Homeschooling and Frugal Living
Irecently;had;the;opportunity;to;talk to Steve and Annette Economides, known;to;many;of;you;as;“America’s Cheapest;Family.”;Their;book;about
family finances has topped both the
New York Times;Best;Seller;list;and;the
Amazon.com;Best;Seller;list.
TOS: What started you on the journey
to frugal living?
Steve:;When;we;got;married,;back;in
1982,;I;was;working;as;a;graphic;design
paste-up;artist;earning;$6.50;an;hour;and
Annette wanted to stay home to learn to
manage our house. We decided together
to try it that way, and within three years
we;had;enough;money;saved;to;put;15%
down on a house. We paid that house off
in nine years.
Annette: We started with babies pretty
quick.;My;job;became;not;only;to;be;a
mom;and;a;homemaker;but;to;stretch
our pennies until they begged for mercy.
Steve: So Annette decided to become
an expert at managing our money. One
of the things that really saved us was
our marriage prep class at our church.
We learned about budgeting from Larry
Burkett.;This;was;a;way;to;keep;track;of
our money and put it into little categories
so;we;wouldn’t;spend;our;grocery;money
on car repair or our clothing money on
eating out. It helped us protect the mon-ey.;Beyond;that,;Annette;learned;how;to
shop smarter.
Annette:
;I;used;to;grocery;shop;week-ly. I found I saved time by shopping once
every;two;weeks;or;every;three;weeks.
When a friend lent me a shelf in her
freezer,;it;made;once-a-month;shopping
possible. Later, when Steve told me about
the;once-a-month;cooking;concept;from
Focus;on;the;Family,;it;was;a;perfect;fit
and saved tons of time and stress.
Steve:;We;aren’t;financial;experts,;we
just;knew;we;hated;debt.
Annette: We started off committed to
being debt free and living with whatever
God provided.
Steve: There were times when there
were;tests,;like;the;time;Annette;called
and;said,;“I’m;driving;our;car;and;wa-ter is coming out of the tail pipe and the
car;is;shaking;like;crazy.;Is;that;a;good
thing?”
Annette: Or the time when a furniture
truck;drove;up;to;our;neighbor’s;house.
The wife had bought a dining room set.
I;looked;at;our;little;garage;sale;orange-brown-plaid sofas, and I just sat and
cried.;But;I;was;determined.;I;cried;be-cause I was sad, but I still was not tempted to go out and buy new furniture on
credit.;That;wasn’t;an;option.
Steve:;Before;we;were;married;we;had
walked through JC Penney’s and seen
these great, modern-looking couches.
We;thought,;“Oh!;$1, 200—you’d;have;to
By;Bonnie;Rose;Hudson
“We’re;just;practical,;personal,
household;budgeting;experts.”
Homeschooling
and Frugal Living:
A;Perfect
Match
