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Their portrait
Angèle and Valérian live in Vendée with their five children: four sons aged 13, 11, 5 and 2, and a daughter aged 9. A sixth little boy (another boy!) Will come to enlarge the tribe, next month.
He is a worker, she is a housewife. With just one salary, this large family is very careful with its budget. “Everything is calculated in advance,” explains Angèle. “I keep an account book in which I note all the expenses to be expected. “
Well organized and low-spending, the couple manages to save several hundred euros each month. He opens his wallet to us.
Income: € 3171 per month
Valérian’s salary: € 1700 net per month
Our witness dad has been a handler in a tire factory for nearly fifteen years.
Angela’s salary: 0 €
She did odd jobs before taking parental leave at the birth of her fourth child, five years ago.
Family allowances + Parental leave allowances: € 1170 per month
Personalized housing assistance: € 301 per month
Fixed expenses: € 1354 per month
Rent: 465 € per month
When they learned that new HLM housing was going to be built in the subdivision where they both grew up, Angèle and Valérian immediately sent a letter to the mayor of the town (in Vendée). Their file was quickly accepted. The result: the family now lives in a 92 m² house with four bedrooms and a small garden.
Consumer credit: € 291 per month
The couple borrowed money to finance their minibus, which they bought used seven months ago.
Housing tax: 0 €
Household waste: € 22 per month
TV license fee: € 10 per month
Income taxes: 0 €
Insurance: € 119 per month for accommodation and two vehicles
Telephone / Internet subscription: € 52 per month
Neither Angèle nor Valérian have a cell phone. “We had one before, but we never used the entire package. Finally, we realized that we could do without it. By unsubscribing, we saved 30 € per month! », Congratulates the young mother.
Gas / electricity: 117 € per month
Water: 53 € per month
The couple teach their children not to waste energy. At home, we let the water run for a minimum of time in the shower, we turn off the light when we leave a room and we do not leave the doors open in winter when we heat.
School transport: € 30 per month for two older children, secondary school students.
Gasoline: 80 € per month
Valérian works a 5-minute drive from home, so fuel costs are low. When the weather is nice, Angèle prefers to take the children to school on foot. For extracurricular activities, she arranges with another family, suddenly, only makes one trip out of two.
Canteen: 115 € per month for all children
“They eat at school, it’s cheaper considering the price of food. “
Other expenses: € 935 per month
Shopping budget: 800 € per month
The family has a habit of ordering the “dry” (pasta, preserves, etc.) on the Internet and buying the “fresh” (eggs, yoghurts, etc.) at the supermarket. “We take branded products when there are promotions, if not the private label”, specifies Angèle. Our young mother loves to cook, so she buys very few prepared meals.
Leisure budget: 30 € per month on average
“The adults sometimes go to the cinema, otherwise we prefer free outings: fairs, walks …”
Clothing budget: 30 € per month on average
For birthdays, grandparents like to give things useful, especially to dress the children. Otherwise, Angèle goes to the sales, goes to “low price” stores and clothing markets.
Pharmacy budget: 10 € per month
Hairdresser budget: 15 € per month
Only the two oldest go to the hairdresser. Angèle cuts the hair of her two youngest children herself, while she and her daughter prefer to keep their hair long.
Holiday budget: 50 € per month
Each month, the couple places 50 € in a savings account specially intended for the holidays. This allows them to take their five children to the mountains for a week or two, every summer, on a rental basis.
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