Hubby is curious to how others support a large family..

As u all pretty much know, we are ttc #6, i have always told hubby, i will have as many children as he will give me, i have also said how i would love at least 8, he has never said a definate no, but just wants to concentrate on ttc this one for now.

He is curious to know what incomes/jobs the other larger families have, we although not rich, are living comfortably for now, but of course the more kids the more things cost.

Atm, we are on centerlink as hubby has just finished studying, but he plans on getting an apprenticeship soon.

We dont know many large familys of 5 or more in our area, so he is curious to see how another families afford their big tribe.

I think hubby would be very keen to keep having more kids, if he hears positve stories from other larger families, so far we only get negativity from our imediate family.

While we're not the biggest of families, we're still a family of 6.
My DH is the sole provider and brings home a decent income which makes it easier for me to be a SAHM.
It all comes down to budgeting correctly I guess. We pay 1/3 of DH's income on the house, and we run 2 cars. We buy all our food as cheaply as possible but are still able to afford some luxuries. I love to cook so that helps a lot. We try to save money each week but end up having to go into it for things like birthdays etc, but we kinda figure that's what the savings are there for.
We're lucky as our children are fairly spaced apart in age which for now makes things a little easier. DH & I always knew we'd like loads of babies but money is the only factor that really stops us from having more, I know for us another child would put us into a much dire predicament, which is why I am more than happy to stay a family of 6. If we happen to get an amazing lotto win, things may change ;)

Our income varies a lot from year to year because we are farmers so we could earn say $70,000 one year, $90,000 the next back to something like $60,000 the year after that depending on what prices we get for grain, sheep and wool etc. So we live on a base budget, which would be similar to what someone on centerlink benefits would get, so under $30,000 per year plus family assistance, so that anything else can pay for the farm running costs, business loans etc and anything left goes into savings. $30,000 might not seem like a lot of money but doing this for a few years now has allowed us to put away a substancial kitty to pay for incidentals like trips away etc so we are living pretty comfortably.

Thanks for the replies ladies :)

I grew up in a big family and dad did a number of jobs, but the main ones i can remember were draftsman, truck mechanic, worked in a duck plucking factory, and working with plastics in a factory. Mum also did ironing from home, cleaning of people 's houses and small businesses.

When the youngest was at school, mum started tafe and later worked and studied again by correspondence.

DH pays CS for two kids from his previous relationship - so that knocks about $460 of his income out. We have 2 and are planning for number 3 in the next 6 - 12 mths.

Combined we earn about $120K + each financial year. Each year we get a pay increase (government jobs) and we get an increase when we go up in rank also.

Due to shift work we only end up putting the two kids in CC one week out of three. We're still better off if we both work full time - I love it for myself more than anything - its not just about the cash.

We live in a nice suburb, and save a lot of money now in the kids accounts for their future education. We are living quite well - could be better if we cut back on some 'wants' - but pffftt - we're all happy and healthy! Money is in the bank just in case something goes wrong.

6 in our family.....Dh works two jobs.....Fire Brigade (shift work) and has his own motorcycle biz. THere is no way we could live off the fire brigade wage alone..mmm maybe we could, be we dont want too. ...i dont want to have to watch where every cent of where our money goes...if the girls need a new pair of shoes i want to be able to buy them there and then....., if we want takeaway 2 nights in a row, we can have it. We're not rich by any means, but having 2 incomes being brought into our home, gives us a bit more breathing space money wise.....
There has to be 2 x incomes coming into our household, me and him work, or he works 2 x jobs. ATM him working two jobs works well for us with a young family. Downside is, DH works alot....but the days he does give himself off, are spent wisely...i.e every second really does count...

Hi

I actually have 5 children also. I have to congratulate you for living off centrelink. I am not sure that I could do that. We dont actually qualify for Centrelink anymore but I can still remember a time when I only had 2 little ones and it was TOUGH!!

