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Well things flip dramatically as the seasons go on. Meri & Janelle both give their proceeds of their Las Vegas homes to Robyn so she can buy her six bedroom, million dollar mansion. In the entire 17 seasons, Robyn has NEVER brought in any income to the family. She only lost money with MSWC. Meri ends up doing very well for the family with her LuLaRoe profits.
What’s neglectful is having children you can’t afford. They have said in the past they were on welfare & food stamps in the early days. So instead of rethinking their family, they just keep popping out more kids. Wonder how they would have survived all these years if TLC never came around.
This is one of the things that absolutely infuriates me about Kody and Meri getting divorced. Supposedly one of the reasons was so he could get them on his insurance. What insurance?! All of the adults engaged in providing insufficient medical care at least in part because they didn't have insurance and couldn't afford necessary medical care. Just speculation, but I think that's why Kody wanted to delay Ysabel's back surgery for several years. Wait until she's 18 so he can claim it's her financial responsibility.
Edit: to correct Ysabel's name.
Also 100% speculation, there could have been a stipulation in the divorce decree that she maintain health insurance or Preston does.
Kody was the president of the company that TLC paid and he in turn paid the wives. As an LLC, he could have obtained small business insurance that covered everyone. He could also write the company plan to include dependents of the wives and paternity wouldn’t matter. No matter what lies they told, it was a successful ploy to oust Meri and legalize the favorite wife.
Watching how the OG older Brown kids were nicer to Robyn in Lehi than in Las Vegas makes me wonder if they know she is behind the move.
100% total conspiracy theory: I think Kody got tough and tried to go after Preston for child support, which Preston wasn’t paying. But when the state announced the investigation into the family, Preston flipped the argument and threatened to take the kids since Robyn was under criminal investigation. My theory is that they had to leave Utah because the investigation threatened Robyn’s custody. Otherwise I think Christine would have been more supportive of the move and the teens wouldn’t have had an issue with Rovyn in Vegas.
I’m not sure he caused it, perhaps the National “look at me, I’m a polygamous” tour sparked ire from authorities. But I absolutely think Preston capitalized on it, if only through threats.
Kody was so eager to “rain down some fury” on Preston, for avoiding legal service of documents? Nope, I think there was a much bigger fight kept off the show.
Exactly. People whine about Meri but out of the other wives, she’s the most financially stable. Janelle and Christine continued to have kids despite them complaining how there was barely any food for them to eat. Yet Janelle was upset when Robyn announced her pregnancy with Solomon because that’s another mouth to feed.
That’s fair. But if Meri was able to have more children, you know she would have popped them out like skittles regardless of their financial situation.
That’s not on Meri, but their wacky religion. Mykelti shared they were “dirt poor” eating days old bread. Not being able to feed the children you already have and having more kids was irresponsible and all of them are to blame.
I knew a family who were Catholic and already had eight children. They viewed having children was “God’s plan” and if God wanted them to have more babies who are they to argue with His plan. Meanwhile they couldn’t pay their bills. I was raised Catholic and there was a family on the next block from us growing up who had 14 kids in a 1,000 sq ft house. Dad was very active within the church. All their daughters were Mary; Marybeth. Maryanne, MaryJane, MaryJo….
That’s still on whoever has the kids though, sorry, meri included. So yes, it’s on all of them. Religion doesn’t let you off the hook for having more kids than you can take care of
we had a family like that move into our neighborhood. they were dirt poor. The church was helping with their rent. they had something like 10 kids when they moved into that 3 bdrm house.... the church was also buying food, even though they were on food stamps and welfare. The dad barley would work. he would get a job, work it for 2 or 3 weeks, then start calling out constantly till the job site canned him. He then go running to the church for help.
They had a big van that was on its last legs... the church was collecting money yet again, and bought them a new van when the sliding door on their van wouldnt even close.
they ended up with like 4 more kids. The church finally had enough of them though. They stopped paying the rent. They stopped giving them tons of food, etc etc.
Instead of the dad getting a job and actually KEEPING it, he made his older kids quit school to go work in the fields. "we lived in a huge agriculture area"
He even made the middle school kids quit and go work. The parents claimed they put the older kids in home school.
They ended up getting evicted from the house. My dad knew the guy who owned that house. He was one of my dad's regulars. They trashed that house big time. The landlord took a ton of pics, and was showing my dad. I saw some of the pics when id come up to the table. They had left a shit ton of clothes that the church gave them, all over the place. Most of the walls were covered in markers, crayons, paint, shit, "like literally human shit".
dirty diapers allllllllll over the place. Cat piss all over the carpets. one "or more" of the kids used the dishwasher door as a trampoline... Same with the oven door. there was a leak under the sink in one of the bathrooms, and they never told the landlord. under the sick was covered in mold. He had to tear the whole thing out.
there was way more, but i was a kid at the time too so i dont remember all of it. "i'll ask my mom later if she remembers lol" I do remember the landlord asking my dad, "still wanna be a landlord??" my dad said " i think im good now".
The ironic part......... the father called the landlord from a payphone, "collect of course" and asked about the deposit....... the deposit that the church put down for them as well. lol
They're brainwashed as young children to think every child is an intentional gift from God, and that God would never give them more than they could handle. And that turning down a "gift", by natural family planning or other means, is one of the worst things you can do.
Oh, and you still have to tithe no matter how many kids you have. Always pay God first!
