I sooooo love your channel! We're a family of 6 and home school and I've implemented ALOT of your ideas and they are amazing and really save time and stress. Thanks and Blessings!
Tom, I am a new subscriber and I love these videos. I am doing the menu planning box and once a month larger grocery haul and our bill has seriously been cut in half. I am not kidding! So grateful for the chart and her heart to help make life a little easier. I imagine these are painful to watch and a fall and winter clothing haul might now be at the top of your list right now. Thank you for your helping hearts.
This is how I do it! We only have six, one due in March. I'm spending the second week of our school break going through the closets and getting my shopping list together and then I have a girls shopping weekend planned with my sisters and momma. I do it twice a year and I so look forward to it! Sticking to the list is much easier for my boys than for my girls...girl clothes are just so stinkin' cute!
Great video! Would love to see the assimilation of the new clothing--how you mark it, etc.I just love how organized you are and that you share your systems with us! Thanks so much!
when we moved across country I downsized our clothing. Then it exploded again within a few months of living here. 7 children constantly growing out of sizes, you know! I want to go through the clothes again & I believe your inventory list will help. thank you so much! I'm amazed your boys only have 2 pants though. mine get so sweaty playing outside or dirty. I try to do more. maybe 5 each. it just shows how we work it out to fit our family needs & having more or less is alright. We have so much in America & want more. it's crazy!
I'm about to have my fourth and this helped so much. with having 4 kids 5 and under this makes so much sense. I also love how in one of your videos, everyone has a certain clip for their hangers. Having two girls 18 months apart that will help me so much with keeping their clothes separated. I love your videos and get so many great ideas. Thank you and keeping making them.
I'm so glad you mentioned about the shoes, I can't possibly keep my kids in theirs for 6 months with growth and wear and tear. My oldest (14) appears to have finally plateaued so we are able to invest in some higher quality shoes, and other clothes, I was able to show her some shoes and clothes that I have owned for in some cases decades so she understands that her closet won't be a rotating door of fads.
I would love for you to video your shopping trip and show us your haul. One of my fav videos is when you and Claudia did an early morning shopping trip.😀
I love this video! Your amazing. I understand what you mean about how the kids don't care about brands or style. My son is the same way... and I'm not. He's a simple boy - would rather me just buy his clothes and bring it home for him (instead of going to the store and choosing and trying on). He just tells me if he needs like a sweatshirt and I buy it. He never asks for things he doesn't need.
Andrea, I love to watch your videos about clothing and organization for a large family. I think I have watch all of your videos so far. We are a family of 10 also, children ranging in age from 13 down to 17 months. All girls except one little boy age 6. I have tried to use many of your tips. I don't have the laundry one down just yet but I am working on it.
If you use pencil and have to erase that every time you go shopping you could laminate it and use a wet-erase marker because then it wouldn't erase unless you have water.
I took some video while we were out today and I'm going to show what we got. The Walmart cashier told me that I spent more money than she had ever seen someone spend in her line. Yikes! :)
Let's see if I can formulate my questions....Do you have a plan for teaching the kids 'good consumerism/clothes shopping skills' such as how to choose the best quality for the best price if you are just doing their shopping and making their choices (I really am trying to teach the g'kids about how to have versatile wardrobes of good stuff instead of impulse buys) AND Do you have any ideas about teaching them how to dress socially appropriately - for example if they have jobs some day, go to a nice social event, etc. xoj
you should set up a PO box an then some people can send you things.. even though I know you're not asking for anything. I love sharing and blessing people..I also donate my kids clothes. love your videos
I don't know if you're interested in this type of video, but filming yourself from a first-person perspective and going into a Walmart or a grocery store to buy weekly groceries or clothing items would be so satisfying to watch. You do a very nice job of explaining your weekly menu plans in your other videos, but I personally would find it very enjoyable to see you go up and down the aisles showing us how many chicken breasts you put in the cart, or what special brands of chips you buy (perhaps each child has their own preferences), and maybe even see, or at least roughly approximate, how much money you spend each trip. Thank you for your wonderful content.
I do like those kind of videos, but they take significantly more time to make than the ones where I just talk. I've had to be satisfied with less than what I would like to do because I figure it's better than no video at all. I did take some footage of our clothes shopping and what we did when we got home so if I find time to edit it, I'll get it up. Vlog type videos take me about 3-6 hours to edit depending on how long the video is, and sometimes there just aren't enough hours in the day to do all I'd like to! I will be talking more specifically about grocery shopping and spending as one of my upcoming monthly themes, so you can watch for that.
I'd like to share that Sears has a grow out/wear out garuntee for children's clothes and shoes. They'll replace the item for free for either the same/similar item in the same size or the same/similar item in a larger size. If your kids are growing out or wearing out their shoes every three months I think it would be worth looking into. (: It can also be helpful for clothes too! I recommend checking out if Walmart has a similar policy since you buy their shirts from there.
My family basically do the if you like it you can ask or buy it yourself sort of idea. For example we went out today so I bought myself a sweater and my mum got my sis some pjs then she bought a shirt herself. I have a whole closet of clothes but I pretty much wear 4 tops, 4 pairs of jeans, a pair of trainers (copy of converse) about 5 pairs of pjs and then whatever I need for school so leggings, blouses, blazer, skirts, and shoes :)
hey there so I'm new to the channel but what I was thinking and I don't know if you have thought of this but for the old shirts that you might toss that have maybe a hole in them what about making patch work quilts? this way you can utilize the material you have already and they family would get some nice comfy quilts and you wouldn't have to purchase blankets? just throwing it out there lol. I love your channel I have been binge watching it for a couple hrs now. talk to you later new sub from Canada!!