My husband and I earn a combined package of close to $200 000 - but when I graduate we will change careers probably and will have to take a big pay cut until my career progresses.... scary thought.:o

Thanks again for all the replies :D

AllisD, we have been on centerlink while hubby did his pre apprentice plumbing course at tafe, it was hard at first cause we lost a massive amount of income when he left his job, unfortunatly it was not his decission to leave work, he was let go, when he decided to put his family first ahead of work, i was put on bed rest and had no one to look after the kids, but it gave him the oppotunity to learn a new skill and trade and find a job that he really wanted to do.

Hi Anila.

I did not mean to offend with my comments about Centrelink. I think that it's great that your DH has (although not by first choice) been able to change careers. We thought about it last year when we realised our skills were only any good in one industry - but we couldnt make the figures work.

Have you heard about In Home Care? It is an option for childcare that doesn't cost a cent depending on circumstances.

Oh hunni no offfence was taken it's all good

I was on bed rest with my last pregnancy due to spd so no need for home care now but thanks for suggesting it

Hey there - my dh is a tradie and we earn under 45k p/a. We live carefully but not frugally and enjoy life. It doesn't have to cost the earth to raise your children. Babies really cost nothing at all and by the time it gets to school time and bigger costs it all falls into place. As the younger children of a bigger family you don't need to rebuy nursery funiture, bikes, uniforms, etc. Lets be honest if we wanted to hold onto to our money and store it up nobody would have any children at all..?

Thanks for the reply Halltribe
Hubby is soon to be a tradie (hopefully) just got to get an apprenticeship, he was happy to hear that ur hubby is also a tradie and that u guys have a large family.
Its given him hope that u can have the dream of a extra large family and not have to earn heaps iykwim.

My husband is a tradie and runs his own business. He makes excellent money, we are buying our home, run 2 cars, I don't have to work but am studying - we are only on baby 2 but thought I'd comment about the possibilities once he has his trade.

It's great being able to work for yourself - and Plumbers are probably in the top 5 trades regarding pay.

We love it and have managed to grow the business hoping my husband can take a step back in a couple of years while I go back to Teaching and he can be home for the kids for a while.

My hubby owns his own company which is allot of work but it works well for us. He has a personal assistant and people that work for him so he can spend allot of time with the family or at least work from home. But there is times he needs to travel overseas but we manage. We have our own house (we just rebuilt it into a 7 bedroom home with rumpus) and cars. Dh has a few toys as his work has allowed for him to buy them.

It was hard work starting a business but it has really paid off for us.

Super interesting thread....

We're expecting no.4 so will soon be a family of 6. Dh is on about 70k although that is only new this year for the last 2 years prior he was on 60k...I think you make it work but I know I like there to be enough money for my kids to experience things (within reason of course) We limit the material stuff and focus more on learning about and experiencing life!!!
Also, I love that by living this way it enables me to be home with my babies and I plan to be at home until they're all at primary school and then I can asess what I want to do with study/work...

Its all about priorities.

Need vs Want.

Take care of the needs first, the wants will fall into place with patience.

Centrelink is more than enough to cover the needs. Spent a couple of years living on it while building DHs business as all the income from that went straight onto equipment. Its perfectly doable without denying yourself everything fun in life if its managed properly.

Hi, we have 6 children, hubby is on approx $55k, I'm a stay at home mum and we do just great! Never at any point when I got pregnant did we think "How are we going to afford another child?" Because as other posts have said, you prioritise. We shop only for what we need, we got to beaches for bbqs, parks for picnics and play sports all the time. And we even have 1 family holiday and 1 holiday just for hubby and I once a year.

My children don't go to private schools, or have private tutoring and we don't holiday in Fiji but they are still confident, polite, compassionate individuals. It saddens me when I hear friends say they'll PLAN to have children when the mortgage is paid or after the credit cards are cleared, by then it's too late.

I say have those babies as soon as you can cause there's no house, fancy car or holiday that can out weigh the joy of having a child!:D