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Steve and Annette Economides (Econo mee dis) have raised five kids, paid off their first home in 9 years on an average income of just $35,000, pay cash for their cars and don't use a credit card . . . ever. The have cashed in on the American dream in a very un-American way — with no debt. Here's how they got their start.

Annette Economides spent 21 years as a stay at home mom until she joined Steve writing and publishing the HomeEconomiser Newsletter in 2003.

At ten-years old, driven by an innate desire to earn money, she found several of her siblings' unused toys laying around the house. Seizing the opportunity, she promptly set up a trading-post in the front yard. Neighbors from blocks around picked up many bargains that day and Annette pocketed most of the money. That was until her older brother came to see if he could purchase a bargain priced item only to find one of his toys there for sale. He sounded the alarm and the trading post was promptly closed.

As a teen-ager Annette shunned anything having to do with cooking or housework. Her favorite hang-out was the mall and her favorite past time was shopping for clothes. The full extent of her domestic aptitude was the ability to boil water and scramble eggs. Little did she know that her latent frugal abilities and aptitude for culinary excellence would later come to aid her as a "domestic goddess."

Steve Economides spent twenty-three years in the graphics and advertising industry in Phoenix, Arizona. He's enjoying spending time being a dad while writing and working from home.

Steve wasn't always financially disciplined, but is a living testimony that right brained creative types can learn to manage money. In 1981, the week before he was to leave on a motorcycle trip, he received an unanticipated motorcycle insurance bill. He drained his bank account to pay the bill and with just enough money left for gas and food left on his trip. A few days later, while driving through the Colorado mountains during a stormy downpour he slid off a rain slickened road. The motorcycle was laid down and flipped while he and his backpack were thrown clear. Miraculously, he sailed off the motorcycle, did a diving somersault between several trees and rolled down a soft embankment. Though a little bent-up, the motorcycle was still drivable, so he completed his vacation. Of course when he returned home, he did what any man would do after surviving a near-death experience—he proposed marriage to Annette.

Steve and Annette live in Scottsdale, Arizona with four kids at home—one lives on his own. They publish the HomeEconomiser Newsletter, and together authored the New York Times Best Seller, America's Cheapest Family Gets You Right On The Money. They also have been profiled on TV and radio and in newspapers and magazines worldwide. They are seasoned seminar speakers and travel with their kids, as America's Cheapest Family, working to convince the world that a frugal lifestyle can not only get you right on the money, but also help you cash in on your dreams!