Set your VCR's!!! Dateline Tuesday: McCaughey septuplets turn five

[POLLY ANN]

WOW! Grocery shopping for $300 a month for that many people?!! We have budgeted for $60/week for 4 people and I don't think THAT's enough!!

CindyB, how do you shop for so little amount for 4 people? Curious minds need to know!

 

[Cindy B]

I don't want to derail the thread.. but I've done it for a long time. A lot of crockpot, homemade, coupons, stockpiling, rebates, etc... you name it I do it!

Remember for the McCaughey, they also get free juice/milk as well for a long time...

 

[Mskanga]

but some of these donations ended when the kids turned 5 , Carters is not clothing them anymore and I don't remember what else, they said the father makes under $20K a year, I wonder what they are going to do now, a house and a family that size costs a lot of money.

 

[Cindy B]

Yes, but look at all the other families out there with 8 kids... the parents went to work.


I think Snoopy is one of eight or nine, ask her how they managed?

I know someone whose DH is one of 17... yes, 17.


People manage all the time. Yes, Carters gave them free clothes... are they all in size 5's? Some of that stuff looked new with the tags still on.

Honestly with the free huge house, free car, free college education, free groceries, for five years.. .. they should have saved all that they made at that time, and stockpiled the money they would have spent on the rent/mortgage/car payment, and stocked it away, with interest, and they would be fine... or at least comfortable.

 

[Ranatra]

These septuplets were born when DH and I were on our honeymoon in WDW, so I always remember their age.
Seemed to go so fast though! I will never forget the photo of her laying flat on her back with that HUGE stomach! Yikes!

 

[MaryAnnDVC]

Originally posted by Mskanga
they said the father makes under $20K a year, I wonder what they are going to do now, a house and a family that size costs a lot of money.

They get paid to do their annual story with Ladies Home Journal, and they've also done ads (TV...at least the father, and print). The father also does about a dozen speaking engagements per year. The house was a gift, but they do have to pay everything that goes along with it (taxes, utilities).

 

[Cindy B]

Yes, and remember its his choice to have a low paying job.

I'm sure there are higher paying jobs, they have money... they have ads, commercials, radio, tapes.

I don't buy it in a minute that they are poor.

 

[wovenwonder]

Although I missed dateline I've gathered a few perceptions from hearing them speak in the past. I think both adults are very bright. They may be 'poor' in the eyes of many but they seem to be the type that would plan very well for the future with the funds they have available to them. Their life appears to be a VERY RICH one -- and I don't mean in the financial sense.

 

[disykat]

I don't think anyone has claimed they are poor, but they do get questioned on how they will make it and acknowledge that big families are a financial challenge. Quite the opposite - I think the couple has focused on how rich they are!

The show was very clear that with careful planning they are set. Their agent/advisor was interviewed too. No implication of poor.

 

[Cindy B]

Hmm.. I read it as they were sort of fishing for donations...

Didn't Ann Curry harp on the point that the donations were drying up, and that she was buying canned veggies in the grocery store?

And then why was his "small" salary disclosed? Didn't Ann Curry even ask him how his is doing this on 20K a year?

Also, I heard the agent as well. He did state that they did "have to work" but the endorsements help.

I may have been analyzing it, but I saw it as a read between the lines, donate more things to us....

 

[AirForceRocks]

I didn't really see it as them fishing for donations, more along the lines of telling people how they are doing it.

I'm wondering how many people could get by on $300/month grocery budget for a family that large....

 

[wvjules]

AFR, I saw it the same way you did.

And I recall the agent saying that with careful planning and management, they are set for life, but that doesn't mean that Dad doesn't have to work.

 

[aahmom1]

I'm sure a lot of the money they are saving will go to the kids schooling when they get older. I didn't see fishing for funds at all. I saw a hard working family that are doing the best they can, good for them.

 

[Cindy B]

The septuplets got free college all seven of them at a local college.... so they only have to worry about one child.


I read it as such... maybe I'm just cynical... the "I barely make enough to pay taxes/utilities"... "His job is only $20K" a year...


Yes, they work hard, but it seemed a little moochy to me... maybe it was just how it was presented.

 

[aahmom1]

To be totally honest, if it was a looking for a hand out (which I don't think it was) the only thing he would need to do is call one of the tabloids and they would have a million dollars. I think he was just talking honestly.

 

[ChiTownZee]

the only thing he would need to do is call one of the tabloids and they would have a million dollars.

Well, I don't think the tabloids pay that much. They'd have to come up with another plan LOL.
But I think they are very lucky for all the donations they have gotten, it must be nice to have a few less things to worry about, with that many kids I'm sure they worry 24 hours a day as it is.

 

[Cindy B]

I dont' know I guess I am just thinking of every large (6 plus kids) family in America....

Did they get free houses? Cars? College education? Free clothes? Free groceries for five years? Money to be on TV?

There are so many large families out there, and to have the emphasis on only ONE, well, there is a dispiraty.

How about the family with 6-8, even 10 kids scraping by? Nobody ever handed them a house!

I don't think the tabloids pay that much either. They just got very very lucky... I would love to see them giving back in some ways as well... maybe encouraging the sponsors to spread some generosity all over, not just with them. It would be a great gesture to say "Carters, thank you for the free clothes for five years... if you dont want to continue your contract with us, how about another family that is in need?"

They have a good agent, thats for sure.

 

[aahmom1]

Well, I don't think the tabloids pay that much. They'd have to come up with another plan LOL.

The tabloids offered them a million dollars.

 

[Pugsley]

Is anyone else happy that the mom finally got her teeth fixed? She looks so much better. I’m sorry for being catty, but I just have a thing about really bad teeth.

 

[ChiTownZee]

I dont' know I guess I am just thinking of every large (6 plus kids) family in America....

I can see your point here. I remember watching the story on a family with quints (isn't that 5?) and it was very different. Their donations lasted about a year, I think and while they had had the opportunity to buy a bigger house at builders cost, they had to sell it because they couldn't afford the mortgage, even at builders cost, taxes and insurance. They tried everything to keep their home, including some local commercials, but it wasn't enough. It was SO sad to watch them say goodbye to that house with so many memories and move into a VERY small older home. No huge kitchen with giant wrap-around sit-down counters for them. I remember thinking about the McCaughey's then and how they got the free house (and that a VERY nice house at that) and are still getting donations.