Those with 4 or more kids, how much do you make.

[TheRatPack]

Okay, I have a simple enough question. For those with 4 or more kids, how much do you make a year? That part is confidential with the poll of course.

Please feel free to elaborate as if you feel you are comfortable making that (again you don't have to mention numbers....etc)amount with the number of children you have....etc. Do you think that 2 children vs 4 children is a HUGE jump in financial standing? Do you clip more coupons? Take shortcuts with anything else to make it work? Are you a double working family?

Thanks!!!

 

[icebrat001]

bumping up so more people will answer the poll

I wonder if the people raising 4 or more kids making $50k a year or less live in low cost of living areas.

 

[Jusacuz]

My husband & I have 4 children and make less (considerably less) than $50,000. Cost of living in North Idaho is probably average. It's not as high as Seattle or anywhere in California, but not as low as say, rural Iowa.
I don't clip coupons, but try to keep the list of groceries near the same. I make a list of what I'll make for dinner for the week and try to not veer off the list. It is a constant struggle, though. However, it's not cost effective for me to work right now.

My determination to have a family vacation is definitely making me see how we spend money and how we can save.

We are fortunate to have very good medical/dental insurance through the electrical union, so we don't go broke from medical bills.

It's a huge jump (or was for us) to go from 2 kids to 4. With two kids, we could have afforded far more luxury items. With 4, it's a matter of what we need and how long can we go with what we have before replacing it.

 

[TheRatPack]

Not sure, my post morphed itself in to a regular post with a non working poll as well....argghhh. Maybe the MODs can move one to the budget board?

We're looking to adopt 2 children, so the total would be 4. We won't be considered poverty level then, or even remotely close but it just peaked my curiosity if I was worrying too much over something like this and if other people were making it just fine

 

[Michelle2]

I answered on your other post, so will do so here too. We have 4 kids, and live off only one income (DH). And while I think everyone would love to make more money, we live pretty comfortably. Like the other poster, we live in Idaho too, and the cost of living isn't nearly what California or other places are (my family lives in Las Vegas---yikes!), so that definitely helps stretch our income farther. But with all of the costs involved with each child, as well as paying more on vacations (because places cater mostly to 2 kids), we definitely have to budget. But it is doable...we would not have things any other way.

 

[manchurianbrownbear]

We’re a one income, 4-kid family. I work in the Sales Department at a non-profit HMO and we fall in the middle of the 50K – 100K category. I’ll say we’re “thrifty”!

Eating out is tough, McDonalds will cost us $25 and a “sit down” restaurant $60 - $75.

We rarely see a movie when it first comes out, we’ll wait until it’s in the discount theatre!

Travel is more complicated and expensive. The world is built for families of four. We don’t fit into a single room in some hotels (like the All Star Resort at WDW!).

Air travel is almost not an option for us.

You had better like mini-vans because you won’t fit in a car!

It makes a difference when the kids outnumber the parents. This is probably more of an issue with young children.

Having said all that, I would still recommend adding the additional kids if you have the opportunity. Our younger two kids are adopted and the circumstances in which they joined our family came about very suddenly. So we didn’t have time to really think about it and chicken out!

Good luck!

 

[TheRatPack]

Travel is more complicated and expensive. The world is built for families of four. We don’t fit into a single room in some hotels (like the All Star Resort at WDW!).

Air travel is almost not an option for us.

You had better like mini-vans because you won’t fit in a car!

It makes a difference when the kids outnumber the parents. This is probably more of an issue with young children.

Having said all that, I would still recommend adding the additional kids if you have the opportunity. Our younger two kids are adopted and the circumstances in which they joined our family came about very suddenly. So we didn’t have time to really think about it and chicken out!

Good luck!

Thanks for the reply I figured as long as we had enough love to go around everything else would fall in to place. And as long as we weren't putting ourselves close to poverty or living off the government, since we do have a choice in the matter (I realize some people are there by circumstance and not choice .

All that you said above is something I've thought about as well. We usually have to get 2 rooms anyhow, since we have a DS and a DD, they don't sleep in the same bed and sometimes my MIL comes along so we usually just settle on the second room to make everything easier As far as the Mini Van, we're going on our 4th one now LOL Before that, we always had larger cars but I doubt I'll get away from the MiniVan choice anytime soon......again when we go on vacations we like having the extra room and being able to tote friends or family wherever.

We wouldn't want to adopt younger children, somewhere between 6-11....all potty trained and eating solid foods LOL And we never air travel, just never has been an issue with our family since we only vacation places we can drive Oh and on the comment of the world being built for families of four....I completely agree. Chicken breast in packs of 4, hamburger meat packed in packages enough to make 4 burgers....etc. But why conform to the world LOL

Thanks again for the input.....glad to hear that it's working out for you and it reassures me that it can be done.

