Are children expensive?

You know when ever we visit our family we hear a lot of "2 is all we could afford" which got me to thinking. If more than 2 children are to much of a financial burden for many why is it that we don't find them to be all that expensive?

Lets see how it breaks down...

Food: Well yes the more children you have the more they eat. But since I cover that in several posts on here we won't go thought all the details, but it IS possible to feed a large family economically if you are willing to give it the extra effort.

Clothing: You know just because I have 5 children doesn't mean I have to buy 5 sets of clothing all the time. Actually I only have to buy clothes for 2 of my children, my oldest daughter and my oldest son. The rest of the kiddlets wear hand me downs.

Shelter: Yes many people think they need to have a huge house when they have many children but we are not in that camp. We have a modest 4 bedroom house and we are doing just fine. Bunk beds are a mama's best friend!

Toys and Entertainment: You know this is where I think the majority of people get into trouble. If I constantly bought toys and other random junk for my children we would go broke quickly! My children only get gifts on their birthday's and Christmas. I don't think they are neglected in the least, actually I think it teachs some pretty valuable lessons about what is and what is not a necessity. We also treat our children to cheap/free extracirricular activities as well which I think makes them more appreciated. We feel that children who are in several activities at once (football, dance, etc.) are over extended and fail to see the joy in the activity anymore.

I am sitting here trying to think of what else about having children causes a financial burden on a family and honestly I can't think of any more! I do however see how people can find children to be a HUGE responsiblity and how that responsiblity can be very overwhelming for many. Raising a larger than average family isn't for everyone but it is a HUGE blessing and I would't give back any of my little kiddlets :D

I'm back and ready to go!

Eight months ago we welcomed our 5th child to our family and I freely admit it threw our family for a organizational loop. Just when we were starting to get our lives back in order we received orders to move from Hawaii to New Jersey. As you can imagine moving a family of seven (5 of whom are 7yrs or under) halfway across the world took a bit of time and patience. We are finally settled in the our new house in New Jersey and our lives are back on track, well as much as they can be under the circumstances!

Since our lives have taken such a dramatic turn lately it is only reasonable that our blog would as well. Our upcoming posts will be centered around simplifying our lives, finding the balance between family time and the structured running of a large family, becoming more self sufficient, my feeble attempts at crafting, and of course balancing the budget.

I have missed you all and hope that our blog is a help to someone out there :D