Would Josh and Anna be able to afford a lot of children?

[donks]

They'll just buy some old shelving from a closed-down grocery store-instant 5 rack bunk beds!

[Kitten]

Well, based on how long it was taking them to build that first mega-house before TLC stepped in and paid for arranged for helped them to finish and furnish it, Josh and Anna better order another couple of kits and get started on their house now. JB always said he had 20 acres so each kid blessing could have a lot near Mommy and Daddy, so I guess he knew there would be 20 when he started. Well, actually, I guess he figured one of the girls would stay home forever and take care of him and Mich, so he only needed 19 left over, after he got his.

I suspect JB has a lot of the TLC money squirreled away, even with the luxuries they now allow themselves. We already know he and Michelle have at least one trust that includes multiple properties. How much Josh has separately is up for a lot of speculation - I've heard that as long as they sign the contract, adult children may not get anything for participation, with all payments going to JB and Michelle. So who really knows? That would certainly explain why Josh and Anna are so willing to drop whatever they're doing and join the family on their trips, even when it means schlepping a newborn and a toddler halfway around the world for several weeks of exhausting travel. If JB holds the TLC money reins, AND he owns the car lots, he pretty much controls their lives.

And whoever says these women are "letting God decide" on the size of their family is full of hooey. They are in a competition, no matter what comes out of their mouths, and in their minds, the best Christian gets the most babies. I bet Anna, Michelle, and Kelly each have 50 pregnancy tests stashed in their bathrooms. When they're not pregnant, they probably check every morning. Ugh...

[YPestis]

Josh had a lot of family help to start up his business. All this talk about allowing God to decide their quivers overshadows the fact that most single incomed homes require years for the breadwinner to build up his assets. Whether you go to college, trade school, start a business etc, those first few years fresh out of high school requires some financial discipline and hard work in order for any man to single handily support a large family without resorting to handouts. The Duggar philosophy doesn't take this idea into account. As soon as Josh was old enough to be released into the dating wild, he found a gal, married and knocked her up. If he didn't have family help, he and Anna would be welfare. Simple as that.

[Guest Anonymous]

I'm surprised that Smuggar hasn't bought a bigger house with his TLC money. My husband and I rent right now but if we did come into a big chunk of money, we would be buying a house. You know they are going to have more kids and I can see that little rental they are living in getting crowded really quick.

[Elle]

And whoever says these women are "letting God decide" on the size of their family is full of hooey. They are in a competition, no matter what comes out of their mouths, and in their minds, the best Christian gets the most babies. I bet Anna, Michelle, and Kelly each have 50 pregnancy tests stashed in their bathrooms. When they're not pregnant, they probably check every morning. Ugh...

If they trusted god they wouldn't utilize medical science. They would accept pregnancy loss as god's way of telling them that he's "calling that baby home." They "trust" as a convenient excuse for the competition, and will use doctors to thwart losses.

[bananacat]

I don't know if I would say Jim Bob has "work ethic"; I think he's just greedy. But either way, I definitely don't see that same quality in Josh.

As for schooling, they'll probably buy one set of wisdom booklets for each grade and then just reuse them over and over and over. I do think Anna will make a better effort at homeschooling than Michelle ever did, but I'm sure Josh won't want to pay the necessary money to buy what she needs.

[justlurking]

Michelle and Jim Bob worked for four years saving money and getting/staying out of debt before Josh came along. I think they had the time to build up a mindset of budgeting, spending little, etc before kids came along so they had the strength and willpower to not buy the latest and greatest as well as having a decent nest egg. Since Josh and Anna got pregnant after 4 months they didn't have this same building time as his parents. This is one of the biggest reasons why I don't think J/A will be able to afford a lot of kids. They never got into the mindset of getting their financial life into a mindset of wants vs needs in order to afford lots of kids.

I also don't see Jim Bob's work ethic in Josh. It may be just what I'm seeing on TV but from what I understand Jim Bob was basically working two jobs when he and Michelle first got married and continued those two jobs well after the babies were born. Josh seems to barely be working at one job and Anna isn't working.

Also, [to my recollection] Michelle contributed to the family income back then by working as well. Anna has never contributed to the family income in similar manner. You definitely have more money to fool around with when there's two incomes as opposed to one.

[Elle]

I don't think they'll be able to afford a dozen kids on a car lot salary unless we're talking about the kids getting enough to merely exist without dying. I think their physical needs will be minimally met, and that's all. An ex and I had a car lot. Well, it was bought with his money, but I helped run it. There were many cold nights sleeping in a back room at the office, many cold showers in the tiny shower. There were times we only got by learning to write everything off. If we couldn't make it into a tax write-off, we wouldn't buy it. Right down to food. By all accounts, the car lot was successful. Being a successful lot means you don't close down in the first year. It doesn't mean you're making enough for a comfortable existence. Profit margins per car are slim. There were many months where we only scraped by because of the money from my side-job, and this is without paying rent for a home.

