So I got bored a few years ago writing this blog, and I know
people got bored reading it way before that. So I figured I’d write a bit about
a subject I’ve spent a lot of time working on over the years…no, not making
babies…keep your shorts on. I’m talking about Financial Planning for Large Families.
What is a large family? Well you could say in the U.S. that
it is 2 or more kids since the birth rate in this country is 1.89.
Me? I prefer to say that you have to have at least 10 kids to have a large family,
why do I say this? Mainly to annoy my friends with 9 kids or less, that’s why. Lets
just say that large families are like tight undies, you know them if you have them.
And no these ideas don’t apply to just larger families, the basic principles
work for just about anyone. Well maybe not politicians, but for real people
they do. But I want to focus on big
families since in my research (googling stuff) there doesn’t seem to be a lot
out there.
Financial Planning for Large Families…sounds like a bit of
an oxymoron, eh. But it’s not only possible, its essential. Even more so than “normal”
size families I would argue. We can’t afford to make mistakes in this area. I
single person or DINK’s can probably absorb financial errors easier than we
can. Not that they are any better with their money, just that they have more
wiggle room for mistakes.
So if anyone out there is interested in this, let me know
what topics you would like covered.
Here is a list of ideas I have for topics/categories:
·
Tracking spending – track spending for a month
or two to see where it’s all going.
·
Budgeting-make one…simple or complicated…just do
it
o
Resources – software/spreadsheets/online
·
Spending (food, clothing, household items,
entertainment etc…)
·
Buying a home
·
Buying a car
·
Debt (paying it down, not incurring it)
·
Credit – best way to borrow if you must
·
Going all “cash”
·
Saving/investing money
o
Short term/emergency fund – stop living paycheck
to paycheck. Go on a spending fast
o
Medium term/saving for a car….college….
o
Long term/retirement/401k’s/IRS’s
·
Insurance –health, life, auto, home
·
Kids and money
·
Marriage, love and money….oh my
·
Working/careers
·
Taxes
·
List of resources – books, websites
5 comments:
Rob, Welcome back. I was happy to see you show up in my feed. I think it would be great to see your "Take" on financial planning. We've got kids in college and a 6 month old and could stand to see some new ideas on the topic.
Sincerely,
The mom of a tiny 8 child family.
Rob welcome back.
I think your take on financial planning would be most refreshing.
Bring it on.
The mom of a small eight child family.
I am interested in reading your advice on all of those topics but most especially: tracking spending,paying down debt,kids and money. We only have eight children(got married later in life)ages 1-16. Any budgeting advice would be very helpful. We have had two of the worst years financially. Many medical bills and using credit cards to buy food etc. We don't have the advantage of living near family nor do we receive anything for the kids(except bags of clothing now and then....it is helpful)for free. I know I can do better with budgeting and I think going just with cash for a while might be the way to go. Thank You!
Anonymous,
That is a tough situation. we are blessed that we have a strong network of friends and family around us. my wife and i have both lived here are all lives. my wife is very outgoing and knows everyone it seems.
and people know that we welcome help. people we don't even really know will drop off hand-me downs for the kids.
you sound like us in the 90's, we had it rough for awhile, no medical emergancies, we had our own business (more like a ministry in a way) and made not much money at all and had a bunch of little kids to take care of. over time things gradually improved.
a few things i can think of for help with food.
food pantries - we never went to one regularly, but my wife was friendly with the people that ran one. they would call us on Friday when they were closing for the weekend and give her anything that wouldn't last until Monday.
do you qualify for WIC?
and please know that when my sarcasm gets the better of me, and I mock people with money problems, I'm talking about the "keep up with the Jones'" types. the people that keep on spending and choose to ignore their impending doom.
feel free to ask me any questions at all. or visit my wife's blog and ask her, she has good ideas
I'm glad to see you back. I only have 6 kids so far. I would love you to flesh out your rules regarding ages and childrens' activities. I get caught up in worrying about how much they are missing out on being homeschooled, as I was able to do so many sports and activities at school. I loathe the driving around, and every year, look back snd think, "my kids were still so little, why couldn't I have waited?"
My eldest has just turned 8. You say yours don't play sports till 9yrs. Do the younger ones ask for it?
Thanks for your financial tips. Very inspiring.
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