How to save money in Spain

You may remember my earlier posting about shopping at the right time of the day. Well, yesterday evening after 6 pm, I decided to sneak into my local Consum supermarket to see if the theory applied elsewhere as well. Do Spanish supermarkets indeed lower their prices in the evening? 

After having parked the Yorkshire terrier in the cool front of the supermarket, I picked up my basket on wheels and had a quick look around. The shoppers in the store were overwhelmingly Spanish, and it soon became clear that they were all bargain hunters. 

Looking around, I noticed a surprising amount of food with yellow stickers. I did not have a lot of money in my wallet as I was jsut really out for a dog walk, but I did manage to bag some bargains. In the end, I picked up a loaf of fresh whole grain bread for 80 centimes, it was supposed to have been €2.80. A pizza for the priciply some of €1.30 (normally €2.99) added to my bargains, and finally a bag of mixed greens for just 80 centimes (normally €1.80). I was really pleased with myself and walked home with the Yorkie.

It seems that my new saving strategy of shopping later in the day is paying off. There was a lot more discountsavailable in the store, but as I had only had €5 in my purse, I could not go over the top. However, it seems that it is not just Lidl that lower their prices in the evening. If you would like to save money, it could be idea to check out Consum, or your local supermarket, a bit later in the day as well. I believe the normal cut off period to start to discount food in the UK is around 5 pm, so it might be good idea to drop into your own favorite supermarket. 

Saving money is the supermarket seems to be all about shopping in a savvy way - just like anything else in life really.

Saving money, and getting discounts, were both something a lot of my Spanish friends were not worried about before the financial crisis hit. Now, it seems to be a major preoccupation in their lives. This Saturday, as I was enjoying cafe con leche with my friend Pepa, I received a text from another friend. She had gone to a local shopping center with her mom, and was now busy "raiding" a chain store. Both her and her mom was delighted to find that C and A had discoutns available up to 50% their summer clothing. Looking back on things, I seem to recall that C & A did exactly the same thing around the same time last year. Apparently, if the summer range is not selling by the end of June, discounts are applied to the stock.

My friend Pepa wanted to make the most of it, so we jumped in her car. She needed some new clothes for a cruise that she was going on, so this seemed like the ideal opportunity. Pulling up excitedly outside the shopping center, we parked and rushed inside. The discounts were still there and set to continue for the next week or so. According to one of the girls in the store, C and A had just finished one voucher promotion and was now moving on to the next. Thinking that I like to save money, I thought I would have a look around.

An hour later, I came up to the till with an armfull of clothes. I had roughly worked it out, but I was delighted to find that my purchases came to a measly €48. The same lot of clothing would have cost my about €102 the week before with a 10% discount. I went to pay, and as my transaction went through, the girl behind the till gave me a voucher of €10 to be used next time I spent €40.

As the sale is set to continue, Pepa and I will be back next weekend with our vouchers. After an obligatory visit to Eroski where we got a money off  voucher for lunch at a local sandwich place for €2 ( we paid €3.90 for a bocadillo with chicken breast, soft drink and fries) we happily went on our way home with our purchases. The offers are still on, so it might be a good idea to rush off to C&A if you want to save some money on clothes. 

Don't we all like saving a bit of money....

It is amazing how quickly savings can add up. Yesterday I had a really busy day and did not have a chance to do my shopping until later. Normally I shop around midday, but yesterday I had a really busy work schedule and did not get a chance to go until the evening. 

Really, I did not really need to do a big shop at all, but we were low on some of the essentials in life. In the end, I ended up in Lidl on my way home from the gym. I never have associated Lidl with extra discounts on food, but you can certainly get some amazing discount deals even in Lidl.

To my surprise, a lot of the fresh food in the store had been marked down by 30%! Sitting here looking at my till receipt, I noticed that I got 30% off whole chicken, chicken breast fillets, salmon, merluza and bread. Altogether my discounts came to over 8 euros. That was a really great saving, and I now know that it might be better to go off and do the shopping later in the day.

As a matter of fact, the shop ws packed with Germans who seemed to be much more familiar with Lidl's pricing strategy.I have learned my lesson, and I will be less anxious to dash off to do my shopping midday or early in the morning. My freezer has had a bit of restock, and I only need to make a trip to the local market to pick up our fresh fruit and vegetables next week

Could it be worthwhile rethinking your own shopping strategy, and become an even more price savvy shopper...

Find the Best Offers at Clarel!

