[SaraAvaandLileesMama]

I have 5 and am interested in hearing how larger families live.I still have a heart for adopting more children maybe just 1 more, but who knows if God will bless us with 1 or more. Please take the time to answer these 10 Questions.If you do not want to answer every question or if you feel that it is to personal then right pass.

1.How many children do you have?How many were adopted? Where did you adopt from and or where will you adopt from next? Do you still find yourself wanting to adopt more?

2. How many bedrooms do you have? How many kids sleep per room?

3. How much do you spend on food a week?

4. How many loads of laundry do you do a day? Do you have more then 1 washer and dryer?

5. What vehicle do you drive to fit your whole family in or do you have to drive more then 1 car?

6. Name your families cheapest meal that you make?

7. What cheap fun activity do you and your family love to do?

8. How much do you spend per child at Christmas?

9. Can you give any helpful hints in how you manage your time, money, food ?

10.Do you still have left over adoption expenses? If so how much and how do you plan to get it paid off, how long do you think it will take you? ( I know this is very personal) you can say more then $15,000 or less then $50,000 you don't have to be exact.

I just think these questions can help alot of us with alot of kids or who wants alot of kids. I will post my answers on the next one down. Just not sure I will be very helpful to anyone.

[SaraAvaandLileesMama]

Ok here are my answers....

1. We have 5 kids. 3 boys and 2 adopted princesses from GUatemala. Yes.... I still find my heart longing to adopt again, at least once more. But how, and from where I do not know!

2. We only have 4 bdrms. which 2 are small, so we are tight! Lilee is in part of our room because I can not double up anymore. Our 2 oldest share a room.

3.We spend about $150- 175 a week in groceries.

4. I do about 3-4 loads of laundry a day now but in the winter I do about 5-6. That is with out bedding. We only have the 1 set but I either need a new larger
washer and dryer or another set.

5. We drive a Yukon XL it only seats 7 because of the captains chairs. We are full.

6. A cheap meal that I make that everyone likes is
my home made veggie soup with corn bread. But I make it real think and less soupy. I cost less then $10 and serves about 8-10.

7. A fun activity that we like to do is go to the park and (boys fish) , hike, play on the play ground. We also enjoy doing all of our church's activities.

8. Each year we have another child so we cut back. I think last year I spent around $125 per child. I am very interested in seeing what others say. I am thinking about cutting it to $100 this year. Before lots of kids we use to spend alot more.

9. Time managing I stick to a pretty tight schedule and for money I stick to a budget!

10. We owe more then 50k. Most of it is on our home so we will be paying for it for the next 29 yrs. We just consolidated about a year ago. But we still have a small amount on a credit card that we have been trying to pay off with fundraising. I want that gone asap.

Now it is your turn .....

[DPline]

You might post over on the General Adoptive Parents forum too. There is one family there with I believe 12 kids. There are a couple larger families on the Special Needs forum too I think.

Good luck!

[mommytoEli]

1.How many children do you have? five. How many were adopted? five. Where did you adopt from and or where will you adopt from next? US foster care x 4. Guatemala x 1. -- next will probably be foster care again, although my preference is Guatemala. I already told dh too bad....if Guat opens back up and we qualify, that's where we are going. lol! Do you still find yourself wanting to adopt more? yes....but i ALWAYS wanted 6 kids.

2. How many bedrooms do you have? 5. How many kids sleep per room?but one is 20 x 20 ish....2 boys share it, and eventually 3...which opens up one more room for a new baby. the other 2 kids each get their own room bc they are teens and oppostive gender so they can not share.

3. How much do you spend on food a week? 200...but that includes a trip out.

4. How many loads of laundry do you do a day? 2 Do you have more then 1 washer and dryer? no...just the one, BUT i got a cabrio high capacity. it is THREE times bigger than our old standard machine...i was doing maybe 5 loads a day on the old one. it was worth the upgrade!

5. What vehicle do you drive to fit your whole family in or do you have to drive more then 1 car? chevy tahoe.....seats 8. room for one more! lol.