Yes they do. Anyone that buys them clothes knows how we dress by color, so they keep that in mind when shopping. For instance, my mother-in-law got several black items for Claudia for her first birthday. She asked me what colors Claudia might need clothes in and then narrowed her shopping choices to those colors. I think she enjoys the challenge of finding things she knows we need.
Wow, this is awesome, and definitely something that would help me. I am a shop because it's cute and bring it home and wonder where I am going to put it all girl. This makes so much sense! I want to go inventory now, but I am so overwhelmed with the thought - I have 4 girls in one room and all their clothes are together. If I can just get in there, one box at a time, it'll be all good. Thank you for inspiring me to do a count up and see what we have. :o) ps. we had church at home today, just us and the children. :o)
I'm so glad to hear you did church with your family! Every time I go on a trip I realize how much easier life is with less and it gets me inspired to pare down what we have. I'm sure you'll be so glad to get through all your girls' clothes!
I got through all the cubes in their room. So now I know that they have a minimum of 63 shirts, 8 skirts, 32 dresses, 44 pajamas pieces, 6 sweaters, 6 nighties, 29 leggings. I didn't count their winter jackets though. There are a few other items in drawers, but I was tired out from the cubes. At least now when we go out I'll be able to say, stop, I know we have yay amount of particular items and either don't need more, or yes, we can because they don't have that much. This was an excellent exercise for me to do. Thank you. Hopefully I can do it every couple of months - so I can stay on top of it. :o)
Andrea, I love your vlog. I am a 70 year old grandmother (with my husband) and our son and his ten children moved in with us last year Nov 2015. The oldest girl is now in college and the next oldest has a scholarship to a boarding school. So, now, we are a family of 11. We have a large house but it still shrank when our grandkids and their dad moved in with us. I will be holding on to your ideas as we grow into our new lives together. What is the link to your blog? Thank you for sharing your family with us.
I don't think it matters how big your house is... moving 11 people in at once must take some major adjustments! (Ours arrive one at a time so it's a bit easier. :) ) My blog is www.andreamills.tv; there's not much there yet, but hopefully I'll figure out how to find time to give it more love and attention!
u could buy 18 gallon totes for alternating seasons one for each person i come from a Family of ten siblings . we always had a minimum of 13 people living in a 3 bedroom house There was always a space issue it only had one bathroom so i know what Its like. if yr husband built u a small storage shed and u had a tote for each person it might help
Andrea, I love your videos and have watched most of them. I hope some of the comments don't hurt your feeling. I live and have lived a much different lifestyle than you, but find all of your family ideas very interesting. I would have raised my boys much differently if I had it to do over again. I have a question....do you as a family watch TV? I'm sure if you do, you limit the choices for the children. Also, I have a question about Halloween. I always enjoyed it as a child and when my boys were little, we had so much fun with it. I never looked at it as "worshiping the devil". We just looked at it as a fun time of dressing up and getting candy. But my grandsons aren't allowed to celebrate due to their parents beliefs. Now for my question. How do you answer those who say as a religious family, you should not celebrate Halloween?
I see your question has been somewhat answered already, but I'll answer anyway. We don't have cable TV, but we watch RUclips, movies and we buy seasons of shows we want to watch. Tom sees lots of TV when he's at other people's houses fixing their computers and if he sees something he thinks we'd like, we'll get it. I'm certain we have a much different point of view when it comes to media and Halloween than a lot of other Christians. We aren't overly restrictive when it comes to what our children watch, though we usually watch things together and use what we see as a springboard for many important conversations. We spend a lot of time talking about not just what we see, but what the message is that the story teller is trying to tell. We actually watch The Walking Dead as a family and the season premier was pretty distressing. (Some of us had to close our eyes!) We talked about why the writers chose to do what they did in the episode, what feelings they are trying to invoke in us as the audience, why they want us to feel that way, what are the implications to life in general, what is the agenda of media, etc. When we first started watching it, we would watch videos on how each episode was made and it was really helpful to get our kids' minds wrapped around the fact that almost everything we see and hear on TV isn't real and we don't ever need to be afraid of it. Underneath it all, whether they're zombies on The Walking Dead or politicians in a debate, they're just people putting on a show. It's one of our desires to raise children that are as "wise as serpents" and as "innocent as doves." We want them to know and understand the world while they are still under our watchful eye and at the same time understand that what is coming out of their own hearts matters. And as for Halloween, sin and evil only reside in human hearts and no matter what someone else's intentions are, it has no bearing on our intentions. Like you, we see Halloween as a fun day to dress up and take part in community; it's irrelevant to us if someone else likes to honor the day in an evil way. Some people take the view that if anything is "bad" it has to be avoided and life becomes more and more restricted. We take the view that the earth is the Lord's and everything in it, so it's all good. We find great freedom and abundance in that outlook.
Susan Robinson Every family can choose to celebrate or function as they choose. We shouldn't feel like we have to change others or change ourselves to match others assertions. As for us: Halloween is very much tainted with satanic influences, but Kids do enjoy it, and we don't want to be too extreeme or oppressive, so we go to a mall or trick or trunk at a church, and the Kids can't be anything wrong or evil like a witch or demon, etc. but they still get to have fun. We have the additional problem of my entire family being allergic to cane sugar (sad I know, right?) so we have to toss or donate all the candy we get, and buy special treats for our kiddos anyway.
