5 gift ideas from Economides that slash holiday costs

Video: Holiday tips from ‘America’s cheapest family’

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2. Transcript of: Holiday tips from ‘America’s cheapest family’

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   MATT LAUER, co-host: And we're back at 8:10. This morning on TODAY'S CONSUMER , frugal holiday cheer. This may be the most wonderful time of the year; it's also the most expensive -- unless, of course, you're a member of the so-called cheapest family in America . In the Economides household, 'tis the season to be festive and frugal.

   Ms. ANNETTE ECONOMIDES: We're called America 's cheapest family , but I really think we're America 's smartest family .

   LAUER: Steve and Annette teach their five children all about cheap cheer. Mr. STEVE ECONOMIDES (Co-Author, "Cut Your Grocery Bill in Half with America 's Cheapest Family "): Going in debt for holidays is not the smart way to go.

   Ms. ANNETTE ECONOMIDES: Every family has items in their house that they can make into some really neat gifts.

   LAUER: Every year, the Economides trim the tree and the budget.

   Ms. ANNETTE ECONOMIDES: A really fun family activity is making your ornaments instead of buying them.

   LAUER: Homemade is a holiday tradition.

   Ms. ABBY ECONOMIDES: And it's done.

   Mr. S. ECONOMIDES: Every year we make our own wrapping paper . It's simple, it's easy, and it costs very little.

   Ms. ANNETTE ECONOMIDES: A great gift is a baked item. We got all the pumpkin for free after Halloween . You can bake something for pennies. It's the perfect gift.

   Mr. S. ECONOMIDES: One of our Christmas secrets is to take pine cones , they're so versatile, and make all kinds of things out of them.

   LAUER: They know how to keep the jingle in the air and in the bank.

   Mr. S. ECONOMIDES: There are so many ways to say "I love you" without spending a lot of money.

   LAUER: Steve and Annette Economides are the authors of "Cut Your Grocery Bill in Half." They're here along with two of their children, Abby and Joe. Good morning, happy holidays , everybody.

   Ms. ANNETTE ECONOMIDES: Good morning.

   Mr. JOE ECONOMIDES: Good morning.

   Ms. ABBY ECONOMIDES: Good morning.

   Mr. S. ECONOMIDES: It's good to be here.

   LAUER: It's not about bah humbug, it's just about having fun at the holidays and spending less.

   Mr. S. ECONOMIDES: That's right .

   Ms. ANNETTE ECONOMIDES: Absolutely.

   Mr. S. ECONOMIDES: And, you know, families can have fun and they can give beautiful gifts without breaking the bank. And that's what we're all about.

   LAUER: We're going to look at some of that right now. Family , you can head to your stations. And, Steve , let's start with you. You're making a wreath here, but you're making it out of garbage bags. Tell me about this.

   Mr. S. ECONOMIDES: We take about 30 to 40 just grocery bags from the store, plastic grocery bags. You cut them into little four-inch by eight-inch strips, tie them to a hanger that everybody has in the house . Fluff it out and you've got a wreath, along with a cast-off piece of ribbon for the bow and you've got a beautiful gift for the holidays.

   LAUER: Basically free. Did you go to the store and just say, 'I need 30 bags,' they give them to you?

   Mr. S. ECONOMIDES: These are left over from grocery shopping.

   LAUER: All right, good. Perfect.

   Mr. S. ECONOMIDES: We shop once a month.

   LAUER: And it takes you what, about an hour?

   Mr. S. ECONOMIDES: Abby and I put that together in about an hour.

   LAUER: OK. You said in the piece you make your own wrapping paper . I have to say, it's very pretty. Talk to me about what you start with.

   Mr. S. ECONOMIDES: About 25 years ago, we bought a roll of craft paper.

   LAUER: Twenty-five years ago?

   Mr. S. ECONOMIDES: It's lasted us that long. Thirty dollars, we still -- we used it to trace outlines of the kids when they were small, color them in. You know, and now we make wrapping paper out of it, make banners with it. We've cut up -- we cut up a little sponge and sponge paint it with tempera paint or take house paint, add some food coloring to it, it's real versatile and it's beautiful.

   LAUER: So basically it's free because you bought this so long ago.

   Mr. S. ECONOMIDES: That's right , that's right.

