Families with 5 children

[Tegam]

Anila

I want more desperately. However the only thing stopping DH and I is $$$ the food bills are already huge! School fees etc. if we won lotto the we would already be utd. Yes we could down size the mortgage to make number five happen. But it really doesn't make sense to get a smaller house and smaller yard to have more kids??? And for these four to lose their home.... It's such a hard debate. I am a little freaked out about four in high school fees too!

[Tegam]

I don't want to disadvantage the ones I have for my 'selfishness'

[Tegam]

BUT I REALLY WANT ONE or two MORE!

I just wished I'd be born in an time that large families were the norm

[Arimeh]

Do you have them in private schooling? We are sending our kids public so the fees aren't there, just the uniform costs.

However - when the costs do get higher (food, uniforms etc) it will be at a time when we will both be working so we will have more disposable income than we have at the moment. Could that be the case for you too Tegam?

Anila - big hugs lovely xxxxx

[Traveller]

Tegam, the thought of high school costs for 4 terrifies me too but the truth is that once the children are that old, I will be earning a reasonable income so we will have gone from a one income family, to two. Plus no childcare costs (which I currently have as I am in uni). I don't know if you are working now, but have a think about what your budget will be in the future before letting yourself be put off

[Tegam]

We send ours to catholic ed mnb so not too $$ but not free.

Traveller: I work now. Not heaps. I could always work more but again I value being there for the kids as much as the $$ I could earn. I want to be home as much as possible and number five would make that almost impossible. I never ever wanted money to stop us. But we got this huge mortgage to give the kids a beautiful half acre to play in. They use it and we are very anti technology so the backyard is a life saver. If we went back to a smaller house and even smaller yard I think I'd go insane

If we could get away from the city out finances would be better off but DH job doesn't allow that.

Hmmmm my heart says have at least two more. My head says NO.

Even if we just got a little help from the government. As in tax cuts for larger families. But with private health insurance about to go up. There is just no end!!!! But we didn't even get the baby bonus for dd3 or maternity payment! And I'd only have a Hb so that's another $5000!!!

Grrrr if only money wasn't an issue.

[Feijoa Mum]

They do get more expensive the older they get, my older boys seem to constantly have their noses in the fridge.
I am lucky with how my are spaced that I will only ever have two at high school at a time and by the time DS4 and Lady are in high school DS1 should (maybe not though) have left home. I mean he will be 22 nearly 23.

However in saying that I do know that realistically money is a very big decider in peoples family size decisions, it was not a big decider for us though. If I was to accidently fall pregnant we would just make it work. It would be a struggle it would be hard but I would never regret having that baby.

Even now when we are living week to week wondering where we are going to find the money to register the car it is not money that is stopping us having another baby. Maybe thats irresponsible of us but if you waited to be able to afford kids how many would actually have them??
I am finished because emotionally I cant stretch myself any further. Somedays I honestly "white knuckle" it through the day wondering when am I going to get 2 minutes to refill my tank just a little??

[Gigi]

As for school, I worked from about 12 so that I could put towards a school of my choice.

minimatron, how does that work?

how does casual wages (working afterschool, or on weekends), earn enough in one year, at 12 year old wages, to change where you go to school (i'm presuming highschool starting at 13)?

i'm really curious.

[cathie5]

hey,
I have 6 kids, the twins share and the rest have there own rooms. 7 is on the way so he will have to be with us for awhile and than share with charlie second youngest. As for money My hubby has an excellent job so we are really lucky, we own our own home and cars so we have no debts at all. I stay at home and look after the kids but when they get older I will reopen our bussiness again. Alex 16 goes to catholic high school and Jack 11, Lily 6 goes to the local public school up the road.

cathie

[minimatron]

Gigi... I worked from 12 after school and weekends. At year 9 I was able to go to the local catholic school (being the cheapest). When I went to school, It cost around $2500 for the year, so I was able to contribute to buying books and uniforms and a bit of the school fees. I worked a lot during school holidays too. I didnt pay exclusively for it all though, I had to contribute to make it work otherwise we simply couldnt have afforded it.
Yes and a 12 year olds pay wasnt enough for fees, so it wasnt until i got my first 'proper'/'legal job at 14 was i able to earn anything worth saving for!

[Arimeh]

hey,
I have 6 kids, the twins share and the rest have there own rooms. 7 is on the way so he will have to be with us for awhile and than share with charlie second youngest. As for money My hubby has an excellent job so we are really lucky, we own our own home and cars so we have no debts at all. I stay at home and look after the kids but when they get older I will reopen our bussiness again. Alex 16 goes to catholic high school and Jack 11, Lily 6 goes to the local public school up the road.

cathie

Thanks Cathie

Well my baby is nearly 1 - this is the oldest a child of mine has gotten without me being pregnant with the next one! LOL!

I'm on a get fit kind of thing at the moment, got a cross trainer - so I've got till September to make up my mind about what to do - but either way, I'll be a hell of a lot skinnier hopefully than I am at the moment! Not easy labouring when you are obese! Or running after toddlers

Thanks for everyone who answered