My oldest (he'll be 6 in a couple months) is sooo picky! My second doesn't care at all so I dress my younger ones how I want. And keep my oldest's wardrobe with clothes that I don't mind him wearing and he can choose what to wear. He's been picky since he was 2.5 😂 I don't know. They're all different I guess.
You need some better 2nd hand stores around you. ;) We live in a largely populated area though....well, in the country near a big city with lots of smaller town all around us, most of which have thrift stores. Some are expensive, and I'd rather buy brand new at Walmart like you said here, but some are dirt cheap. Some sell a full bag of clothes for $1 on certain days, or some will weigh it. One of my favorites isn't very big but has 49 cent clothes throughout the store. Cheap stuff! It does take some sorting through, but with prices so cheap, I am more than willing! I love the idea of everyone wearing the same color, mostly for its simplicity, but I don't think that I would enjoy it for very long. lol My main problem would be the little ones getting food on their shirts ALL the time. I am in the process of downsizing everyone's wardrobes though, not to save space, but with 6 kids, we need SIMPLE. We also hand wash everything. If we have a lot of clothes (or dishes), they pile up quickly!
We do always have a few extra things for the little ones to wear because you never know when some sort of "explosion" will happen and they need clean clothes!
I am going to have to do this. We have lots of clothes. and no organization of any type. need to get this done before baby #5 is born in April. we will have 5 kids under age 6. do you have a video showing your closet or long term storage?
You can see inside the kids' closets on the videos of their bedrooms. I can't remember if I talked specifically about how they're organized, but you can get the basic idea. If I have time this month, I might try to talk specifically about what we do.
i know this is an old video but i have a question-dont your older kids want to dress different than the family?do your kids get sick of dressing alike?
Oh goodie! Have been waiting for this one! I notice that the kids wear shoes in the house. Do you have separate "house shoes" Not judging at all just wondering. Like the snow and such.
We wear shoes from the time we get dressed till we go to bed. In winter if the kids are going to play in the snow, they change into snow boots; otherwise we wear the same shoes inside and outside.
Once a month I do a trip to Walmart plus an on-line Walmart order. (I can't get it all in one cart so I buy all I can on the web-site first.) I go to our small local grocery store weekly and stock up on sale items, produce and anything we need to fill in for that week's menu. I also order some things from www.azurestandard.com on a monthly basis.
Sorry if you have already answered this, how do you keep the clothing stain free? I have six, they are typical active little kiddos. Their clothing is always getting stained and thus not something I really wanting them wearing out. It seems like Ive tried every stain treater out there, Ive soaked and scrubbed, tried different laundry detergents etc and I still struggle with constant staining.
BTW I had the same issue with second hand stores until we recently moved. Now there are so many options and they all organize by color so I can say "I need a hot pink shirt for this girls skirt" and then find the color I need. Often I can find it with tags and it was priced between 50 cents to 3 dollars each depending on the size/style. My oldest just got a brand new (with tag) dress from the local thrift store for 1.50 so I put it aside for a church dress so she had something nice for church.
That must be so nice to shop there! We have one second-hand store that does that, but only for the adult clothes. The kids' clothes are just organized by size. As for stains, I generally try to buy darker colors that don't show stains as much. I'm not a perfectionist about stains and I never do stain treatment. Sometimes there will be a shirt that has a stain that kind of annoys me, but unless it's really bad I ignore it. I'd probably just buy a new shirt if is was bad enough.
Some of the kids have matching swimsuits and some are different. When I just had four boys, they had matching swim trunks, but as they've grown we've handed them down and bought bigger ones as needed, so it's a mix of things. The girls have never had matching suits, but I had hoped to sew them some this year. (It didn't happen.) If the clothes are still in good shape, we donate them. If they're not, I throw them away. I save a few things and put them in the attic, but not much. We don't have a lot of room to collect stuff, so I really only keep things that are in very good condition which are usually seasonal things (like swimsuits and snow pants) and a few special baby things.
I know you make your own shirts but what do about bottoms? I thought I see you in denim skirts. I am not finding any (size 22ish lol) also, I like your ideas for inventory...very organized but no way could my guys only have 2 pair pants and 1 shoes. especially on the shoes lol I was thinking 1 boots, 1 tennies, and 1 dressier minimum again, my boys "need" 3-4 pair athletic style shoes....yep, if your buying them is my motto otherwise it's about 1 pair every 2 to 3 mos alternating on styles and what we can find on sale. 6pm has been a good place for my narrow footed boy :) not for wider foot guy :(
When I get to the States I have had good luck in that size range with the Roz & Ali line at Dress Barn, both casual skirts and cords/jeans. They have that collection online too if shopping that way works for you and I have found them true to size.
I buy my skirts from Style J (www.denimskirts.com). I can usually find nice, basic skirts in bigger sizes. Some of their stuff has flashy details so I make sure to look carefully at all the views of each skirt. I'm fine with flashy stuff, but not when I'm expecting something plain! They have sales a lot and usually there's a coupon code out there somewhere.
Loved this video! Maybe if u buy a higher end brand of sneaker, not Walmart it will save money because u won't have to buy shoes so often. You can get Nike or adidas that are on sale and maybe u won't have to buy shoes so often, maybe 1 time a year you will need to buy them
I've actually experimented with that and it seems that we get about a month of wear for every $5 we spend no matter how high or low we go on price. At $10 pair lasts 2 months, a $50 pair lasts 9-10 months. I decided to stick with the cheap ones so I didn't have to make a separate shopping stop and it's just fun for the kids to have a change (if they want) every few months. Of course, when one of those growth spurts hits, we have to buy new shoes anyway, so they might as well be cheap ones!