 

[dcgrumpy]

It really depends on where you live. We only have 3 kids and make decent money, but we live on LI. In most parts of the country we'd be doing really well.

 

[6_Time_Momma]

We have six kids and make about 58,000 a year. Right now, we don't have a lot of extra spending money for luxories, although that should change come summer when we pay a few things off.

We live in a small, rural town, so I am sure the COL is lower than a lot of places.

 

[figment52]

Thanks for the reply Oh and on the comment of the world being built for families of four....I completely agree. Chicken breast in packs of 4, hamburger meat packed in packages enough to make 4 burgers....etc. But why conform to the world LOL

What a difference perspective make - I thought the poster was referring to "the world" being WDW and the hotel rooms only sleeping 4 at a maximum.

 

[TheRatPack]

What a difference perspective make - I thought the poster was referring to "the world" being WDW and the hotel rooms only sleeping 4 at a maximum.

LOL, well I thought the WDW reference was implied...this is the DIS board after all

But, there are tons and tons of things that I can think of that are designed for families of 4.
1)most contest for vacations
2)hotel rooms
3)majority of the cars out their today
4)packages of meat
5)special family meals at casual restaurants (like KFC, Pizza Hut and Captain D's...they always advertise family meals for 4)
6)really any vacation 'package' pricing
7)pudding packs (well unless you buy the expensive ones)
8)fruit in a cup (this is also another 'luxury item' though, we buy it in the can

etc......I'm sure if I walked through a store I could list many more. But, no biggie as growing up there were 5 kids and 2 adults so I can easily adapt to 4 kids by remembering what we did growing up.

 

[ckmommy]

We have five kiddos. They range in age from 7 to 1. I do not work--I think the day care bill would eat whatever I made. My Dh makes somewhere in the midlde of the 50- 100K bracket. We do not eat out a lot. It is actually much easier for us to eat at home. Hotel rooms are very difficult for a family as large as ours. We just went to a Hampton Inn last week and stayed in a suite. We called the hotel to see if we could do this. The room had two double beds plus a double pull out sofa--and the baby is in a crib, so it worked. We talked to the manager before we checked in, and he was very happy that they were able to accomodate us.

I drive an older Ford Expedition. It fits us all, and my DH is happy it is not a mini van.

I do clip coupons, but I always check to see if the coupon is worth it--meaning is the name brand product with the coupon cheaper than the store brand. It is no fun to shop with me .

DH and I rarely go out by ourselves. We have no family in town and paying a sitter 15-20/hour would not allow me to enjoy my "night out."

We do not have a ton of the luxury's that other do, but I love our family. Don't get me wrong, I would love a new car, plasma screen TV, yearly WDW vacations, bigger house....but that is not meant to be right now. We are trying to buy a Pop Up camper right now to make our vacations cheaper and fun (we love to camp). We are also thinking that this will be a great, different (cheaper) way to do WDW.

Right now our grocery bill is managable, but I am thinking that I may have to pick up a job to support the 4 boys that are 5,3,3,1 right now--once junior high starts, our bill for groceries will be through the roof!!

The joys of a big family are overwhelming. I do think that it can be a financial stress though. I do worry about how we are going to pay for their college education. I am praying that they are smart and/or gifted with music or sports so they can get a very nice scholarship!!!

 

[hipporina]

We have 4 kids and are currently looking for more. Having a large family has been an unbelievable blessing to us and we want to adopt even more children. Financially, it really isn't a whole lot worse at the moment with 4 than it was with 2 (we adopted 2 pairs.) The biggest difference for us has been that our dd's activities (competetive cheer and dance) are way more expensive than our boys' activities (soccer, baseball, etc).

I am a very frugal person and work really hard for us to be able to do what we want to do without breaking the budget. For instance, we went on a family weekend to Galveston (the beach) for dd's dance nationals. We shared one room and 2 kids slept on the floor (they always fight over who "gets" to sleep on the floor - I don't get that one), we shared meals at Rainforest Cafe, we drink water and share most of the times we go out, we find activities that are cheap or free, and limit the ones that cost a lot, and we take breakfast food with us to eat in the room. We had a great time and didn't spend too much money.

We homeschool, so we don't have to spend a lot of money to have nice school clothes. We drive older cars and live in a moderately sized house. We do have to make choices and limit luxury items, but we are all really happy. One thing that helps us a lot is that we have Medicaid for the kids because they were all special needs adoptions, otherwise that would be a challenge (the kids have a total of 6 Rx's/month all brand name and are at the doctor's office pretty often).

I wouldn't give up any of my children for all the money in the world!

 

[Caradana]

Four or more kids. I give you all credit. I tease my future father-in-law that when I get pregnant with the quads, he's moving in and he's on bottle duty.

