Meet a Reader | Efterpi, from Greece
This week, we're in the Mediterranean, meeting a reader who lives in Greece.
I gotta say, I am having so much fun learning about readers both from America and from all over the world. It's endlessly interesting to get a peek into other people's lives!
1. Tell us a little about yourself
Hello! My name is Efterpi and I live in a small apartment with a great view in Nafpaktos, a beautiful small town by the sea, west Greece.
I have 3 kiddos: an 8-year-old daughter and two boys, 6 and 3 years old! I work as a kindergarten teacher in a public school.
Our town has hidden beauties everywhere!
My hobbies are sewing, cooking, occasionally crocheting/crafting, and reading.
Almost all of our school snacks are homemade
I love frugality, productivity, organization, practical DIYs, and trying every day to become a better version of myself.
My small office with the sewing machine on it and on the left, my own version of the Sunday Basket.
I am also a blogger and I love writing about all the above in my blog!! You can check my blog “Koritsi Malama”.
(You can translate any content by tapping “Translate…” at the top right corner of your browser!)
2. How long have you been reading The Frugal Girl?
I really don’t remember, but I searched my e-mails and the older newsletter from you is from summer 2018, so definitely before then.
You have helped me in so many ways, especially in fighting food waste and I thank you for that!!!
3. How did you get interested in saving money?
I was interested in saving money for as long as I remember myself! It is written in my DNA I suppose!!
When I was about 11 years old, I organized a drawing exhibition at my home, where I was selling some of my best drawings to my classmates.
I also remember running to the couch, the moment my father was getting up from his nap and going back to work, only to collect the coins that fell from his pocket while sleeping!
The small, picturesque harbor of Nafpaktos
4. What's the "why" behind your money-saving efforts?
I hate the idea of wasting money while I can avoid it! I feel accomplished and capable of doing the best for my family when being frugal.
The living room often becomes a craft center! The kids learn to make beautiful things with the odds and ends of craft supplies.
5. What's your best frugal win?
My husband!! Seriously though, he is super frugal, but without making us feel deprived, he is the best budget maker AND provider, and super good at prioritizing our needs and wants! He enjoys my frugal efforts but never makes me feel bad about my frugal fails.
Also, our small apartment is a bargain!
My tiny kitchen serves all 5 of us
My apartment warms up in minutes, it is pretty cool in summer, it doesn’t allow us to bring a lot of stuff in and I can clean it quickly, so there's less power and time consumption.
And the view? Totally free psychotherapy!
the view from my balcony
Although for many people it looks like we need to move into something bigger, I can see a lot of advantages to living in a small house.
A good reason to wake up early in my place!!!
6. What's a dumb money mistake you've made?
Walks by the sea, since it is only 15 seconds away from our home
I bought too much baby girl stuff for my first kid! I mean, I could just buy unisex clothes, sheets, and curtains and use them again for my boys.
But you know… the first-time girl-mama went crazy!!!
7. What's one thing you splurge on?
Quality grocery food!
The best pizza is the homemade one!
I prefer paying a bit more at the grocery store, in order to buy high quality milk, cheese, meet and products that I believe they are more nutritious and taste better.
Again, I definitely chase the discounts, but I always choose between the best quality products for feeding my family!
You can tell we really have a sweet tooth. But homemade sweets with discount ingredients are frugal, so no guilt!!
I also really love purchasing self-help books! Of course, I always try to buy them at a discount.
8. What's one thing you aren't remotely tempted to splurge on?
Accessories! I don’t wear jewelry (not practical at all, DYT type 3 here) except for a watch (extremely practical) and a necklace, which was a gift from when I was born!
I own one summer and one winter bag and enough second-handed scarves to keep me warm at winter.
I also have a pair of boots, sandals, heels, and sneakers. I buy something new only when something I already have wears out!
9. If $1000 was dropped into your lap today, what would you do with it?
I would buy a dishwasher (soon I hope!) and pay some of my taxes.