Clarel, part of Dia chain, is one of Spain's best discount parafarmacias. You can buy a little bit of everything in Clarel. If you have a Dia card, you will get vouchers on a monhtly basis and get money off both generic and brand products. It is a really good card to have, and making substantial savings at both Clarel and Dia is easy.

Clarel publish a special advertising leaflet every two weeks or so. It is normally about six pages and is there to get you into the store. The offers are often very good, and if you are a really savvy shopper, you can save a lot of money in your local Clarel store.

This time, the period June 23 - July 23, Clarel has got some reall good offers, and I certainly tend to make the most of them. For instance yuo can buy a toilet cleaner for 66 cents, it is normally 99 cents, so you save a fair bit of money there. If you like branded products, you save 50% of your second purchase of Micolor laundry products and Colon are offering 3 x 2 on their laundry products.

Petfood is a good buy in Clarels as well. For the next two weeks you can get 30% of Ultima cat food and 20 % of senior Ultima dog food. Clarel also have their own generic brand of catfood and they are offering 3 x 2 for the next two weeks in their dry catfood. That works out at Euros 1.69 each which is really good value for money! Catfood is not cheap as all cat owners know. You can also get 20% of Brekkies Classic Dogfood. That is Euros 5.24 for 4 kilos if your pooch likes that one.

Gents are in luck as well for the next two weeks at Clarels, and they can get 50% off Wilkinsword 3 blade razor on their second packet. So, that is Euros 8.98 for 12 razors. The normal price per pack is Euros 5.99.

If you turn to the back page of the magazine, you will find special offers for holders of the Dia card. The best offers are on rubbish bags, toilet paper and dog food for smaller dogs. If you need laundry powder, and have a Dia card, you can buy a box of laundry powder (72 washes) for Euros 6.52.

Have you spotted any other good offers out there? If you have let us all know so that we can make the most of them! It is always good to save at least a little bit of money. Find out more about Clarel and shop online at www.clarel.es. 

Electricity prices seem to be going up all of the time. It does not matter whether you are in Spain or the United States, daily living costs are on the increase. How can you save money in the home? Knowing how to save money in the home, could be one of the best options when it comes to cutting down on your daily living expenses.

A couple of months back, I invested in a steamer from popular discount site Groupon. The idea was not to save money but to invest in healthier food preparation. My steamer is certainly a useful kitchen tool when it comes to preparing healthy meals, but it has had one unexpected benefit as well. Did you know that steaming your food is one of the most energy efficient ways of preparing your food. By turning off the oven, I have not only started to enjoy healthier meals but I have also cut down on my electricity bill.

To be honest, it has really surprised me on how much money that I have saved by using my steamer. I would estimate that over the last three months, I have saved at least Euros 30 on every electricity bill by steaming all of my food. Don't for one minute think that steamed food does not taste delicious. It certainly does and there are some great recipes available online as well. If you would like to do the same, I suggest that you check out where you can buy a steamer for you and your family.

The good news is that you can prepare everything in your steamer. What can be better than saving money and getting healthier at the same time?

My friend Spanish friend Pepa recently returned from a holiday in the United States. She had a great time, and clearly enjoyed her holiday. Money, or rather saving money, is always a popular topic when I meet up with my Spanish friends over coffee. Pepa was amazed how easy it was to save money in the US. According to Pepa there are coupons everywhere, and all you need to do is to cut them out. Thank God, I brought my scissors with me she says.

Having lived in the US for a number of years, I know that the American are passionate about what they call “coupon cutting” and many of my American friends have turned it into an art form. They cut out all of the coupons they come across and put them in their “coupon book”. Needless to say their coupon books are well organized. My friend Stacey in Los Angeles loves her coupon book and keeps it will organized so that she can find the right coupon easily. Food coupons take up the biggest section in her coupon book, but household cleaning and stuff like hair shampoo coupons are also popular cut outs.

Now, it seems that my Spanish friends have caught onto the coupon craze. More and more retailers around Spain are beginning to publish coupons, and it could be worth your while to cut them out. If, you want to become a coupon cutter in Spain, it is a good idea to check out stores like Clarel (used to be known as Schleckers) and Eroski, but many other stores do regularly promote coupon shopping as well.

Clarel have their own little magazine which you can pick up in store. This month (June) it has vouchers for top brands like Nivea, Vasenol, Rexona and many others. If you are brand buyer, it is the perfect place to check out. Also take a look at Spanish magazines such as Mia – they often have coupons available. Daily papers in Spain also have coupons available from time to time.

As always remember that it is worth your while to sign up for club cards and save money that way as well. Generic products are pretty good in Spain, but we all know what it is like, sometimes you find that brands are better, and may actually last longer as well.