   LAUER: All right. Steve , nice job. Hey, Joe , how are you?

   Mr. J. ECONOMIDES: I'm doing pretty good, how are you doing?

   LAUER: Good. I'm fine, thank you. So you're making ornaments and you're baking ornaments, basically.

   Mr. J. ECONOMIDES: Yeah. Basically what we do is we take a bunch of flour, water and some salt, mix it all together into a basic dough and then we take cookie cutters, cut out shapes and you can make special customized ones like we made some for you and the gang here.

   LAUER: Yeah, so they don't have to look generic. You've taken pictures of some of your favorite people.

   Ms. ABBY ECONOMIDES: Yes.

   LAUER: Us here on the TODAY show and you've decorated with them. And so, I mean, this cost -- there's Al . I don't know if we can show that. So -- there's something wrong about that. So -- and this is going to cost you, what? A couple of cents per decoration?

   Mr. J. ECONOMIDES: You can -- you can make two full trays, about two, two and a half dozen ornaments, for about 99 cents .

   LAUER: All right, good. And simple. Joe , thank you very much . Hi , Abby , how are you?

   Ms. ABBY ECONOMIDES: Hi . I'm good.

   LAUER: Happy holidays . What are you making?

   Ms. ABBY ECONOMIDES: I am making shoe bags. And these are an awesome present for anybody who travels a lot. They keep your clothes clean and they also keep your shoes from getting scratched.

   LAUER: But fabric is expensive, so where do you save the money here?

   Ms. ABBY ECONOMIDES: You can buy remnants anywhere. You can get them for free. Any place that -- anybody that sews, any place that sells fabric, will have a remnant table, and that is so cheap to buy remnants.

   LAUER: And how much skill do you need to actually craft these things?

   Ms. ABBY ECONOMIDES: You need almost zero skill. All you're doing is straight stitching and then putting a shoe lace in and it's very easy to learn how to sew.

   LAUER: So anybody who has a sewing machine and a little bit of ingenuity and some time can whip these up.

   Ms. ABBY ECONOMIDES: Yeah. You don't even need a lot of time. It's only like 10 or 15 minutes to make one bag.

   LAUER: That's good. All right, Abby , thank you very much . Annette , how are you?

   Ms. ANNETTE ECONOMIDES: Hey, Matt.

   LAUER: Happy holidays , nice to see you.

   Ms. ANNETTE ECONOMIDES: Same to you.

   LAUER: Before we get to what you've baked here, we want to talk about something else. You love pine cones .

   Ms. ANNETTE ECONOMIDES: I do.

   LAUER: We don't put them in the studio because they're a bit of a fire hazard . So we don't -- what do you with pine cones ?

   Ms. ANNETTE ECONOMIDES: Pine cones are everywhere in America , and there's several things you can do with pine cones . You can spray paint them and make a decorative bowl with them. You can make ornaments out of them. And you can also make pine cone fire starters, which, if you have leftover candle wax , old candles, you melt them down, you dip the pine cones in, and they help you start fires in your fireplaces.

   LAUER: So they just bring that great holiday smell to your home, which is fantastic.

   Ms. ANNETTE ECONOMIDES: Oh, absolutely. So it could be virtually -- cost you nothing and you can come up with three awesome crafts, and we have instructions for all the crafts today on our Web site .

   LAUER: All right. Talk to me about what you baked for the holidays.

   Ms. ANNETTE ECONOMIDES: OK. Well, this is pumpkin bread . It's a family tradition in our house . Last week, I baked 90 loaves in one day with the girls' help, Becky and Abby .

   LAUER: Have you ever done the math, Annette ? I mean, what does this boil down to per loaf?

   Ms. ANNETTE ECONOMIDES: Actually, we figured out that the large loaves are less than a dollar and the medium and the small loaves are anywhere from a quarter to 50 cents . And it's an awesome gift for coaches, club leaders, teachers, neighbors. And I 'm going to say, in this economy today, it's really important for us to know our neighbors. So even if you have a grouchy neighbor, this is the year to bring a loaf of pumpkin bread .

   LAUER: And again, it comes from the heart. You made it yourself. What's better than that for the holidays? Can I taste it?

   Ms. ANNETTE ECONOMIDES: Absolutely.

   LAUER: All right, great. Economides family , thank you very much .

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