Reducing Household Expenses

[1990Domer]

Do you and your husband fully fund your cafeteria plan’s if offered to pay for child care? Also, do you find either your Flexible Savings Account or Health Care Account for medical expenses? These things to lower income tax rates! Always a bonus.

Sadly, it sounds like one of you are actually paying for your job…meaning that your expenses are more than you take in. Will that change soon?

 

[ThePCWife]

Is it feasible for your childcare provider to move in with you instead of paying rent to your relative? Since this person was willing to move with you, it might be possible to work a live-in arrangement out without doing another pay raise and possibly with renegotiating the current pay.

 

[PhiloMed]

No! Don’t do it! You’re out of debt - don’t buy another car until you can pay cash. Seriously.

If three car seats will fit in the SUV, keep it and just do grocery shopping on the weekend when one parent can stay home with the kids or during school hours when you have fewer children to cart around.

I know. It kills me to think about having another car payment. But as another poster said, we need to prioritize what our essentials vs our non-essentials are and I think this may end up being an essential. The sedan is terrible in the snow and we both are out and about on the weekends enough that it is difficult to coordinate. We could if we absolutely had to, but if we can find the money I think this will end up being a priority (with gritted teeth).

Do you use your land line? Most people today have cell phones, and they’re expensive enough. Get rid of the land line if no one’s using it very much.

We have considered getting rid of the cable, but I would really miss PBS and my husband enjoys sports that we can’t always get on the internet. We will look into it again to see if we can still get everything we need but our cable, phone and internet are bundled with a pretty good package.

I need a land line because I work from home at least 1 day/week and often rely on the land line as a better connection than the cell phone. But all the cell phone suggestions made me think of something. My cell phone is essential to my job so I emailed my manager last night to see if I can get a reimbursement. She said my options are to either take a company phone or to get a flat fee reimbursement, which is great because that’s almost my entire bill! DH uses a company phone and forwards his personal number to it so we can reduce his usage to the minimum minutes.

Digitize where you put your finances.

Yes! This is great. DH started looking at our accounts last night and found a little used savings account that we were being charged for monthly! What a waste! I’m going to call the bank today and either close the account or make a case for a free account since we have others linked to it.

Do you and your husband fully fund your cafeteria plan’s if offered to pay for child care? Also, do you find either your Flexible Savings Account or Health Care Account for medical expenses? These things to lower income tax rates! Always a bonus.

Sadly, it sounds like one of you are actually paying for your job…meaning that your expenses are more than you take in. Will that change soon?

I max out my Flex Spending and my dependent care, but the max dependent care amount is a small fraction of what we pay our nanny. DH doesn’t have either of those at his job. Another reason why my job is so helpful.

If I didn’t max out my 401K, the flex spending, the dependent care, and take the maximum withholding I would be taking home more. This is why I keep reminding myself that I’m getting quite a bit for what I’m not taking home. I’d rather give the IRS an interest free loan and then maybe get some return than have to owe them anything come April. I’m also comforted knowing I’m stowing away money in a retirement fund. I’d rather live tight and “forget” about that money for now if at all possible. DH does the same with his.

But yes, it will get better in about 20 years when the kids are grown, no longer need childcare and are done with their education.

Is it feasible for your childcare provider to move in with you instead of paying rent to your relative? Since this person was willing to move with you, it might be possible to work a live-in arrangement out without doing another pay raise and possibly with renegotiating the current pay.

Well, she moved with her husband and 3 kids so probably not.

These suggestions have been great and a good review of our expenses has already found me about $100 extra per month that I can easily eliminate. By far, our biggest expense is childcare. We probably pay her more than most people pay an in-home provider, but she really does so much more as well. She does the kids laundry, our laundry, cleans up the kitchen daily, makes a hot lunch for the kids every day, if I leave her something she is familiar with- like a chicken or a pound of ground beef- she will have the beginnings of dinner ready for me at least one night each week (roasted chicken or a pot of meat sauce, a stew, a soup), the kids are bathed and in pjs when I get home, dishwasher loaded and ready to run or she unloads it in the morning, makes all the beds.