6. Name your families cheapest meal that you make? spaghetti. jar of sauce = $3, noodles= $1, bag of lettuce= $3, 1 tomato for the salad= $1. 8 dollars. sometimes noodles and sauce are buy one get one free, which makes it cheaper, and sometimes i add turkey, when it is on sale. that's our end of the month meal. lol!

7. What cheap fun activity do you and your family love to do? we like to join the local zoo and get a pass....we get our money's worth very quickly! we also like to take family walks...and joining the video store is way cheaper than going to the movies!

8. How much do you spend per child at Christmas?depends on the financial state in the house, but usually about 100-200. this year it will be more like 50. we like to focus more on experiences, rather than gifts, so the kids get lots of "one trip to the movies with mom and dad by yourself" kind of things.

9. Can you give any helpful hints in how you manage your time, money, food ? make a long term plan, long term goals, but only live one day at a time. run all your errands on the same day to save on gas and time, shop with coupons, buy items buy one get one free, shop for clothing off season. my middle son already has his entire fall wardrobe for next year...thank you kohls....i was picking up his favorite brand of shorts, normally 30+ dollars, for THREE DOLLARS! this doesn't work as well for hte older kids bc they get picky about fashions....but it still usually works for simple things like plain tees and jackets.

10.Do you still have left over adoption expenses? no. but we sold our home to change that. If so how much and how do you plan to get it paid off, how long do you think it will take you? ( I know this is very personal) you can say more then $15,000 or less then $50,000 you don't have to be exact.

I just think these questions can help alot of us with alot of kids or who wants alot of kids. I will post my answers on the next one down. Just not sure I will be very helpful to anyone.
I always knew I wanted a large family. Having lots of kids makes everything really expensive, but we have learned to not eat out as often, cut down on things we don't need, the 2 younger boys wear lots of hand-me-downs while they are too young to complain about it. We all make sacrifices, but the kids still get everything they need, and most of what they want. I will have one more. I know we will have at least 6 kids. I'd be open to more after that, but it is not my goal...one reason being I don't want to start driving a 15 passenger van. lol....although I have friends that do. And they are happy!

[praying4rlittl1]

1.How many children do you have? How many were adopted?Where did you adopt from and or where will you adopt from next? Do you still find yourself wanting to adopt more? We have 5 children. Our three oldest are bio, our two youngest are from Guatemala and Haiti. Yes, we hope to adopt more. Our first prayer is that Ronaldo and Julia come home from Guatemala. Then we hope to adopt from possibly Haiti again. We'll see.

2. How many bedrooms do you have? How many kids sleep per room? We have 5 bedrooms in a very small house. Two of the girls share right now, and if R and J come home, we will have all the kids except our oldest doubled up.

3. How much do you spend on food a week? I have about $120 to spend each week on all our supplies. It's tight. We also make a trip to Sam's Club once a month to buy in bulk. That eases things for me.

4. How many loads of laundry do you do a day? Do you have more then 1 washer and dryer? I do one or two, but my older girls are responsible for their own wash. We have one washer and dryer and I'd LOVE to have new ones.

5. What vehicle do you drive to fit your whole family in or do you have to drive more then 1 car? We have a conversion van that fits us just right. If R and J come home, we have room to add another bench seat in the back. We also have a mini-van that I use most of the time since only 3 of the 5 are home all day.

6. Name your families cheapest meal that you make? Hmmm...soup and grilled cheese?

7. What cheap fun activity do you and your family love to do? We camp instead of stay in motels, we love to go to the park, we like to watch movies from the library, play games, and just be together talking (with girls that never seems to be a problem).

8. How much do you spend per child at Christmas? In the past we've spent maybe $100. This year I'm hoping to keep it below $50.

