uumm, some interesting points!!!

There is also the happy medium of having a large family, and being comfortable....

We have a very large house, a new large car, and can afford the after school stuff, petrol and decent food. Our kids go to a Catholic school. We can holiday on the GC whenever we want, Ads parents own a holiday house.

Yes, theres not alot left over, so I guess thats "poor"? dunno... they arent going without, but theres not a million in the bank, esp at big times like chrissy...

I couldnt afford some pressies last week, but after chrissy, when Ad gets paid again, we'll be back to normal... so i guess not having back up money at slow times means poor too? It is times like that I wish we had it better, but you cant put back the kids you already have...

But its not a "poor" that the kids notice... they arent going to be better/happier kids with more "stuff"..

Of course I would like more money, and when the youngest is in school, Ill be qualified and in the workforce, so essentially doubling our income possibly...

So poor now doesnt mean poor forever, just like rich now certainly doesn't mean rich later...

Anyone rich can look down their nose at me for my large family, (and I dont mean anyone here! )... and they themselves be on struggle street in 6 months time, with my "poor" family doing much better than them... thats how life rolls!!

To me, our money goes where we want it to... our kids, education, house, food, and some extras...
We have nice furniture, bought it new about 6 months ago.. (we have 3 plasmas tele's, which wasnt my idea! ) so prob look richer than we are...

So do our kids notice we dont have money to splash?? I dont think so, not yet.. and by the time they are older, ill be in better work too...

I know many people with much less kids, more income, who still have less money than us because of where they put it.. constant take away, gadgets, credit cards etc... which mean nothing to me at all....

So its a case of different strokes for different folks... but something i agree on totally is bringing in large amounts of children when properly "poor"... when you cant get shoes, decent food and kids are going without the general basics of a good life... that makes me very sad.....