Question for those with 4 + children

[3blueones]

Hi there, i have 3 children and hubby and i are considering a 4th. I am a SAHM, and hubby earns a low-medium type wage. We do pretty well though, pay all of our bills and mortgage, save a bit and have lots of fun!! I know in the short term we will be ok financially (my kids r aged 4 and under atm), but i worry that im not thinking ahead. Is it going to be too expensive once they are in school, do sports, eat heaps more.... Im a good budgeter, and we love hand me downs, and i always buy clothes at the big sales, and material items arent that important to us.
I dont really know what im asking but i guess its - how did u go, are you coping, do u have regrets (though i know you probably dont regret having a child).???
Thanks:)

[DoulaRobyn]

Hey there, you can see in my sig what the age of my kids are... so far we are making it and I say we will climb that mountain when we come to it!

So far though, there is not much more expense between three and four kids - although as they get older they do 'cost' you more! I find that I am always forking out $$$s for my eldest at school and soon will be doing this for two, three and then four, and we will cope, we always do.

[punkbaby]

So far i find we are going ok, we are on one income but i am really good with my budget. School fees this year hit us a bit but thankfully the school and kinder lets us pay them via direct debit. This would be the biggest expense really. Other than that i actually find my 9yo cheaper as she wears a uniform so i dont need to buy her clothes all the time LOL.

We live comfortable, there is always food in the cupboard and we do inexpensive activities etc, hand me downs, we live happy thats all that matters :)

Although i am dreading high school LOL

[forbetoel]

We do it with 4 kids on an average income. My kids do footy, Karate, swimming, music. We get by...my kids have a great life. Sure you need to budget, but it is so worth it. My kids have MORE than they need.

[Meemo]

Hey there, :wave:

Although I don't have 4 on a constant basis, we have 4, 3 days pr wk. And we too manage quite well on a 'medium' income. My DP's certainly not very good at budgeting, but thank goodness I am!

We afford our luxuries, the kids all have musical instruments and will be getting lessons shortly, if the older 2 want to go the movies on the w/e we can afford to give them $20, (although we make them earn it), if we want to have take-away for a treat we can. I always make sure I save as I would eventually like to be able to take ALL of them on a holiday instead of 2 at a time! lol....

Even though our school fees are halved for 3 of them, we usually pay the whole lot and get paid the other half when they have it, which is fine.
Yes I work now to make our lives a little bit more comfortable, but also because I enjoy it.

My understanding from everyone I know with 'large' families is that once you hit 3, the 'costs' don't go up a great deal with each child, if it does you don't really notice...
As I say to DP, by the time our youngest 2 are old enough to want 'expensive things' our eldest 2 will be working part time to buy their own (hopefully, may be wishful thinking, lol)...

Good Luck!

[maorimama]

Hi, we have 4 children, 2 teens and 2 primary aged. We are low income earners and we manage just find. I do budget but we don't want or need for anything, the kids do extra curricular activities and we spent alot of time doing 'free activities', beaches, parks.

We are wanting to add to our family and I think we will still manage financially. I have friends with less children than us who earn bucket loads more and are always broke, so earning more isn't necessarily a good thing.

At the end of the day we are not a materialistic family but we love our children very much and that for us is what counts.

[magjh]

I worry about this too, with our 4th on the way. :confused: I wonder if the kids will miss out on things that our friends children have (those with 1 or 2 children in the family) and I wonder about school fees and grocery bills and holidays etc etc. But then I hope that what the children don't get in expensive holidays we hopefully can make up for with lots of love and happiness and family times. But it is interesting how people automatically assume you are either very well off or extremely poor having 4 or more children - as though why would any normal middle of the road family do it!??

[CJJHRA]

it does get hard as they reach highschool for schooling fees, especially for yr11 & 12! the cost of the books.. EEK! and school fees... but if you save a little each week towards it, its is doable. I am lucky we dont really have big eaters in our house, and the kids are more than happy to snack on an apple, carrot or some bread. They have their school uniforms (3 sets) and they have a couple of sets of "home" clothes, they are happy enough with that. My kids dont really go out anywere much. They dont miss out on too much really, they have their gaming machines etc, just that they have to share and take turns more than a family with less kids would, no biggie really. Another is that they have to share a room, but they love that in ways too.

we earn just over the limit for being able to have a health care card, so not a high income at all, but not too low I guess. Its my DD who costs the most LOL, the boys are easy to please

[LuvMy4Babes]

We have 4 kids, my husband earns what I guess is considered quite a high income and I have a night part-time job for an extra $250 or so a week. We cope just fine, although we only have 3 kids in primary school right now. High school may be a different story. Our kids do swimming, football, dancing, etc. they never miss out on anything. Our food bill is our biggest bill apart from our mortgage though, they eat a LOT lol. I'm sure it's only going to get worse as they get older too!!