9. Can you give any helpful hints in how you manage your time, money, food ? I think planning meals ahead helps. Don't always do it, but I should! Have the kids pitch in as much as possible. That's a huge time saver. I also listen to our local swap shop (on the radio) and have found some terrific bargains on big items that way. We rarely buy new either. Used is just fine. Accept clothing that is given to you and be creative with what you can't use. Lots of ugly clothes make cute pillows! LOL! All my older kids and I, either shop the sales or consignment shops. They're really good now at finding the best deals and all of them refuse to pay full price, especially for clothes. Our three oldest (16 almost 17, 14, and 12) work for their own things. The 16 year old is expected to pay for most all her own things. The 14 year old pays for about 3/4 her things right now. The 12 year old is just beginning to pay for about 1/2 her things but doesn't earn enough to quite pay for as much as the other two yet. They're all really good and really responsible kids (mommy brag )!

10.Do you still have left over adoption expenses? If so how much and how do you plan to get it paid off, how long do you think it will take you? ( I know this is very personal) you can say more then $15,000 or less then $50,000 you don't have to be exact. Ugh yes. We have a certain amount that we pay off consistently each month. It is hard, but we are committed to that amount to get that debt gone.

Great questions! I loved reading the other answers and hope more people post!

[mevertin]

1. How many children do you have?How many were adopted? Where did you adopt from and or where will you adopt from next? Do you still find yourself wanting to adopt more?

We have 5 kids. 3 bio and 2 adopted from Guatemala. We would like to adopt more, but it seems like the options are quite limited due to the number of kids in the family and our age. We are tentatively looking at the Waiting Children list for our agency and my husband had mentioned he would like one more little boy. My girls are holding out for a little sister. We are also looking into adoption from foster care. Our neighbor is also looking at this option so it will be nice to have a built-in support system.

2. How many bedrooms do you have? How many kids sleep per room?
We have 4 bedrooms and a bonus room upstairs and a bedroom in the basement. The girls each have their own room. My oldest and 3 year old have been sharing and the baby is in our room. Last summer I decorated and fixed up the basement bedroom and bathroom for my oldest-he picked all the decor and made it a total bachelor pad and he has not slept there one night. (that's a whole other post). The boys have bunk beds and a crib in their room. One of the girls also has bunkbeds. One of our dogs sleeps on the bottom bunk in that room.

3. How much do you spend on food a week?

$200-more if the grocery store has good deals on meat so I load up.

4. How many loads of laundry do you do a day? Do you have more then 1 washer and dryer?

Only 1 washer and dryer-a Neptune. Typically 3-4, more on weekends with bedding. I also have a bedwetter so that adds at least 2 loads a day. The weekend they all had the throw-up flu I did 22!
5. What vehicle do you drive to fit your whole family in or do you have to drive more then 1 car?

I have a Ford Excursion-8 passenger. I have 2 in carseats. Terrible on gas, but I need the room for a stroller and 2 hockey bags. This summer it cost $160 to fill my tank. It's down to about 115-120 now. My husband said we will drive it until it blows up.

6. Name your families cheapest meal that you make?

Spaghetti or Chicken in a pot. I put a whole chicken in the crock pot, add some veggies and seasoning, pour in chicken broth, add potatoes and carrots about 2 hours before it is done and serve with fruit and bread. The kids love it! I am trying to figure out how to fit in 2 chickens because the kids are getting bigger and eating more.

7. What cheap fun activity do you and your family love to do?

Fishing (activity with dad). I am more of a swimming person. I take the kids to our neighbors pool. I also like going to the park.

8. How much do you spend per child at Christmas?

$150-200. Probably less this year. The bigger kids are kind of past the toy stage.

9. Can you give any helpful hints in how you manage your time, money, food ?
I get up really early in the am. I workout at the Y and take my shower there so I am ready to roll in the am. Money wise I am on the look for deals all the time.


10.Do you still have left over adoption expenses? If so how much and how do you plan to get it paid off, how long do you think it will take you? ( I know this is very personal) you can say more then $15,000 or less then $50,000 you don't have to be exact.


Probably about $10,000. We used our line of credit.


Mary
mom to Bobby 11, Bridget 10, Angela 8, Eddie 3 (home from Guatemela in 2005) and Naldo 16 months (home since Feb.)

[brink]

1. We have eight children, three bio, five adoptions. The last four from Guatemala. Ages 12-26, so only five at home now, next year only four. Always thought I'd never want to stop adopting. Would love to give another child a family, but we're older (by this time!) and feel with these last four (two sets of "twins" in four consecutive grades), we feel we've reached our limit. Can't see us adding any more, unless God truly hit us over the head.

