I'm new to FV!

[greekislandgirl]

Ηi everyone! I've just joined the forum after reading a few threads and realizing this sounds like the right place for me. I wrote up a long introduction about myself ... hope it's not TOO long!!

I'm a newlywed American girl from Virginia, (29 y/o) living on a TINY island in Greece (I moved to Greece about a year ago). I'm still in graduate school and my husband is a teacher in the public schools here on the island.

Thanks to the Greek economic crisis, his salary was just cut by over a third (not exaggerating). We went from being okay financially to being in poverty suddenly. So now I am trying to learn everything I can about frugality!

We live on an island so small (pop. 200) that there is no hospital, dentist, hair salon, etc. It may sound like it would be cheap to live here (fewer places to spend money), but it's actually very expensive because everything has to be imported by sea - which drives up the price of everything!

To add to our expenses, the tap water is not drinkable (and can't be used in cooking either). We go through about 9 L of bottled water per day (drinking and cooking) in the summer (it gets sooo hot here!) which we have to pay for, of course! Furthermore, sales tax (on just about everything) is 23% here (thanks to the economic crisis also) - I miss Virginia's 4.5% sales tax!!

I had to have an emergency operation in March which cost me $12,000. My American travel-health insurance rejected my claims (rightfully - it was not covered) so I had to pay for it ALL out of my savings, and now I don't have much left in savings. Thankfully, now that I am married (2 months ago today!), I'm on my husband's health insurance, so I don't have to worry about that kind of expense recurring - I just have to recoup from the money I lost!

We are doing the best we can. I've set up a budget on my computer and we are sticking to it (but I literally JUST started this very week, so we haven't saved any money yet). We rent our apartment (one room, a combined bedroom/kitchen), and the only debt we have is a €200/month car payment (that's about $240/month). No credit cards, mortgage, or student loans, thank goodness. We don't have a telephone, cable, etc. The internet is free with the apartment (phew!) and we pay for electricity and water separately only.

When we got married 2 months ago here on the island, there were only 6 people there (including us) and it cost only about $100 (my wedding outfit was $75 including everything). My parents, brother, and friends weren't there; neither were my husband's. So someday, if we can afford it, we want to have a "real wedding." We have a "Wedding Fund" which so far has no money in it, but we are hoping to put some money away each week toward that. So basically our two financial goals are: "Avoid going into any debt (except for the existing car payment)" and "Save some money for a possible wedding celebration."

I hate to sound negative but it's all very new and I grew up in an affluent environment, so I'm very used to the idea of being frugal with money, but not used to literally not being able to afford food and water. I LOVE to cook from scratch and I can't do otherwise anyway, because the island has no other options, but I need the support of a community of other frugal folks, especially those who have been through something like this! I hope to be involved on the forum and connect with you all.

Thanks for making it ALL the way through that and... Cheers from a tiny Greek island!!

[ladykemma2]

hi!

the chemist in me is wondering if you couldn't filter or distill your water. what is wrong with it exactly?

what do the locals do and how do they get on?

[wwe11]

Hi and welcome!

[greekislandgirl]

Hi

The locals do the same as we do. We do have friends who have lived here about 10 years who own a lovely house and they invested in a home filtration system (several thousand €) but when we went over there this week they told us they are back to bottled, as the filtered water failed the lab tests. We aren't going to stay here permanently so that's not a solution for us.

The water is all imported, sent by reservoir ship and then decanted into very old reservoirs here on the island, and then pumped through very old pipes. I'm definitely no chemist and I would like to know more about WHY it can't be filtered (using a normal filter) or boiled, but I know it's not a biological problem, it's something else (chemical - mineral - metal ??).

Even families who've lived here for generations don't cook with the water here, because it's imported, not local. We don't have local water infrastructure because the island doesn't have enough of its own water for that.

We do use the tap water for washing, though!

[ilovechocolate]

Hi and welcome!

Keep reading here at the Village---you'll learn lots!

[nodmicks]

Welcome to the Village!

[Sassyclass]

Hi and welcome to FV. Glad you joined us.

Cat

[ladykemma2]

if its chemical, (sounds like heavy metals) i would set up a still.

more later...

here is a solar still [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sqRvUzqDCE"]YouTube- Solar Water Distiller[/ame]

more later

[greekislandgirl]

Thanks! That is a really interesting video - looks fun too We're actually going to be living off island for two months (July and August) because the island gets a lot of tourists in the summer, prices go very high, and we can't afford to stay here over the summer (if we did stay, our landlord would be forced to charge us €120/night instead of the €240 we pay per MONTH!!! Not kidding!!). So instead, for July and August, we're going to be living in Athens where I have a summer job - our expenses will be higher than usual here, but lower than if we stayed here during tourism season! Our landlord will rent our apartment for €120/night to tourists for two months and then we will come back after they leave.

When we come back in September we can try things like this when we'll have the time to send samples to the lab in Athens. We can get all the info on sending samples from our friends with the filter system.

Incidentally, I didn't mention this earlier, but some of the locals have rain-collection systems. The rain water is very clean and definitely potable. There is no rainfall for about six months in the spring and summer, but in the fall and winter we do get some rain. It's not enough to cover our drinking and cooking needs, but it could help offset the price if we got ourselves organized enough about it! I plan to work hard on that this year when the rainy season comes back.

[IntlMom]

wow - what an experience!!

welcome to FV... and you should be able to find lots of help here!

[baxjul]

Hello and welcome!!!

[piney]

Hi and welcome i enjoyed reading your post.

[mauimagic]

Aloha and welcome from Hawaii!! Looking forward to hearing about all your experiences!!

[acabin42]

Hi and welcome. You will really enjoy this site. I have learned so much and gained some good experience on living a frugal life. I'm sure you will too.

[Luckybustert]

Hi and welcome to Frugal Village! Glad you've joined us!!