Living Car Free - Car-lite/simple living... with 9 children??

We have a large family. We grow some garden and raise rabbits and chickens. I work a full time job plus own some investment real estate on the side. Unfortunately, I am loosing almost everything to bankruptcy. The economy is taking its toll, plus I made some unwise business decisions.

I have been riding for a few months, a result of trying to lower my blood pressure. I plan to commute to work (9.8 miles one way) by the end of april. Because of the family, we cannot do without the van, but I plan to sell my truck once this whole thing is over with.

We have already downgraded to just a simple savings account. No checking account, pay cash or m/o's for everything. I do have a paypal account when needed.

The house we hope to keep, but we are doing some massive down-sizing of possessions. I've had a lot of hobbies over the years, most I don't involve myself with anymore. The bikes, some fishing gear as well as my tools I want to keep. We thought of buying a tract of woodland and living in a yurt or tipis. I could make it work for the best. But I just don't know what all is gonna happen yet.

Has anyone found themselves in a situation like this? Can anyone offer some advice or suggestions? Not tying top cry on anyones shoulder, but am looking for some direction.

No advice for you. I only have two henchmen here. But good for you. People all over the world do it, so I would think you can too. Lots of mouths to feed, but also lots of available labor. Good luck and have fun!

jim

Is your wife able to work part-time to help support the bills? I'm sure child care is a concern but you might be able to find a child-minding community group where everyone takes turns minding the children.


I don't know about the climate that you live in but you can try to reduce your electricity and heating costs of your home as much as possible.

I'm not sure if you have any co-ops near your home but they can be a cheaper source of food if you don't mind using your own containers and purchasing in bulk.

Funny thing is, I work for a bulk food warehouse. I get a lot of flour, oatmeal soup/snack mixes for a great price. It helps. We also have a produce auction in our area. And two salvage grocery stores. So we make out okay food wise. I've become an expert in feeding a family with little $$$.

Steve, I can't give advice from personal experience, but I have helped a lot of people cope better in my profession. It sounds like you're already on the right track as you've made some attitude adjustments and shown an ability to be adaptive. It also sounds like you're intelligent, which can be an important asset in difficult times.

Try to discuss important decisions with a trusted friend or relative, although using an Internet forum as a resource is also a good idea, IMO. Try not to make decisions out of a feeling of desperation or frustration. Remember that even unpleasant choice are made with a positive goal in mind.

I think you should include your children in your efforts as much as possible. Older children can babysit or do odd jobs for neighbors to help pay for their clothes and toys. Children can also take responsibility for their own carfree transportation in many cases. (Most communities have programs that provide free or cheap bicycles for children.) And I'm sure that the older children already do a lot when it comes to watching the younger ones. When they're older, your children will feel proud and happy if they know that they helped their family get through a difficult time.

Oh--remember to have good cheap fun with those kids. With nine of them, baseball seems like a natural choice. :D

Good luck to you. Having zero kids and no wife, no job and living in a tiny apartment, I'm not sure there's much from my experience that will help you. So best wishes and keep the job. ;)

Like Roody says, kids are capable of handling responsibility. They need to understand what changes you're making, and why... and that what they do can help the family. What all they can do and understand depends on their maturity. If you're honest with them, they will learn a lot from this. (and if you're not honest... they'll learn from that too... and you might not like what they learn)

When you're a kid, this kind of instability and insecurity *really* sucks. As a kid, you don't have any control over the situation, and you feel really helpless. Anything you as their dad can do to minimize that will make things less traumatic for them. There's 9 of them, so they've *really* got you and their mom outnumbered.

A bankruptcy is pretty temporary for you as an adult. For a kid, it's most of their life. It's really important to make sure they can get to school, interact with their friends, and get a well rounded education... moving out to the country might be counterproductive for that, especially if the only way to get to school is via school bus. If it is possible to rent a cheaper place that's in town where they can walk to get around, that's better for them. Knowing how to butcher a chicken is a useful skill... but so is calculus. They need access to both :).

I got into similar trouble during the 1980s Texas oil/real estate bust. We had only two kids, not nine. We spent a little over two years in a debt management program provided by a local United Way agency. Some creditors charged us off immediately and killed our credit rating for a few years, others accepted partial or deferred payments. The agency put us on an austere budget, we turned over our paychecks and got to live on what was left after the agreed creditor payments. So we had a really sudden transition to simple living.

Our family life was actually very good while we were in that program. The money problems were finally under control and we were able to get on with our lives. The kids were young enough that they hardly noticed. We had a lot of homemade fun.

I think we could use some more specifics?

What does the wife do can she take on more kids for money?
Do you recycle?
Compost?
Can anyone sew or knit? Learn?
Do you follow a budget?
Talk to the church?
garage sale?
dumpster diving?
Get a second job?
Go to college with aid?
mow the grass for people?
have a family car wash let people donate money?

Two obvious things from what you say: if you could reduce the family automobile population to one, you'd probably save a bundle. The other thing might be to re-think pruning your bicycles. Your kids might find them invaluable for getting around town, a lot better than getting part time jobs to pay for their own vehicles.

I too have had more than a few years when I thought the roof was going to collapse. It is important to realize what the real priorities are. If you can stop worrying about the things you can't change and save some mental energy for important events with your family. For example, you probably can't afford the an extensive summer vacation, but maybe you can substitute something just as much fun, like a camping trip to a local state park for a few days.