aviv.  Yes there are nice ones like the gym next to the Gordon Pool and Holmes Place in Dizengoff Center, and I know that I'll continue to debate this over and over, but for me a gym membership here just isn't worth it.  Hopefully I'll find the creative workout solution for me soon :)  Gym lovers beware, as Tel Aviv gyms will drain your patience and bank accounts.