Having a big family has a lot of pros and cons. The most obvious pro is that you’ve got a lovely large family with a lot of amazing children. It can be a lot of fun for everyone, particularly your children as they can all play with one another.
Unfortunately, a big family can be hard for your finances. Especially when we’re talking about the home you live in. The more people living in a home, the more negative the financial impact can be.
Below, we’ve got a few points that show you how a big family can impact your finances:
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You Need A Big Home
If you’ve got four or more kids, it really narrows down your property search. You can no longer look at small family homes or apartments, you need something big and spacious. As a result, you’re probably looking at properties with multiple bedrooms at the higher end of the market. In turn, these cost loads of money, and you’ll probably have to get a large mortgage from a company like Enness Mortgages. You could potentially be paying double what someone with two kids pays for their home. If you want to live comfortably, you need a big home for your big family, so your hands are pretty much tied.
The alternative is to stay in your current home and try to increase its size through renovations. However, this still means you’ll be paying a lot of money. So, either way, your family is forced to spend a lot on your home when you have a big family.
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You Have Higher Monthly Costs
When you have a house, you get the benefit of not paying rent. But, this doesn’t mean there are no monthly costs to pay. You’ve still go to pay all of your utility bills, and the size of your family greatly affects this.
When you’ve got a big family, you have more people using energy, more people using water, and more people using the internet/TV/phone. As a result, your bills can go through the roof. Imagine having four kids all in their rooms with their lights on watching TV? Or, think about the morning routine where your entire family uses loads of hot water as you wash. Every month, you will be paying a fortune for various utilities because of your large family.
At this point, it looks like it’s all doom and gloom for your big family. Naturally, some of you may be put off having lots of kids after this! But, don’t worry, there are steps you can take to contain things and ensure your finances don’t take that much of a hit. If you search for houses that are maybe in slightly cheaper neighborhoods, you can still get a big house without overpaying for it. A lot of the time, the further away from a major city you look, the cheaper the houses are. Also, teach your kids about saving energy and make sure they turn things off when they’re not using them. Also, get energy saving appliances to help as well.
There’s no denying a big family will have a huge financial impact on your home, but it’s just one of those things you have to be conscious of and learn how to deal with so it doesn’t damage you too much.