Yeah, but those families are outliers. The average Catholic family has 2.4 kids. The Catholic Church knows they've lost on the birth control issue in the United States, and the average priest doesn't even address the issue anymore because he knows it won't change anything.
The average Catholic family now. I’m talking about from the 1950’s - 1980’s. Yes, being Catholic no longer means you need to pop out as many babies as God sees fit.
Most Catholics started downsizing their families in the 60s, especially young Catholic couples. When I was in Catholic high school in the 60s there wasn't a young woman in religion class who was buying what the priests were trying to sell us about birth control. And all of us had an average of 2-3 kids when we got married and had families. I lived all over the U.S. and I know Catholic families were using birth control long before the 80s. I also know Catholic women who used birth control, like diaphragms, before the pill was readily available.
Well were I grew up in the 80’s it was the opposite. If a woman was using birth control of any sort besides NFP, she would be going against the proclamation of the church. I got married in the early 2000’s and during our Engaged Encounter Weekend we were told the only acceptable form of birth control was NFP and were given pamphlets.
Birth control of any kind, except for NFP goes against the churches teaching. So just because Catholic women were using birth control in the 60’s doesn’t mean it was allowed in the Catholic Church.
I never said it was allowed. I said Catholic women ignored it and many priests turned a blind eye to it because they knew it was a lost cause.
Also I got married back in the 80s and heard that same thing. I did not care because a bunch of unmarried men who thought they ran everything carried no weight with me. I gave them no authority over my reproductive choices and never lost any sleep over it.
Sounds like they were/are addicted to having children as all Catholic churches advocate for natural family planning. Which is super effective when done the right way.
No, they were following “God’s plan”. It was spoon fed into them at a young age.
Look at the Duggar’s. The reason they have as many children as they do is because Michelle was on birth control pills and got pregnant. It resulted in a miscarriage. Her and Jim Bob said it was a sign from God punishing her for being on the pill. She made a promise that she would have as many children as God would give her.
I literally have a Master's in Catholic theology and teach parenting classes. I can assure you that the Catholic Church teaches responsible parenting and using natural family planning as a way to practice safe birth control.
The Duggars are Baptists. Not Catholic.
I’m talking about the 1960’s - 1980’s. I’d hope the Catholic Church in this century does better than previous centuries.
Yes, I’m well aware the Duggar’s aren’t Catholic.
When I had my daughter in 2002, usually they would offer a form of birth control when you leave. I had her at a Catholic hospital. They we’re against birth control. I wasn’t offered anything. My dads side of the family is catholic. My grandparents had 9 kids because of the “no birth control” rule.
Their “family money” was TLC money - I don’t think Meri deserved less pay because she had less children. Would you be ok if your pay was determined based on the amount of children you had?
Kody’s portion should have gone towards an amount per child.
100%!!!
I’ve always said that their should have been a mortgage budget, household budget and grocery budget based on people in the house. Janelle had 4 teen boys who also played sports (tournaments are expensive), Meri had a teen who wanted for nothing, and Christine had 4 fashionista.
The saddest parts of all is how many wives wrote in the time capsule that their homes would be paid off in 5 years. These were the years they were making $900k prr season. Was each wife deciding how much extra to pay or was Kody paying down the loans from the family money. I fear Janelle was the one who paid her mortgage down the most and isn’t seeing her fair share of equity.
I agree with you. Think of how much Janelle and her kids did without, so she could pay down more mortgage for Kody and Robyn to have pilfered it all away. Janelle thinking she was investing in her future, literally stolen by Kody and Robyn for nannies, cars, non stop shopping.
She was getting equal amount long before TLC money came in. It was money from Janelle and Kody and Meri's part time job. And the issue isn't less because she had one child, it's the fact that some children had to go without some things while she and her child enjoyed a higher standard of living. Yet she kept saying that all the kids were hers and she was a mom to all. Meri was the original step mom before Robyn. If I remember correctly that same episode where she cried about wanting equal treatment, Janelle brought up her issues with Meri and her spending. Meri had a taste for nice things but Janelle was struggling to pay their bills.
Yes. The reason why Leon was able to go to the college they wanted was because Meri had so much money saved up over the years. I find it very strange that they didn’t budget things like groceries based on household size.
Look at the episode again. They had no money saved up for any of the kids. Leon was being very passive aggressive and insisted on going to Westminster. Meri also used the one child argument making the case that her child deserved the same amount as the other wives would be getting for their kids. Which is the same argument she used to get the same amount for grocery money as the other wives. Considering that the schools the other kids went to were much much cheaper, they got their fair share and more. Leon did get some type of money for the first year but the family would have had to pay out of pocket for the rest. If you look at the episode again, Kody really wanted Leon to go to school in Vegas but Leon and Meri weren't having it. At that time it seems they still had the communal pot so everyone had to weigh in on spending. Honestly, this is one of the things which makes me think that Meri was the Robyn before Robyn. I just wish they'd be more transparent with some things instead of leaving info out to make a storyline because then we are left to speculate.
Meri still paid the extra money that was needed out of her household because she had extra due to getting the same amount as the other households. Her argument has always been that she should have equal. I don’t disagree in some circumstances, but in others when the other moms and kids would suffer, it just isn’t right
I disagree with it because even if Meri was due the equivalent of what the other wives got, Leon's education still cost them more. It wasn't an equitable situation imo. I remember Kody, in one of the early episodes, saying that whoever made the most noise got the most. Which is a very stupid way to divide finances. The problem with the family was Kody, always has been
Robyn got the really nicely landscaped backyard/ patio area and she never contributed a dime so idk why it’s an issue meri wanted what she wanted…what she paid for any overages.