10. Share a frugal tip with other Frugal Girl readers
Think outside the box! Find your own ways to save money, even though your friends/relatives believe you are crazy or cheap!
Don’t be afraid to make different choices, to experiment and find what serves you best! Listen only to the people you have a common wallet with and prioritize with them!
11. Is there anything different about frugal living in Greece as compared to other countries?
Many, many things!!!
First of all, neither have we that great discounts at our grocery stores, nor so many coupons! We don’t have Aldi, just Lidl, which is also based in Germany, but I have to drive there, while the stores where I buy, deliver at home, so I save gas, time, and energy.
Fortunately, we have Ikea though!
If you look closer, you can see the Rio-Antirio bridge, which unites central Greece with south
Also, we don’t have Goodwill or anything like that! Thrift stores either are located in big cities and they are not popular here, so people are not familiar with them.
Imagine how few easy choices we have to donate stuff, especially in a small town like ours. Personally, when I want to donate, I send packages to organizations by post, which means I donate AND pay too!!!
Selling stuff is also something that the law is not clear about. You might be in trouble if you cannot provide a receipt for the money you received.
Another difference is that the clothesline is something essential for every Greek household.
My really big (often full) drying loft
Most months of the year we have pretty good weather for hanging clothes outside, so there are MANY households that don’t own a dryer.
(I do own one, because I make laundry literally every day and in winter I have no inside space to hang our clothes AND get them dry in time!)
Lastly, our local library is WAY less updated than what I see on yours and other American blogs.
We do a lot of family reading, so public library is pretty awesome for my kids!
We cannot find there most of the latest Greek books, so I have to purchase them. The good thing for me is that some publishers send me for free many of the latest books, because I review them in my blog.
So, blogging in Greece is frugal too.
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Efterpi, thank you so much for participating, and especially for sending in so many photos; they really help me to get a sense of what your life is like in Greece.
And honestly, I kind of want to move to your town; it looks so lovely there.
Wow! I loved seeing all the photos. What a beautiful place!
I would love to visit Greece. Your view of the sea from your apartment is spectacular, and the pink Bougainvillea is just beautiful! When marrying, I agree that choosing a frugal husband is a huge frugal win. Sadly, my own husband is frugally challenged, but a wonderful person all the same. It was a pleasure meeting you.
Kristen, thank you for a glimpse into life in other parts of the world.
Hi Efterpi, what a lovely countryside you live in! It brings back memories of a holiday over 20 years ago, when my husband and I enjoyed the beautiful views and the great scent of herbs, not to mention the antiquities! I hope you are not too near the dreadful fires?
Home cooking is a great way to be frugal and also a great way to channel creativity!
@J, fortuntely, we are far way from this year's fires, but our heart is with our compatriots! Thank you for your kind words and your interest!
Hi Efterpi! Those are some seriously gorgeous photos. And I agree about living in a small place. More space means more to keep clean and organized.
I know this is completely out of left field here but I find it interesting how in America everyone I know who uses a clothesline has wooden clothespins but in other countries people have mostly switched to plastic. Just a random observation is all.
But your pictures are lovely. Greece is such an interesting place historically and culturally! After all the Western World traces its origin to the mix of ideas from Jerusalem and Athens. It's the birthplace of Democracy as well. Heck, even the origins of Western cooking traces its ancestry to the Greeks as the Roman Empire brought in Greek cooks to teach their cooks and then spread such things to the rest of their Empire (the French just gave everything names.)
Greece is on my list of places I'd love to see someday.
Also, I find it interesting and a real culture shock that selling things second hand is a bit unheard of there. I'd argue in America with places like eBay, Craigslist, Facebook marketplace person to person sales of items is a huge, albeit somewhat underground economy here.
@Battra92, Maybe the European clothespins are better made? When I used plastic clothespins (years ago) they fell apart much more quickly than wooden. (And yes, I do hang out almost all my laundry.)
@Battra92,
We have wooden, plastic and also rvs (the latter are a frugal fail - but they are sooo pretty).