Josh and Anna really aren't financially well-off unless they're hiding it. I recognize what they're doing with cars and dealer plates as something we did. The cars are "for sale" so they're not personal property, which means the gas for them can be written off, and there's no cost to register them personally and they're covered under the lot insurance. The dealer plates are technically to drive a car from auction to lot, lot to mechanic, things like that, not for driving a car for personal use. But you use the plates and a lot care for personal use when money's too tight. Chances are they got the cars they drive at wholesale and aren't converting them to personal use vehicles because of cost.

No I don't think they'll be able to adequately care for a large family long term on a car lot salary. When they grow out of the house they're in and have to pay to live somewhere else, they'll be sunk.

[Buzzard]

Josh and the boob are in totally different situations. Boob managed to get himself a state gig - complete with state benefits (and likely inside info) into what land to buy. He's managed to land some sweet deals with cell companies to put towers up... coincidence???

So yeah, he crowded the brood into a small house and thrived of thrift - but he's always been saavy. Smuggar is a tool. He cant sell the gospel, get elected, so he's relegated to used cars. Boob owns the lot and the house he lives in sooooo unless boob is willing to subsidize joshie then there's trouble a brewin.

That being said, the first born son of homeskooling kristian royalty like the duggars failing to succeed in the QF lifestyle would be a devastating blow - and a public one. So I'm guessing that when the show ends the money will pour in from all over to prop him up and further the cause. Josh and Anna will have 15 +. Josh will never really succeed but will live well and comfortably. He will travel the country singing the praises of their way of life.

[Patsy]

Yeah, Jim Bob might be a tool and an idiot, but he does have some level of intelligence, and he's been quite savvy. And for those schemes that didn't work out, that weren't so savvy - he was hardworking enough to work on a few others that did. Josh is so lazy he can't even be bothered to do one, easy job right. No way he'll be able to manage the way Jim Bob did.

[lizzy]

Depending on where you, homeschooling is almost as expensive as private school, maybe more if your kids are involved in a lot of activities. When I homeschooled, my kids were in the same mixture of sports and music they are in now, plus three different co-ops, karate, archery, numerous dance lessons, community theater, etc. That shit all costs money. It also takes time from the mom, lots and lots of it. Michelle could easily handle the little kids and the house herself if the others were in public school. The older girls are really paying a huge price for the parents' homeschooling conviction.

I'd be willing to bet that the Duggars probably get all of their homeschooling materials free now in exchange for endorsements. Same goes for Josh and Anna and the Bates. They are "famous" enough now in QF circles that I'm sure their endorsement is worth more to the company than their subscription.

[lilwriter85]

Yeah, Jim Bob might be a tool and an idiot, but he does have some level of intelligence, and he's been quite savvy. And for those schemes that didn't work out, that weren't so savvy - he was hardworking enough to work on a few others that did. Josh is so lazy he can't even be bothered to do one, easy job right. No way he'll be able to manage the way Jim Bob did.

I agree Boob has a bit more intelligence than Smuggar. Smuggar also has a political consulting business and I don't think he gets a lot of business for that.

[ElphabaGalinda]

They won't be able to afford a lot of children. Josh doesn't have thw ork ethic, or skills, or anything really, to afford the children they have now, and Anna will never work. Pre TLC Jim Bob and Michelle couldn't really afford the children they had, unless you think cramming 14 kids in a tiny house is okay. Even if Josh and Anna go the cramming kids in their tiny house, making their own clothes, only shopping at thrift store route, they will still struggle. At least Jim Bob has business sense and a work ethic. Josh doesn't even have that. That's not going to stop them from having a bajillion kids though.

[maybeizfundie]

Not at the level the Duggars live at now. But I think they are highly unlikely to have 20 kids, or anything near, even without using birth control.

[lilwriter85]

I don't think Josh and Anna will have 20. I can see them having maybe 10 at most. Anna probably doesn't have the fertility that Michelle does.

[Daenerys]

I don't think Josh and Anna will have 20. I can see them having maybe 10 at most. Anna probably doesn't have the fertility that Michelle does.

Michelle averaged around 18 months between kids, Anna had 21 between her first two and it may only have been around 12 had she not miscarried between them. It's too soon to say but she could be as fertile... however she doesn't have the twin gene as far as we know.

[Feberin]

Michelle averaged around 18 months between kids, Anna had 21 between her first two and it may only have been around 12 had she not miscarried between them. It's too soon to say but she could be as fertile... however she doesn't have the twin gene as far as we know.

Since Michelle is a freak of nature and very few women have her fertility rate even in the QF lifestyle I think it's fair to say that Anna will probably not have as many children as Michelle. While right now they may not have a big gap between kids I think as Anna gets older she will probably slow down and not from lack of trying.