+Andrea Mills - yea I remember growing up I had to get new shoes almost every couple months because my feet grew so fast.. now 25 and my shoe size is 10 womens. My mom is only 7.5 so she wasn't too happy with my shoe needs :)
No. Asher and Judah are the only ones who don't have tennis shoes but what they have is still fine for playing and running around. (Eden still has an old pair of tennis shoes she wears or I would've made her choose some when we were shopping.)
No, our nearest mall is 115 miles away. We have Walmart and K-mart about half an hour away, plus smaller boutique shops, which are kind of pricey. I shop at Walmart.
One of the things I had to understand is that children are born with full control over their bladders and bowels; they just need to be trained when and where. By the time we start toilet training, they've had a good long time establishing the habit of anytime, anywhere. Each of my kids has been somewhat different in what motivates them, but until they have the will to cooperate, you're going to have a difficult time! What particular difficulties are you having?
Andrea Mills thank you some difficulties I'm having are my little boy will only go if you ask him which is pretty good but he won't go by himself another issue we are having (I know it's a little gross but) he doesn't get how to push out poop so he waits until it kind of just falls out into his diaper thank you again for you help you are a wonderful mother and wife bless you
We're not in the habit of doing things we don't have the need or desire to do. If a need/desire arises, then we take care of it. We spent a number of years very involved in Cub Scouts, but we realized it wasn't meeting any needs and it was a lot of effort and expense. We aren't in any externally organized group activities because we don't feel a need for them. We do lots of extras with our family (and extended family and friends) that we feel we need or that we enjoy. As for music, we sometimes play with our little hand bell set or our little instrument assortment (cowbell, tambourine, xylophone, etc.) and practice reading music. We sing together some. But if we didn't do that, I wouldn't feel like there was anything wrong with it. I definitely don't feel any pressure to be in activities just because it's what kids are "supposed" to do. I think each family has a "personality" and we're all happier when we do what we value and enjoy and accept that it might be different than what other people enjoy or value.
Ok cool! I always wondered. I grew up wearing pants, then started wearing skirts when I married. After he left us I couldn't go back to pants because they just FELT WEIRD. I love all of your videos!!
Like shoes, we sometimes buy new pants sooner than the next trip. I only have room on the shelves for 2 pairs, so they wear a pair a few times before washing them. Then when that pair is in the laundry cycle, they wear the other pair. If they get worn out, I buy new jeans on my next monthly shopping trip rather than wait till the big clothes shopping trip.
Andrea Mills My kids wear one pair of pants a day because they love getting into the dirt piles outside- we have to have at least 7 pairs. Would be nice to have just 2
Here's a link to the PDF. It has 4 pages; two are blank so you can use them yourself and 2 are filled in with my Fall/Winter lists and my Spring/Summer lists. static.parastorage.com/services/wix-labs-pdf-viewer-statics/1.29.0/libs/pdfjs/web/viewer.html?file=media.wix.com/ugd/f9879c_1ae90a0d9997403abe9371014e07547e.pdf#page=1&links=true&originalFileName=Clothing
I'm 16, have no children, have no intention for having children until after grad school, but I find these videos intriguing
awesomechick648 same pretty much except I'm 17
I would love to see you actually doing the shopping, and hear you explain what all you got, and how much you spent. Love your videos. Thanks!
Next time it would be really good to see how you shopped at wal mart, like take us with you and show how you get everything for everyone.
Taryn Barstow I agree!! please do that
i'm literally a 15 year old girl why am i obsessed with your videos hahahahhhahhaah
mia pia I am too
mia pia literally same
I sooooo love your channel! We're a family of 6 and home school and I've implemented ALOT of your ideas and they are amazing and really save time and stress. Thanks and Blessings!
Tom, I am a new subscriber and I love these videos. I am doing the menu planning box and once a month larger grocery haul and our bill has seriously been cut in half. I am not kidding! So grateful for the chart and her heart to help make life a little easier. I imagine these are painful to watch and a fall and winter clothing haul might now be at the top of your list right now. Thank you for your helping hearts.
This is how I do it! We only have six, one due in March. I'm spending the second week of our school break going through the closets and getting my shopping list together and then I have a girls shopping weekend planned with my sisters and momma. I do it twice a year and I so look forward to it! Sticking to the list is much easier for my boys than for my girls...girl clothes are just so stinkin' cute!
Great video! Would love to see the assimilation of the new clothing--how you mark it, etc.I just love how organized you are and that you share your systems with us! Thanks so much!
when we moved across country I downsized our clothing. Then it exploded again within a few months of living here. 7 children constantly growing out of sizes, you know! I want to go through the clothes again & I believe your inventory list will help. thank you so much!
I'm amazed your boys only have 2 pants though. mine get so sweaty playing outside or dirty. I try to do more. maybe 5 each. it just shows how we work it out to fit our family needs & having more or less is alright. We have so much in America & want more. it's crazy!
I'm about to have my fourth and this helped so much. with having 4 kids 5 and under this makes so much sense. I also love how in one of your videos, everyone has a certain clip for their hangers. Having two girls 18 months apart that will help me so much with keeping their clothes separated. I love your videos and get so many great ideas. Thank you and keeping making them.
every time I watch what it is that you do an knowing that you live with the cash you have not loans and crap is just amazing to me your wonderful
i am still young but am fascinated by your videos and totally enjoy watching them
I'm so glad you mentioned about the shoes, I can't possibly keep my kids in theirs for 6 months with growth and wear and tear. My oldest (14) appears to have finally plateaued so we are able to invest in some higher quality shoes, and other clothes, I was able to show her some shoes and clothes that I have owned for in some cases decades so she understands that her closet won't be a rotating door of fads.
