My shopping today at the grocery store galaxias

I thought the cashier was going to have a stroke!
Why you ask?
Here is the answer !
I bought lots of goodies,
The Greek frugal smart way!!!
With my lovely coupons!!!
I really love my coupons ( new at couponing just started in 2012 )
I found my favorite product on sale,,,
Fairy tabs for only 4.50 euros!!! I had 6 coupons that were 3 euros off each pack.
Yes that is right !!!!
I only paid 1.50 each pack of fairy tabs!
I also bought Gillette gel proglide for 1.38 a can with coupons , I got 3 of those.
I also got lenor fabric softener for 1.81 !!
I got 10 if those with my coupons!!
2 skip the small bottles for 3.63 each!!!
Regular price is 8 something a bottle.
And 10 shampoos for 1.30 each... Not store brand but wella pro !!!
The regular store price for that is somewhere around 4 ...
Yes 4 euros a bottle!!!
Bought groceries worth about 150 for 75 and some change...
My stock pile is growing slowly...
It started out as a ( let me try this). To a this is major money saving!
So even if I spend some extra time looking for my specials or even printing my coupons , it is worth it ...
You might think , what on earth will I do with 15-20 shampoos? The answer is easy ! We are a family of 5 , we go throw shampoo and soap for dishes fast. We also eat allot since we are a big family !!!
But we are all very thin!!!
So if you try hard enough I'm sure you will find ways to cut your expenses ....

Dept free

What is that????
In Greece at this point it is impossible !
As I'm writing this my dept is over 100,000 !!!
4 loans are what I thought 4 years ago I can pay in 15 years!!!!
How stupid of me!!!
Who thought that troika would take 99% of our money from our pockets!
How did that happen ???
Easy !!!
I have a pizza store or you can call it a fast food store in a tiny village!
People don't have money to eat out anymore !!!
So my job is dead!!!
My husband is an construction worker!!!
His job has gone down the drane!
No new houses are being built!
So that is how troika took 99% of my money...
People were working and getting paid!!
They would shop and spend!!!
I had a few economics saved for hard times. But they have finished now!!!
If my work isn't giving me money for food and little everyday things ! How do they expect us to pay off our loans???

Tip of the day!!!

If you can walk some were ,,,
Why drive!!!
Saving fuel and exercising at the same time!!!
If you do need to drive some were do the smart thing !!!
What I do !!!
When I have to run errands I go super market shopping the same day!!!
I park my car in front of the market, ( that is were the heavy stuff is for me)
I grab my bag and run my errands!!! Mostly banks and mail office !!! Then I walk to my car put one bag in grab my shopping bag with my coupons and go market shopping !!
So I only drove to the market not making circles around and around !!!
I also get some exercising in !!! I used my iPod a few times and found out I walked 4 kilometers!
That is money , time and fuel saved!!
I saved time because I don't need to park myself, I just enter were ever I want to go!!!

Tip of the day!!!

Dye your own hair!!!
I used to have blond hair ,
But now I'm dyeing it a little darker than my natural color ...
My natural color is brown .
But I got too many gray!
So with the dye I got 2 days ago. I dyed them last night ! Lovely hair color for less than 4 euros !!!
The hair salon would charge me 50 euros plus 10 euros in fuel to go...
So I saved 56 euros !!!
Now that is a great deal!!!!
In the 4 euros is the dye the shampoo and the water!!! And think of all the time saved too...
No waiting in lines , and doing a few easy chores at the same time the dye was on my hair....
Time and money saved!!!
Now that is a great tip!!!!

I am bad too

Yes it's like you read it!!!
I'm bad too...
I'm not always frugal,
I go on shopping spreas ,
I'm a smoker,
I love and drink tons of coffee,
I love my iPod
I have Internet service at home,
I shop clothes,
I go shopping without a list !!!
I also go out here and there sometimes for a drink of tsipouro or raki!
I eat junk food, I also buy sodas!!!
But I'm only human...
But I don't do this everyday !!!
At some times it over my head!!!
But with making stupid decisions it helps you learn !!!!
After the shopping or the drinking , I sit and think, did I really need that, and why did I go overboard like that...
But a human will be a human!!!
And on somedays I will do stupid things!!! But the rest 30 days of the month I will be on track....

Tip of the day

Today the tip is kind of funny!!!
Do you know roli!
Yes the powder!!!
It costs 1.07 euros a bottle!!!
With the coupon 0.50 that epithemies had you get it for 0.57 !
Get 5-6 coupons and buy it!
Use it everywhere !!!
From toilettes to sinks!!!
To scrubbing the tiles on the porch , in the bathtub!
Also use it to wash the shower!!!
The good news you save tons of money ... The bad news, you have to scrub!!! Paying less means 5 minutes more work! But why would I pay a product that costs 5.00 euros to get things done in a minute... When I can pay 0.57 and get things done 5 minutes later ! Now that is money saved and earned !!!
And that is an other thing I learned in January !!!
Like I said 2012 will be a year of saving and learning new things for me !