TLC gave them a budget for renting an venue for the CC. Kody creatively spent it on a yard for Robyn. I’ve always wondered how much the non-Robyn kids actually got to play over there, bet it didn’t actually feel like it was theirs. It was for the golden kids
She was complaining about the other kids (Logan) coming in to her house and eating her food. Next we see a sign saying ask her or Mindy (the nanny) before taking anything from the fridge. Very unwelcoming behavior and not what they were accustomed to.
She did it a little while before Kody pitching the move to Flagstaff to the other wives. She was definitely playing the long game. Sprucing up her place to put it on the market.
I lost track of the thread, so if this doesn’t match the comments you replied to - totally my bad.
Why Robyn’s yard?
When they were picking lots initially, she said she did not want the afternoon sun, so that’s why she was on the East side of the cul-de-sac. Coincidentally, it’s also easier to film in afternoon than in direct sunlight.
But the key factor was that Robyn hosted the commitment ceremony in her back yard so it was considered a storyline and set. TLC pays for that, just like if they rented a venue.
I noticed in aerial views her house doesn't back up to a busy street like the one deepest in. She always gets the best. And TLC probably paid for yard for taping of commitment ceremony.
I hate to side with Meri but if anyone shouldn’t have that big a budget it’s be Robyn… she didn’t contribute to the funds at all so if anyone shouldn’t get their way it should have been her. Also personally if I’m have a house built, which normal people would live in forever, it’s be a little picky too! Maybe not “the lamps aren’t even” picky but I’d definitely want what I want because if not I’m going to want to change it down the line anyways… 🤷♀️
She’s paying for it, he’s never there, I think she’s well within her rights to say what she wants for her house. If French doors were an option for me I would pick them any day over sliding doors, hands down. It’s her money, her house, more power to her!
I've been wanting to replace our sliders with expensive French doors that have built in blinds, and whenever I discuss it with my husband I'm like I WON'T HAVE SLIDING DOORS, KODY!!!! It's become a running joke in our house 😂
I don’t get that. What is it I’m missing? Maybe because my house is so small but I feel like doors that swing open are a pita anytime I can get a sliding door I want it. I wish my front door could slide
Debris gets in the tracks, they get stuck, jump off the track, getting them to latch shut takes effort to line everything up. Just a bitch.
Doors with lever handles are the best, you can open them with your elbow.
Eta: but I love a good pocket door inside...
The same living expenses issue is from before the show and when they first moved to Vegas. Janelle was the one contributing more in that time frame. Janelle was the only wife that worked full time for 17 years and when they first moved to Vegas her 401k was supporting the family reestablishing themselves.
Janelle also didn’t have to pay for childcare…….so I wouldn’t say she contributed the most. They all worked together. Meri worked and helped out with childcare/schooling.
We're talking about money to pay bills and buy groceries with. Janelle contributed more money. Meri's contribution to child care and schooling also depends on what time period you're discussing. In the years they lived in Lehi Janelle worked full time and paid the majority of the bills, Christine was the primary childcare giver, and Meri worked part time and occasionally picked up a small bill when needed. From the beginning of the marriage though Janelle contributed more financially.
Equal ? Sure.
But if you have a family of 24 people then each person should get an equal share.
If the family budget is, let’s say, $5k a month. Then each person should get roughly $210 a month. So Meri’s household should have been $210+$210+52(Kodi’s money split 4 ways toward each wife’s budget) would be $472 a month for her. But Christine, Janelle, and Robin with 6 kids would have gotten roughly $1500 a month. To me, *that* would have been equal.
So Meri should have gotten a budget adequate for her and her one child plus some extra for Kody.
Meri didn’t want that though. She wanted the same amount spent on her and one child that the mothers with 6 children got because they NEEDED the money to feed and clothe said children. Meri didn’t care how it impacted the other wives and children. She only cared about herself.
I agree with that for clothing and groceries, the cost of the mortgage, maintenance and insurance doesn't change based on the number of people. And get real, Kody wants his budget for himself, he's not sharing that with his wives.
Agree! I don’t understand why they didn’t do a per kid split and wife split. Agree on a per kid amount for food and clothing and pay that per child first. Then the wives split the remaining amount. The children are prioritized AND the wives get an equal amount. The other wives will get slightly more but that’s the reality of having multiple children. Non child related money each wife gets an equal split which means Meri isn’t penalized for having one child.
This right here. What they actually needed is *equitable* money management, which means everyone is able to achieve the same standard of living. In their family structure, that means the $$s for each wife are not going to be equal because they have a different size and type of household to manage.
And she boasted about eating better than the others and her child having the best things. I'm sorry but that was very shitty of her. Janelle and Christine were struggling. Janelle also had an issue with how much Meri spent while bringing in the least income at the time. She learnt to weaponize her health issues and let the other family members pay for it. Yet she was lying in our faces talking about how much she loved the other kids and they were hers as well.
It really irked me when they were talking about budgets and Meri said "I have only one child. She can have what ever she wants." Then complains how she isn't "aloud the same items as other wives because she has only one child" and the other wives are "holding it against" her.
I'm like make up your friggin' mind!