[twotrunks]

We have 3 ATM and are also considering our fourth. The only big impact having 4 will have on us is high school... there is just no way i can see us affording private school fees, and we were really keen on a particular private school in the area. I think that dream went with number 3, but will be absolutely gone with number 4. I am a bit sad about it, but resolved to make the best of it, and have recently moved into an area which is "in the zone" for the best public high school in town.
TT

[canberramomma]

We're ok ATM. We have 4 kids living at home and we just teach them about moderation. Also, we don't splash out often on takeaway or holidays (ever) or big stuff, but they don't suffer. They do stuff after school (sports and the like) but we just say - one activity per season. And it's usually local. Our oldest isn't working and she's acutely aware of her impact and modifies her behaviour and doesn't ask for more money than previously agreed (although with Uni starting up again soon, we expect there might be some 'book' crisis popping up here and there). You'll do ok!

[bambi79]

we are having number 5 due in Nov, and my first worry was the money side of things. My hubby is our only source of income but he is on good money. Once the car and other little bills are paid off we would be more than comfortable.
It gets hard sometimes, need time out but in the long run its way worth the hard work!

[Mum2Bella]

we have 4 at school the 3 eldest go to catholic school,the fees are pretty high but to us its well worth it in the end,

i think public school are cheaper,so you do have a option of the type of schooling you want for your children.

we recieve tax A&B plus DP wage we get through nicely n have money to save

i think schooling is the biggest expence,my son plays footy,my daughter played the violin

[lotsakids]

kids aren't to expensive until they're older we managed fine with 3 but i was working as they were all in school when we had #4 and i stopped working it got hard financially but you learn what you need and what you don't. the way i look at it by the time the kids get expensive you may be working so will have more money or hubby may have a better paying job lifes to short for regrets if you decide not to have another based solely on finances you may regret it however thats not the case if you have trouble putting food on the table. also the kids can work when they're teens, i have a budget for shoes and clothes etc if they want designer labels or expensive stuff they have to pay the difference besides there's not alot of diff financially between 3 to 4 i dont think except that i wasn't working

[Jordymumma]

We are expecting no 5 and im not worried yet. We have a low income health care card as my hubby is an apprentice.We are lucky that we dont have a big morgage.Im a strict budgeter but we never miss out.We get takeaway once a fortnight,my older two kids do sports, scouts and dance, i go to playgroup with the littlies etc. Im sure the education side of things will be expensive when the kids hit secondary but DH will be qualified by then and all my little ones will be at school so i can go back to work too.We try not to get too worked up about money,it really does your head in!!!It would be nice to have a new car but it would be nice to win lotto too IYNWIM:)! You just learn to live within your means but that doesnt have tomean that anyone will miss out.Good luck, Big families are great:smiliedance:

[mummyto4kids]

I have 4 kids.

DD - 6 yrs
DS - 3yrs
DD - 19months
DD - 5months


The biggest expense for us so far was a larger car and we had to buy another carseat and another cot.

[mumofsix]

When we went for no 4, we ended up with 5 and 6 as well!! So watch out for surprises!!:yes: We have 9 yr old, 6yr old, 4yr old and 1yr old triplets... So we had to get bigger car (tarago), and decided to move from our 3 bedder to a 5 bedder and 2 bathroom. But with twice the mortgage. Sometimes I wonder if it was wise to do so but luv it and so far ok. We live pretty simple lives and the kids dont seem to miss out. Worry a bit when they get to school age as two are in now and i believe it is more expensive when they start school. But i figure when the triplets go off to school, mum will be off to get a job! :yes: I find you can adjust to an income and budget and always seem to get by. Annoys me to be classed low income but too high for health care card!! Kiddies are happy and healthy and loved, and that is the main thing.

[staceyyy]

hi all its been awhile since i was last on here but im glad to be back im not working no more so more time to chat :yelclap: im a mummy of 5 i find the biggest thing is not having many friends with a large family to have coffee with and a general chat im craving new friends to have coffee go shopping now and then even treat ourselfes to a faciel so relaxing.
talk soon girls:wave:

[OJandMe]

Just check private school policies on large families.

A lot of the schools I have looked at have a discount for 2nd and 3rd children and then the 4th and more are actually free tuition. :yes:

So look into it and don't let 'high school' be the factor to put you off. It's only 5-6 years of their LIFE.. they'll spend much more time out of school than they do at school.

And if you can instill a love of learning, and keep them open to being life-long learners who yearn for knowledge and seek it out themselves through books, experiences, cultural events and travel... then where they go to school isn't even an issue.

[SuperMum10/12]

Hi I have 10 children and they are all different ages 20 years old down to 1 year old . I think if you are good with money or you have a good budget then you should be able to manage My children don't go with out they have all the goody's that there mates have for eg xbox wii playstation TV the list can go on ... My little children have swings cubbie house bike ..We are buying our house and we drive a Ford Territory we have a very good budget and we save money and before I say anything else yes my husband is on a low income and yes we do get a Centrelink payment per fortnight ... We have 3 children at school and yes we do have our hand in our pocket nilly every week for swimming excursions school photo's and all the hidden costs that you least expect ... We just payed out $400 for my 6 year old to have glasses we save for 4 weeks for them... I honestly think that if you can save and plan and work together with your partner then l do think you can manage with a large family but it depends on how hard that you are willing to work for it ....