America's Cheapest Family Gets You Right on the Money - Book Review

America's Cheapest Family
Gets You Right on the Money
Your Guide To
Living Better Spending Less
and Cashing In on Your Dreams
by: Steve and Annette Economides

Steve and Annette Economides launched their popular bimonthly newsletter, The HomeEconomiser, in 2003. They are frequently quoted money-saving experts and have appeared in Good Housekeeping as well as on National Public Radio and Good Morning America. They live in Scottsdale, Arizona, with their children. They can be reached at www.AmericasCheapestFamily.com.

I finished this book last week, and actually went back and reread a couple chapters so that I could fully grasp the concepts written in them. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and am planning to buy it for my home library so that I can go back and reference it as needed. Here is my chapter by chapter review.

Chapter One - America's Cheapest Family
This chapter introduces you to the family and talks about how the name, their newsletter, and the book came about.

Chapter Two - Groceries: Savings by the Bagful
When it comes to reducing household expenses, one of the fastest and easiest ways is to look at your grocery spending habits. In this chapter they go over how to save the most money on groceries.

Chapter Three - Budgeting: The Cornerstone of Family Finances
This chapter details the budget system the authors have used and fine-tuned since 1982, which according to them has been the tool that has helped them reach all their goals. I liked the budget system so much that I completely reworked ours following their advice!

Chapter Four - Cars: Cutting Car Costs
This chapter covers how they buy their cars with cash, sell them, and how to drive down the costs of car ownership.

Chapter Five - Housing: Home Sweet Home
Buying and owning a home is one of the most important and expensive decisions you'll ever make. The goal of this chapter is to help you make wise decisions so you can truly create a home sweet home. They discuss dreams, house shopping, down payments, the benefits of paying your loan off early, maintenance costs, property taxes, and home improvements.

Chapter Six - Utilities: Shut the Door, Turn Out the Lights!
In this chapter they tell you how to save on heating and cooling, reduce water usage, other ways to save on electricity around the house, the phone bill, Internet charges, and cell phones.

Chapter Seven - Debt: The American Dream Turns Into a Nightmare
Digging out from under a pile of debt is one of the most rewarding accomplishments you can ever achieve. It's not easy, but it's always good. Their method for eliminating debt has worked for hundreds of people and this chapter tells you how it is done.

Chapter Eight - Medical: Keeping Your Body Healthy and Your Wallet Happy
This chapter discusses the importance of medical insurance, making sure you are not being overcharged on your medical bills, how to save on prescription drugs, and ten simple habits to keep you healthy.

Chapter Nine - Clothing: Looking Better, Spending Less
In this chapter the authors tell you how they built their wardrobes for less, and how to get the best-quality clothes for the lowest price. They go over organization, cleaning costs, and where they go to buy their clothes. They also talk about ways to win the battle of cost and style with your kids, and six simple strategies to cutting clothing costs.

Chapter Ten - Entertainment & Recreation: Finding Fun for Free
Here they give you suggestions for recreation ideas that won't wreck your budget, as well as readers tips, seasonal ideas, and summertime activities.

Chapter Eleven - Vacations: Getting Away Without Debt Regret
This chapter discusses various inexpensive vacation options, as well as going over an eighteen day vacation the family took and how they were able to significantly beat the averages for money spent in the areas they visited. They pay for all their vacations with cash!

Chapter Twelve - Kids And Money: Teaching Kids About Money Isn't Kid Stuff
The Economides talk about how they have trained their kids to be moneysmart, and give you seven principles that can help you successfully train your kids to be responsible with money.

Chapter Thirteen - Savings And Investments: It's More Than Just Money in the Bank
This chapter covers how to build an emergency fund, as well as what categories this family splits their emergency fund into. They also discuss what to do when you get a windfall, whether it be large or small, and investing for the future.

Chapter Fourteen - Attitudes: Thinking Differently Can Change Everything
What does attitude have to do with getting you right on the money? Just about everything, according to the Economides. Here they discuss frugal qualities, the little things that add up, contentment and idealism.

Chapter Fifteen - The Final Payoff
A final encouragement to live thrifty and reap the rewards that this family has.

At the end of the book are acknowledgments, and a few pages about the authors. This book is 280 pages long, and was first published in 2007.

I REALLY liked this book, and while I am not sure I can follow all of the suggestions and ideas offered here I certainly want to try. I would recommend this book to anyone!

Should you buy it? Rent it at the library first, and if you like the ideas in this book as much as I did then go ahead and spend the $10 to $15 to buy it for your home library. That way you can reference it when you need a refresher on one or more of the subjects they cover. You can also buy it used through Amazon for as little as $6 or $7 plus shipping.