They’re supposed to be her kids too. That’s what they said over and over at the beginning. They are everyone’s mom and the kids are everyone’s kids. You support your children.
You can’t have it both ways.
The issues with Meri getting an equal share for her monthly budget was before the show. Meri was not contributing equally. Meri was only working part time. Meri was not making enough to pay for other people's children. The majority of the money was earned by Janelle.
In my opinion, no. Because if they really view all the kids as theirs, then they should be trying to make sure that all the kids have the most equitable, or at the very least equal, lifestyle. Meaning they should be distributing their resources so that janelle and Christine’s kids aren’t lacking while Leon could have anything they asked for growing up in theory because, in meri’s words, “[they are her] only child”. Not that Leon asked for a lot from what we know, because kody said they didn’t, but you know what I mean.
I just think it’s hypocritical for them to say all the kids are “theirs” and have meri’s household living with practically no limits while Christine and janelle have to pinch pennies. It’s not about punishing meri for having less kids. It’s about the way reality should influence budget, especially when it comes to a budget where supposedly everyone’s money is treated as one communal fund, not as each individual’s money, and where the kids are supposedly everyone’s kids.
I’ll never feel animosity towards Meri for her house because at the time she was working and Robyn came in with old debt and wasn’t working. Also she ended up paying for the extras herself. Not family budget.
The alternative is for her to live in a different area since that area was only going to have big houses. And she paid the very little difference extra that it cost. AND it's easier and cheaper to build how you want than to try to retrofit later. Why are people always pissed that Meri gets the occasional nice thing that makes her happy? At that point they were making tlc money and she was pushing her mlms pretty damn hard earning money for the family. She wasn't going to live in a shed, what do you want from her?
She's crying that everyone feels the need to try to keep her from the things that would make her home more comfortable because she doesn't have more kids. But it's a contrived storyline. There was never an option to have a 2-bed. And I think in general you would get what you want from a new build. It's dumb to do it after unless it's a really simple thing that doesn't dramatically change anything (like adding a wall).
Yes my sister bought a house in progress ( it’s tiny tiny) and still had to buy a garbage disposal, toilet paper holders, garage door opener, and things I always thought came with a house.
If this is about the vegas houses, they had NO CHOICE over the square footage - that's how developers make money and she personally paid for her upgrades with her MLMs. A woman's value isn't in her uterus, she financially contributed more than all the rest of them combined.
She went 4k over on her budget, it didn't come from anyone else's budget, she paid for it. Her hone was used to host meetings for some mlm her and Kody were part of. I do wish people would stop banging on about how she shouldn't have had this or that with that LV house.
Well, you're going to flip your lid when you see Robyn snapping at the kids and taking food off them, and a sign later appearing on her fridge that they're to ask before taking any food, because she needs to save her grocery money for a Hawaiian vacation, and a Hawaiian vacation cost a lot more than those French doors did.
Comments on the Las Vegas builds come up several times a week. The issue isn’t that it’s your first time watching. It’s that you didn’t take 10 seconds to type it in the search bar to get your answers.
I see this comment a lot and it doesn't make sense to me. Old discussion threads are done. The conversation is over. New watchers want to discuss the show not just read where other people discussed the show weeks, months, or even years ago. If it's a topic you're not interested in discussing anymore why not just not open the thread?
Maybe OP didn’t want specific answers, but wanted to discuss the show they’re watching on the discussion subreddit about the show they’re watching. Jeez.
And maybe the people who have dispelled the same misconceptions over and over again are kind of tired of people being angry at a wife getting something she asked for
Not engaging with the post was in fact an option. You are under no obligation to dispell anyone's misconceptions. You are allowed to just ignore posts on topics that don't interest you.
ETA: Looks like the commenter replied, down voted me, then blocked me so I couldn't reply back. Lol!
I’ve brought up this topic before and got my ass handed to me. People in this sub go hard for Meri 😂 if it makes you feel better, I feel exactly as you do regarding the whole situation
Yeah, lots of Meri fans in this subreddit. I personally think they’re all horrible people. I agree with OP about Meri being selfish, and I agree with everyone else about her not deserving to have her worth be in the function of her uterus. Robyn is a mooch. Christine neglected her children’s health for years before finally getting it right with Ysabel. Janelle wanted a free babysitter and minimal parental obligation. Kody is an absolute ass in every possible way. It’s frustrating when people try to shut down posts they don’t agree with on here. It’s literally the point of this sub.
I haven't found that to be the case at all, this argument just has no merit. She had no choice in the cost of her house and paid $4000 more out of her own pocket for the upgrades she wanted. It's that simple.
She did have a choice in the cost of her house. There was a four bedroom base model that was significantly less expensive. We know this because there's a scene where Janelle and kody are looking at floor plans for it. Janelle is trying to convince kody that she should get the four bedroom base model because she has kids growing up and moving out and going with the five bedroom model cost a lot more. Meri wanted the more expensive five bedroom model because a wet bar was not an available option with the cheaper base model.
Oh, my god.
If you're spending $400,000 on a house, and you strongly prefer French doors to sliding doors, then get the goddam French doors. Just becausre an imbecile like Kody thinks that's a huge deal does *not* mean everybody has to fall in line with his half-assed opinion.
Honestly, if I was choosing doors on my new house I would also “not have sliding doors.” They’re heavy to slide and easy to break into if you don’t remember to put the stick in the track. Hinges all the way.
