Interesting coincidence that their last name is Economides....
Sounds like the name of the god of frugality.
Except for credit cards, we do what they say they're doing. My monthly bill for groceries is under $300 for the four of us. I clip coupons, buy only what's on sale and always check the damaged goods shelf.
I pay the mortgage rounding the figure up either to the next dollar or the next $10, depending on our situation. I use water and utilities sparingly-not flushing every pee time, washing dishes with the water off, only running full loads of wash. We hang our clothes to dry, not use the dryer except to fluff, our thermostat is at a constant 61 and the only things that use electricity constantly are the clocks, the fridge and freezer. Computers, lights, even chargers are all off when not in use.
I buy my clothes off clearance racks and my jeans are Walmart brand-the only reason I've even bought any clothes at all is weight gain, otherwise I'm still wearing stuff that's years old (not using a dryer on them keeps them new looking).
I cut my kids' hair-if they want a pro to do it, they have to pay for it. I get a haircut maybe 3 times a year.
Problem is, we live in New Jersey......making $60k a year for a family of four is like making $25k a year in Kentucky. Insurances and taxes eat up everything; 15% of the spouse's weekly pay is for health insurance; our car insurance, which is the cheapest in the state, runs $1400+ a year(kids don't drive yet); our property taxes are 1/10 of our annual income and we get a break there.
We just had a family birthday party for the twins and I managed to get all the food for under $60, including having to make the cake myself. The kids were shocked and thrilled that we gave them each $40 as their gifts-I took it out of our savings.
I would dare that family to come to the east coast and still live on $35k a year. I also would ask if that's before or after taxes, because that $60k we have is before-when we file income tax, our taxable income falls to about half and I'm amazed we haven't lost our house on that. ( I just decided I'm going to say we live on $30k a year now, not $60k)