Big families

Lalaladybird

I only have one child at the moment (1yr old dd), but I'd love to have 4 children:rotfl:. DH thinks we won't be able to afford a big family. How many children do you have and does it get a lot more expensive with more than one or because of hand-me-downs etc is it affordable?

arlybarly

hiya LALALADYBIRD

i dont think children are that expensive when they are little because if you have 3 or 4 kids then you habd down the push chair, cot , clothes ect its when you want to take them abroad when they are older and are classed as adults at 12 and also when they are teenagers wanting G90 jeans for 100 a pop and wont be seen dead in a tshirt thats less than 25 quid.

So the answer is yes you could probably afford 10 little kids but wait till they grow up and hear the words DESIGNER, By the way i have 2 teens and they are bloody expensive LMAO XX

Pooky23

It's a personal choice so go for it if that is what you want. If you feel you have enough time, love and financial resources to support a large family then that is brilliant.

tuggy

Its things like having to buy a people carrier car, not a normal car

holidays abroad

school trips when they're older, you'l have 4 lots to pay for

trust me, 14 year olds will not want hand me downs.

how will you support all 4 if they all want to go to uni?

if you only had 2 kids you could help them on the property ladder, or help them get their first cars. Harder to do with 4

feeding, washing, ironing, changing the sheeets on 4 beds, having a kitchen table big enough all 6 of you can sit at. what it each of the 4 kids wants to go to ballet and scouts etc do you have time to run each child to maybe 2 acttivies a week each?

Can you afford a 5 bed house? or will they be sharing? teens like their own space, is it fair to have 2 in each room if you only have a 3 bed house? what if you have a 3 bed house and then 3 boys and a girl. the boy and girl cant share so thats 3 boys in one room. ok if you get 2 girls and 2 boys but may not work like that...

can you afford a gameboy for everyone at xmas? xmas presents, bdays...costs go shy high when they're older

just thoughts i'm in no way condeming people with big families before i get flamed- just playing devils advocate

ukbull

Well I have a big family 4 kids so if they want £100 a pair jeans get a job!!! Yes I have a 14 year old who is quite happy with hand me downs or more hand alongs from friends and family. No I can't afford to get on property ladder as we need a 4 bed house. We work as a team so for washing ect everyone does there bit and have since they were little so I don't think there is any more work than for 2 kids as they can be lazier and in a big family everyone has to pitch in as I work full time so there are not enough hours in the day.

So you can never truely afford kids but I would not be without them

galvanizersbaby

My sister and her husband have 4 children (6, 8, 10 and 13 years) on a fairly sizeable income and they do struggle sometimes - I think my sister would have liked to stop at 3 but the 4th was a happy surprise!;)

I think as somebody else mentioned it's having to have a larger car and house that are the real extras when they are young but when they get older I guess that's when they get really expensive with uni etc...

I have 2 young children and I notice things like the amount of food in my sister's freezer to feed 6 of them vastly differs from my own supplies.

Also when out I can get a family ticket where there are too many of them to do so and the cost of the outing seems astronomical to me.

The only real increase I found in going from 1 to 2 children was childcare cost (as I had to return to work after my 1st child was born), then when number 2 came along it was obviously double the amount.
I had a boy then a girl so I guess I can't hand down clothes but then again mine do get hand me down's from their cousins (my other sister has 3 boys).

For me personally I think that I would have to be reasonably well off to contemplate having 4 children

tarajayne

Just found out I'm expecting my 6th. We have a good income but are still careful. Designer clothes, why? DS like skater stuff so I shop online. Always buy for younger ones in sales, Next etc. Older girls got jobs at 14, they wanted something expensive, they bought it. Would never help with first car or getting on the property ladder, at 19 and 20 my daughters have good jobs and save themselves. Very close to my DD's, they don't resent anything. They're very thoughtful of others, quite happy to muck in with any jobs that need doing and always at ease when lots of other kids come into the house because not sharing doesn't cross their mind.

3KIDSNOMONEY

i have 4 kids - and as someone else said you can never really afford to have them. going out is stressful and expensive and i would love to be able to afford for them to do more things.

i haven't worked for years and our income is about 30K so not that huge for a family of 6. our house is too small and we won't be able to move for the forseeable future. mealtimes feel like i am feeding an army - especially when everyone 'likes' different things.

if you want an easy life stick at having 2 kids, but i for one know that nothing can stop that yearning for a new baby so it's down to how you and your OH feel.

skylight

Designer clothes? My teens are not that shallow, but I can see one of my lot being a pain with this when she gets that old! And 14 and 17yo's are happy with hand-me downs. Because they are used to it.

Not interested in the money side of things. You get help with child benefit and perhaps child tax credit depending on income (waiting for the flamming....)

I am interested in the time/love/etc/etc. It is difficult to split your time amongst the kids. Its not doing it equally, its doing it by need and its tricky finding activities that will interest all the kids.

You do not need a big house - kids that grow up sharing don't notice anyway (but a larger house helps!)


As with EVERYTHING in life, its only as successful as you make it.

As a PS - I have 5 kids (4 at home now) all girls, plus one boy on the way. And we have great family holidays in the UK and abroad, great days out and get on (most of the time!).

skylight

3KIDSNOMONEY wrote: »

if you want an easy life stick at having 2 kids,

:rotfl::rotfl:

I had to laugh at this! When you only have 2 kids though, it doesn't feel like an easy life! I think that you only really respect this when you have more.

Krystaltips

I was one of 4 growing up and although we were happy enough... We never went on holiday, we rarely went for days out because it was expensive to take four children... Both our parents worked to support us so we rarely saw them either...

My hubby would love 3 or 4... We're growing No2 at the moment and although I was happy with one, I'll be happy sticking at 2... Like someone else said, family tickets rarely include 3 or 4 children and for every extra child its an extra cost... I would like our children to grow up remembering happy family outings and nice holidays that myself and my siblings could only watch our friends enjoying...