Josie & Kelton 9

[marmalade]

1 hour ago, JDuggs said:

I believe I saw it discussed here that Josie talked about having her IUD removed before she got pregnant. I find that to be way beyond the modesty stuff.

What is interesting to me is the KJ (and Gil I guess) have always maintained that their children can make their own rules when they are on their own. They seem to be on very good terms with all of their kids no matter what choices they’ve made. Why was that concept so hard for JB Duggar to live with?

Because as heinous as Gil is, he doesn't have the money to control his kids. 

[Giraffe]

I’m impressed Josie was public about having an IUD. 

[SassyPants]

14 hours ago, marmalade said:

Because as heinous as Gil is, he doesn't have the money to control his kids. 

Which is a very good thing. Obviously both of these “reality” shows were extremely lucrative because both the Bateses’ and Duggars’ lifestyles have changed drastically from before the show to now. 

[JermajestyDuggar]

4 minutes ago, SassyPants said:

Which is a very good thing. Obviously both of these “reality” shows were extremely lucrative because both the Bateses’ and Duggars’ lifestyles have changed drastically from before the show to now. 

I imagine Gil has way less money than JB. And that is a good thing. They have enough money to feed and house their kids. They even have enough money to pay tutors. But they don’t have enough money to control all 19 once they are all adults. 

[SassyPants]

2 minutes ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

I imagine Gil has way less money than JB. And that is a good thing. They have enough money to feed and house their kids. They even have enough money to pay tutors. But they don’t have enough money to control all 19 once they are all adults. 

It also seems that perhaps the adult participants on the Bateses’ show were paid directly. JB has money because he’s been ripping his kids (and likely everyone else)off for decades. He literally put the kids to work to support his family.

[rebeccawriter01]

35 minutes ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

I imagine Gil has way less money than JB. And that is a good thing. They have enough money to feed and house their kids. They even have enough money to pay tutors. But they don’t have enough money to control all 19 once they are all adults. 

The tutor thing is a bit iffy in terms of pay. Pay is usually room and board and maybe a small bit of spending money. The big salary is finding a husband.

It appears that the tutors are mostly still IBLP or IBLP adjacent girls of a certain age who aren't courting or engaged yet. We didn't see it with the Duggars or Bates girls but typically after the oldest girl, these families will send their daughters to live with or work with higher up IBLP families. With the Bates, they have the closeness to Crown that allows them to be attractive locations. The hope is that they will meet their future spouse at Crown or through the Bates plethora of in-laws. Chad's sister did this with the Duggar family (yuck). Someone's daughter lived with Josh and Anna for a while (double yuck). 

From what I can ascertain, the crews would film one or two obligatory "homeschool scenes" each season that primarily featured Michelle or Kelly teaching. One or two of the older sisters would be shown either helping or remembering their own experiences around the dining room table. The tutors were off duty during that time and typically away from the house. You can see them in other scenes that are larger group gatherings but they are rarely identified and if they are it is usually as a friend of one of the sisters.  

For all Gil's talk of being cheap, he doesn't appear to be as frugal as he would need to be with that many children. However, I think he probably charges a few things to the church such as travel. He may even be a better grifter than Jim Bob. Jim Bob and Gil both got TLC to do major work on their homes. Jim Bob had already agreed to a number of specials on TLC and auctioned off his family for that. Gil got similar rewards for just being (at that time) an on camera friend to the Duggars. Per Jill Dillard, Jim Bob presented her an itemized accounting of everything he supposedly paid for instead of giving her a salary. Jim Bob gets some free labor from some of the men when they were interested in courting his daughters - Ben. Gil does the aww shucks thing and gets labor and items from his kids and their spouses still. Kelton doing plumbing. Chad doing odd construction jobs. Alyssa buying living room furniture. 

Yes, I think the adult children were paid for their participation. I don't think it was as much as would have been fair with TLC because UP has a fraction of the money and viewers. I think that may have been one of the reasons UP cut off the show - not the catalyst mind you - was that it was becoming overly expensive to produce when you had more married couples to compensate than children at home. It made the show change focus. It went from one mom and dad and their enormous family under one roof (three were married) to 11 married couples (10 when canceled) and an engaged couple. There was the expense of the families being scattered and additional people with the spouses and growing grandchildren too. I think that whatever the catalyst for the cancelation (George Floyd, Jan. 6, something we never saw or heard), UP wasn't too upset to pull the plug to save some money. Viewer interest may have been waning in more than just the ratings because frankly, a family with 19 kids is a wow thing. A family of 3 or 4 whose mom or dad is one of 19 - not so interesting. How many times do you need to watch Bates daughter complain she doesn't know how to cook? How interesting is to hear them interview that they can't wait to see their new baby and how good of a big brother/sister the oldest child will be? 