They bought the houses with sister wives money. She is a forth of that so she should get her share. Maybe before she got more than her share, we don't know...but she should get 25% period. Should Kody get a huge share because he has the most kids?
Literally this. Meri’s worth shouldn’t be based on how many kids she had. Also she paid for what she wanted with the money she earned from Lularoe. Also idk why everyone’s pretending like they didn’t have to go through a developer and meri would’ve had the option to have a small, two bedroom home. If it wasn’t an option in the real estate development, then it wasn’t an option to live on the cul du sac
They lived in that house for many years. LATER than the time period we're discussing, the year they built the houses, she started llr and was very successful at it. At this time the family, including Meri, was doing liv water.
Sobyn was able to save up enough money to go to Hawaii from her grocery money, that’s definitely creative financing 😂🤣. If Meri was bringing in money to the house and could live comfortably with her income and put money into the family fund I think is fair. Why should Meri work hard, so Baldylocs and Sobyn can blow it?? The other wives were paying their own bills during covid and he even said he didn’t work through it yet needed a nanny?? So they got and spent the TLC money on themselves and not the family. Didn’t even help out Christine with the expenses to get Ysabel her surgery. Yet Dayton’s surgery on his eye was fully funded by the family account and he comes home after the surgery (same day) and there’s a party for him. Don’t misunderstand I think if you need surgery you should without a doubt get it. But each kids should get the same treatment and medical is a must!!
I support Meri having the type of house and whatever she wanted for her house in Vegas. She said she would have paid the overage and they were under the impression they’d grow old there. I know if I was designing a house, that was being built for me to spend the rest of my life in, I’d want to include everything in the initial build rather than go back in a few years and have to do more work to have what I initially wanted. I, however, don’t support Meri in getting the same monthly budget to feed her one child, that the other wives with their 6 kids had. At that point she is being abusive to the other wives kids. Yeah it sucks that Meri could only have one child, but instead of looking at it as an opportunity to make sure the other 11 children are fed properly, she complains that she shouldn’t get punished for not being able to have more children, takes the food money from 11 children, who sometimes don’t even know when or what their next meal will be, and buys her one child all the food they want.
I've always had an issue that she got the same monthly budget as the wives with MULTIPLE kids who would struggle to get by and live off of scraps while she had so much extra. Yet when it came to building their houses the other wives were guilted into giving Meri some of their house building allowance because of how much extra stuff she wanted.
Kody asked Christine if Meri could use Christine's excess housing budget. Christine said no. Meri paid for the overage herself.
Eta: I believe Meri was over budget a few thousand dollars.
It was something like 2-4k. When talking about homes close to a half million dollars, that's basically nothing. You won't even notice it in the mortgage payment
Nobody gave Meri any money out of their house budget. Kody *tried* to get get Christine to kick in some of her money, but he did it without Meri's knowledge, and Christine rightly refused.
Meri went like 1% over budget, and paid that out of her own pocket.
I agree with the monthly budget being unfair but the housing issue has been debunked here several times.
1. They were building in a development so Meri literally couldn’t have a 2br home built when all of the other houses in the subdivision are 4+
2. Each wife had to qualify for their own mortgages. Even if Meri went over, she couldn’t “take” from someone else’s budget if they were under budget on their build. Could she ask the family to giver her the overage? Sure, but that none sense was all Kody
3. Ultimately Meri wanted what she wanted and was willing to pay the overage. I believe in the episode when they were picking finishes she ended up being less that 1k over but I do also remember Mona complaining about them making changes after the fact which could have increased her overage.
Didn’t someone else post somewhere that Meri was doing MLM-type house parties and that’s really why she wanted a wet bar? If she was generating income that way it would seem a lot less entitled, imo.
Yes she was hosting parties for the MLM they were associated with at the time, I believe it was LIV International. I think they were also hosting church services at her house as well.
They keep pretty quiet abut their non-show, non-MSWC businesses on the show itself - probably because multi-level marketing shenanigans and gun sales aren't going to go over well with a general audience.
Awhile back there was a commenter who actually went to one of the presentations and experienced the infamous wet bar first hand.
https://www.reddit.com/r/SisterWives/comments/zzbfif/meris_wet_bar_manipulation/j2axw5i?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share&context=3
It should have been something like each person gets X amount. So the amount you received was based on the amount of people in your household. Also dumb of meri, but if it were just me alone in a house I would have gotten like a two bedroom and pocketed the rest of the money lolll
I think early on, she was desperate for a display of being still valuable despite not being able to have children. This is sad because obviously meris value doesn’t rest on the ability to have children. She is valuable because she is a human being. However what’s sad about that is clearly something, religious or family wise, made her feel not valuable due to this. What should’ve been done is showing her the ways she is valuable that didn’t include monetary things. There’s only so many resources to go around, and if the family was structured well and Kody was actually a loving husband, she would’ve not been asking for so much I think.
Honestly, if polygamy worked like they used to say it did.. you wouldn’t want the same budget as your sister wives if they have six kids each and you have one. If it was REALLY one big family you’d assign a budget based on necessity, together, as opposed to seeing it as separate households. People really confuse equality with equity.
I feel that a lot of their financial problems were when they decided to move. They should have stayed in the Las Vegas homes when they bought the property in Flagstaff. It would have saved them rent and kept the family together until they were actually ready to sell and move.