Thanks for the PDF for the clothing inventory! U read my mind 😃
I would love for you to video your shopping trip and show us your haul. One of my fav videos is when you and Claudia did an early morning shopping trip.😀
love your videos so addicting😍😍
I love this video! Your amazing. I understand what you mean about how the kids don't care about brands or style. My son is the same way... and I'm not. He's a simple boy - would rather me just buy his clothes and bring it home for him (instead of going to the store and choosing and trying on). He just tells me if he needs like a sweatshirt and I buy it. He never asks for things he doesn't need.
P.S. I would love to see the clothes you get from your trip. 😊
Andrea, I love to watch your videos about clothing and organization for a large family. I think I have watch all of your videos so far. We are a family of 10 also, children ranging in age from 13 down to 17 months. All girls except one little boy age 6. I have tried to use many of your tips. I don't have the laundry one down just yet but I am working on it.
If you use pencil and have to erase that every time you go shopping you could laminate it and use a wet-erase marker because then it wouldn't erase unless you have water.
I agree I would love to see you shopping or show us your winter clothing haul!
I took some video while we were out today and I'm going to show what we got. The Walmart cashier told me that I spent more money than she had ever seen someone spend in her line. Yikes! :)
One large family to another...I love it! Thank-you
Let's see if I can formulate my questions....Do you have a plan for teaching the kids 'good consumerism/clothes shopping skills' such as how to choose the best quality for the best price if you are just doing their shopping and making their choices (I really am trying to teach the g'kids about how to have versatile wardrobes of good stuff instead of impulse buys) AND Do you have any ideas about teaching them how to dress socially appropriately - for example if they have jobs some day, go to a nice social event, etc. xoj
love your videos on organisation ...thumbs up
you should set up a PO box an then some people can send you things.. even though I know you're not asking for anything. I love sharing and blessing people..I also donate my kids clothes. love your videos
Actually, in my town that's the only way we get mail! Our address is P.O. Box 323, Moorcroft, Wyoming 82721,
I don't know if you're interested in this type of video, but filming yourself from a first-person perspective and going into a Walmart or a grocery store to buy weekly groceries or clothing items would be so satisfying to watch. You do a very nice job of explaining your weekly menu plans in your other videos, but I personally would find it very enjoyable to see you go up and down the aisles showing us how many chicken breasts you put in the cart, or what special brands of chips you buy (perhaps each child has their own preferences), and maybe even see, or at least roughly approximate, how much money you spend each trip. Thank you for your wonderful content.
I do like those kind of videos, but they take significantly more time to make than the ones where I just talk. I've had to be satisfied with less than what I would like to do because I figure it's better than no video at all. I did take some footage of our clothes shopping and what we did when we got home so if I find time to edit it, I'll get it up. Vlog type videos take me about 3-6 hours to edit depending on how long the video is, and sometimes there just aren't enough hours in the day to do all I'd like to! I will be talking more specifically about grocery shopping and spending as one of my upcoming monthly themes, so you can watch for that.
Andrea Mills Thanks, Andrea! Always wondered how you found the time to make and edit your videos!!
I'd like to share that Sears has a grow out/wear out garuntee for children's clothes and shoes. They'll replace the item for free for either the same/similar item in the same size or the same/similar item in a larger size. If your kids are growing out or wearing out their shoes every three months I think it would be worth looking into. (: It can also be helpful for clothes too! I recommend checking out if Walmart has a similar policy since you buy their shirts from there.
Great idea! I started directly on my own list, because I am not a big fan of shopping.
we buy clothes at walmart to, specially for the kids. The prices are really good
My family basically do the if you like it you can ask or buy it yourself sort of idea. For example we went out today so I bought myself a sweater and my mum got my sis some pjs then she bought a shirt herself.
I have a whole closet of clothes but I pretty much wear 4 tops, 4 pairs of jeans, a pair of trainers (copy of converse) about 5 pairs of pjs and then whatever I need for school so leggings, blouses, blazer, skirts, and shoes :)
I think that's how most of us are. We tend to own way more than we actually wear!
hey there so I'm new to the channel but what I was thinking and I don't know if you have thought of this but for the old shirts that you might toss that have maybe a hole in them what about making patch work quilts? this way you can utilize the material you have already and they family would get some nice comfy quilts and you wouldn't have to purchase blankets? just throwing it out there lol. I love your channel I have been binge watching it for a couple hrs now. talk to you later new sub from Canada!!
Hiya! I really enjoy watching your videos! I have a question though- do your children wear the clothes people give them for their birthdays?
Yes they do. Anyone that buys them clothes knows how we dress by color, so they keep that in mind when shopping. For instance, my mother-in-law got several black items for Claudia for her first birthday. She asked me what colors Claudia might need clothes in and then narrowed her shopping choices to those colors. I think she enjoys the challenge of finding things she knows we need.
That's so cool! Yes I saw Claudia's 1st birthday video. She is VERY cute!
love the videos!!
u could buy 18 gallon bins for alternting seasons and u could have tomarrow build u a small storage shed
Wow, this is awesome, and definitely something that would help me. I am a shop because it's cute and bring it home and wonder where I am going to put it all girl. This makes so much sense! I want to go inventory now, but I am so overwhelmed with the thought - I have 4 girls in one room and all their clothes are together. If I can just get in there, one box at a time, it'll be all good. Thank you for inspiring me to do a count up and see what we have. :o)
ps. we had church at home today, just us and the children. :o)
I'm so glad to hear you did church with your family! Every time I go on a trip I realize how much easier life is with less and it gets me inspired to pare down what we have. I'm sure you'll be so glad to get through all your girls' clothes!
