America's Cheapest Family: Who are we?

Hi. We’re Steve and Annette Economides (econo mee ‘dis) from Scottsdale, Arizona. Welcome to our how-to-save-money blog on.

We have five kids ranging in age from 14 to 25 and have been married since 1982. Our frugal lifestyle didn’t start because we were hugely in debt like some other financial experts.

We’ve always been a one-income family. We started economizing from day-one of our marriage, out of necessity, because we were earning so little. Initially living thrifty took a lot of effort and planning, but after a few awesome successes it became a fun game.

Now we make it our goal to never pay retail. We always try to get the best quality we can for the lowest cost.

Over the past 26 years, we've:

— Paid off our first home in nine years on an average income of $35,000.
— Paid cash for all of our cars.
— Taken fabulous, debt-free vacations.
— Put kids through college without any student loans.
— Spent just $350 each month on groceries.

Many people started asking us how we managed to live so well on so little, so we started writing about it in The HomeEconomiser Newsletter. We are very passionate about encouraging people on their financial journeys.

Good Morning America had us on their show in May 2004 and dubbed us, America’s Cheapest Family. This led to our New York Times best selling book of the same name. Since then, our lives have been a whirlwind of media requests and we’ve had to work hard to protect our family priorities.

No matter what your income, everyone can benefit from stretching their dollars. We believe frugality is needed now more than ever.

Even when the economy looks bleak, there is so much we can do to create financial stability. We hope this column will encourage you to try new things and achieve great results. Send in your questions about: debt, savings, food, clothes, housing, recreation, vacations, medical bills, kids, gift giving or anything you’ve always wanted to ask America’s Cheapest Family.

We’ll shoot straight with you!