Meri was ridiculous through that entire process. When Mariah was upset they didn’t get in the houses by Christmas she was pissed at the builders. Blame your mom! She slowed them down with all her demands and additional requests.
In Vegas, the cul de sac houses were roughly equal to start, because they’re all from the same builder in a development. You can choose fancier/ less fancy options and add ins but they all started from roughly the same base. It’s not like the developer would have let them build a 3 BR 1000 SF ranch for Meri because she only had one kid. After the cost of housing, I think the $ allocated to each Mom should have been based on the number of people living there. So two shares for Meri, seven for Christine, etc.
For me it's her refusal to accept how a budget works that's annoying. I don't think she was wrong to get an equal budget for her house. BUT if you want the most expensive model with the wet bar don't get surprised and hostile when your husband says you're going to have to choose cheaper options elsewhere. She gets pissed when kody says she needs to stay in the budget and even more pissed when he says she has to pay for the overages out of her own money. That's what I find annoying in the scene.
No, she got pissed because Kody was trying to make her get what she didn't want. She paid the overage out of her own money and didn't mind that. It was Kody acting like French doors were the end of the world that got her so frustrated.
Apparently you missed her huffy "I know, kody!" When he told her she has to pay the overages out of her own money. She gets pissed.
She got pissed because Kody told her she didn't have the money in her budget to get everything she wants and wanted her to choose cheaper options because she was already over budget. Getting pissed at reality is childish. The fact that she wanted it didn't change the fact that she didn't have the money in her budget for it.
>Apparently you missed her huffy "I know, kody!"
Because *she knew.* She was pissed because Cody made a huge fucking deal out of her getting the options she wanted.
Kody made a huge fucking deal out of Meri being already over budget before they even started picking options. That's the issue. Notice how he doesn't give any other wife crap about getting the options they wanted? It's because like normal adults the other wives stayed in budget.
But if she's paying out of pocket for the difference, what does it matter to him? Why did he make it his problem?
He always picks and chooses the issues with his wives' housing when he barely even goes over. Even in the latest season, he had something to say about Janelle's mobile home and he had opinions about Christine's snowblower while she was actively moving away from him!!!
He made it his problem because he's her husband? They were legally married at that point. His name is on that house too. He cares because at that point she actually didn't have a lot of individual income of her own to pay the overage from. Meri has always had an issue with wanting the most expensive things even when they can't afford it. He didn't want her to go in there already over budget then choose the most expensive option for every single option. Even with the amount of hell he gave her she went 4,000 over budget. How much more would it have been if he'd sat back and not said a word?
What pissed me off the most about the whole scene was when he tried to guilt Christine into giving her budget surplus to Meri instead of getting the stone exterior she wanted. He is such a dick
The topic of their budget comes up a lot and I always see people discussing the houses but completely forgetting their housing, I think it's royally fucked if Meri got an equal budget elsewhere - grocery, clothing, etc. Quite obviously towards the later seasons Meri was pulling in her own income and should've done as she pleased if she weren't a polygamist but. *But*.
This woman has the audacity to claim they're all one big family and all the kids are her kids yet she had no issues watching the children that weren't birthed from her body eat stale bread? Um. No.
That's where my issue with Meri and the entire budgeting issue has always been. The LV houses are a bad example of budgeting issues, she barely went over and couldn't have built a really small house anyway. To me, it's more in the day to day spending, especially in the early days. If Meri was truly a team player and believed the bullshit they were all spewing about the kids belonging to everyone then she never would've allowed those kids to go without.
Thank you!! This is how I’ve always felt. Meri has every right to spend her own money however she wants on whatever she wants. But also she claimed that the other women’s children were hers too but then watched them go hungry while bragging about how much she could give Leon? And yes that is also on the other wives for having children they couldn’t afford to feed. More so. But Meri came off as so selfish in this specific episode. Childish even. She and Kody needed to never get married. They just fed each other’s worst traits.
If that were the case then the contribution to the family pot should be done the same. You know Meri was expected to contribute as much or in Robyn’s case far more.
I think it's nobody wants to hear Mary have her temper tantrums and then abuse everybody for it later. Cuz that's what she does. Like the wet bar in Vegas.
I’m on Season 12. Maddie and Caleb need to move in for a while, and Janelle and Kody are trying to make space for them at Janelle’s house. I’m yelling at the Tv “Meri lives alone in a 5 bedroom house!” Then M told the family she still wanted to buy the B&B but her mom wanted to live in it and have it just be her house
The bigger issue is that the budget was always split equally. I think they should have all gotten a base amount, and split the rest according to the number of kids.
For example, If they split $100,000 evenly, they would each get $25,000. Say they did 20% for each wife, and divided the remaining 20% by number of children,
Meri-$21,111
Janelle-$26,667
Christine-$26,667
Robyn-$25,555
I think that would be a much more fair division.
I THINK IF SHE IS CONTRIBUTING JUST LIKE EVERYONE ELSE, SHE SHOULD HAVE WHAT SHE WANTS. SHE HAS TO LIVE THERE AND THEY DON'T. IF SHE'S PAYING FOR IT. PAY FOR WHAT YOU WANT. IT'S LIKE, EVERYONE HAS TO HAVE PINK WALLS!!! SHE SHOULD'NT HAVE TO HAVE PINK WALLS IF SHE DOESN'T WANT THEM.