The amount of time she saves me in a day is priceless. If I put the kids in daycare at my office I would save a LOT of money, but I would lose time with the kids as I would need to pack their stuff every day, still do the laundry, clean up the house, etc.

I like the idea of skipping the pizza out in lieu of pizza at home. My hobby is cooking which is one of the reasons we eat out so infrequently. I make a pretty good pizza dough and this could be a lot of fun! Even if we just do it every other week, the savings adds up.

We are very blessed and I don’t mean to complain. I’m watching the news this morning and seeing the flooding in South Carolina, feeling very very blessed to have a warm home and having survived this storm with just a swampy backyard and some minor local flooding. I’m not trying to sound like life is so terrible, I just want to be responsible and save money where I can.

 

[GreyWings]

I’m not sure what kind of nanny you have, but have you looked into a Christian college student who can live in with you? Many college students don’t want to live in a dorm and many are pre-school majors. It’s a serious deal for all involved: the student can live rent-free in exchange for child care and a little (like babysitting) money for watching the kids. I know of some students who do this - it’s very affordable and you’re providing the student with a place to live in addition to reduced spending for childcare. Is this feasible for you?

Also, get rid of the TV/ cable. You don’t need it.

Eat out less. Buy a coffee maker, don’t buy coffee.

Buy food in bulk, and try a gleaner.

I wish you all the best.

Pax,

GreyWings

 

[Xantippe]

I lightly skimmed the thread last night and here are some thoughts:

1. Dave Ramsey. The Baby Steps are a very good method for making progress:

daveramsey.com/baby-steps

I suspect you may not yet have an adequate emergency fund.

1. Figure out what you are currently spending money on.
2. Do a monthly budget every single month with your husband. Consider doing at least a simple envelope system for expenses. I suspect that your particular household is probably leaking a lot of money without noticing it.
3. I’m hesitant about coupons for your particular family, as you are a high-earning family two career family, and time is very precious in your world. Obviously, if you just find yourself with coupons and it’s easy to use them, go ahead, but if you’re making what I think you’re making, $20 a week in coupons is not going to make a dent in your financials either way. It might be a better use of your particular resources to find a good store and stick with it.
4. With regard to childcare, bear in mind that if you plan on public schooling, there is a natural cap on childcare expenses. Your older children will eventually age into school. So, however tight things are now with childcare expenses, that might only be for a year or two. Whatever you’re doing now won’t have to last forever (although school kids do eventually get a lot more expensive in other ways).
5. You need to announce your lower school rate for older kids to your caregiver well before that is going to be an issue. Be generous to your caregiver, but also be fair to yourself and your family.
6. With all your pre-tax spending, you’re kind of choosing to be “poor.” I’m not saying to stop doing as much retirement savings, but you may need to keep reminding yourself what you’re getting for your work–good retirement and excellent health benefits. And, as I’m sure you realize, the health benefits are more valuable the bigger your family gets.
7. Did you finish paying off your student loans? If you have student loans to pay off, that’s part of why you’re feeling “poor” right now even with an excellent income.
8. Your food budget sounds fine for your family, although I have to warn you that it will probably go up a lot over the next few years. Baby Girl (our third) has probably added $200 a month to our grocery expenses over the last 2 years.
9. I see budget billing has already been mentioned. We budget utilities by using last month’s bill, plus a little fudge. For instance, if May’s electric bill was X, we make June’s budget for electricity be X + 30 (or similar). It’s not always exactly right, but close enough. Except for the big summer jump in electricity bills, from month to month, things are fairly constant.
10. Insurance, cable, cell phone plan, internet plan–those are typical areas that need to be adjusted. (Also, do you guys have enough life insurance?)

You also may have a bad deduction or two at work. Maybe go through your deductions googling to see if one of them is a stinker?

Also, how big is your yearly tax refund? Don’t forget that your impending bundle of joy may have positive tax implications.