2. five bedrooms (old farmhouse, one is a former sunporch), boys share

3. I don't keep track, but just try to shop smart. Seems I'm always buying food, with middle schoolers. Girls eat as much as the boys! I would venture a $200 estimate, with all the stops at the grocery store when picking kids up after practices. I could cut that down, if I was more organized.

4. One washer and dryer. I don't do laundry every day, because I'd spend my life down there. Instead, I tackle the piles hard a couple times/wk. Kids are old enough to do their sports clothes and loads of jeans or undies sometimes, though I do most of it because of their after school practices and homework. I usually do their nicer shirts and dress clothes so they come out nice. They help hang clothes (in the basement) and sort and put away.

5. 1996 Astro van, eight passenger, not my favorite vehicle, but we needed eight passengers when we had seven at home at one point. Looking forward to going back to a mini-van one day! We buy used and still come out ahead after cost of repairs. Our teenagers traditionally drive older, used cars, so little cost put into those.

6. We like rice/black beans/tomatoes with some salso thrown in for good luck, potato bar, homemade crock pot soups. We eat a lot of spaghetti. I discovered that sub rolls are cheaper than French bread, so I cut rolls in half, then slice halves. We like olive oil, basil, cilantro, celery flakes, parmesan on it, broiled on both sides. Yum. Homemade cornbread and honey is a cheaper favorite.

7. We like to read, play board games, sports in the yard, watch DVDs of The Waltons and Little House on the Prairie. Great morals! We live on a farm, so bike riding and trampoline jumping, playing with cousins across the road is their favorite thing to do. Boys love helping DH. If it involves a skid loader, their in heaven. We attend lots of the kids' sporting events, not cheap but we get a good deal on the family pass. After three kids, the price is the same! I almost feel guilty, except as landowners, we're paying much higher taxes than those in town.

8. Can't say I keep track, but we keep it simple. I probably do bigger or more expensive gifts for the kids away from home, as their needs are more "real" than kids at home who are being provided for. Sometimes we give "coupons" for an activity or older kids give the gift of time or a date for a treat, etc. Older kids like to buy for those still at home, so I can do less from us. There's still a very large pile under our tree, multiplied by these numbers, but they're usually quite practical gifts. Our kids aren't "plugged in" with MP3 players, computers, etc. Too many things to do outside on the farm, so that cuts expenses. They do have a lot of music CDs and we have plenty of family movies to watch. You didn't really ask this, but as far as clothing the kids, we shop consignment and pass down clothes when we can. Friends sometimes share clothes, and we pass things back to them. Our kids dress quite nice, but we don't spend on labels or go in for trends, just modest and in style enough so kids can feel they "fit in", rather than stand out and look like we have no money. Maybe that's a contradiction, but I think there's a balance, if that makes sense. We feel that our culture gives kids way too much, and we're trying to teach contentment and sharing our resources with those in need. As a nation, we've come to expect so much and consider our wants (not our needs) as essential.

9. I've always been a SAHM, so my life revolves around my kids and their activities, homework (helping newest daughter who came home at 11 yrs old/ELL), making a home, providing clean clothes and food. Cell phone is a lifesaver, as I'm coming and going, picking up/dropping off, and the older kids keeping in touch. Did I mention my DH? An amazing husband and father.

10. We've been blessed not to have debt, which was one reason we felt we could keep adding kids. Wanted to share what God has given us with older kids needing a family. We farm, and have been blessed finacially. We're trying to teach our kids that our resources are not given to us to spend only on ourselves by giving to missions and not giving them everything they think they need. We recognize all of this as a blessing, not something we deserved and others didn't, very humbling, and as a result we feel very strongly about being responsible with our resources for the sake of others with more need. I admire and respect those who have large families on a much tighter budget. Those are the truly amazing moms, who manage it all on less. I could learn more about budgeting time and resources from them.

I should say we live in a small, rural community where "simple" is much easier. Only a couple restaurants in town. We live 45 min from the nearest fastfood chain, my definition of rural.

