If it costs more to feed a bigger family in good times, doesn't it stand to reason that it would cost more in lean times too? Yes, but it's possible bigger families are better prepared for hard times - because they're used to living on a stricter budget.
Talking with the Chicago Tribune, Don Demaree of the Center for
Consumer Credit Counseling says some (not all, he's quick to add) of the larger families have cottoned on long ago to frugality - be it by buying in bulk or finding free entertainment for the family.
So what else do the big families have on those of us with just one or two kids?
1. When they buy in bulk, the family actually uses it all. Some things never expire - we bought all our diapers at Sam's Club. But those blocks of government cheese are likely to turn hard before we plow through them in a house of just three, and a giant bag of chips goes stale before we're down to the crumbs - and there goes our money, down the drain.
2. Built-in entertainment. My grandmother once told me parenting seven was easier than parenting one because there was always someone else for the kids to play with or at least someone else to keep them out of her hair. Which leads me to . . .
3. Built-in babysitters. In big families where the ages range (this obviously won't work for those octuplets!), there's less of a need to hire a babysitter if a parent has to get a second job or Mom has to go back to work.
4. Hand-me-downs. Most of us still have to go out and buy clothes for our kids. Big families do too - but they get a lot more use out of them than the rest of us.
Of course all families have it tough right now. Having a big family might well be harder - because when the breadwinner loses a job, there are a lot more mouths who depended on that bread. But with all the bad news, it's nice to have a little good.
Image: BigFamilies.ca
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