I believe you have year-end bonuses? That should make a big difference. You may want to consider slightly subsidizing next year with this year’s bonuses.

1. Your baby equipment/clothing stash will be very helpful.
2. Try to build in some “fun money” for both you and your husband into your budget every month. It doesn’t need to be a lot, but you shouldn’t have to “discuss” every single dollar. We have what sounds like a somewhat smaller income than you do, and we each get $35-50 a month of fun money.
3. It sounds like you’re actually basically OK. It’s just that you’re doing so many of the right things already that you’re strapped…Kind of a bummer, but that’s how it is. I can relate.

 

[Xantippe]

I haven’t quite caught up yet, but here are some thoughts on the car.

We had our third when our older two were 10 (no car seat or booster) and 7 (booster–I think). It was snug, but all three fit into the back of a Ford Taurus for the next 1.5+ years and they still fit when we need them to (middle kid has since graduated from the booster). So, it’s not automatically the case that car seats mean that three kids can’t fit in the back.

The summer before our third turned 2, we found a 3-year-old Kia Sedona minivan on Craigslist for under $12k. We paid cash (we’d been saving for it very energetically) and have been very pleased with it, notwithstanding a glitch here or there. We love the automatic sliding doors with kids. It makes school drop off very easy, it would be easy to get an infant car seat in and out, and there’s less concern about accidentally nailing a neighboring car in a parking lot with a car door. There’s even a back-up camera. We’ve been very, very happy with our Kia for the last year.

A 3-5 year old Mazda 5 can be gotten for under $10k. That’s a 2-2-2 seating configuration. We almost got one, but the lack of cargo when you use all of the seats turned us off. But, I still have an eye on it as a good second car for our family.

Your next car purchase is one of the best areas you have for controlling your future household expenses, so if I were you, I would put a lot of effort into that particular purchase.

 

[PhiloMed]

I lightly skimmed the thread last night and here are some thoughts:

I suspect you may not yet have an adequate emergency fund.

We don’t. Well, we do but it’s in a “do not break unless in dire need of a kidney” kind of emergency fund. It isn’t the “the dishwasher broke” kind of emergency fund. That’s what I’m trying to build up which is why I’m hoping a few dollars here and there will add up to a little savings.

Good point on the couponing, though. It might be taking up more time than it is worth unless I can easily access it.

The previous two years we got no refund on our taxes. Actually, we owed and last year we owed nearly $20K in taxes because my job did not do withholdings. We were living hand to mouth and everything I made pre-tax went to expenses. We were left with a huge tax bill at the end of the year and drained the emergency fund for that. This year will be a little better because we paid estimated quarterly taxes and now both have withholdings. I have a high suspicion we will end up owing something this year just because of how much we make and how little our deductions end up helping. Another reason why I try to squirrel away as much as I can pre-tax.

I’m not sure about the school situation. We will need full time nanny for at least another 5 years when this upcoming bundle of joy will be ready for school and we priced out tuition in the area. It would almost be cheaper to have an in-home homeschool + childcare provider rather than pay tuition for all the kids. My aunt has offered to homeschool the kids and this is something we are considering. Never the less, our full time childcare situation isn’t ending in the near future.

It seems crazy sometimes how much we end up spending but I also know that it is temporary and necessary at the moment. We aren’t underwater. Luckily, neither of us has school loans to pay off anymore. Other than childcare, our only payment is for the mortgage into which the property taxes and insurance are rolled into the payment so it is easy to budget for those necessities.

And you are right, we are trying to do the right things but we are strapped anyway. We need to figure out where we are leaking money and I have a sneaky suspicion it might be an Amazon Prime habit we both developed.

 

[Xantippe]

Are your vehicles paid off? Something to look at. Also, as mom of six (spread out), I’ve still found the used minivan (paid in cash) to be the best investment ever for our family. Have it as one vehicle to haul the kids, and a second fuel efficient car for runs to the grocery/work/etc. (We have two for each of us to work, but for all the other trips we split it that way.)

