Is 10 too big for CA (Oxnard, Irvine: best towns, apartments, rent)

[Lisa1999]

Yes, my husband and I have 8 children. 16 down to 20 months. We live in Michigan,but I want something new.
Yes, I do know the cost difference. Anyone else out there with a big family living CA and making it work?

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Certain communities away from the coast that have lots of LDS living there have larger than average families in more abundance. In my hood I have not ever seen families of this size. I can remember a few (LDS of course) when I was a kid during the 1970s. That was in the Bay Area burbs, but those days are long gone in that rareified coastal area.

[RosieSD]

California in general is a pretty live and let live place so I don't think there's any need to worry about how the size of your family will be viewed.

As you already know, the more important question is whether you can swing the cost of living here with a large family. That's probably the main reason large families aren't common in California.

If money is a concern and you want to be in an area where larger families are probably more common, check out St. George, Utah -- nice weather and lower cost of living/housing than just about anywhere in California.

[SOON2BNSURPRISE]

I am the 2nd of 8. My wife is 6 of 6. We have 6 kids ages 25 to 10. I grew up a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, (LDS) My wife grew up Catholic. In our area we have lots of Mexicans and many of them have large families.

[nightlysparrow]

Be aware that many area schools in VC don't offer school bus services.

[SOON2BNSURPRISE]

Originally Posted by nightlysparrow

Be aware that many area schools in VC don't offer school bus services.

Very true. As a kid we always walked to school. Now parents seem to drop off the kids anywhere they need to be. Oxnard District does have buses. We were in the Rio District and our school did not have buses that I remember.

[wac_432]

With no family support in the area (ie. Someone to give or help you with housing) you'll Need about 50k in pre tax income per kid, so if u make 400k per year you'll be fine.

No one cares how big your family is so long as you can pay the bills.

[JanND]

Originally Posted by wac_432

With no family support in the area (ie. Someone to give or help you with housing) you'll Need about 50k in pre tax income per kid, so if u make 400k per year you'll be fine.

No one cares how big your family is so long as you can pay the bills.

Grossly exaggerated. The cost of living is extremely high.....But making stuff up doesn't help anyone.

My Daughter pays about 2400 month for a lovely condo in a great area of Oxnard. There is a neighborhood of houses and condos and apartments called River Park surrounding a lovely shopping area. Check this out. https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-collect...rpark-oxnard-2

OP I think the biggest concern would be jobs in whatever area of Calif. that you decide upon. I would hesitate to uproot a family of that size just for a change of scenery. Do your due diligence.....research many of the smaller town in Calif. I don't think a large family would be a big deal in many communities as long as you can support yourselves.

Also, the home page of City Data has some great information when you do a search for any city in the U.S. Lots of stats and information about demographics and costs of living etc. I'd start there. And, I've listed a few links that discuss the best towns to live in in Calif. for families.

I have been through Utah....I agree with the above poster about St. George Utah, lovely experience there.

Links to best Calif. towns to raise a family. Here are just a few. There were many more online.
https://wallethub.com/edu/best-worst...ifornia/15993/
Moderator cut: Link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed

[SOON2BNSURPRISE]

Originally Posted by wac_432

With no family support in the area (ie. Someone to give or help you with housing) you'll Need about 50k in pre tax income per kid, so if u make 400k per year you'll be fine.

No one cares how big your family is so long as you can pay the bills.

Why do you think that it will cost so much more that the normal family? Rent is a fixed cost. Utilities can go up a little but not double because you have that many more bodies. Lets take water. The yard is the biggest user of water in the home. The yard does not care if the home houses 2 people or 20. Cable cost will not increase based on number of people in the home.

If anything I am betting that people with more kids are more frugal with their money and can make it stretch further than those with fewer kids. I lived thru that as a kid and did it again as a parent of 6 kids.

I have no idea what it is people are thinking. Do people think that if a single person needs $50,000 to get by that 10 people will need $500,000 to get by? Kids don't need that much. It turns out that if a family buys a computer that people can share. If you have a trampoline in the back yard more people than one can use it. It turns out that not everyone needs to buy a car, and most kids can not drive anyway. Turns out families can get by with a large van or SUV. Or maybe a second car so the adults can drive.

I am always amazed at what people think it cost to raise kids. So few ever hit those numbers at all.

[dl4060]

Originally Posted by SOON2BNSURPRISE

Why do you think that it will cost so much more that the normal family? Rent is a fixed cost. Utilities can go up a little but not double because you have that many more bodies. Lets take water. The yard is the biggest user of water in the home. The yard does not care if the home houses 2 people or 20. Cable cost will not increase based on number of people in the home.

If anything I am betting that people with more kids are more frugal with their money and can make it stretch further than those with fewer kids. I lived thru that as a kid and did it again as a parent of 6 kids.

I have no idea what it is people are thinking. Do people think that if a single person needs $50,000 to get by that 10 people will need $500,000 to get by? Kids don't need that much. It turns out that if a family buys a computer that people can share. If you have a trampoline in the back yard more people than one can use it. It turns out that not everyone needs to buy a car, and most kids can not drive anyway. Turns out families can get by with a large van or SUV. Or maybe a second car so the adults can drive.

I am always amazed at what people think it cost to raise kids. So few ever hit those numbers at all.

It completely depends on expectations. For some, they want to send their kids to Groton, Yale and Harvard Medical School and have the kids come out with no debt. For others, having kids go to public schools and pay for college on their own is fine. Parameters need to be established before cost per child can be accurately computed. It also depends a whole lot on where someone lives. In Newport Beach, where I live, it is extremely expensive if you want to own a home. With 10 kids I would want a very large home, and where I live that is expensive. My wife and I don't have kids, and don't want them, but if I were to decide to have kids I would want them to be able to finish graduate school debt free. I'm not saying that is a requirement, the vast majority of people are not in that situation, but if you want your kids to have the gift of debt free college education it will be very pricey. Take UC Irvine, the resident tuition is about 15k per year, and that is ONLY tuition, it does not include living expenses. 50k per year per child sounds like a lot though, maybe the poster is thinking private schools and expensive neighborhoods. Unless the poster explicitly states what they consider to be normal expenses we really don't know where they got that figure from.