Raising a Large Family on One Income
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Some days I just have to pinch myself because I am expecting my sixth child. Y’all, I never imagined I would be THAT mom. The one with many kids. But, God has blessed our marriage with children and they make life a lot more fun! We have been a one income family since the beginning. Part of large family living often includes raising a large family on one income. How do we do it in today’s world? Let me explain.
Raising a Large Family on One Income
One car payment at a time
If you’re raising a family on one income, you’re probably cannot afford two car payments. I would say ideally no car payment would be the way to go. We have never been able to swing that, but we keep our car payments to one at a time, and we learn how to maintain older vehicles.
Frugal meal planning
I will tell you the majority of our money goes to food. It is essential to practice frugal meal planning when you have a large family. It costs a lot less money to pack a lunch when we head out the door as a family than it does to stop at the drive-thru.
One of my favorite apps for saving money on groceries is Checkout 51.
Shop sales and take hand me downs
I try hard to find the best deals on all of our clothes. My husband and I don’t get to shop much for ourselves. I will check clearance racks at Walmart and occasionally shop consignment sales and thrift stores. I keep many of our kids’ clothes to pass down to the next child.
Use your skills to make extra money
Many mothers who stay at home make extra money on the side. I’m sure you’ve heard this before, but you do not have to work a 9-5 job to bring in income. I blog and make some extra money for our family doing something I enjoy! You could babysit, sell crafts, anything you can think of to bring in extra spending money.
Pray
We live in a society that makes it very difficult for a family to live on one income. My best advice is to pray about your situation. Is this the direction God wants you to go? Be faithful, and He will provide. I have felt strongly called to stay at home and homeschool our children. We don’t always have all the new stuff, and it isn’t always easy trying to make everything work, but He provides.
Resources for Raising a Large Family on One Income
How To Raise a Family on One Income
How to Raise a Family on One Income
Living on One Income – The Ultimate Post
Congratulations on #6. This was a great post and much in line with what we do. I still have your homemaker’s prayer posted on my bathroom wall and it get reviewed frequently. Thank you for serving your family they will remember you for it.
Congrats on your 6th baby! You gave very good advice. I’m a mom of 12 and hope that you don’t mind if I might add to raise a garden. This has saved us tremendously over the years. All of the kids learn to help out with the gardening, harvesting and preserving. All which are skills that if they should need it they can use later with their own families. Also with being a home school mom, myself, find that the garden is a great place to learn about plants, the soil, micro organisms, and so much more.
If you are able to find a good used older car that you can buy out right and then “save your pennies” or put away what you would’ve made to a vehicle loan until you can buy a newer vehicle with cash. We did that a few years back and haven’t needed to take out a vehicle loan since. At this point we drive older vehicles and have to maintain these older vehicles, but it is nice not to have to make those payments. It’s really hard to get to the point of not owing on a vehicle, but once you are you will never want to go back to payments.