[gobucks]

Carlin has mentioned before that Kelly paid her to tutor her siblings. I remember being shocked by this. I assumed she had to do it to be helpful in the family. I think Gil is awful but I don't think he is quite as financially controlling as JB. 

[JermajestyDuggar]

27 minutes ago, gobucks said:

Carlin has mentioned before that Kelly paid her to tutor her siblings. I remember being shocked by this. I assumed she had to do it to be helpful in the family. I think Gil is awful but I don't think he is quite as financially controlling as JB. 

I’m guessing she paid very little. Man Kelly really hates homeschooling her kids. Fucking send them to school if you hate it so much!

[Cupcake79]

I couldn’t help but notice that Josie’s dress in her latest IG post is a huge leap from the frumpers of her childhood. In fact, I wouldn’t wear a skintight dress that leave one shoulder bare and I’ve never been fundie. Where did all the talk about not tempting men go? Sure, she’s married but this is not the way Kelly and Michelle looked like when they were young and married. What does IBLP teach nowadays?

[freethemall]

So Josie and Kelton are on a kid-free cruise through Europe (Spain, France, Italy). The budgets for the Bates trips have certainly gone up.

Josie, we get it, you're obsessed with your heatless hair curler. There's only so many GRWM videos one can watch, the girl needs to figure out making different kinds of videos than the same hair and makeup.

[CarrotCake]

She did the curlers in the car to the airport and then again on the plane. Why bother getting nice hair around the airport?

[freethemall]

9 hours ago, CarrotCake said:

She did the curlers in the car to the airport and then again on the plane. Why bother getting nice hair around the airport?

I really think she does extra getting ready for the sake of getting ready videos.

[JermajestyDuggar]

4 minutes ago, freethemall said:

I really think she does extra getting ready for the sake of getting ready videos.

I agree. She needs content to keep selling those things so she can keep making money to pay for those expensive European vacations. 

[0 kids n not countin]

12 hours ago, CarrotCake said:

She did the curlers in the car to the airport and then again on the plane. Why bother getting nice hair around the airport?

How long do the curls last?  Seems like a lot of work having to do it in the car, then again on the plane.  If the person next to me on the plane was fussing with their hair I'd be grossed out!🙈

[CanadianMamam]

On 10/6/2023 at 5:56 PM, freethemall said:

So Josie and Kelton are on a kid-free cruise through Europe (Spain, France, Italy). The budgets for the Bates trips have certainly gone up.

Josie, we get it, you're obsessed with your heatless hair curler. There's only so many GRWM videos one can watch, the girl needs to figure out making different kinds of videos than the same hair and makeup.

Kelton is running a very, very successful plumbing business. I believe he recently said he had eleven or twelve trucks now and over 20 employees. He has actually brought someone else into management with him and Bobby because it was too much work for two people. 

 

[SassyPants]

35 minutes ago, CanadianMamam said:

Kelton is running a very, very successful plumbing business. I believe he recently said he had eleven or twelve trucks now and over 20 employees. He has actually brought someone else into management with him and Bobby because it was too much work for two people. 

 

It almost doesn’t seem possible that a 20 something could be that successful, especially when you factor in Covid. Did he inherit this company as an established business from a family member?

[Melissa1977]

5 hours ago, SassyPants said:

It almost doesn’t seem possible that a 20 something could be that successful, especially when you factor in Covid. Did he inherit this company as an established business from a family member?

I doubt covid affected plumbing business. And Bates are deniers, so they did their normal life no matter the risks. I don't recall Kelton having covid, though.

He used to work for an uncle and then he started his own company. Maybe his dad helped him financially, maybe Josie had some tv money, probably he needed a bank loan for purchasing the first trucks, but he seems smart regarding business. 

[CanadianMamam]

8 hours ago, SassyPants said:

It almost doesn’t seem possible that a 20 something could be that successful, especially when you factor in Covid. Did he inherit this company as an established business from a family member?

No, but he did work for his uncle before he started his own company. Kelton gives his uncle full credit and says his uncle let him test his business knowledge and experiment. So he leaned from working his uncle, got the hands on plumping experience and the management experience (and greatly expanded his uncle’s business too) but he also said that before he and Josie got married he was putting in 18-20 hour days to pull it off. 
 

Kelton went to school for business but loved plumping and learned that as a teen from his family, helping out his uncle and grandfather, they encouraged him to take business as a major though so that he would have that background to help himself as well as the trade. So he has both and it seems like he is a genuine hard worker. He definitely had some help and some luck, but he also put in a ton of work.

A good plumber is worth his weight in gold. I have an old house with mish-mash pipes, I am very lucky to have found a good, reliable plumbing company. And Covid would not have affected a plumbing business at all. You still need running water. 

[Nothing if not critical]

Totally off topic but Josie posted pics of the two of them having ice cream in San Gimignano. I remember that ice cream place from our own trip and it’s legitimately the best ice cream on planet Earth. I swear. I’m almost jealous of them at this point….