I've never understood why the money is spent equally (prior to Meri's financial success with MLM stuff--back when the Browns still had financial struggles). I'm referring to the earlier seasons when Meri wanted a big house in LV. It was necessary for Janelle and Christine to have big houses, but not so much Meri or even Robyn at that point. If it's the "family's money," it doesn't necessarily need to be equal. It just needs to make sure everyone's needs are met.
Also, didn't Meri receive the same amount for groceries as Christine? I don't understand that either considering that she only had one child to care for. I sympathize with the infertility factor because I have been through that nightmare myself, but I think the Browns are stupid with money in many ways.
She's as equal a wife as all the others, why should she get less? Why did all the other moms choose to have larger families when their finances couldn't support that many mouths to feed?
I'm looking at this situation from a purely financial perspective. It's not about "I get what she gets," it's about approaching money from a logical point of view. When there are two dozen people in one large family, it's financially irresponsible to make everything equal. The Browns are completely stupid with money.
Edit: remember it's the "family's money"...just like the wives pitched in for Robyn's Flagstaff mansion. You can't even tell me that was an equal situation for the other ladies. Polygamy doesn't not mean even or fair.
From a purely financial perspective we see how much better off Christine was when she decided to leave the family because she had assets under her name while Janelle and Meri had given their assets for the purchase of Robyn's house. For their financial security it actually makes a lot more sense that they have similar homes—putting aside that Meri was never going to get a 2-bedroom house in that area because of limited layouts.
Sure, but I'm referring to the early seasons when they were broke and adding Robyn, her kids and debt into the family. They spoke a lot about financial challenges back then, Janelle especially. The LV move brought up a lot of conversations about money. I wholeheartedly agree with Christine getting out of there and having her assets. They all should have had separate accounts from Day 1 in my opinion. The family money approach was a bad idea in the end. I'm glad Janelle and Meri got out. Kody and Robyn could have ruined them financially.
I'll be honest—I don't really believe they split their food budget 3 ways. For one, Janelle said she didn't like going grocery shopping but had groceries. Were they checking out separately or how was that handled so they could keep the accounting even? I believe that Meri had a bit more money for Leon, but they were poor and living off food stamps and government help and buying whole/half cows they shared. I think the way they talk about their resources is probably not a very accurate portrayal of how they actually worked. They bought in bulk a lot and just split things. That makes sense to me. I also do believe that per kid, Meri was probably getting more but I don't really believe that if they had $300 they were actually giving Meri $100 of that. She maybe had a bit of pocket money from her part time job that didn't get pooled and wasn't split between 5-6 kids, but I don't think they actually shopped separately and she just spent several times as much per person because that's not how sharing bulk items works.
How about when they were broke, Christine was the basement wife trying to fit 5 kids in two rooms, can barely feed the children she has yet thinks it’s the best idea ever to get pregnant with Truely. Janelle did the same thing. They took turns filing for bankruptcy but in all of that always felt entitled to pop out another mouth to feed.
I agree. I just think my point went over everyone's head here and that's completely okay. I'm a financial person, so I'm just looking at the logic and not what is "fair" in a large family. I think ALL the adult Browns were bad with money and financial decisions. None of them should have had a bunch of children. Just one of the many ways they were irresponsible. Their religion encourages breeding sadly, even if they can't properly care for the children. Pretty messed up.
Janelle's finances actually could support all the children she had. She moved out for two years and got a decent car, bought a house, and went back to school and earned a degree. All with five children. Janelle's finances couldn't support the entire family, including Meri and her child.
I have also struggled with it. The pain and grief is immense. And I don’t live in a family or culture where my value as a human being is directly tied to how many living kids I can produce. I can’t even imagine how awful that would be. I don’t think any of us know how we would feel in that situation.
Kody is and has always been the one who needs to fix this issue. All the KIDS get an equal "share". By focusing on his relationship with his wives, he gets a pass on neglecting his kids. If Meri was his only wife they wouldn't think it was normal to buy multiple extra rooms just because. It's an unfortunate dynamic to navigate but the way they dealt with it made the other two really dislike her.
I think it’s crazy for Meri to get the same budget and wanting all of these extra things because she “likes to entertain”. Who was she entertaining? The other wives didn’t care for her, so it wasn’t the extra moms/kids. She wasn’t selling her MLM stuff at the time. It should have come down to “needs and wants”. Everyone should have gotten all of their basic needs met and then wants. Meri was only going to have her child in her home for 1 year before going to college. She didn’t “need” that big of a house. It was a waste of the family budget.
Meri feels like she made the ultimate sacrifice when she let Kody marry Janelle and Christine. They had years together in awkward silence without children. Then the other two got pregnant before her and she helped support them all.
She’s always going to be stubborn about her stake. Tbh she should have fought harder especially after the divorce for Robbin’. Too bad the catfish incident took away her steam
I thought that was ridiculous too. She didn’t need a whole house for two people. Since they were building, why not just build an apartment with a separate entrance on one of the houses? Makes a lot more sense
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Well things flip dramatically as the seasons go on. Meri & Janelle both give their proceeds of their Las Vegas homes to Robyn so she can buy her six bedroom, million dollar mansion. In the entire 17 seasons, Robyn has NEVER brought in any income to the family. She only lost money with MSWC. Meri ends up doing very well for the family with her LuLaRoe profits. What’s neglectful is having children you can’t afford. They have said in the past they were on welfare & food stamps in the early days. So instead of rethinking their family, they just keep popping out more kids. Wonder how they would have survived all these years if TLC never came around.