I don't know how people do a family of 6 under $100K, and even then I'd see it as a stretch. Then again, I live in Manhattan and New Jersey and don't have an experienced sense of cost-of-living in other regions of the country. I think about food, cars, clothes, medical, prescriptions - prices for them seem comparable just about everywhere I travel in the U.S. Housing, insurance and utilities are definitely cheaper, but still, it doesn't seem to be enough.

 

[ticktock]

I really salute all of you who are supporting 4 or more kids on a modest income without expecting assistance. So many of the parents I've spoken to at my ds's school are always saying how the goverment should do more to help them. I always want to say "Excuse me, this was your choice wasn't it?" I could only have one due to health reasons (though my medical bills cost as much as a couple extra kids, no kidding). I worry about ds being all alone when we are gone . If you have your health and someone to love (the more the better) the luxuries aren't that important.

 

[SeeDisney]

I voted for your poll and we're doing financially fine. I don't seem to remember if there's a big difference our finances from two to four. I'm at SAHM too.

Yes, I do clip coupons and look for restaurants that kids eat free. I especially look for coupons for buy one and get one free for meals. One of my monthly favorite is 99 cents milkshakes at Arby's and you can buy up to six milkshakes.

DH is a retired Navy officier and I look forward to shopping at the commissary and I know I save a lot of money.

I'm always getting hand-me-downs for clothes and I do go to garage sales for other miscel. things.

It can be done if you buy within your needs. Don't go into CC debt.

Good luck and enjoy having four kids.

 

[grlpwrd]

Family of 7 here - we're doing okay on my dh's salary plus my small income, but it stings once in a while.

Like the high cost of airplane tickets - ouch!
The wear and tear on our house - more people mean more wear and repair
Cars and gas costs - get ready for the higher priced bigger cars like minivans or SUVs
Food and insurance is $$$
Lessons and schooling costs

Our kids are worth it, though.

 

[mrsgus06]

Thanks for the reply

Chicken breast in packs of 4, hamburger meat packed in packages enough to make 4 burgers....etc. But why conform to the world LOL

That is why we have a family of 6 kids! It make two families of 4!! We also do not fit in one room, but we all fit in one camper! I loved having my oldest for 9 years before the second one and now that I have 4 a year apart, I understand why I put 9 years in between the first 2. All kidding aside, my 3 youngest are adopted and I would not change one stinking thing. Go for it!

P.S. To answer your original question, we are a one income family. We own our own company and it pays rather well. I will clip a coupon if it is something I know I am going to buy, but I don't seem to have time to figure the whole "coupon queen" thing out yet. Maybe next school year. Oh yea, I gave up my conversion van for a suburban that seats 9. My oldest ones has been driving his own car the last 4 years.

 

[MelessaG]

We have four kids and live in Oklahoma which also has a low cost of living. We make just under $50,000 per year. I shop a lot of garage sales and consignment stores, but also good clearance sales at Kohl's and Penney's to dress the kids. We also get a lot of hand-me-downs from my sister's kids. I clip coupons somewhat, but I'm more likely to plan my menu around the weekly Albertson's sales because I won't use a coupon for something I don't buy in the first place. We also buy the monthly food basket from Angel Food ministries (can't recommend that enough). We buy our cars used. We bought our first two houses at lower prices then turned around and sold them when the areas became more developed and prices went up-this allowed us to move into our 'dream house' on a acre just outside city limits. Our kids qualify for reduced lunches at school, but otherwise we don't expect or receive any handouts. I didn't notice the jump in $$ between two and four kids, but I was so busy being pregnant and taking care of toddlers that I was lucky to stay awake, much less remember what I spent on groceries the year before. My mom has money and buys the kids things that I could never afford for them at Christmas and birthdays, but again, not because I demand or even expect it. I start Christmas shopping at after-Christmas sales myself and usually have it all together by the week after Thanksgiving (I can't miss out on those sales, after all). I always wanted four kids, I have them, and I don't feel we struggle too hard or lack for anything. I'm not sure we could ever afford to leave Oklahoma, but at least our family is here too. All this to say, we have four and we do just fine. Thanks for asking.

Edited to add that we pay for our Disney trips with our tax refunds and splitting our time between a WDW resort and my parents' timeshare. DH works for the DoD so we get our park tickets there. Until this trip, at least two of the kids have always been under three-this time tickets are really going to hurt. We don't fly to Florida anymore, we drive, and had we really understood how much cheaper Ft. Wilderness was than anything else, we would have started going there years ago. I just thought that question might come up when you see all my trips at the bottom of my signature. Also, we didn't have all four kids for each of those trips.

 

[JenDaveBrendan]

I have 1 child, and I recently quit my job. We live off my husband's salary, which is roughly $80,000 a year, plus I get $10,000 a year in child support (my son is from a previous relationship). We live paycheck to paycheck. We just moved to NC from MA for lower housing costs, and with our mortgage,bills, and a couple vacations a year, we don't have much left.... I don't know how people do it on less with more kids!! I think I need some lessons!

Jen