[Melissa1977]

On 10/7/2023 at 8:10 PM, 0 kids n not countin said:

How long do the curls last?  Seems like a lot of work having to do it in the car, then again on the plane.  If the person next to me on the plane was fussing with their hair I'd be grossed out!🙈

It depends on your type of hair. I need hairspray to keep the curls. 

Josie has very long, thick hair. Her big morning curls probably don't  last long hours.

[SassyPants]

8 hours ago, Melissa1977 said:

I doubt covid affected plumbing business. And Bates are deniers, so they did their normal life no matter the risks. I don't recall Kelton having covid, though.

He used to work for an uncle and then he started his own company. Maybe his dad helped him financially, maybe Josie had some tv money, probably he needed a bank loan for purchasing the first trucks, but he seems smart regarding business. 

I’m not sure about Covid not affecting any business that required going into people’s homes. Although they are in TN which likely stayed more open than where I am (CA).

[rebeccawriter01]

15 minutes ago, SassyPants said:

I’m not sure about Covid not affecting any business that required going into people’s homes. Although they are in TN which likely stayed more open than where I am (CA).

They were among those considered essential. I was legit hiding from everyone for those months and not allowing anyone inside. I was one of those people who wiped down groceries and had Lysol strapped to her hip. 

One of my rental properties in the Knoxville area had a leak that resulted in a flooded basement. In trying to find someone to come immediately to help I did reach out to Tennessee Standard. They showed up, wore masks, used sanitizer, stayed several feet away, etc. and got the job done. So I can't really snark much on them for that. I was actually impressed that they did adhere to protocols so well when other service industry folks didn't - we're not going to discuss the leak in my former Georgia home that had the hardwood floors curling and warping and the man who wore his mask around his chin while telling me he always wore one. I didn't let him enter.  

[CanadianMamam]

3 hours ago, SassyPants said:

I’m not sure about Covid not affecting any business that required going into people’s homes. Although they are in TN which likely stayed more open than where I am (CA).

I am in Ontario and we had a pretty long lockdown and lots of masking /social distance regulations, plumbers were absolutely exempt as it is an essential service. Here they had to wear mask and social distance and the home owners also had to mask and keep distance. 

A burst pipe doesn’t care about the pandemic. 

3 hours ago, rebeccawriter01 said:

They were among those considered essential. I was legit hiding from everyone for those months and not allowing anyone inside. I was one of those people who wiped down groceries and had Lysol strapped to her hip. 

One of my rental properties in the Knoxville area had a leak that resulted in a flooded basement. In trying to find someone to come immediately to help I did reach out to Tennessee Standard. They showed up, wore masks, used sanitizer, stayed several feet away, etc. and got the job done. So I can't really snark much on them for that. I was actually impressed that they did adhere to protocols so well when other service industry folks didn't - we're not going to discuss the leak in my former Georgia home that had the hardwood floors curling and warping and the man who wore his mask around his chin while telling me he always wore one. I didn't let him enter.  

It is nice to know that Tennessee Standard was so professional. Honestly they have really great reviews on most sites, I am not surprised that they get a lot of business. 

In the podcast he did with Jonas, Kelton did talk about his decision to leave his uncle’s business and go out on his own. He basically said that they reached a point where the direction he wanted to take his uncle’s business didn’t work for his uncle and that instead of pushing, Kelton respected that and chose to branch out on his own. That there was a little bit of hard feelings at first but that they worked through it and that both businesses are very successful but have gone in different directions (not sure what that means, not sure how many directions a plumbing company can go). 
 

he worked full time as a plumber and then did the office manager stuff for his uncle on top of that (why he was working so many hours), so if he was getting compensated for both jobs then he probably was able to save quite a bit, especially before he got married when he still lived at home. Kelton and Josie also seem to make fairly wise financial decisions compared to her family. Yes, they treat themselves to some nicer things, but when they needed a new car they bought a used one in great condition, they eat at home most nights, Kelton talked about how he priced out his Traeger and looked for the best deal. 

[Melissa1977]

I agree with @CanadianMamam Josie and Kelton are money wise. They travel, but I don't think it's foolish to travel they way they do, considering they both work and seem to earn a decent income. They started living in a very small apartment, then bought a modest house. They are doing things step by step and working a lot. That's why I think they won't suffer if social media income decline, while other Bates will have a major drama if that happens. 

 

[Hazelbunny]

My brother is a plumber and he just laughed and said during the pandemic on the big building sites the workers couldn't give a fuck about social distancing or masks or anything (if they kept thinking about all that, they wouldn't get anything done) 

But my brother tested every morning before going to work and he always carried a bag with him filled with gloves, masks, hand sanitizer and Covid-tests, when going to a private home. He told his clients he had tested in the morning, but if they wished it, he would do another one in front of them, but would want them to also test.