Annette and Steve Economides (econo mee' dis) have lived the Economiser lifestyle since 1982 and according to Good Morning America / ABC News are America's Cheapest Family.
It was embarrassing when it happened, but now, we laugh about it.
The HomeEconomiser Newsletter is dedicated to encouraging you to find creative ways to live within your means, avoid debt with a smile, and achieve goals you never dreamed possible.
Over the years we've accomplished some above average things on a modest income. It took us 9 years to pay off our first house - on an average income of $35,000. We currently spend $350 on groceries for our family of seven, and have never had debt of any kind except for a home mortgage.
Our articles are written from our life experience and that of people we have helped over the years. Each issue of the HomeEconomiser newsletter provides a dose of encouragement to resist consumerism and keep economizing!
Why economize? Our reason for economizing is to free up money and time to achieve the goals that really matter: providing for family needs; investing more time in people – spouse, children, siblings, parents and friends; eliminating debt; saving for the future; and helping others.
The HomeEconomiser Newsletteris published 6 times each year (for only $12). Each issue is 8 pages long and shares original articles along with book reviews and reader tips. We've been publishing the newsletter since 2003 and have copies of all of our back issues available for purchase here
Free Newsletter Sample Issue - You can read or download our free, four page sample issuehere (html or .pdf).
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The July/August 2009 HomeEconomiser Newsletter
is available! It was bulk mailed on July 1, 2009
Here's a preview
The Big Transition Raising and preparing our kids for independence is a monumental task. In this two-part article we share six attitudes and skills your teen needs before leaving the nest.
10 Reasons we LOVE The Recession! Yes, the economy is bad, but every cloud has a silver lining. We give you reasons to smile as you hear gloomy economic predictions.
Making Music — Smarter & Cheaper Do you or your child play a musical instrument? Find out how to do it less expensively.
Secrets of a Purchasing Agent Learn from professional buyers how they make sure they always get the most value for their money.
Success in Detroit & Ohio Two families are thriving in spite of the economy — you can too.
The Book Corner - Each month we review books for adults that will help save money, time and improve your family life. We also review chapter books for teens and picture books for younger readers. You can see a bunch of our recommended books here.
InsWeb.com is a great resource for quoting Auto Insurance and Homeowners insurance. We discovered them after reading a Consumer Reports article about Auto Insurance quotes. We were hesitant at first to submit personal data through this web site, but our experience has proved to us that it is very secure and we have received no spam. Our information was submitted to numerous companies (More than 28 are listed on the web site) and we started receiving quotes within 24 hours.
We spent about 15 minutes punching in our information and ended up saving $400 every six months on our auto insurance.
SAVE ON HEALTH
We've purchased our vitamins and herbal supplements from Puritan's Pride for years and years. Great customer service, excellent return policy and fast shipping make them a pleasure to do business with. But the best thing is the buy one, get multiples free deals they offer. Watch their catalogs and web site for monthly special offers.
FOOD AND FUN FOR HALF PRICE
Get an Entertainment Book for your summer vacation destination.
The Entertainment Book is a great resource for two-for-one dining coupons at restaurants from fast food to beautiful resort settings. It also provides discounts for museums, hotels and great savings on rental cars (we received a better discount from Entertainment than from AAA, Sams or Costco). We've purchased these books for use at home and also for our summer vacation destination cities and saved hundreds of dollars in a week.
SAVE ON TRAVEL
We usually spend hours looking for the best air fare when we travel. But now we're finding deals faster and getting extra discounts too. The name "CheapoAir.com" may not be appealing, but the savings will. Give them a try. We saved $150 per ticket on round trip travel from Phoenix to Orlando.
HEALTH INSURANCE
In September 2007 we cut our monthly health insurance premium by $200 simply by quoting our health insurance coverage through eHealthInsurance.
Health insurance is your first line of protection against financial disaster. If you can't afford health insurance, please, please contact your state department of insurance and see what they can do to help you.
Years ago, Annette's dad, Syl Meola retired from a sales job in the electronics industry and took a job at his local church as the head of the maintenance department. Syl is the consummate organizer and master of efficiency. One thing he noticed was that whenever there was a reception or some sort of meeting where drinks were served from a coffee pot or cooler, inevitably some of the liquid ended up on floor.
Over time he developed a simple yet revolutionary idea - The Original Drip Catcher was created.
It's an inexpensive way to eliminate this sticky and messy problem.
After years of selling thousands of these products by word of mouth, we've finally helped him to put up a simple web site to let the world know about his invention.
Our web site is hosted by www.GoDaddy.com . To be honest, there are other providers who may be a little cheaper, but we like the fact that we can call (480) 505-8877, usually spend less than 3 minutes on hold and get a live (English speaking American) on the phone to help answer any questions we have. No joke, a real person who is well trained and speaks English. We've been to their offices in Scottsdale, they run a great organization and give you real help. (The are the largest registrar of domain names too — GoDaddy.com $1.99 Domain Names ). Here's a link to GoDaddy.com Hosting Plans
GET CONTROL OF YOUR MONEY!
This is the best computer based budgeting system out there. MVelopes uses the same system we describe in our book. It's better than Quicken and MS Money, both of which only track your spending after the fact. Mvelopes helps you save money in advance of your purchases. That's exactly what we've been doing since 1982. Give it a free try — we think you'll love it.
TIRED OF OUTRAGEOUS
CELL PHONE
BILLS?
How many families have been stunned by their teen's cell phone bills. We're talking shockers of over $400 in a month!
Put a stop to this budget busting habit.
First, have your teen be responsible for most, if not all of their cell phone bill.
Second, if you want to help them control costs, get them a prepaid cell phone plan.
One note: Avoid TracFone. We tried them and their customer service is TERRIBLE. Most calls are routed out of the US. You'll be on hold forever and in over 10 different phone calls, not once did the person we talked to do what they said they would to remedy our situation.
The Big Transition Raising and preparing our kids for independence is a monumental task. In this two-part article we share six attitudes and skills your teen needs before leaving the nest.