I got through all the cubes in their room. So now I know that they have a minimum of 63 shirts, 8 skirts, 32 dresses, 44 pajamas pieces, 6 sweaters, 6 nighties, 29 leggings. I didn't count their winter jackets though. There are a few other items in drawers, but I was tired out from the cubes. At least now when we go out I'll be able to say, stop, I know we have yay amount of particular items and either don't need more, or yes, we can because they don't have that much. This was an excellent exercise for me to do. Thank you. Hopefully I can do it every couple of months - so I can stay on top of it. :o)
Andrea, I love your vlog. I am a 70 year old grandmother (with my husband) and our son and his ten children moved in with us last year Nov 2015. The oldest girl is now in college and the next oldest has a scholarship to a boarding school. So, now, we are a family of 11. We have a large house but it still shrank when our grandkids and their dad moved in with us. I will be holding on to your ideas as we grow into our new lives together. What is the link to your blog? Thank you for sharing your family with us.
I don't think it matters how big your house is... moving 11 people in at once must take some major adjustments! (Ours arrive one at a time so it's a bit easier. :) ) My blog is www.andreamills.tv; there's not much there yet, but hopefully I'll figure out how to find time to give it more love and attention!
u could buy 18 gallon totes for alternating seasons one for each person i come from a Family of ten siblings . we always had a minimum of 13 people living in a 3 bedroom house There was always a space issue it only had one bathroom so i know what Its like. if yr husband built u a small storage shed and u had a tote for each person it might help
This is what I aspire to be like if I'm ever a parent 😍😍😍😍
Andrea, I love your videos and have watched most of them. I hope some of the comments don't hurt your feeling. I live and have lived a much different lifestyle than you, but find all of your family ideas very interesting. I would have raised my boys much differently if I had it to do over again. I have a question....do you as a family watch TV? I'm sure if you do, you limit the choices for the children. Also, I have a question about Halloween. I always enjoyed it as a child and when my boys were little, we had so much fun with it. I never looked at it as "worshiping the devil". We just looked at it as a fun time of dressing up and getting candy. But my grandsons aren't allowed to celebrate due to their parents beliefs. Now for my question. How do you answer those who say as a religious family, you should not celebrate Halloween?
They have a video about their Halloween views on her husband Tom's channel, it's worth the watch!
I see your question has been somewhat answered already, but I'll answer anyway. We don't have cable TV, but we watch RUclips, movies and we buy seasons of shows we want to watch. Tom sees lots of TV when he's at other people's houses fixing their computers and if he sees something he thinks we'd like, we'll get it. I'm certain we have a much different point of view when it comes to media and Halloween than a lot of other Christians. We aren't overly restrictive when it comes to what our children watch, though we usually watch things together and use what we see as a springboard for many important conversations. We spend a lot of time talking about not just what we see, but what the message is that the story teller is trying to tell. We actually watch The Walking Dead as a family and the season premier was pretty distressing. (Some of us had to close our eyes!) We talked about why the writers chose to do what they did in the episode, what feelings they are trying to invoke in us as the audience, why they want us to feel that way, what are the implications to life in general, what is the agenda of media, etc. When we first started watching it, we would watch videos on how each episode was made and it was really helpful to get our kids' minds wrapped around the fact that almost everything we see and hear on TV isn't real and we don't ever need to be afraid of it. Underneath it all, whether they're zombies on The Walking Dead or politicians in a debate, they're just people putting on a show. It's one of our desires to raise children that are as "wise as serpents" and as "innocent as doves." We want them to know and understand the world while they are still under our watchful eye and at the same time understand that what is coming out of their own hearts matters. And as for Halloween, sin and evil only reside in human hearts and no matter what someone else's intentions are, it has no bearing on our intentions. Like you, we see Halloween as a fun day to dress up and take part in community; it's irrelevant to us if someone else likes to honor the day in an evil way. Some people take the view that if anything is "bad" it has to be avoided and life becomes more and more restricted. We take the view that the earth is the Lord's and everything in it, so it's all good. We find great freedom and abundance in that outlook.
I love this attitude! You and your family are really an inspiration!
"The Earth is the Lord's and everything in it"
Susan Robinson Every family can choose to celebrate or function as they choose. We shouldn't feel like we have to change others or change ourselves to match others assertions.
As for us: Halloween is very much tainted with satanic influences, but Kids do enjoy it, and we don't want to be too extreeme or oppressive, so we go to a mall or trick or trunk at a church, and the Kids can't be anything wrong or evil like a witch or demon, etc. but they still get to have fun.
We have the additional problem of my entire family being allergic to cane sugar (sad I know, right?) so we have to toss or donate all the candy we get, and buy special treats for our kiddos anyway.
Does your family dress up for church? Or just wear your everyday polos, etc.?
Very interesting and inspiring. thanks
My oldest (he'll be 6 in a couple months) is sooo picky! My second doesn't care at all so I dress my younger ones how I want. And keep my oldest's wardrobe with clothes that I don't mind him wearing and he can choose what to wear. He's been picky since he was 2.5 😂 I don't know. They're all different I guess.
Love all your videos!
