Posted on 10/02/2010 7:09:35 AM PDT by Immerito
Economides clan defend buying aging meat and other frugal strategies
As the American economy sputters and families continue to struggle mightily just to keep their heads above water, the Economides family of Arizona believe they provide a model for how to not just survive, but thrive on a tight budget.
Eschewing credit cards, car loans and home equity borrowing, the clan of seven stay solvent and then some on just $44,000 a year — and that includes owning a home in the pricey Phoenix suburb of Scottsdale.
Mind you, they eat nutritious meals and their children are decked out in stylish, brand-name clothes. The key to living well for less, they say, is to search for bargains, avoid impulse buying and plan, plan, plan.
(Excerpt) Read more at today.msnbc.msn.com ...
You’re needed here...bring coupons :-)
I listened to the videos and did not hear anything about them getting subsidies or being tax-free. Where I come from, $44K per year is not tax-free by any means, and it’s WAY over the limit for subsidies, free lunch, free medical care, etc. unless one of the parents is disabled. Maybe if you’re below $20K you can get that stuff, but back when I was a single mom making $30K I did not qualify for anything and I certainly paid taxes.
We’ve been living like that for several years. It can be fun to find ways to stretch your income. I can take one chicken and some veggies from the garden and make three to four meals for our family of 7.
Unfortunately, one of our children has a chronic medical condition so our “living like no one else” isn’t getting us past baby step #1 of the Dave Ramsey debt free plan.
loading up for take home at all-you-can eat is dishonest and will get you banned from most buffets, if they figure out what you are doing
This incident makes me wary of this woman’s acumen
Many buffets allow take outs, if you do not want to eat in. They give you the take out container, and the size of the container determines the amount of food that is taken. I would not call that dishonest.
What they don’t do, is let you eat first and then take home left overs or seconds. If you put extra on your plate, and sneaked it into containers, that would be objectionable to them, and dishonest. Of course, if your eyes are too big for your stomach, all that food you can not eat gets dumped.
It has the same economic impact on the business.
Any way, I usually avoid all you can eat buffets, and order from the menu, so if I get full before I am finished I can take leftovers home to the dog.
That makes sense— explains why they are handing out big styrofoam containers. Surprises me that a restaurant would do that, though— still, I guess it helps to move the food, even if the profit margin goes down. You’d have to really love Chinese food to eat leftovers as a family for “several days” though! That’s a lot of moo shu pork!!!
Excellent post at #5. That’s the true American spirit. I admire you and your family for hanging tough and applying a sensible solution to a problem, instead of whining about it and looking for an easy way out.
$44K for 7 people will net you all KINDS of subsidies in CA, at least. At the minimum, reduced electric costs(which are already inflated due to “tiers”), reduced gas and water, free breakfasts and lunches at school, energy efficiency programs which sometimes include energy efficient appliances, and possibly low cost medical insurance.
How nice of these folks to live this way. Great. Ah, C”MON! This is America! People don’t immigrate here so they can live like papuers and neither should we. Screw this ‘’economy’’ bs. We’ve got to start living like Europeans because a Marxist posuer in The White House says so? F that sh!t! When we take this country back and get the worlds greatest economy going full bore again SUPER SIZE ME! It’s steaks ‘n’cocktails all around and screw this ‘’frugal’’ bs.
What’s their secret?
Probably the fact that they believe in working for what they need and don’t spend on their time whining about what other people have.
The great things about Craig's list furniture is that you can get your protein needs met by learning how to cook the bed bugs.
They don't live in California.
Why do you assume the negative? This is a decent family that's clearly raising their children well, to work together and do so happily. They've been married for many years. They're building a house. They have learned a few things about how to raise a lot of kids on a small amount of money, and that's an important piece of knowledge since financial reasons stop many people from having lots of children. Now, with a spirit of entrepreneurship, they're sharing their knowledge with the rest of America. What's not to like? These people show the spirit of America and I salute them.
I do applaud them, though, for helping to starve the beast. Stop buying, until every government-paid little tyrant is unemployed. We need new blood in business, too.
Um, excuse me, I didn’t say ANYTHING about these people.
I simply informed you that in many areas, subsidies at that level are available.
Sorry, I confused you with another poster on the thread who suggested that they -are- getting subsidies.
:)
We've dug out from under, by the sweat of our brow and frugality, but we are not in the clear yet.
Makes you value the things that are important and dismiss the things that aren't.
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