[annaguat]

1.How many children do you have?

We have 11 children. Ages 22 b, 20 g, soon to be 19 b (Guatemala), soon to be 18 g, 17 g (Guatemala), 11 g, 10 g (Pacific Islander), 9 b, 6 b (Pacific islander), 3 g (Guatemala), 3 g (Guatemala)


1. How many were adopted?

Six of our children came home by adoption.

1. Where did you adopt from and or where will you adopt from next?

Our children by adoption came home from Guatemala, Pacific Islands and US. I wouldn't mind adopting from one of the African countries. My heart is also in the Pacific.



1. Do you still find yourself wanting to adopt more?

When I hear about children in need of adoption, yes. Also we have several open adoptions and the reality of guardianship or adoption is there for biologically related children.



2. How many bedrooms do you have? How many kids sleep per room?

We currently have 5 bedrooms and will move soon to a six room set up. My two older boys no longer live at home. Just eat here lots still. There are 2 children to a bedroom except for the teen girls. There are currently three. When we move one teen will get her own room and the other two will stay together.

3. How much do you spend on food a week?

Hmmm...varies but anywhere from $200-$400. This includes toothpaste etc.

4. How many loads of laundry do you do a day?

We often run about 7 loads.

Do you have more then 1 washer and dryer?

Currently we have one washer and dryer but at our new place will have two washers, 2 dryers and one dryer with a dryer closet above it. If you do anything spend the money on one extra dryer. One washer and two dryers would be a good ratio.

5. What vehicle do you drive to fit your whole family in or do you have to drive more then 1 car?

We have a Dodge Ram extended lenght van, 15 seater but back bench is taken out so seats 11. We have had this van since we had about 6 children. Several years ago we bought a second car, Toytota Sienna 8 seater. We co-share the cars with work, the big van and has tow hook, and our older children that drive and go to college and events. To church we take two cars because our older sons also go.

6. Name your families cheapest meal that you make?

Not sure if it is the cheapest but we love bean burritos. As for best gadget rice cooker and George Forman grill (largest one for making grilled cheese sandwiches) Food is not too bad but forget prepackged stuff. Too expensive.

7. What cheap fun activity do you and your family love to do?

We invested in a 28 feet round above ground pool, a 33 feet motor home that sleeps all of us. Granted it is snug. We do many things as a group and skip on things that do not fit that. The children do Hula dancing, teakwondo, fencing, church club, soccer and some do cotilion dancing. All the programs mentioned generaly are free or low cost. This is one area I struggle with, feel guilty, as some people in our area spend thousands for their child to be in an elite program. My kids say they do not care.

8. How much do you spend per child at Christmas?

From twenty to two hundred a child. Ofcourse that would be each child got the same $ amount for that year. The two hundred a child was last year only. Not sure what possesed me though. My older children do not want me to do that any more. They want to draw names for the adults. Items would generally be gifts that they can use or need. I also make many gifts. The younger children get toys.

9. Can you give any helpful hints in how you manage your time, money, food ?

Schedule and routine. For the last two years or so we have spend the money on having some one help with laundry, dishes and general clean up.

10.Do you still have left over adoption expenses?

No, we do not adopt till all funds are in the bank.

10. If so how much and how do you plan to get it paid off, how long do you think it will take you? ( I know this is very personal) you can say more then $15,000 or less then $50,000 you don't have to be exact.

Not aplicable.

-Once your child is home and the cost is paid off from the adoption I find there are many creative ways of reducing the cost of living. Remember lifestyles is what is expensive.

Anna

[maccafan]

I only have 1 child (from Guatemala, 18 months old), so I can't answer any of your questions. But I just wanted to say that I BOW DOWN to all of you who have large families! DH and I have our hands full with just the one kid, and generally speaking he is an easy child. (We totally lucked out!) We are learning to work within our new reduced budget (because I cut back at work) and increased expenses, and I get a lot of tips from you all. You are my heroes!