You can donate the clothes that can't be worn again or scaps of cloth. Goodwill takes them and they are torn up and recycled into all sorts of things.
you should do this in a shopping video and how you shop for this
You need some better 2nd hand stores around you. ;) We live in a largely populated area though....well, in the country near a big city with lots of smaller town all around us, most of which have thrift stores. Some are expensive, and I'd rather buy brand new at Walmart like you said here, but some are dirt cheap. Some sell a full bag of clothes for $1 on certain days, or some will weigh it. One of my favorites isn't very big but has 49 cent clothes throughout the store. Cheap stuff! It does take some sorting through, but with prices so cheap, I am more than willing!
I love the idea of everyone wearing the same color, mostly for its simplicity, but I don't think that I would enjoy it for very long. lol My main problem would be the little ones getting food on their shirts ALL the time. I am in the process of downsizing everyone's wardrobes though, not to save space, but with 6 kids, we need SIMPLE. We also hand wash everything. If we have a lot of clothes (or dishes), they pile up quickly!
We do always have a few extra things for the little ones to wear because you never know when some sort of "explosion" will happen and they need clean clothes!
Boy, isn't that true?! My youngest just recently potty trained, but if we're out for a while, we try to have extra clothes for the youngest two!
I am going to have to do this. We have lots of clothes. and no organization of any type. need to get this done before baby #5 is born in April. we will have 5 kids under age 6. do you have a video showing your closet or long term storage?
You can see inside the kids' closets on the videos of their bedrooms. I can't remember if I talked specifically about how they're organized, but you can get the basic idea. If I have time this month, I might try to talk specifically about what we do.
Maybe I missed it but do you have a monthly budget video? I would be interested in seeing one for a large frugal family.
I haven't really talked about that yet. I'm hoping to devote January to money topics.
Your system is great!!!
i know this is an old video but i have a question-dont your older kids want to dress different than the family?do your kids get sick of dressing alike?
Oh goodie! Have been waiting for this one! I notice that the kids wear shoes in the house. Do you have separate "house shoes" Not judging at all just wondering. Like the snow and such.
Oh and thanks for sharing the list! Saves so much head ache!
We wear shoes from the time we get dressed till we go to bed. In winter if the kids are going to play in the snow, they change into snow boots; otherwise we wear the same shoes inside and outside.
Hey! love your videos! I'm sure you have covered it but do you do all your shopping once a month? like do you shop for produce more often or anything?
Once a month I do a trip to Walmart plus an on-line Walmart order. (I can't get it all in one cart so I buy all I can on the web-site first.) I go to our small local grocery store weekly and stock up on sale items, produce and anything we need to fill in for that week's menu. I also order some things from www.azurestandard.com on a monthly basis.
also do a Walmart adventure video please
This is the one you need to watch before your clothing haul, Tommy.
Thanks I am glad she had this one.
Sorry if you have already answered this, how do you keep the clothing stain free? I have six, they are typical active little kiddos. Their clothing is always getting stained and thus not something I really wanting them wearing out. It seems like Ive tried every stain treater out there, Ive soaked and scrubbed, tried different laundry detergents etc and I still struggle with constant staining.
BTW I had the same issue with second hand stores until we recently moved. Now there are so many options and they all organize by color so I can say "I need a hot pink shirt for this girls skirt" and then find the color I need. Often I can find it with tags and it was priced between 50 cents to 3 dollars each depending on the size/style. My oldest just got a brand new (with tag) dress from the local thrift store for 1.50 so I put it aside for a church dress so she had something nice for church.
That must be so nice to shop there! We have one second-hand store that does that, but only for the adult clothes. The kids' clothes are just organized by size. As for stains, I generally try to buy darker colors that don't show stains as much. I'm not a perfectionist about stains and I never do stain treatment. Sometimes there will be a shirt that has a stain that kind of annoys me, but unless it's really bad I ignore it. I'd probably just buy a new shirt if is was bad enough.
heather means j
For swimsuit is it like you do clothes with all matching? And whats it like taking your whole family to the beach/pool. Sorry for the summer questions
Some of the kids have matching swimsuits and some are different. When I just had four boys, they had matching swim trunks, but as they've grown we've handed them down and bought bigger ones as needed, so it's a mix of things. The girls have never had matching suits, but I had hoped to sew them some this year. (It didn't happen.)
If the clothes are still in good shape, we donate them. If they're not, I throw them away. I save a few things and put them in the attic, but not much. We don't have a lot of room to collect stuff, so I really only keep things that are in very good condition which are usually seasonal things (like swimsuits and snow pants) and a few special baby things.
I know you make your own shirts but what do about bottoms? I thought I see you in denim skirts. I am not finding any (size 22ish lol) also, I like your ideas for inventory...very organized but no way could my guys only have 2 pair pants and 1 shoes. especially on the shoes lol I was thinking 1 boots, 1 tennies, and 1 dressier minimum again, my boys "need" 3-4 pair athletic style shoes....yep, if your buying them is my motto otherwise it's about 1 pair every 2 to 3 mos alternating on styles and what we can find on sale. 6pm has been a good place for my narrow footed boy :) not for wider foot guy :(
6pm.com oops and please don't forget skirt question thru all my ramblings hehehe
When I get to the States I have had good luck in that size range with the Roz & Ali line at Dress Barn, both casual skirts and cords/jeans. They have that collection online too if shopping that way works for you and I have found them true to size.
I buy my skirts from Style J (www.denimskirts.com). I can usually find nice, basic skirts in bigger sizes. Some of their stuff has flashy details so I make sure to look carefully at all the views of each skirt. I'm fine with flashy stuff, but not when I'm expecting something plain! They have sales a lot and usually there's a coupon code out there somewhere.
