Cost of Living

[cowman]

The really sad part is when you are young and could really use money you are usually broke trying to pay for everything...when you are older you have the money but don't need a lot of stuff!

[cowman]

That is where the satisfaction of making it on your own comes in. I personally doubt that many people who have everything handed to them are really content. Working for something, particularly on a farm and seeing it come to fruition is something that means a lot.

[WoolyBear]

""Working for something, particularly on a farm and seeing it come to fruition is something that means a lot.""

This is very true, but I'm getting pretty sick of seeing outside forces deciding our futures for us! Farmers continue to buy retail and sell wholesale, and the way things are going the only ones that will be able to farm will be those that either don't have a family, or those that choose not to keep one. For those of us that try to juggle family time, with agriculture, PLUS an off farm job, I wish them all the Good Luck I can give.

We all know farming isn't a 9-5 job, but but it would sure be nice to be able to think that someone respects what we do, AND do without.

[cswilson]

Well I have 4 kids too and I know it doesn't cost me $4,000 a month because I don't have $4,000 a month to spend. We don't live too far from town which helps but our kids are into lots of things AA hockey which I coach,all school sports,4H, rodeo etc. Nobody smokes or drinks-which helps. My wife is pretty darn thrifty also.My oldest just about has her college squirreled away too. We don't take much for big holidays-a day at the lake once in awhile-nobody seems to be suffering too much so far.

[kato]

I know every time I get to the checkout stand at the grocery store, I'm thankful my sons are grown up and off buying their own groceries!!! I also do find that I spend more on food than I would if I was not working off the farm. Convenience costs extra, but when you come home dead tired from work, then run out and help sort some cows real quick before it gets dark, that frozen pizza starts looking pretty good. LOL

My biggest economy strategy is the Geo Metro sitting in the driveway. Driving to work costs a tank of gas at about $25.00 every 10 days or so. That's travelling five miles to town, and coming home at dinner for a total of 20 miles a day. It ain't pretty, but it suits me well. My first car was a VW Beetle, and I guess that set my standards when it comes to buying high price gas.

[kato]

There are real costs to raising a family, then there are the frills. I see families that do things together, are involved in 4-H, hockey, little league and those things require some cash but mainly committment from parents. In the long run, the kids that I know that have been involved with their family in activities seem to be well adjusted,and more mature for their ages than ones that have had dollars thrown at them and not the quality time they need.

[kato]

There is no better investment than time spent with the kids.

[PureCountry]

We have 2 boys - 2.5 and almost 1. We have a 9 year old daughter from my first marriage, who stays with us part time. The wife and I have had many discussions about having more kids. I want lots, she's not so sure. We've agreed on at least one more, but the issue of Cost of Living always is at the forefront.

We know we are going to have to put in a BIG garden to keep the grocery bill to a minimum. I plan on milking our Brown Swiss, and that'll help with store-bought crap being $4-something a jug. When snack time comes around, our kids have veggies or fruit, so the garden will help alot. Our friends have lots of kids and snack time for them means junk food - and that stuff is bloody expensive.

I take home $2600-3000/month, net after taxes, and work in town, a 5 mile drive. We keep things down and really stick to a budget, and thank goodness my wife is as good as she is with that, or we'd be hooped.

[cswilson]

Yeah you can do alot of fun stuff with your kids and not break the bank. My kids do alot of work on our place and durting A'I' time so they earn a little fun time.

[cswilson]

time with kids is an investment that will bring more returns than blue chip stock !!!

The number successful, self assured young men and women in our community that have come up through the 4-H ranks is certainly a testament to what happens when families spend time with their kids.

You don't see many farm kids shuffling aimlessly down the streets of their community, nor do you hear of many of them vandalizing someones home or business. I know there will be bad apples in every barrel but for the most part farm kids that are raised with responsiblities and expected behavior usually get through the terrible teens in pretty good fashion.

Our local county always hires farm kids for summer work,vs town kids, because they say that farm kids are responsible, know how to look after tools and equipment etc.