I use the wooden ones only indoors and the plastic and rvs outdoors. Why? Before drying machines, people would leave their laundry out all day and there might be showers. Over time, the wooden pegs would leave black stains on the white fabrics. My mother would regularly boil the wooden clothespegs to kill mold!
Also she did not like second hand stuff unless from people she knew well. It reminded her of the war when everything was scarce or unavailable including soap. And she was also very germ averse as the clothespegs story shows.
Erm rvs is stainless steel...
@Battra92, I saw the colors of the clothes pins and immediately thought that I had never seen them. I have plenty of the wooden ones, but no clothesline. I use them mostly as bag clips or to hold two things together. Best Dollar Tree find I've found in a while.
@J, My father was the same way about second hand. He had to wear "other people's rags" during the war so once he got to the US he wore only store-bought items. He also would not waste a morsel of food because he remembered food shortages so bad he would eat raw potatoes gleaned from plowed up fields or out of dumpsters and, in the camps, he fought other boys for the bread that fell out of the hands of dying inmates. It sounds terrible now but if he saw us throw food into the garbage, he would make us dig it back out and eat it.
@Battra92, plastic clothspins are so easy to find! I just purchase them from any grocery store! The wooden ones are harder to find, but I would prefer the plastic anyway! My mom used to have wooden and it is really difficult to clean them, plus they leave a bigger mark on clothes!
Selling stuff is not really unheard, but it is not a first choice for most people! I wish things were different and I hope this will change!! Thank you for your kind words, I wish you visit Greece some day!!
@Lindsey, it's so interesting how our past shapes each of us. You painted a vivid picture of your father's perspective.
Lovely to meet you and goodness thank you for the photos!!! What a beautiful place to call home!
Beautiful photos, Efterpi! I too live by the sea, but it's very different here. We have wild roses all over the place, Queen Anne's lace and pink swamp mallow, not convolvulus and bougainvillea. We also get pretty yellow sea poppies.
Your view is amazing. I would love some of those sweet tooth recipes!!
@Jenelle, thank you! The brown-white bread on the left top is nutella bread, just 2 layers of bread and nutella between them, I cut and twist the edges! Also, a simple chocolate cake and cupcakes!
Right top, just homemade bread (the recipe here https://koritsimalama.blogspot.com/2014/04/blog-post_7.html) and little fried cheese pockets with the leftover dough!
Left bottom, a simple chocolte chip cake and right bottom the mazing cinnamon rolls from "The baker chick"!
Your photos are simply beautiful! Thank you for sharing. I love your view on homemade desserts being frugal! Our family also has quite the sweet tooth and your comment make me chuckle as I can always justify dessert! Life is too short not to eat something sweet! Lovely to meet you!
Absolutely loved the views! I’ve always wanted to go to Greece.
So interesting to read and wow your view of the sea!
I found it interesting that you say to compare one with those who have a similar wallet/income. I am noticing that many who have my income live in larger homes, own newer stuff, go on more extravagant vacations etc. So it’s difficult for me to compare my situation even with them if they aren’t frugally inclined. Is that just me?
@Maggie, I read the “common wallet” comment as saying listen only to those you share a wallet with (e.g., your household), not referring to people of similar income.
@Dianne in CO, yes, that is what I was trying to say!
Thank you so much for sharing so many photos of your home. I feel as if I took a little virtual vacation to Greece.
Nice to meet you! I have never been to a LIDL. Take care.
So lovely, thank you for sharing! I had never heard of DYT types, so I had to do a quick google - and quiz 🙂 - and allegedly I'm a DYT Type 2. Intriguing!
@mkmitch, so a soft, delicate woman!!
Thank you for sharing, Efterpi - I loved having a glimpse at your beautiful life! Your baked goods have me drooling. While I have a bit more space than you, our home could be seen as small but provides all we need (and like you say, can be cleaned in less time 🙂
Welcome, Efterpi!
