Jun 07 2008
“America’s Cheapest Family” by Steve and Annette Economides
America’s Cheapest Family Gets You Right on the Money by Steven and Annette Economides is a good book to pick up if you’re looking for inspiration on how to live cheaply but well. The Economides (yes, that really is their last name!) are cheapskates, and proud of it. Yet they come across as being fairly normal, if a bit over-organized. They go grocery shopping once a month, period. No, they don’t even go by to “pick up the milk” or “grab a loaf of bread.” They buy gallons of milk, pour a little off the top, and freeze it. They buy bread by the bagful, and freeze those too. I don’t think I’ll ever be as organized as they are. Ever. 
They produce a bimonthly newsletter, The HomeEconomiser, which is where the bulk of the information for the book came from. I haven’t subscribed to that newsletter, so I can’t say myself that it’s a good idea to sign up for it, but if it’s anything like the book, I would think it would be worth the while, especially if you need ongoing support to keep your focus on your goal of living below your means (or at least paying off your debt).
But still, it was an interesting book, and had quite a few good suggestions on how to tighten your belt. A lot of it was the same that you’d hear in other tightwad books (shop with coupons, don’t buy on impulse, shop around for the best deal, etc - standard fare for financial books like this) but there were some real nuggets of helpful information buried in there. The most interesting part to me was seeing how the family as a whole operated. There is a picture on the front of the whole family, and their input is scattered throughout from the kids. The parents, of course, are the authors. Many of the financial books out there come from the mother’s point of view (I’m not sure why that is - perhaps because the moms are trying to stay home and raise the kids, so they’re the ones who have the time to streeeeetch their money as far as it can go…?) so it was fun to read this one that was basically from the everyone’s point of view.
If you’re new to saving money and trying to live below your means, this might be a good book to pick up, for a broad overview of how to do be a better tightwad. 
If you’ve already read every book out there on saving money and making every penny count, there probably won’t be enough new stuff in here to make it worth the read.
And if you’re on the hunt for budgeting or finance tips, we’ve got several great websites here at Today.com that cover that subject: Counting Pennies and Frugal Living. Be sure to check them out!
I give America’s Cheapest Family 4 out of 5 stars.
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