[annaguat]

Jennifer, I thought one was the hardest! Six was perfect for me and I have that set up again. If you notice I have a set of "older" children and a set of "younger" children. Anna

Originally Posted by maccafan

I only have 1 child (from Guatemala, 18 months old), so I can't answer any of your questions. But I just wanted to say that I BOW DOWN to all of you who have large families! DH and I have our hands full with just the one kid, and generally speaking he is an easy child. (We totally lucked out!) We are learning to work within our new reduced budget (because I cut back at work) and increased expenses, and I get a lot of tips from you all. You are my heroes!

[JoshGuat]

1.How many children do you have? 6 How many were adopted? 3 Where did you adopt from and or where will you adopt from next? 2 domestic, 3 bio, 1 Guatemala Do you still find yourself wanting to adopt more? yes, foster to adopt

2. How many bedrooms do you have? We use 4 How many kids sleep per room? 3,2,1

3. How much do you spend on food a week? at least 200-300

4. How many loads of laundry do you do a day? at least 3 Do you have more then 1 washer and dryer? no, and I am fine with that.

5. What vehicle do you drive to fit your whole family in or do you have to drive more then 1 car? Suburban for family, and Honda for dh to go back and forth to work to save on gas

6. Name your families cheapest meal that you make? rice and beans- we rarely eat that though.

7. What cheap fun activity do you and your family love to do? camping, board games, reading together, walks, Zoo America-visit various zoos.

8. How much do you spend per child at Christmas? none, we do not celebrate the commercial type of Christmas. We have a white elephant with anything that we do not want that is ours and laying around the house. We also go the the dollar store and put candy and little goodies in the pile. We wrap our gifts, count them and give everyone numbers for the amount to gifts in the plie, split evenly. We pick a gift in the pile, if we like it, we keep it, if we like a gift that someone has already opened, we steal it from them and give them the gift that we just picked from the pile. We usually fight over the gifts, especially the candy. We do this about a week or two before the 25th. We also donate new toys to the Samaritan's purse for children who do not have anything toys over seas. We do not exchange gifts among the family or friends. We do not have one bit of stress during the holidays since we decided not to do the whole gift exchange thing. It saves a lot of money too. We are all happy that we are not doing the gift exchange pressure thing. We give out of our hearts during the year. We feel like it is Jesus birthday, not ours so we sing Happy Birthday to Jesus and focus on Him instead.

9. Can you give any helpful hints in how you manage your time, money, food ? We shop at thrift stores for clothes when we can. I use paper plates a lot of the time to save on time in the kitchen cleaning up. SAHM homeschoool mom-I try not to stress about the time management, although with recently bringing our son home who needs multiple therapies it has been a challenge, I know that this will not be forever. Every time I go to the store, I take one child to have one on one time with them. Taking them out to eat if it's during a meal time on occasion. Combine errands to save on gas. Take the dh car at night to save on gas. I shop at Walmart for food most of the time to save $$. I buy meat in bulk as much as possible. I send dh to shop at the grocery store, on occasion to save me from buying too much

I think our food bill is our biggest expense. I would love to have a posting on here on recipes for saving money. I would love to have the recipe for the veggie soup etc to save. Anyone interested in starting a post of recipes to save money etc etc??

[becky]

1.How many children do you have?How many were adopted? Where did you adopt from and or where will you adopt from next? Do you still find yourself wanting to adopt more?

I have 5, only my youngest is adopted from Guatemala. There are times I think about adopting again, but at this point I am 44 and I don't think I am ready to do it again!

2. How many bedrooms do you have? How many kids sleep per room?

7 bedrooms, everyone has their own room and we have a guest room for when family visits.

3. How much do you spend on food a week?

$200-$250

4. How many loads of laundry do you do a day? Do you have more then 1 washer and dryer?

At least 1-2. I do not have more than 1 washer/dryer, but I wish I did!

5. What vehicle do you drive to fit your whole family in or do you have to drive more then 1 car?

When we have to ride together we take our Expedition. Now that our oldest 3 can drive, we often take 2 smaller cars, because it is more comfortable and better gas mileage!