My personal biggest suggestion as someone who’s been stuck in budget deficit land forever smile - realize that everything short of basic food, utilities, mortgage and insurance is optional. Seriously. Now, starting from that point of view, you can decide what is needed most by you, your spouse and your kids, but it’s a limited pie and it’s** your **choice. Personally, for example, I don’t do haircuts. I do a cheap $14 trim twice a year. That’s it - my budget is $28 a year for hair. I have a friend who doesn’t even do that, and another friend who’s appointments every 4 weeks runs approx. $45-$65. For her, the $600 a year for hair is an absolute necessity, while it’s a total waste in the opinion of my other friend - neither is “right” or “wrong” - just different.

That’s the kind of thing I mean - to make it work, you’re probably going to have to go against what you normally think of as “necessary” - but make sure you use your priorities and not those of someone else.

For the longest time, we went without cell phones, until they became necessary for our situation, then we got the phones, but did away with pizza night. It was hard at first, but now we’re use to it and don’t miss it.

Some of my friends keep their thermostat set at 65 degrees and enjoy streaming movies. We have a 17yr old non-digital tv with free antena/converter but have the temp set for 74. shrug

The big thing is to talk it over with your spouse, list what you two consider the absolute minimum for survival, then go up from there.

That’s very good.

For a number of years, we had no car but had twice a month housecleaning. A lot of people would find that nutty and impossible, but it worked for us.

 

[Xantippe]

Here´s a few hints to cut down on expenses:

Put a bucket in your shower. When you shower the bucket will fill up. Then use that water to flush toilet.

Fill up a liter bottle with water and place it inside toilet tank. This will reduce the amount of water you use every flush.

In a spray bottle mix water and vinegar, I use 2 parts vinegar with one part water, to make good, cheap, window cleaner.

Walk…many times we use the car when we could walk. This is not only good exercise it saves on gas.

People with small children at home need to think carefully before leaving around buckets with any water or liquid inside.

tampabay.com/news/though-rare-common-household-buckets-responsible-for-child-drowning-deaths/1183710

 

[Burt_Macklin]

People with small children at home need to think carefully before leaving around buckets with any water or liquid inside.

tampabay.com/news/though-rare-common-household-buckets-responsible-for-child-drowning-deaths/1183710

Yea, the bucket isn’t safe to leave around and will clutter your house. You can do a rain barrel to toilet mechanism to save a whopping 1.5 cents per flush.

 

[pensmama87]

People with small children at home need to think carefully before leaving around buckets with any water or liquid inside.

tampabay.com/news/though-rare-common-household-buckets-responsible-for-child-drowning-deaths/1183710

There’s also the matter of whether or not it saves much water, and the amount of water saved may not be worth it depending on water cost. Where I live, water is cheap, so I don’t fuss much about it (though we do have efficient appliances, take short showers, etc.)

This is also subject to the fascination of small children, but we do follow the “two pees to a pot” rule, also known as “if it’s yellow, let it mellow; when it’s brown, flush it down.” But none of my children have ever been interested in playing in the toilet.

 

[Xantippe]

I need a land line because I work from home at least 1 day/week and often rely on the land line as a better connection than the cell phone. But all the cell phone suggestions made me think of something. My cell phone is essential to my job so I emailed my manager last night to see if I can get a reimbursement. She said my options are to either take a company phone or to get a flat fee reimbursement, which is great because that’s almost my entire bill! DH uses a company phone and forwards his personal number to it so we can reduce his usage to the minimum minutes.

Yes! This is great. DH started looking at our accounts last night and found a little used savings account that we were being charged for monthly! What a waste! I’m going to call the bank today and either close the account or make a case for a free account since we have others linked to it.

These suggestions have been great and a good review of our expenses has already found me about $100 extra per month that I can easily eliminate. By far, our biggest expense is childcare. We probably pay her more than most people pay an in-home provider, but she really does so much more as well. She does the kids laundry, our laundry, cleans up the kitchen daily, makes a hot lunch for the kids every day, if I leave her something she is familiar with- like a chicken or a pound of ground beef- she will have the beginnings of dinner ready for me at least one night each week (roasted chicken or a pot of meat sauce, a stew, a soup), the kids are bathed and in pjs when I get home, dishwasher loaded and ready to run or she unloads it in the morning, makes all the beds.