Loved this video! Maybe if u buy a higher end brand of sneaker, not Walmart it will save money because u won't have to buy shoes so often. You can get Nike or adidas that are on sale and maybe u won't have to buy shoes so often, maybe 1 time a year you will need to buy them
I've actually experimented with that and it seems that we get about a month of wear for every $5 we spend no matter how high or low we go on price. At $10 pair lasts 2 months, a $50 pair lasts 9-10 months. I decided to stick with the cheap ones so I didn't have to make a separate shopping stop and it's just fun for the kids to have a change (if they want) every few months. Of course, when one of those growth spurts hits, we have to buy new shoes anyway, so they might as well be cheap ones!
That totally makes sense! Have a great day... thanks for responding
+Andrea Mills - yea I remember growing up I had to get new shoes almost every couple months because my feet grew so fast.. now 25 and my shoe size is 10 womens. My mom is only 7.5 so she wasn't too happy with my shoe needs :)
Thank you so much
Cool vid
Lucky you that you can get cheap clothes. Here prizes a at least 4 times as high. (Norway)
Where do you get your skirts?
I buy them from Style J at www.denimskirts.com.
What about work out clothes? Like do your children also have work out shoes?
No. Asher and Judah are the only ones who don't have tennis shoes but what they have is still fine for playing and running around. (Eden still has an old pair of tennis shoes she wears or I would've made her choose some when we were shopping.)
What do you do with all the old clothes?
We donate everything that's still in good shape.
do you get your family clothes from the mall for example old navy or gap
No, our nearest mall is 115 miles away. We have Walmart and K-mart about half an hour away, plus smaller boutique shops, which are kind of pricey. I shop at Walmart.
Do you have any tips or tricks on toilet training I'm going through it with my son and it's quite difficult thanks anything helps.
One of the things I had to understand is that children are born with full control over their bladders and bowels; they just need to be trained when and where. By the time we start toilet training, they've had a good long time establishing the habit of anytime, anywhere. Each of my kids has been somewhat different in what motivates them, but until they have the will to cooperate, you're going to have a difficult time! What particular difficulties are you having?
Andrea Mills thank you some difficulties I'm having are my little boy will only go if you ask him which is pretty good but he won't go by himself another issue we are having (I know it's a little gross but) he doesn't get how to push out poop so he waits until it kind of just falls out into his diaper thank you again for you help you are a wonderful mother and wife bless you
How old is he?
Andrea Mills he is almost 3
This is genius!
do any of your children play any sports or do extra-curricular activities outside of school?
None of them have been interested in sports so far. We attend sporting events sometimes, but it's not really our thing.
Andrea Mills do any of them play instruments or do other extra-curricular activities?
We're not in the habit of doing things we don't have the need or desire to do. If a need/desire arises, then we take care of it. We spent a number of years very involved in Cub Scouts, but we realized it wasn't meeting any needs and it was a lot of effort and expense. We aren't in any externally organized group activities because we don't feel a need for them. We do lots of extras with our family (and extended family and friends) that we feel we need or that we enjoy. As for music, we sometimes play with our little hand bell set or our little instrument assortment (cowbell, tambourine, xylophone, etc.) and practice reading music. We sing together some. But if we didn't do that, I wouldn't feel like there was anything wrong with it. I definitely don't feel any pressure to be in activities just because it's what kids are "supposed" to do. I think each family has a "personality" and we're all happier when we do what we value and enjoy and accept that it might be different than what other people enjoy or value.
Great videos- you are an inspiration for our videos-please check us out and help us get on our feet!!
Do you keep a separate budget for medical stuff such as braces, physical exams, vaccinations etc.?
We set aside some money in savings each month for medical needs and we're members of Samaritan Ministries.
I notice your girls wear pants. Do you also or do you just wear skirts?
I wear skirts just because I prefer them, but I have nothing against wearing pants.
Ok cool! I always wondered. I grew up wearing pants, then started wearing skirts when I married. After he left us I couldn't go back to pants because they just FELT WEIRD. I love all of your videos!!
I don't understand how 2 bottoms are enough!? not being rude at all, but my son would have them torn up so fast.
Like shoes, we sometimes buy new pants sooner than the next trip. I only have room on the shelves for 2 pairs, so they wear a pair a few times before washing them. Then when that pair is in the laundry cycle, they wear the other pair. If they get worn out, I buy new jeans on my next monthly shopping trip rather than wait till the big clothes shopping trip.
I see. I understand not having enough room. My house is getting that way. Haha
Andrea Mills My kids wear one pair of pants a day because they love getting into the dirt piles outside- we have to have at least 7 pairs. Would be nice to have just 2
Could u give name of the clothes list
Here's a link to the PDF. It has 4 pages; two are blank so you can use them yourself and 2 are filled in with my Fall/Winter lists and my Spring/Summer lists. static.parastorage.com/services/wix-labs-pdf-viewer-statics/1.29.0/libs/pdfjs/web/viewer.html?file=media.wix.com/ugd/f9879c_1ae90a0d9997403abe9371014e07547e.pdf#page=1&links=true&originalFileName=Clothing
Thank u
do you have a P.O. box?
It's P.O. Box 323, Moorcroft, Wyoming 82721.
Do you want to be the Duggers
I want to be the Mills. :)
+Andrea Mills love your answer:)
u should get a dog
Reine Margaret Marinas aW I LOVE DOGI