Hi there,I am a mother of 4 ranging from 7 -nearly 16 ,3 boys and one girl.We have our own home,but we are currently trying to sell our big 5 bedroom 3 bthroom home to buy a smaller one,this house is just way to big for me to manange.Shopping I don't buy things like icecream and special things like that we live very basic,my sisler inlaw has 4 also but she spend anything from $400 - $500 a week or fnight on shopping but she buys all the expensive brands and lavish things also.My shopping never usually goes over $200 a week,but we eat fine.

We have an 8 seater 4wd ,but at present i live like 2 mins form woolworths so I am not going far for shopping or schooling so I dont use a lot of fuel a week.We use more on the weekends then weekdays.We have a caravan so we take weekends away just to local beaches and places,we struggle a different times of the yr but most of the time we manage quite well.My husband and I both come from a family of 4 children,so we wanted four also and wouldnt trade it for the world.

                                                             Cham

As u know Chris and I wanted 4 but to $ and my health we decided to stick with the 2 ( even though i would still love to have another one)

I would go one at a time as with the food rise, petrol and cost of general living it is hard to have the large family.

you can get the whole child thing chris was talking about, but also u can get a very tight close family too.

depending on your $ depends on how u live.

chris's family lived on home brand food ( same as brand food but less packageing, mind u, u know that ) they did get hand me downs, but also Linda made them clothes (chris was bigger than dad and Andy at 14 so he got bought stuff) sarah never got hand me downs as she was the baby and Bec always threw her stuff out before sarah had the chance (6 years age gap)

car wise they had a mitsubishi L300 van (dont get one they r crap) the toyota tarago is better, even the ford ones are better too. its better to get a newer car than an old one as parts are getting harder to get. (toyota is good cause parts for older cars are still made)

House again depending on $ depends on buy or rent. mind u these days it is 6 of one half a dozen of the other. the real only difference in my opinion is rent u dont have contents insurance and rates, but buy you have those 2 and maitenance of the house. u have full rain on what u can and cant do and rent u cant do anything and have ur personal space invaded for rent inspections.

Shopping u buy in bulk and find ways to make thing cheaper. with us we were buying cheaper cuts of meat, but now with our butcher we get great cuts for a wonderful price.

the internet is ur friend as u get bargins on there. u have seen what i have got off there.

holidays u go camping ( we do) and it is heaps better than actually paying alot of money to do stuff. there is heaps of free things to go and do u just need to look.

thats all i can think of atm. LOL

I do believe that unless you can really afford to, you should stick to what you can afford.  I know from experience how hard it is to budget for that extra mouth - and I only have 3! When they become teenagers they need their space.  I know there are plenty of families out there with more children, but as a child I too only got hand me downs and second hand bits.  It is not very nice.  I also remember one Christmas where there was not even enough money to buy us any presents at all.  (we were not a large family, my dad was just bad at finances - so the effect is the same). 

it is a good idea to plan ahead if you want to have a large family, but you don't have to, just a good idea to if you want your family to be happy and not struggle financially down the track.  because a large family is never born all at once, you always find a way.  copeing is something that just comes naturally. as each new child is added to the family  you adapt to what you have and thats it really. i have 6 but i don't really think that is large, but i guess alot say it is these days. with transport most cars you can put 3 kids in the back of,once you get past 3 kids you can pick form alot of 7 seater cars, then once you have more than 5 you could get a 8 seater, (we have a gxl landcruiser which fits all our kids in) either a tarago or a lancruiser or whatever. but its not till you get past 6 that it gets difficult. you would then need a commuter bus, which is one of the reasons we decided to stop at 6. if you are an organised mum and have a good supportive husband haveing a large family is no problem, you always find the money and you always find somewere to live. we bought our home on a small farm for our kids to grow up on and run around, but you don't have to, its just something we wanted for our family. we have always been very good with our money which is deffinately something parents planning a large family need to be mindfull of.