The amount of time she saves me in a day is priceless. If I put the kids in daycare at my office I would save a LOT of money, but I would lose time with the kids as I would need to pack their stuff every day, still do the laundry, clean up the house, etc.

That all sounds very good–the phone reimbursement is very good news.

Your nanny/housekeeper sounds like a jewel. Keeping her feeling happy and appreciated is very important.

 

[Xantippe]

We don’t. Well, we do but it’s in a “do not break unless in dire need of a kidney” kind of emergency fund. It isn’t the “the dishwasher broke” kind of emergency fund. That’s what I’m trying to build up which is why I’m hoping a few dollars here and there will add up to a little savings.

Good point on the couponing, though. It might be taking up more time than it is worth unless I can easily access it.

The previous two years we got no refund on our taxes. Actually, we owed and last year we owed nearly $20K in taxes because my job did not do withholdings. We were living hand to mouth and everything I made pre-tax went to expenses. We were left with a huge tax bill at the end of the year and drained the emergency fund for that. This year will be a little better because we paid estimated quarterly taxes and now both have withholdings. I have a high suspicion we will end up owing something this year just because of how much we make and how little our deductions end up helping. Another reason why I try to squirrel away as much as I can pre-tax.

I’m not sure about the school situation. We will need full time nanny for at least another 5 years when this upcoming bundle of joy will be ready for school and we priced out tuition in the area. It would almost be cheaper to have an in-home homeschool + childcare provider rather than pay tuition for all the kids. My aunt has offered to homeschool the kids and this is something we are considering. Never the less, our full time childcare situation isn’t ending in the near future.

It seems crazy sometimes how much we end up spending but I also know that it is temporary and necessary at the moment. We aren’t underwater. Luckily, neither of us has school loans to pay off anymore. Other than childcare, our only payment is for the mortgage into which the property taxes and insurance are rolled into the payment so it is easy to budget for those necessities.

And you are right, we are trying to do the right things but we are strapped anyway. We need to figure out where we are leaking money and I have a sneaky suspicion it might be an Amazon Prime habit we both developed.

It’s very good that you have no student loans now. A lot of people in your shoes have another 10 years to go on paying them off.

About the Amazon Prime–budget budget budget. It would be no good saving 50 cents on hot dogs or cleaning supplies if you spent $40 on Amazon Prime that day. (I used to have a BAD Amazon 1-click habit, so I totally understand.) So, budget budget budget. And do a new budget every single month.

 

[1990Domer]

I know. It kills me to think about having another car payment. But as another poster said, we need to prioritize what our essentials vs our non-essentials are and I think this may end up being an essential. The sedan is terrible in the snow and we both are out and about on the weekends enough that it is difficult to coordinate. We could if we absolutely had to, but if we can find the money I think this will end up being a priority (with gritted teeth).

We have considered getting rid of the cable, but I would really miss PBS and my husband enjoys sports that we can’t always get on the internet. We will look into it again to see if we can still get everything we need but our cable, phone and internet are bundled with a pretty good package.

I need a land line because I work from home at least 1 day/week and often rely on the land line as a better connection than the cell phone. But all the cell phone suggestions made me think of something. My cell phone is essential to my job so I emailed my manager last night to see if I can get a reimbursement. She said my options are to either take a company phone or to get a flat fee reimbursement, which is great because that’s almost my entire bill! DH uses a company phone and forwards his personal number to it so we can reduce his usage to the minimum minutes.

Yes! This is great. DH started looking at our accounts last night and found a little used savings account that we were being charged for monthly! What a waste! I’m going to call the bank today and either close the account or make a case for a free account since we have others linked to it.