6. Name your families cheapest meal that you make?

Spaghetti, meatballs, and salad

7. What cheap fun activity do you and your family love to do?

Rent movies...netflix. We play tennis, we camp, we go boating. We own our boat, so to go out for the day only costs us the price of gas and the lunch we bring with us on the boat.

8. How much do you spend per child at Christmas? Too much!!

I used to spend about $400-500. Last year I tried to limit it to $250. With older kids everything they want is expensive. The younger children I do not spend as much because 'toys' don't cost as much as the electronics and clothes the older ones want.

9. Can you give any helpful hints in how you manage your time, money, food ?

Every child has jobs around the house from a young age. From age 12 and on each child does his/her own laundry. They each have a 'day' in the laundry room and are expected to do all of their laundry that day.
As for food, I make one dinner only. If you do not like it, then too bad, you can wait for breakfast. I do not let the kids eat between meals. They have a snack when they get home from school, but that is it.

As soon as my children were old enough to work they have. I do not provide spending money or gas money for the oldest 3, they have to earn it themselves.

The biggest reason I will not adopt again is the cost of college. I have 3 in college this year and it is killing me. Even with scholarships to cover tuition, the room and board is so expensive--much more expensive than if they lived at home.

Since I have 2 more to get through school after these two are done, I do not see how I can justify the expense of adopting again.

10.Do you still have left over adoption expenses? If so how much and how do you plan to get it paid off, how long do you think it will take you? ( I know this is very personal) you can say more then $15,000 or less then $50,000 you don't have to be exact.
I don't have any expenses left.

[myguatbabes]

1.How many children do you have?How many were adopted? Where did you adopt from and or where will you adopt from next? Do you still find yourself wanting to adopt more?

We have 5 children, all adopted. Our oldest was adopted through foster care and our 4 little ones from Guatemala. Yes, we definitely want more!!! DH says 1 more and I say 2 more. We plan to adopt a little boy next year. Then I would love another girl!!

2. How many bedrooms do you have? How many kids sleep per room?

We have 4 bedrooms, with the girls sharing a room and each of the boys with their own room. Howeve the girls' room is HUGE!!!

3. How much do you spend on food a week?

We typically spen $150-$200 per week, depending on how thrifty I can be with the sales we have to work with.

4. How many loads of laundry do you do a day? Do you have more then 1 washer and dryer?

We do laundry 4 days a week and about 20 loads per week total. We only have 1 washer and dryer.

5. What vehicle do you drive to fit your whole family in or do you have to drive more then 1 car?

We have a Chrysler Town and Country Stow n Go van. But we will drive 2 vehicles when we adopt Benjamin next year.


6. Name your families cheapest meal that you make?

Pinto beans and cornbread with mashed potatoes and cole slaw.

7. What cheap fun activity do you and your family love to do?

We ride bikes, go for play dates, go to the park, have picnics on the Blue Ridge Parkway (our property joins the parkway) and McDonalds playplace!!

8. How much do you spend per child at Christmas?

We usually spend about $150, but this year we too are scaling back and spending about $100 each.

9. Can you give any helpful hints in how you manage your time, money, food ?

We do a lot of crock pot meals. I throw lots of different complete meals in the crock pot and just let it cook all day. This is the biggest time saver I know.

10.Do you still have left over adoption expenses? If so how much and how do you plan to get it paid off, how long do you think it will take you? ( I know this is very personal) you can say more then $15,000 or less then $50,000 you don't have to be exact.

We are fortunate enough to have gotten rid of our adoption debt earlier this year. We do expect, however, to be in debt for adoption again by this time next year. (he he he).

[carlyincali]

Mary Ann, this is a great post idea! I would love to know how other's do it too. I would love to adopt more as well.

1.How many children do you have?How many were adopted? Where did you adopt from and or where will you adopt from next? Do you still find yourself wanting to adopt more? We have six children:

19yo B (moved out but still stays here a lot), 11yo G, 9yo G, 5yo G (Josi still in GC), 4yo B, 2yo B (Guatemala); my heart is in Ethiopia. I would love one more.

2. How many bedrooms do you have? How many kids sleep per room? We have a 2200 sq. ft. hourse with four bedrooms. The two younger boys in one room, and the three girls (when Josi comes home) in one room, one spare room (my 19yo sleeps in here when he stays.)

