A mother of 14 children revealed that she spends $75,600 a year on food, clothes, and bills for her family. For her, her large family is her “treasure”.
48-year-old Sarah Wolfgramm and her 56-year-old musician husband Haini have always dreamed of having a large family.
To maintain their family’s daily life, Mrs. Wolfgramm spends $6,300 a month, with $2,700 going towards the mortgage, $1,200 on food, $2,000 on utilities, and $400 on essentials. The “thrifty” mom, a restaurateur from Redlands, California, wisely spends money, buying discounted clothes and items, and purchasing food at wholesale prices.
Mrs. Wolfgramm has given birth to 14 children over 21 years, saying each pregnancy became “easier” for her, likening childbirth to riding a bike.
The couple has ten daughters: Eve (27), Isabella (24), Tihané (23), Nora May (18), Hazel (17), Mary (13), Vaké (11), Sariah (who passed away at 3 months), Lynnae (8), and Joy (6); and four sons: Heinrich (26), Abraham (21), Maikeli (20), and Wesley (15).
Mrs. Wolfgramm said, “Family is your treasure, and when you realize the value of family, life becomes easy.”
“We need at least $6,000 a month for our daily life. I shop at discount stores, thrift at Goodwill, and use my restaurant business to get food at wholesale prices.”
“When the kids want something outside the budget, like a new shirt, they work for it and buy it themselves. The older kids take on some responsibilities, such as paying their phone bills.”
The couple, married for 30 years, both come from large families and always dreamt of having many children. Their first child, Eve, was born in May 1996. Mrs. Wolfgramm thought she would stop having children after the 12th, but Sariah tragically passed away from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) at 3 months.
“She was our beautiful baby girl. She was my 12th child, so I thought I was done. One day, while I was baking, she fell asleep in my husband’s arms. He laid her downstairs, and when we checked on her, she wasn’t breathing.”
“It broke all of our hearts. She was the youngest. When we realized that any one of us could be taken in an instant, it shook our world. Our whole family was in mourning, and my children asked us to consider having another child because they didn’t want their perception of babies to end.”
“Saying goodbye to my child not knowing what comes next is terrifying, but I leave it to God. Shortly after, I was blessed with my rainbow baby Lynnae. She painted a rainbow on our broken hearts. We thought we were done having children.”
“We had 12 children, but later, another rainbow baby Joy came when I was 42. We know my two youngest are gifts from Sariah. She is up in heaven, watching over us. It brings comfort knowing we have an angel watching us.”
Mrs. Wolfgramm said she has a lot of patience and support to manage their busy household.
“We have a huge family network with aunts, uncles, and cousins who are always willing to help,” she said.
The family lives in a six-bedroom house with three bathrooms along with grandparents, 74-year-old Carl Knapp and 73-year-old Lynn Knapp. The children share a room, except for Eve, who has her own after Tihané moved out. Heinrich, Bella, and Maikeli also no longer live at home.
“It felt strange when the kids moved out; the house feels empty,” Mrs. Wolfgramm said. “We homeschool the children, which works best for our schedule, allowing me to manage household affairs.”
“The house runs like a well-oiled machine, and my eldest daughter took on the role of ensuring everyone is in order. Each child is assigned a household chore every month that they rotate, so they get to try different things. But if I notice something needs to be done, I’ll jump in.”
Mrs. Wolfgramm does laundry 21 times a week. The family doesn’t always sit down for a meal together every day, but she always has to make dinner.
“I only cook one meal a day. I place all the food on the table during dinner, and the kids can grab it anytime,” she said. “I leave it there so they can take what they want as they come and go at night.”
“You have to adapt to everyone’s different needs, which are always changing. It never goes according to plan; you just deal with it one thing at a time.”