I max out my Flex Spending and my dependent care, but the max dependent care amount is a small fraction of what we pay our nanny. DH doesn’t have either of those at his job. Another reason why my job is so helpful.

If I didn’t max out my 401K, the flex spending, the dependent care, and take the maximum withholding I would be taking home more. This is why I keep reminding myself that I’m getting quite a bit for what I’m not taking home. I’d rather give the IRS an interest free loan and then maybe get some return than have to owe them anything come April. I’m also comforted knowing I’m stowing away money in a retirement fund. I’d rather live tight and “forget” about that money for now if at all possible. DH does the same with his.

But yes, it will get better in about 20 years when the kids are grown, no longer need childcare and are done with their education.

Well, she moved with her husband and 3 kids so probably not.

These suggestions have been great and a good review of our expenses has already found me about $100 extra per month that I can easily eliminate. By far, our biggest expense is childcare. We probably pay her more than most people pay an in-home provider, but she really does so much more as well. She does the kids laundry, our laundry, cleans up the kitchen daily, makes a hot lunch for the kids every day, if I leave her something she is familiar with- like a chicken or a pound of ground beef- she will have the beginnings of dinner ready for me at least one night each week (roasted chicken or a pot of meat sauce, a stew, a soup), the kids are bathed and in pjs when I get home, dishwasher loaded and ready to run or she unloads it in the morning, makes all the beds.

The amount of time she saves me in a day is priceless. If I put the kids in daycare at my office I would save a LOT of money, but I would lose time with the kids as I would need to pack their stuff every day, still do the laundry, clean up the house, etc.

I like the idea of skipping the pizza out in lieu of pizza at home. My hobby is cooking which is one of the reasons we eat out so infrequently. I make a pretty good pizza dough and this could be a lot of fun! Even if we just do it every other week, the savings adds up.

We are very blessed and I don’t mean to complain. I’m watching the news this morning and seeing the flooding in South Carolina, feeling very very blessed to have a warm home and having survived this storm with just a swampy backyard and some minor local flooding. I’m not trying to sound like life is so terrible, I just want to be responsible and save money where I can.

Music to a taxpayer’s ears. Isn’t it sad that our generation has to work to ensure decent benefit?

 

[1990Domer]

When we did pre-Cana and hit the finance section, I recommended that each couple put every expenditure into Quicken for 6 months to see where their expenses were going. It was an eye-opener for many!

 

[jmjZelie]

We both just started our jobs in mid-July so it would be a bit early for this.

We both get holiday bonuses which we didn’t mentally account for in our budgeting, with the intent of seeing what we get (since it will be pro rated for starting mid-year) and allocating that toward whatever we saw fit at that time. I am so very glad we did this now. Come December we will be having some found money.

How have you with 3 kids managed with the car situation? We have a small sedan that really won’t fit 3 car seats and a mid-size SUV that has an option for 3rd row seating but then I can’t really get much in the way of groceries or anything like that in the back. We have only used the 3rd row when we are going out with (adult) friends, but it otherwise is in the basement. We are considering getting a newer but used large SUV but this will mean another car payment.

Honestly, I am thinking it is better to squeeze groceries into the smaller car and avoid the cost of a new car. We do this. Every seat in our van is full of people and car seats. But we still find ways to pack the car with groceries. OR, the other option is doing the grocery shopping alone, while someone else (either spouse or babysitter) watches the children. I have refused to even consider a car payment at this time, and prefer to deal with the squishing in that we have to do in our minivan. Every has a seat belt. And we have wiggle room where we need it, in our monthly budget.

 

[ThePCWife]

Honestly, I am thinking it is better to squeeze groceries into the smaller car and avoid the cost of a new car. We do this. Every seat in our van is full of people and car seats. But we still find ways to pack the car with groceries. OR, the other option is doing the grocery shopping alone, while someone else (either spouse or babysitter) watches the children. I have refused to even consider a car payment at this time, and prefer to deal with the squishing in that we have to do in our minivan. Every has a seat belt. And we have wiggle room where we need it, in our monthly budget.