My mother was the youngest of 14...no joke!!  And while there was alot of laughs and never a dull moment, she never got anythign new... everything was 'Hand-me-downs' ... right down to the makeup she wore...she absolutly hated her childhood and as a result her and her mother dont have a good relationship still to this day.  being the youngest her opinions always got  overlooked since she was 'just the baby'. 

I just thought I would write this so you can get a Diff. perspective of havign a big family... it really is hard on the kids... not just the parents.

I'm 1 of 7 and there's never a dull moment...when we all lived at home except for me and my brother, they all shared a room,2 and 3 in one.My mum also made sure we all did jobs to help out,the jobs being age appropriate.

Toys can be shared and they can play together to.When it comes to clothes you can always hand then down to.

None of this is anything you haven't heard and obviously it's not for everyone and  it can be frustrating for all but the benefits outway  the cons.imo.I don't think i know anyone who regrets it.Good luck!

i have 5 kids ranging in age from 16 to twin newborns(due any day). I wouldn't want it ant other way. While it has its stressful moments, so does a family of 1 or 2. There is always a way to get necessities. They share the toys that we have. The 7 seater car was the only real difference. We rent a 3 bed room house, the kids share rooms without problems. A lot of laughs and a lot of love.

Sorry, i left out a couple things. Transporting the brood is great once they are all ready to go. I need a good 1 - 2 hours to get everyone organised and in the car and at meal times i cook alot of bulk meals that go a long way as well as some left over to freeze.

We are a family of 6. 2 adults and 4 children. While i wouldnt swap my life for the world, that extra child does make a difference. We had to purchase a cheap 4wd, 7 seater and because of rental shortages, are in a 3 bedroom house. The 2 older girls aged 12 and 10 share and my 2 youngest, 2 and 8 months share a room. Financially it isnt hard because you know you have to cope anyway.

One thing i can say is that there is never a dull moment and i get lots and lots of cuddles which make it all worth while!

I came from a big family (6 kids). It was so much fun growing up, never a dull moment in a house full of kids. There was never much money and we did live in government housing but there was a lot of love. When it came to transport we caught a bus to and from school but if we needed to get anywhere by car then it was always done in 2 trips. As for streching the budget, have you ever considered a vegie patch you would be amazed how much vegies come out of a small garden. Clothes were always hand me downs and the only time you got new toys was either your birthday or christmas.

But i would never have it any other way and if we could afford it i would be having more than the 2 i already have.

Hope this helps you decide xoxo

Hi

We are expecting #5 in July.  Our current 4 range in age from 5 down to almost 1, with 2 years between #2 and #3.  We are actually housed by our local Community Housing Assossiation while waiting for a house through Government Housing.  We have a 7 seat car that is ok I suppose (just an old junk heap).  Through private rentals, you are free to choose the size of the house but through public rentals (government housing) you are allocated a house with bedrooms enough to accommodate your family.  ie 3 kids, you get a 3 bedroom house, 4 kids, you still get a 3 bedroom, unless one is the odd sex out (ie, 3 girls 1 boy).

My partner does most of the shopping and copes really well.  We buy toys and clothes that we know will do more than just one child and try and get toys that they can all use together now.

Plenty of noise, but also lots of love and laughs.  Certainly never a dull moment!

We were a family of 2 kids for 9 years. Had wanted to have 4 when we first started out, 2 quick then a couple of years break and another 2, but found that 2 was quite busy enough. Then we had the third. By this time, prices of things were going up, rent, petrol, food, electricity etc. We literally could not afford to have a 4th. Besides the fact that I was so out of baby mode that I didn't really want to go back and have another one.

We would have had to buy another car - a bigger one that would seat at least 6, couldn't afford it; would have had to get a bigger house (esp if we had a girl) couldn't afford the one we were renting; just scraping by with food; school costs were getting higher as kids getting older; everything was going up.

I give full credit and admire those that have more than three kids. I just couldn't do it, no matter how much I would have loved to have a tribe of kids. It is a lot of hard work and money. Good luck with your decision.