3. How much do you spend on food a week? I've never really done the math, but I'm imagine it's about $100. I usually go to the store when there is NOTHING left, and then I go and spend about $400. And that is about once a month.

4. How many loads of laundry do you do a day? Do you have more then 1 washer and dryer? We only have one washer and one dryer, and I probably could do 1 or 2 loads a day.

5. What vehicle do you drive to fit your whole family in or do you have to drive more then 1 car? Our family vehicle is a Ford Excursion. It fits our family nicely. (We still have one seat available, and that is why I would like to adopt one more.) But I would do a passenger van, but hubby says "no way" on that one.

6. Name your families cheapest meal that you make? I would have to say quesedillas. We go through tortillas faster than we go through bread. We eat LOTS of burritos and quesedillas.

7. What cheap fun activity do you and your family love to do? As a family we play board games and watch the kids play outside. That is probably the cheapest. We do go camping quite a bit. Not as cheap, but good quality family time.

8. How much do you spend per child at Christmas? Too much, and I'm too embarrassed to mention. This year, I am going to keep it below $250 a kid.

9. Can you give any helpful hints in how you manage your time, money, food ? I have been reading up on managing large families and have gleaned a bunch from what I have read. Like for example... I have bought each kid two towels the same color. Now, there is no question or no blaming when I ask, "okay who didn't hang up their towel?", etc. I have yet to do this, but each kid will hang up their own towel in their room, (still have to put the towel bars behind their door,) that way I can still have a nice-looking guest bathroom that not full of towels hanging all over the place.

10.Do you still have left over adoption expenses? If so how much and how do you plan to get it paid off, how long do you think it will take you? ( I know this is very personal) you can say more then $15,000 or less then $50,000 you don't have to be exact. Yes, we do. We are hoping to pay it off eventually with hubby's bonuses. We are just under $10K in the hole w/Josi's adoption, and will need to come up w/another $10K to finish it. (We were unprepared to adopt again, when we found Josi. That is why we are in the hole big time w/hers.)

I just think these questions can help alot of us with alot of kids or who wants alot of kids. I will post my answers on the next one down. Just not sure I will be very helpful to anyone.[/quote]

[mama8]

1.How many children do you have?How many were adopted? Where did you adopt from and or where will you adopt from next? Do you still find yourself wanting to adopt more?

We have 9 children - first 4 are bio, 3 from China and 2 from Guat. The age range is 2 to 17 - our oldest son is very disabled, so our "oldest" is 15. I would love to adopt again - but I don't think that will happen - I am not sure I will ever feel we could not add just one more!

2. How many bedrooms do you have? How many kids sleep per room? 8 bedrooms - we have 3 rooms where 2 kids share.

3. How much do you spend on food a week? $250 plus at least one trip out to dinner per week - might be cheap or more expensive.

4. How many loads of laundry do you do a day? Do you have more then 1 washer and dryer? Only one washer and dryer - about 6-8 loads per day - we are really working hard to reduce this volume!!!

5. What vehicle do you drive to fit your whole family in or do you have to drive more then 1 car? We have a GMC Savanah - 15 passenger, but our back seat is out, so we seat 11 - we are full!

6. Name your families cheapest meal that you make? Probably spaghetti sauce out of a jar, pasta, salad and bread. On Saturday I let them have Ramen Noodles - they are really cheap - but not very nutritous!!!

7. What cheap fun activity do you and your family love to do? We have a pool so we hang out at home a lot! We also love taking rides and apple picking in the Fall. Our kids ski race in the winter and THAT is NOT cheap!!!

8. How much do you spend per child at Christmas? For our older kids probably close to $500 each - for the younger ones probably $100-$200.

9. Can you give any helpful hints in how you manage your time, money, food ? I work full time so we are really really busy. We have a schedule and we stick to it. We are always on time. I shop often for sales - I go late at night or super early in the morning when no one else is in the store. As for money - it seems to evaporate!

I hope this helps you decide what to do! I always followed my heart!