Seconding this. If you can do the grocery shopping without kids, you can still use the smaller SUV when you need it and spare the cost of a new car. It’s hard to get more than four full car seats into even most SUVs and minivans anyway, so if you are planning on more kids, anything you can do to hold off buying another car right now is better.

 

[jmjZelie]

One other thing that I learned to do that saves me a hundreds of dollars in a year is how to cut hair. I watched tutorials online for free, and read up on techniques on hair blogs. I bought myself a good set of electric clippers and high quality shears and combs. And I cut everyone’s hair (yes, even my own, and yes, it is stylish with layers and fringe and everything) in my family. The cost of hair cuts adds up very quick, so I have been very happy to spend the time learning this new skill.

 

[PhiloMed]

One other thing that I learned to do that saves me a hundreds of dollars in a year is how to cut hair. I watched tutorials online for free, and read up on techniques on hair blogs. I bought myself a good set of electric clippers and high quality shears and combs. And I cut everyone’s hair (yes, even my own, and yes, it is stylish with layers and fringe and everything) in my family. The cost of hair cuts adds up very quick, so I have been very happy to spend the time learning this new skill.

The nanny cuts the kids hair and my husband shaves his head. I’m the only one at the salon every 6 weeks, but it’s one of the things I’m not willing to give up since I genuinely look and feel better.

My problem with my current SUV is that to fit a 3rd car seat we have to put in the 3rd row seat. The problem with this is that the 3rd row can’t be accessed when the other two car seats are in. Whenever we do put in the 3rd row if going somewhere with other adults, we have to take out both car seats so people can reach the 3rd row. Once the car seat it in, it won’t be able to be folded down to carry anything. I could put our groceries and such on the seats, but the bigger problem is I’d never be able to access a child back there without removing one of the other two car seats every single time.

I forgot to mention that my other kids won’t be old enough to buckle themselves into their seats and my 2nd will be rear facing for a long, long time based on my state’s new carseat laws.

A larger SUV of the same kind would either have a swing out seat or have more room to get around one of the car seats.

The sedan can’t fit three car seats in the back row. We tried with the current two we have plus a spare one we have. Couldn’t be safely secured in without wiggling too much or tilting the other two car seats on either side of it. Minivans are useless where we live because of the snow in the winters and flooding in the spring and summers. This week we had 24 inches of water on our main road into and out of town. Most people with kids have an SUV or a big truck (we used to have a diesel pick-up).

Has anyone fit three kids in their SUV using the 3rd row? How do you do it without suspending yourself on a pulley to get over the other seats?

 

[HouseArrest]

The nanny cuts the kids hair and my husband shaves his head. I’m the only one at the salon every 6 weeks, but it’s one of the things I’m not willing to give up since I genuinely look and feel better.

My problem with my current SUV is that to fit a 3rd car seat we have to put in the 3rd row seat. The problem with this is that the 3rd row can’t be accessed when the other two car seats are in. Whenever we do put in the 3rd row if going somewhere with other adults, we have to take out both car seats so people can reach the 3rd row. Once the car seat it in, it won’t be able to be folded down to carry anything. I could put our groceries and such on the seats, but the bigger problem is I’d never be able to access a child back there without removing one of the other two car seats every single time.

I forgot to mention that my other kids won’t be old enough to buckle themselves into their seats and my 2nd will be rear facing for a long, long time based on my state’s new carseat laws.

A larger SUV of the same kind would either have a swing out seat or have more room to get around one of the car seats.

The sedan can’t fit three car seats in the back row. We tried with the current two we have plus a spare one we have. Couldn’t be safely secured in without wiggling too much or tilting the other two car seats on either side of it. Minivans are useless where we live because of the snow in the winters and flooding in the spring and summers. This week we had 24 inches of water on our main road into and out of town. Most people with kids have an SUV or a big truck (we used to have a diesel pick-up).

Has anyone fit three kids in their SUV using the 3rd row? How do you do it without suspending yourself on a pulley to get over the other seats?