America's Cheapest Family Gets You Right on the Money: Your Guide to Living Better, Spending Less, and Cashing in on Your Dreams

I really can't say enough good things about this book. I've been referring it to everybody I know! There are a ton of applicable strategies in it's pages, and it's really enjoyable as well. I had a hard time putting it down because it was easy to read, enjoyable, and I was learning a ton! My husband and I have been married a little over three years, and during that time I thought I was pretty good at handling our finances. As it turns out, I was overconfident and my husband was too afraid to look at our bank account numbers. We were in debt. But thanks to God's Providence and this book, we have gained control over our finances. Within a week's time we started implementing almost every strategy in this book. Now we can look forward to building enough savings to consider a new home together! We are so much more excited about our future now, and I owe it to the authors of this book. The family seems so sweet and down-to-earth. I really appreciate their work from the bottom of my heart! Thank you Mr. and Mrs. Economides!!!

I decided to purchase this book after having previewed their website, America's Cheapest Family.com This book is packed full of informative information to apply to your everyday living to help save you money in situations that we all have experienced ,one way or other, in our everyday living pertaining to coping in this economy. Consider Steve and Annette as private coaches who have years of experience looking over the finances of others whom have sought their help in building a realistic budget as it applies to their situation. It helps you to pay off debt, put away money in savings and what you need to do to categorize to allocate your money so that you have it available without chunking it all out at one time.

If Steve and Annette Economides are to be praised for but one thing, it's that they are quick to acknowledge that what's right for them may not be for you. They don't preach or lecture; rather, they insist that you tailor their strategies to fit your priorities and personal preferences. This philosophy separates "America's Cheapest Family" from many other books on the personal finance shelf. It seems to me their outlines and strategies can be useful to any size family, because they are so adaptable. I must disagree, however, with their notion that many people can do without a computer. So many of us now pay our bills online, use the computer as an electronic newspaper, bank, post office and reference desk. Plus, using the computer to print coupons, compare prices or buy household goods in bulk saves gas, stamps, time and money. I think the average person can save MORE money by owning a computer than not. If, of course, the computer itself is fully paid for. Shortly after purchasing this book I followed two suggestions: set up a budget (took half an hour) and set up a Rainy Day account at the bank (took 15 minutes). I always thought myself frugal -- there's no car payment, all our clothes come from thrift stores, (but you would never know it), and we cook from scratch and make most of our own car and household repairs. I didn't see how we could save any more money than we already were. But we are. Little did I realize we could wrap up each month with a surplus. But we are. Not much, but a surplus nonetheless. (I followed the Economides's "windfall" suggestion: all the "found" money goes into the rainy day account, that is, the small checks you get for refunds, reimbursements, rebates and tips, etc. You get more of this kind of money than you realize.) And, if I adhere to their advice, I will be able to say I am debt-free in 15 months, not four years. Many of the tips and strategies in the book are for families with children. I can't speak to the efficacy and practicality of those, but upon skimming that information I came away thinking their five children have pretty darn good lives. It doesn't appear that they stood out at school by looking like they were wearing castoffs or eating homemade gruel in the cafeteria every day. As another reader said, you can recoup the price of the book on one trip to the grocery store. My family is not as big as theirs and our income much smaller, but I learned how much money I was wasting on 4-5 trips to the grocery store every week. This one worked for me. It was painless, and adopting the strategies does, as Steve and Annette suggest, become a game after a while. It's always fun to save money, and there is a richer, fuller life to be lead under those mountains of debt and those heaps of dusty and unused possessions.

I love this book! Although I have yet to perfect all of its suggestions, I am slowly catching on and creating habits that fit my lifestyle. I love that this family is not only living within their means, remaining out of debt, and still enjoying life ... but that they are instilling values in their children that will become life long...I think that we tend to neglect the subject of budgeting and life planning in general when raising our children. Beyond the standard "you should save your money" we are not all the best examples, or teachers of successful money management. This book is packed FULL of great ideas,lessons, and suggestions!!! You don't want to pass this one up, even if you are on track with your family budget/household, you WILL find something in here that you want to apply to your life!!! Happy Reading!!

I read a review from a blogger that this was so inspirational to her. I did not find it very inspirational. it was pretty boring and I had to read the entire thing because I was trying to find the inspiration. It does have some pretty good tips in it in order to save money but I had heard of a few of them before. Not really for me.

The title of this review says it all really. We bought the book with the hope of making our one paycheck work better for us. This book not only gives helpful hints on saving money in many areas, it also gives you a great system to put in place. We have used the exact budget system they lay out in this text and it has allowed us to do a lot with very little. It provides you with peace of mind knowing your covering yourself for future problems that always arise at the worst times, and the relief it gives you is worth the price of the book. I am a stay at home dad so that means my wife's income is the prime source of income for us. A one paycheck household is very possible despite the economic downturn but you need to be a budget Nazi, for the lack of a better term. This book will provide you with ways to go about it. Highly recommend.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0307339459/ref=cm_cr_rev_prod_title if your looking for a few tips to help you through the credit crunch well this is the book for you. Easy to read and you will find you dont want to put the book down once you start. You'll suddenly find you dont need many modcons to live happily and healthy, well maybe the tv and laptop with internet and the wii console. if you take the tips you will see that shopping bill go done by half with ease and other bills will naturally follow, you'll learn to buget in a different and easy way. its also worth signing up to there email newsletter for further tips $12 is nothing for helpful tip and they also enjoy helping you via email. I've managed to save while keeping my bills low beats any credit crunch.

Trop simple.

This book has so much information to help you save money and win the money game. I have been a fan of the Economides family for quite a while. This book is definitely a classic for those who aim to be frugal or at least challenge spending behavior.

Challenging. Wish we had coupons in UK. Worth reading.

This is a great book to read if you want good tips on how to save money. This book is very well put together and very easy to read. It covers everything from budgets to cooking to saving money at the grocery store. This is my go to book for saving money.