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

New Year New Resolutions!

So it seems everyone makes New Years resolutions and I thought I would follow the masses and give it a shot myself. I am not usually a New Years resolution type of person but with some major goals in place for this year this seems like the right time of the year to rededicate myself to fulfilling them. Since we will be moving to Japan in 6mths I think I will make my resolutions for 6mths at a time to make everything simpler to understand.

So here it goes!

*Save up $10,000 for our PCS and COT leave coming up in June
*Pay off our van ($4,900) by June
*Clean out all closets and get them organized
*Sell anything removed from closets and add to our snowball.

Obviously each of these resolutions will have several steps involved to complete them and will be the subject of several posts in the future. I am hoping that by keeping myself accountable here I will be able to keep my momentum going and fulfill these pretty lofty goals :)