Arizona Republic - The Lowdown on . . . Getting out of Debt

They call themselves "America's Cheapest Family," and now Annette and Steve Economides of Scottsdale will teach their thrifty ways at a seminar from 9:30 am to noon , Saturday June 11, at Covenant Community Church. Admission is $10.

Find your weak spots: The Economideses, publishers of the HomeEconomiser newsletter, feed their family of seven on $350 per month and paid off their four-bedroom house in nine years. They'll describe how to set up a household budget and get out of debt in 18 months.

Some money-saving tips:

- Pay with cash whenever possible. "Take the areas you most commonly overspend, usually clothing, food, recreation and gifts," Steve Economides says. "Having cash set aside in an envelope for those things will help you control the spending and be more creative."

- Be coupon-agressive. "Don't be afraid to take a coupon from one store and use it at another," says Annette Economides, who got one pool store to honor another pool store's coupon. "It was worth $20 to us just for asking."

- Set a priority: The couple believe that families must make debt reduction a priority. "We see so many people in debt, and it causes so much stress in their lives because they owe so much in credit cards, car loans, college loans," Steve Economides says. "Don't do debt consolidation or refinance your house to pay off your debt unless you learn to live below what you're earning."