How Big is Your Family?

[VivaciousJewelz]

I'm very interested to see how many kids my fellow HCWers have and how they make it work with their families.

Number of kids?

Are finances strained b/c of how many kids you have?

What do you do to make things easier?

Planning to have more?

(Sorry- I meant to check the box so you can add more than one answer, but I guess I didn't).

[heartse]

Only have one, partly because of finances and partly because of issues with the pregnancy.

[cbms]

Number of kids? We have four, and I'm pregnant (oops!) for number five.

Are finances strained b/c of how many kids you have? Our current finances are EXTREMELY stressful-but not because of the number of children. It's because of the current state of the economy. If my husband hadn't taken a hit in the job, we'd be just fine with thrifty spending and five kids...

What do you do to make things easier? I coupon, coupon, coupon. I try to make a little extra $$ on ebay when I can... not much I can do other than that.

Planning to have more? We weren't planning to have the fifth, so NO WAY!

[Stingyhag]

We have 9 kids (oldest is moved out, married, and has 1.33 kids of his own). Finances are generally strained to some extent regardless of the number of kids you have.

Christmas tends to be very expensive. Activities for a family this size are often too expensive. A larger home, larger utilities, taking two cars rather than dropping a bunch more money for the freaking bus.

That said, the expenses for our family are cheaper than it would be for 2.5 seperate families of 2 or 3 kids each. Although it my not always seem like it, I can feed my family cheaper than I've seen families half the size of mine. And we are not eating beans and rice here.

That said, we are not getting the same amount of "side work" that we were before. I do not work a regular job (daycare would kill me), but I do side work, as well as my husband. So, we are of course, feeling the squeeze like many others.

[VivaciousJewelz]

Originally Posted by Stingyhag We have 9 kids (oldest is moved out, married, and has 1.33 kids of his own).

1.33 kids? Does that mean he has a kid and his wife/gf is pregnant in her 2nd trimester? Or does that mean something else entirely?

[Mama Stu]

My first thought when I read this was "too many". We have 7 kids, well I guess maybe 8 because we are raising our oldest DGD who is 14 and we have had her most of her life. We have her plus two of ours still at home. Things have always been tight financially because of that many kids. The medical bills were and still are a regular monthly payment. But, I would not have done things any differently. I love large families and while it drove me crazy , it kept me sane at the same time. Things are much better now financially then when they were all at home. The older ones get jealous(in a joking way) sometimes because we have been able to help the younger ones out much more. Also , because we now have a dishwasher and didn't when they were all here.

[XUfan]

I answered "3"...but I must explain!

I have 2 "kids"...a daughter who is 30, and a son who is 31. My husband has a daughter who is soon to be 14. He's had custody of her since she was 3, and they met me when she was 4...so she's mine too!

Alot of people think I have younger kids, because of some of my posts. But, those are my grandkids. My son has a 9 year old son and a 6 year old daughter. They lived with me for awhile, but they moved out a year or so ago. I still help them out alot, because that's what grandmas do!!

Do I want more?

Our finances are strained...but since we only have one child here at home, it's not because of her. It's just the way the economy is right now...especially in a state like Ohio.

What do I do to make things easier? Anything I can!!! I coupon, raise vegetables in a garden in the summer, barter goods and services, buy everything I can at garage sales and/or thrift shops...you name it!! Also, my husband and I both work at places that give us our dinner free every day, so although we don't make much, it helps!

[Stingyhag]

Originally Posted by regbyandjulie 1.33 kids? Does that mean he has a kid and his wife/gf is pregnant in her 2nd trimester? Or does that mean something else entirely?

Umm, yeah, his wife is half way thru her pregnancy with their second child. That is how I always use to tell others how many kids I had too, simply for kicks.

[foggierbard9]

We have 1 and 1 on the way, so I put 2 kids.

Do we want more? Ask me after the second is born , we want 2 or 3 so we might be done and then again we might have another.:shrug7:

Are our finance strained? Sort of, but mostly because I stay home and my DH works, cheaper than childcare would be, and we know who is "raising" our son.

To make ends meet I coupon and we buy second-hand, and shop clearance and sales at the end of the season for the next years clothes.

I can honestly say that even with the tough financial situations, I wouldn't trade having my son or having a second on the way. Being a mom is the most amazing thing I have ever done in my life and I love every minute of it.(even the crazy ones that I don't enjoy at the time but wouldn't trade for anything when I look back)

[Jillianleanne]

I put 2 although I didn't give birth to either of them. I am raising my 16 year old cousin and her 1 year old daughter (once the adoption is final she will be my daughter legally but as far as I am concerned she already is!) Yes money is tight since my fiance's unemployment ran out last week and I don't make any money either. We have always found a way to make things work financially. We save all year for christmas, use coupons, don't buy new clothes except for the teenager when I can get a good deal on them. I was able to catch the cyber monday deal at vanity.com and got her 4 pair of her 60 dollar jeans for $14.90 each, 5 shirts and 1 pj bottoms for $137 total including tax and shipping. Those clothes plus the clothes she got at the beginning of the school year will last her the rest of the year. I also got a lot of the baby's clothes on black friday and she has enough to last until her next growth spurt! As far as me and the fiance we are done growing up at least so we get by on very little clothing purchases. I have a stockpile of all of the personal hygiene items and quite a bit of food so I don't spend much on those either. The bills on the other hand I am still unsure of after this month. I have faith that it will all work out though! We discussed trying to at least have one more if I am able after the chemo I had but that will have to wait until our finances are more dependable.