renting and more children?

[workin'mumof2]

does anyone have 2 or more children and still rent quite happily and can do it with money left for fun things?

[boysrgr8]

Hi, I have 2 kids and rent. We do alright. I sometimes have to save for the more expensive fun things but we cope. I am not working at the moment so we could do better.:)

[JadeyBaby2]

I'm renting, have two kiddies - am a single Mum. I saved a lot whilst pregnant with DD so I have money for the extras etc whilst on maternity leave, but I do my best to stick to my centrelink income. We have loads of fun things we do and certainly don't go without or want for anything.

[Poppetfish]

We rent and we do lots of stuff. Most of the fun stuff we do is free or close to free. We have membership to the zoo ($100 per year) so we go once a week. We also go to the botanic gardens and Ds runs around looking at different things. We go to the museum and Art gallery a lot. We catch the bus to differant parks so it isn't the same old same old. I make special picnic lunches, that we eat when we are out. When we go shopping i let DS help get the fruit and veg, i also go to the music store between stores so he bangs on the drums and piano's.

[traseal]

we only have one bubba and rent and we dont find it too bad. I have a friend with two little ones thay pays the same rent as us and they do fine. Im sure plenty of families do it. Its cheaper to rent then pay a mortgage in brisbane anyway. You looking to move?

[nothanksbye]

I rent and have a mortgage and have 3 kids.

We have a monthly fun budget of $350.

We seem to be ok so far.

[LolliLips]

We have 2 kids and rent a 3 bed for $220 a week. We're doing ok. It's possible :p

[crazymuma]

I am a single SAHM of 2 who pays $225 a week in rent - its certainly possible.

We do go without the extras so that I can stay at home for now but we don't go without anything that we need. You just have to plan for things - you know the bills are going to come in every month so pay them weekly - you know the seasons are going to change so layby clothes before you need them.

Its all easy until something happens like the car breaking down - if that happens we are generally without it for a good month until I can scrape the money together.

[workin'mumof2]

You looking to move?
well i certainly dont want to live with mil forever :no::laughing:

[Boobycino]

Renting at the moment with 1 child is eating up about 75% of our income! AHHHH!

I'm currently out of work, so soon I'll be working again and it'll balance out.

I'm really supprised on how little disposable cash you can live on and still have a good time. Had someone told me 18 months ago we'd be living this way, I'd never have believed them.

Prior to having my son I was earning what DP is earing and DP was earning twice what I was earning!

SO, with the FTB and DPs current income we're on a little over a third of our previous income.

It KILLS me that somehow we were spending all of our money each week PLUS racking up a credit card that we're NOW paying off.

And we still have an alright quality of life. Sometimes the end of the week we have to eat eggs on toast for dinner, but generally speaking we always eat nice food, go out occasionaly, I can still have the occasional take away coffee (OMG, love of my life, I will not give it up) and we have a teenie tiny savings account that ebs and flows as we need cash.

Also, miraculously, I've managed to hold onto the baby bons, as I refuse to let it evaporate into living expenses. Its really easy to feel wealthy with $5000 sitting in your bank account. If I feel like crap about money, I have a look at it and feel a bit more hopeful.

I guess when it comes down to it though, money and happiness, money and quality of life, dont really have a whole lot to do with each other. Life is what you make of it, not what you can afford.

[iMischa]

We rent with two children and manage, we dont do fun things every week but when we do, we make it worth it.

depends on how much rent your looking to pay tho, we pay $230/week...we wouldnt be fine if we got something $100 more than that.

[JabberJaw]

I rent and am a single mum with 4 kiddies.
My rent is $250 and we still do lots of fun stuff, although usually alot of free or cheaper things.

Like today for example we went to the park at lunch time, took bread and sauce from home and got a few $$ worth of chips and made it a picnic. Then we went to a big sports field to watch the airplanes (we have the airshow on, far to pricey for me to take the kids to, but had a fantastic view from the oval infront of the airport :D) The we finished the arvo by visiting a friend with kids, just took a pack on nice bikkies around to have with coffee (other times, we bake a cake to take to share)

We visit parks alot, the skate bowl, go for bike rides, have lots of picnics, hire movies and make popcorn,drag out all the doonas and pillows and have pretend camping trips in the lounge room, visit friends, go fishing, go to the botanical gardens, library...heaps of things. Occasionally we may go to an indoor playcentre or to the bowling alley.

Having less money sometimes makes you think harder about finding cool free fun stuff to do, and has also made us healthier (lots of outdoor activities, bike riding, kicking a ball at a park etc) and has definitly made my bond with my kids better because i really think hard about interesting things for them to do, previously i would tend to go to play centres so i could have a coffee in peace, now we do heaps better stuff and learn things (like all the palm trees names at the botanical gardens :D)