I'm in awe of the non-US readers we've met here. Do ALL of you live in gorgeous places? It sure seems like it! Small thing that struck me here - even the clothespins are colorful and add to the flower and color filled beauty.
Donating sounds very hard to do there. Is your only other option just to throw things away if you no longer can use them?
I agree that a smaller home is a lot less work. My daughter had a small studio apartment when she was single, and she could clean it once a week, top to bottom, in less than 2 hours. That was one thing she loved about it.
Lastly, I am filled with a desire to come to your house and have dessert - lots of dessert. The photos make me hungry - it looks delicious.
@JD, thank you! We can also donate things to relatives, friends and facebook groups, to the church and to other organizations, it is just not easy where I live, because I don't have many options in my small town that do not include post office!
Yay, for small homes! I love my cozy home that doesn’t take that long to clean, you bump into family members throughout the day, renovations such as flooring are less expensive as there’s less of it! Less to heat, to cool, to illuminate, etc. Win-win. Your town is so very lovely. Thanks for sharing your frugal life with us today, Efterpi!
Efterpi, your photos are breathtaking and I'm coveting your gorgeous view! Thank you so much for sharing with us. And as someone who loves her dishwasher, I wholeheartedly support your decision about what you'd do with $1000!
Thanks for sharing! The photos are beautiful!! I really appreciate your frugal advice!
I tried to find the translate button on your blog but couldn't figure it out. Thanks for sharing your life!
@Kathy Wolfe, The translate button seems to be specific to browsers, not her site. I found a translation on Google Chrome browser, but not in Firefox.
@Kathy Wolfe, I just added one on the right top of the blog!!
Efterpi, ok, you totally got my attention with all your sweet treats!!! What are the two recipes from the pictures that picture 3 items, and the caption underneath say, "You can tell we really have a sweet tooth. But homemade sweets with discount ingredients are frugal, so no guilt!!"
The two pictures on the right that look like some sort of chocolate pie, and the one beneath looks like a square cake-YUM! Would love the recipes!! I looked at your blog(SO great!), and scrolled through recipes but could not find any for those two items. We are all total chocoholics!!
3 cheers for small homes!! #condolivingwith5children!
You're doing a great job with your cute family!
Thanks for sharing!
Margaret
@Margaret, than you so much for your kind words! The chocolate squares are called "cariocas" and you can find the recipe here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgNhi_CsMZM&list=PLc62FiUJlkSRBUCAlx7RImopY4ssKjU9c&index=2
The square "cake" is a kind of homemade twix! Graham crackers, caramelized sweetened condensed milk, repeat and melted chocolote on top!!
The top right sweet is from here https://mageirikikaisintages.blogspot.com/2015/04/blog-post_5.html
Thanks, Efterpi, for this lovely glimpse into your life. And the awesome scenery in the place where you live! It reminds me of the book The Ruins, which also made me want to visit Greece.
Thanks to Kristen, we learn so much about various countries and lifestyles. It’s amazing how we all want similar things and have similar habits.
Also amazing how well you (and the others from different countries) speak/write English. These are such fun!
Hello Efterpi,
Thank you for sharing info about your life in Greece! I loved seeing your pictures, especially the beautiful scenery and all the amazing baked goods. I have a big sweet tooth too, and love Greek food! 🙂 I hope to visit Greece someday.
Efterpi: I really enjoyed reading about your life and seeing your lovely pictures. And I particularly enjoyed your comment "trying every day to become a better version of myself." Just wonderful. Thanks for sharing!
What a beautiful place! I hope you have been safe from the recent fires. Such a sad thing for Greece and definitely something many Americans can relate to.
@Carol g, thank you! Our place left untouched from the fires, but the whole Greece pains for the situation and we are all trying to help our fire-stricken fellow citizens!
Your pictures make me want to live in your town!
Efterpi,
It's wonderful to meet you. It's great that we have an international community and the reminder that we have so many commonalities (and a few differences) within our global community.
