Why a Big Family is Cheaper (and Easier) Than You Might Think

I have 4 kids. That statement alone has gotten me some weird looks but for some reason when people actually see all 4 out in public at once it's like a free ticket to give their opinion. Just a few of the comment's we have gotten.

“You know what causes that right?” Yes, we do see we actually like it, that part of the problem 😉

“Got your hands full don't you?” Yes and we love it! Idle hands are the devils playground.

“Better you than me” Yeah it probably is….

and my personal favorite…

“You ARE done having kids now right?” …. I don't even know how to respond nicely to this one.

Why a Big Family is Cheaper (and Easier) Than You Might Think

Those aren't the only comments I get, the last one came from a little old lady on Halloween of all times…. I was so stunned it took me the time to walk back down her driveway before I had a response, by which time it was too late.

But that isn't what this post is about. I get people who seem to think having a big family costs too much money or is too ‘hard.' I want to talk about those comments today.

First, I want to state I don't see my 4 kids as ‘large', but society apparently does. There are other families out there that are better suited to answer these questions such as the Bates family of 19 kids, or the Willis Clan of 12 children just to name a few that are in the spotlight. But I want to share my experience.

‘I couldn't imagine going through potty training that many times!'

Honestly, it's no big deal. I won't lie my oldest 2 were a nightmare, but I didn't know what I was doing but #3 potty trained herself. Yes, you read that right. She watched her older sister and me and said she wanted to pee in the big potty and in less than a month she was peeing and pooping in the potty and staying dry overnight and completely out of pull ups and no accidents! The only downside is she still too small to get on the potty without help!

In fact, my younger kids learned so much from watching their older siblings. My oldest will finish school and then teach his younger sisters what he learned. My 5 year old really didn't need Kindergarten my 7-year-old taught it all to her! My younger two learned things like to cover their mouth when they cough by watching the older ones. My 1-year-old skipped sippy cups altogether because she wanted to be like her older sisters and she drinks from a bottle of water better than my 3-year-old.

‘I wanted more, but we just couldn't afford it.'

I'm never quite sure how to answer this. Personally, I'm sorry they never had more kids if they wanted them. But I want to share that having more kids isn't as expensive as you might think. I shared my 50+ Frugal Living Tip for Large Families a few months back. It's not expensive as you might think. Clothes get handed down, or you can get free kids clothes. You learn to stretch food like how I do in my post of 16 meals for $25. Then you just have to remember each family adapts as needed. Our income isn't the same as the next person's, and neither are our expenses.

This leads me to the main reason for this post. As a large family, we aren't buying everything new, in fact, we buy very little new. Did you know that costs decrease by 22% for large families (hand-me-downs, multi-child discounts, bulk food, etc.)

We shop the thrift stores for clothes, clothes get handed down, we shop Craigslist for items we need, I earn Amazon Gift Cards for toiletries and then use Amazon Pantry to save on groceries. I find ways to earn $100 more or month in free groceries.

We watch every dollar we spend, we cut our cable and got Hulu and Netflix, and we also use Amazon Prime. We added it up at one point, and this saved us $600 a year. We take advantage of free trials for things we need like diapers, wipes, and cleaning supplies.

I recently shared a post about how frugal we really are and all the ways we save money.

Do you have any questions for large families? I'd be happy to answer and offer some perspective.