America's Cheapest Family Gets You Right on the Money

December 1, 2006
The Economideses (publishers, "HomeEconomiser" newsletter) have been dubbed "America's Cheapest Family" and have appeared on NPR and "Good Morning America". Here, they share their philosophy of avoiding debt and living within one's means, explaining how they do this with five children, having paid off a mortgage in nine years with an average salary of $35,000. They are not financial professionals and offer no quick fixes. This is a grass-roots version of Fred Brock's "Live Well on Less Than You Think" and is written for families electing to live on a single moderate income. With once-a-month grocery shopping and an almost total avoidance of the mall, the authors shun consumerism at every possible turn. They detail a primitive but easy-to-follow budgeting system that accounts for expenses and debt elimination. Their counterculture view endorses practices such as keeping a significant checking account balance and delaying investing, both commonly advised against by financial planners. An occasionally didactic tone and no mention of the many great Internet deals available are slight drawbacks. However, the numerous practical tips and ideas will surely hit the mark with frugal families everywhere. Recommended for all public libraries.Tracy Mohaidheen, MLIS, West Bloomfield, MI

Copyright 2006 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 15, 2006
There's no doubt that today's families can use some help in balancing the household finances, and the Economides family, headed by a former ad sales exec and his homemaker wife, deliver the goods here. To an extreme. As founders of the " HomeEconomiser " newsletter, the couple offers plenty of helpful tips on shopping and menu planning, saving, reducing debt, and cutting back on utilities. Most of Middle America, however, will probably find their habits overly harsh. Take, for instance, their shopping routine: they make one monthly trip to the grocery store, which takes up to five hours but costs them only $350. By freezing such items as milk, bread, and cheese for later in the month and using the more perishable fruits and veggies early in the month (saving such things as apples and carrots for the latter weeks), the Economideses feed themselves " and their five children" based on this one trip" ." Even though some tips advocate what others might consider garbage picking and mooching, any family with money issues will find useful information here. Especially helpful are their household budgeting techniques, adaptable to any home. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)