Your life sounds wonderful and I enjoyed getting a glimpse of it. I especially enjoyed your frugal tip:
"Think outside the box! Find your own ways to save money, even though your friends/relatives believe you are crazy or cheap!
Don’t be afraid to make different choices, to experiment and find what serves you best! Listen only to the people you have a common wallet with and prioritize with them!".
It's what I love about The Frugal Girl and her followers.
I so enjoyed this interview and the beautiful photos! My husband and I RV full time so there were many things that you do in your apartment that are similar to what we do as RV-ers. Your kitchen is about the same size (counterspace and cabinets) as mine but I only have to use it for my husband and myself (not 5 people--kudos to you)! I always say that one of the best things about "living small" is that it keeps us in check with how much stuff we CAN'T buy and I love that. I enjoyed hearing that same idea from you. And, of course, keeping up with the cleaning and organizing is a breeze. I have a small washer in our RV but I don't have a dryer so I hang dry as well. (Luckily I have dryers available in the laundry room of park we live in so I can always use those if I need to but most of the time I hang dry.) Thank you so much for sharing about your life in Greece! Oh, and your baked goods look fabulous!
I heard you (Efterpi) like self help books, one free way I indulge in self help books is via a funny American duo, Kristen and Jolenta on their podcast 'By the Book'. They are super inclusive, so I'm sure you might enjoy the content! (Also, I love Greece and would love to return, having been twice!)
@SarahN, thank you for your tip! I will check them out!
Yes, this is a great post; I really enjoy hearing about other’s lives- the day-to-stuff, with food, laundry, family, scenery…and very great photos help me visualize. I’d like to visit so many places, with Greece being in the top ten. I have a friend who grew up there and she has told me many things, but actually, I’m not even sure what area she is from! I know it was “on the coast” but now when I look at a map, a LOT of Greece could be called coastal! I like what we call Greek food in the US (except fish). Recently a little restaurant opened nearby (in suburban Chicago area) and it seems much more authentic, probably, since the family moved here recently themselves, not previous generations. Around here, we sometimes call certain restaurants “Greek coffee shops”, because they are owned by people with Greek heritage, although they have all kinds of food (pancakes, stir-fry, pizza, steak, tacos, everything you can think of!) Could you please explain the dessert recipes especially the one in the right lower corner?
I am so happy that I read this. I will figure out the translation part, too! Thank you, Kristen and Efterpi!
@Jenny, thank you!!! I think you mean the square “cake”, it is a kind of homemade twix! Graham crackers, caramelized sweetened condensed milk, repeat and melted chocolote on top!!
I also added a transalte button on the right top of my blog!
wow. wonderful post. beautiful pictures. i hope to visit greece with my family someday.
So nice to meet you!
Efterpi, I would gladly live in a very small home to enjoy your spectacular view and location! Thank you for giving us a peek into your life.
Thank you for sharing! I love the pictures of your view. It is so beautiful where you live. And your baking looks divine! I hope you and your family are keeping safe from the terrible fires. We have them here where I live, in BC, Canada, as well.
It’s so neat to see how our concerns are the same across the globe. I will check out Efterpi’s blog (I will need that translate button) - what beautiful photos - the scenery, the food, the craft room! I understand why Efterpi stays in the small home - it’s perfect the way it is - and good for her for not getting caught up in buying more house than she needs like so many of us do, just because it’s the thing to do at our age: we buy a big house. Living a few seconds from the beach, that is just perfection!
What a view! And, if you can do without a dishwasher, I would. I would really appreciate the extra space to store a few things. Of course, my dishwashers(my children) would likely disagree with me.
This was so interesting and the pictures are gorgeous. LOVE reading about all these people from different places and lifestyles, but all frugal and I can learn a lot.
Thanks for doing the interview, Efterpi! It was a treat to read!
That was so interesting!! Thank you!
Beautiful! I loved hearing about your life!
I also live in a fairly small place (900 square feet for two adults and two kids). You reminded me that it’s okay to find joy in our living situation.
Wow, I really enjoyed this glimpse into her life. So true about a small place with a great location.