Affording Christmas with a big family

LINDA and Richard Skinner are always being asked the same cheeky question by their friends and, indeed, total strangers in the street.

"Haven't you got a telly?"

Full-time mum Linda simply laughs off the implication that her boisterous brood of five kids are the accidental result of having a bit too much free time on her hands.

"Richard and I both come from large families and we always knew we wanted a large family too," she explains. "All our kids were planned."

The Skinner clan currently comprises Emily, nine, Ethan, seven, Joshua, six, Katie, four, and Evie, two. They will be joined by a sixth sibling some time next May.

Both in their thirties, Richard and Linda live with their children in a modest three-bedroomed semi-detached house in Eastwood which they bought from Linda's grandparents seven years ago.

Richard is a tutor at Castle College, in Kimberley, teaching mainly Maths and English to 14 to 16 year olds.

Linda describes their income as "probably ever so slightly below the national average".

She adds: "We're not on the breadline by any means, but we're not rolling in it either.

"I don't work at the moment because the childcare would cost us too much money. But I do volunteer at my local Sure Start children's centre and I'm also a school governor, so that keeps me busy enough."

Like everyone, super organised Linda is finding it harder since the global economic crisis began.

"The worst thing with the credit crunch is buying things like food and petrol. And also our electricity and gas. It's all those things that you can't not buy that affect us worst.

"Some things haven't turned out too bad for us actually. Our mortgage has reduced by about £100 a month. And while food prices are more expensive, I think things like toys are a lot cheaper this year."

For the Skinners, living quite frugally throughout most of the year enables them to have a relatively "luxurious" time on special occasions – especially Christmas.

The couple don't drink or smoke, rarely go out socially and only use their car for long journeys. Linda walks rather than taking the bus.

"Richard does all the shopping and we tend to buy exactly the same things every week so that we know where we are with it," Linda explains.

"For the last two or three months, he has been getting all those two for one offers on things like biscuits and pop. Now we've got a big cupboard that's bursting with all the extra things we've bought and we'll have that over Christmas for our treats."

Other substantial savings are made because Linda is big on home cooking. "We never have ready-meals, they're too expensive," she says.

And the family keeps a stock of staples such as beans and tins of tuna to see them through lean times.

"Chopped tomatoes are always great to have in and we can always make something tasty with a bit of mince.

"If someone doesn't like what I've cooked or they're still hungry, we have lots of fruit," Linda says firmly. "We don't have many luxury foods at all – and we only have pudding on special occasions."

And Christmas is one time when Linda is happy to splash out. "We tend to do the Christmas shopping child by child," she says.

Linda is a keen online shopper and regularly searches for special offers.

"I never buy anything on impulse," she says. "I always look at something in the shops, research it on the internet."

Richard seems happy to let Linda be the main organiser.

"I enjoy being part of a big family," he says. "My kids are very funny, so they keep me entertained.

"Maybe I would like a bit more quiet but you can't always have everything can you? My friends do joke about us having so many kids. They ask: 'Haven't you got a telly to keep you entertained instead?'. And we always say, 'yes, but there's never anything good on it'."

Useful websites: www.4ormore.co.uk, www.mumsnet.com and www.surestart.gov.uk