Tip of the day

Don't you love it when your house smells great!!!
Drop a few drops of lavender oil on the vacuum filter!! A few is 2 drops ... Start vacuuming , your whole house will smell great. You can use any kind !!! Most of these kinds of oils can be bought at any pharmacy for 2-4 euros ... And last a long long time!!! House will smell great all day long!
I love when I come home and finding it smelling nice...

My shopping day!!!

Yes I went shopping yesterday at galaxia!
I got nounou kid milk for only 5.72
Yup the box with. 8 cans !
Regular price 8.40
-1.68 the 20% off the stores have plus
-1.00 from my coupons .
Now that is extreme couponing in Greece ! Bought 3 boxes of milk ...
I also bought hair dye!
3 of that too....
The dye costs regular price 8.14
- 2.00 the store special
- 3.00 my coupons
Paid 3.14 euros a dye
That is 15 euros saved from the dyes ...
I also bought Essex detergent for clothes...
Regular price 8.99
- 2.25 special offer from store
- 2.00 from my coupons
Bought 3 of those too...
And a whole lot more !!!
But you need coupons!!!
Call epithemies and ask to be on there mailing list!!!
Go on livesmart and print .
Get a folder and carry your coupons with you!!!
You never know what you will find in the store!!!
Last month I found Pantene pro v 2.50 the large bottle!!!!
Looked in my folder and saw that I had a - 1.50 coupon
Not one coupon but 10
Got ten bottles of that shampoo....
I think it costs around 4 something
And I got it for one euro....
Why pay 40 when you can pay 10
So at this point my stoke pile is growing! I will invest in my pile again next month...
Buying things you don't need now, for a fraction of there price is smart...
Don't over do it!!!
Try 10-20 euros a month on things you really need... We are a big family... 2 teenagers and a six year old . We are a 5 member family!!!
So milk shampoo soap and dyes are a must in this family!!!
That is all for now!!
I hope this post helps a few!!!
Because the future seams hard for us Greeks ! We need to learn to shop the smart way!!!

Livesmart. Coupons

At last they have them ready.
Go to livesmart print your coupons and enjoy a day of shopping .
While having my coffee my printer is busy printing !
Was waiting for the coupons all week.
No coupons means no shopping!
So let's save some money today !
And they have some lovely coupons!
Can't wait to hit the stores! Well actually one store , galaxias!

Stock piling in Greece .

Stock piling in Greece , the frugal way is very hard work.
With money being tight these days !
But if you get the whole family to help with coupons , things might get a little easier.
Try this site:
Www. Livesmart. Gr
Pretty nice coupons!
But you can only print singles!
But a family of 5 needs more , so here is what you do!
My sons are over 18 both! Get then to sign up. And then go shopping with them so they can show there id card at the cash register with there name. These coupons have your name on them!!!
Do some online search of the grocery stores you will going to shop.
Compare prices before using coupons !
The first few times it's a little difficult , but it gets easier with time.
But saving is the name of the game!
Maybe we can beat the rececion !
Maybe not !
But we will try our best , to survive with what we can . A little less here a little less there . But we will go down with a fight!

Is the week almost over???

Did no shopping !
Did no errands !
But with a 6 year old being ill in the house and husband sick too , it got me down this week!
Unemployment is hitting us hard!
Were is Greece going ?
My husband hasn't worked in over 2 months , me over 6 months. Now trying to make ends meet is harder and harder!!!
The news are driving us nuts.
The only way to live now is not only frugally but as a cheapstack!
At the end of the week we will know what troika wants from us!
Too many bad things in a week and the bad weather can make you mad!
Hope next week is better!
Love you all ! The Greek frugal mom!

Tip of the day!

It is the weekend!
If you are staying home all weekend and no one coming over, why get out of your pjs...
When I come home on Friday night ,
I put pjs on my daughter the same ! Sunday afternoon we take a shower change our underclothes and wear our pjs again!!! No clothes washing on the weekend.
Less energy spent , more time left, more money in my pocket too!!!
Doesn't work for everyone !
But it might work for you!

Second day with wood stove

The wood stove is burning 24 hours now! The house is warm ,. Feels great to come home to a warm house on a cold night and knowing you are saving money at the same time... There is always someone home to put wood in it, so it never goes out! The wood we burn is free, we are trimming our olive trees. And yes we have a lot of them too. Free heating and free olive oil! What else can anyone ask for !

This will save me tons of money!!!

Yes it's like you read it....
My house is so hot we had to open windows to cool it off!!! We needed 2400 euros each winter in fuel... But with the economic crisis and both of us out of work or almost out of work ( my husband at least ) I decided to buy the wood heater to save some fuel!!! Boy was I wrong, I closed the fuel heater and my house is a lot warmer with this heater! Right now as I'm writing the house has a temputer of 28 celcuis. ,,, too hot.