Quote Originally Posted by Tradd View Post
Another funny from the frugality groups on FB:

People bellyaching about how much it costs to raise their families of 4-8 kids. OMG, my electric bill is $400 a month. My grocery bill is SO high. I just laugh and then post about my $26 electric bill.
I remember going to the pharmacy to pay my phone bill (a practice which wasn't unusual back in the 80s/90s before you could pay online). I'd go there to post it because I was often just on the cusp of being cut off. One day a man was in front of me in line and his bill was about $25 and he paid in cash. My bill was astronomical--I think that was when we had a lot of long-distance calls to family and my kids were acting so there were long-distance calls to and from NYC. I clearly remember being so jealous.

I did choose to have 4 children, and it made the lives of those children, and DH and I, difficult at times for sure. They faced the humiliation of bounced lunch money checks, not being able to go on field trips, being picked up in "sh*t boxes" as my daughter referred to them--just the other day when gushing about her "new" 2008 Toyota Sienna.

I wouldn't have done it differently in may ways, but I certainly went into it blindly. I adore my family, and I think they adore us, so it all worked out, but I know the downsides of not having enough money to support them adequately.