How to Save Money in Cyprus
My Personal Guide

Best ways to save money in Cyprus.

Sharing my frugal tips to help you save money on all the essentials

Thanks to the disasterious, destructive economy we have had no choice but to cut the cost of living.

Since Cyprus changed its currency to the Euro, it has had a devastating effect on the cost of everything.

Petrol, food, utility bills and alcohol. Even the price of local Cypriot wines have risen to the same price you would pay for a bottle of wine in the UK.

So it was really important to try and stretch every euro as far as possible.

Change habits and stick with buying just the essentials and be much more aware of how much we where spending on utility bills, which have become one of the highest in Europe.

Our lifestyle needed to change completely. We want to share our tips with you on how to save money in Cyprus.

How to save money
on food in Cyprus

Cutting the cost of buying food in Cyprus by...

· buy fruit and veg from the local markets

· take advantage of local supermarket offers for meat and other household essentials like toilet rolls, cleaning liquids, or better still make your own cleaning products.

· Mixing vinegar and water together in an empty spray bottle. Its great for cleaning almost anything, its cheap and it doesn't make your house smell like a fish and chip shop!

Cut down on buying Petrol

Time to get your bike out of the garage!!

The cost of petrol in Cyprus has risen so much since we moved here 5 years ago. It is now on pare with petrol prices in the UK

Many people have cut down on long trips to supermarkets which are miles away. Most shop locally as much as possible.

Many Cypriots and expats ride around on bicycles now.

And what's interesting is we hardly ever hear those really noisy, screaming scooters the kids use to run around on, known locals as chicken chasers! Obviously they can;t afford the petrol.

Electricity
How to Save money
in Cyprus

When we moved to Cyprus over 5 years ago, electricity was really cheap compared to the UK.

But like the UK, electricity costs have spiralled in Cyprus.

On top of the increases, last year - (2011) there was a massive explosion which completed distroyed the power station in Limassol.

To cover the cost of hiring generators, the government introduced a temporary surcharge which was add to our bills.

In addition, the unit cost of electric went up and a new POI charge to help poorer and large families cope with the cost was added to everyone's electric bill.

In total, the increase in the cost of electricity went up by around 70%!!!

To give you an example. Our electric bill for (Oct/Nov) was normally around 130 euros for the 2 months.

The next bills was over 300 euros for Nov/December. No one was given prior notice of this enormous hike. And we had used around the same amount of electric.

What a shock!!

Within a sort period of time 400 cypriot families had their electric cut off. They just couldn't afford it.

Thankfully, my husband is an engineer with knowledge and experience of cutting the costs of electric for major companies he worked for.

So he got to work on cutting our bills.

Here are his recommendation... to help cut the cost of running a/c, heating and lighting. You may have to buy a few things to help achieve results.

• · buying an energy efficient heater which offers 30-40% saving on electricity.
• · buy a good ceiling fan for your bedroom and lounge. We have silence running, remote controlled 5 blade fans they are excellent.
• · switch from standard light bulbs to energy efficient ones, they do make a big different in decreasing the amount of electricity you burn.

They can be used instead of a/c or when its really hot, switch the a/c on timer for 1/2 - 1 hour. close the doors to keep the room cool. Then use the fan to keep the cool air circulating.

Before going to bed, switch off all appliances at the wall. Don't leave anything on standby.

Where possible, cook with gas. It only costs around 10 euros for a 10 kilo container which lasts quite a long time.

The majority of the year we cook on our gas bbq.

When boiling the kettle for tea or coffee, only put enough water in the kettle to make your drink. You are wasting electricity boiling a full kettle every time.

We hope our advice on how to save money in Cyprus is of some help to you.

If you have any more money saving tips to offer please share with the rest of our visitors. They will be very grateful.

Its quick and easy to share, just add your tips below. Thank you.

Catherine and David

Your Tips about how to save money in Cyprus

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