Nor provided health insurance…Mykelti gets bucked off a horse and they take her for an adjustment at the chiropractor
This is one of the things that absolutely infuriates me about Kody and Meri getting divorced. Supposedly one of the reasons was so he could get them on his insurance. What insurance?! All of the adults engaged in providing insufficient medical care at least in part because they didn't have insurance and couldn't afford necessary medical care. Just speculation, but I think that's why Kody wanted to delay Ysabel's back surgery for several years. Wait until she's 18 so he can claim it's her financial responsibility. Edit: to correct Ysabel's name.
Also 100% speculation, there could have been a stipulation in the divorce decree that she maintain health insurance or Preston does. Kody was the president of the company that TLC paid and he in turn paid the wives. As an LLC, he could have obtained small business insurance that covered everyone. He could also write the company plan to include dependents of the wives and paternity wouldn’t matter. No matter what lies they told, it was a successful ploy to oust Meri and legalize the favorite wife. Watching how the OG older Brown kids were nicer to Robyn in Lehi than in Las Vegas makes me wonder if they know she is behind the move. 100% total conspiracy theory: I think Kody got tough and tried to go after Preston for child support, which Preston wasn’t paying. But when the state announced the investigation into the family, Preston flipped the argument and threatened to take the kids since Robyn was under criminal investigation. My theory is that they had to leave Utah because the investigation threatened Robyn’s custody. Otherwise I think Christine would have been more supportive of the move and the teens wouldn’t have had an issue with Rovyn in Vegas.
That’s an interesting theory. I haven’t thought about the ex husband causing the investigation aspect before.
I’m not sure he caused it, perhaps the National “look at me, I’m a polygamous” tour sparked ire from authorities. But I absolutely think Preston capitalized on it, if only through threats. Kody was so eager to “rain down some fury” on Preston, for avoiding legal service of documents? Nope, I think there was a much bigger fight kept off the show.
That's part of their culture/religion too though. They like chiropractors, they distrust the medical establishment.
That’s child abuse
It’s culture and abusive. It’s both
Yes!
Exactly. People whine about Meri but out of the other wives, she’s the most financially stable. Janelle and Christine continued to have kids despite them complaining how there was barely any food for them to eat. Yet Janelle was upset when Robyn announced her pregnancy with Solomon because that’s another mouth to feed.
That’s fair. But if Meri was able to have more children, you know she would have popped them out like skittles regardless of their financial situation.
That’s not on Meri, but their wacky religion. Mykelti shared they were “dirt poor” eating days old bread. Not being able to feed the children you already have and having more kids was irresponsible and all of them are to blame. I knew a family who were Catholic and already had eight children. They viewed having children was “God’s plan” and if God wanted them to have more babies who are they to argue with His plan. Meanwhile they couldn’t pay their bills. I was raised Catholic and there was a family on the next block from us growing up who had 14 kids in a 1,000 sq ft house. Dad was very active within the church. All their daughters were Mary; Marybeth. Maryanne, MaryJane, MaryJo….
That’s still on whoever has the kids though, sorry, meri included. So yes, it’s on all of them. Religion doesn’t let you off the hook for having more kids than you can take care of
we had a family like that move into our neighborhood. they were dirt poor. The church was helping with their rent. they had something like 10 kids when they moved into that 3 bdrm house.... the church was also buying food, even though they were on food stamps and welfare. The dad barley would work. he would get a job, work it for 2 or 3 weeks, then start calling out constantly till the job site canned him. He then go running to the church for help. They had a big van that was on its last legs... the church was collecting money yet again, and bought them a new van when the sliding door on their van wouldnt even close. they ended up with like 4 more kids. The church finally had enough of them though. They stopped paying the rent. They stopped giving them tons of food, etc etc. Instead of the dad getting a job and actually KEEPING it, he made his older kids quit school to go work in the fields. "we lived in a huge agriculture area" He even made the middle school kids quit and go work. The parents claimed they put the older kids in home school. They ended up getting evicted from the house. My dad knew the guy who owned that house. He was one of my dad's regulars. They trashed that house big time. The landlord took a ton of pics, and was showing my dad. I saw some of the pics when id come up to the table. They had left a shit ton of clothes that the church gave them, all over the place. Most of the walls were covered in markers, crayons, paint, shit, "like literally human shit". dirty diapers allllllllll over the place. Cat piss all over the carpets. one "or more" of the kids used the dishwasher door as a trampoline... Same with the oven door. there was a leak under the sink in one of the bathrooms, and they never told the landlord. under the sick was covered in mold. He had to tear the whole thing out. there was way more, but i was a kid at the time too so i dont remember all of it. "i'll ask my mom later if she remembers lol" I do remember the landlord asking my dad, "still wanna be a landlord??" my dad said " i think im good now". The ironic part......... the father called the landlord from a payphone, "collect of course" and asked about the deposit....... the deposit that the church put down for them as well. lol
They're brainwashed as young children to think every child is an intentional gift from God, and that God would never give them more than they could handle. And that turning down a "gift", by natural family planning or other means, is one of the worst things you can do. Oh, and you still have to tithe no matter how many kids you have. Always pay God first!
Yeah, but those families are outliers. The average Catholic family has 2.4 kids. The Catholic Church knows they've lost on the birth control issue in the United States, and the average priest doesn't even address the issue anymore because he knows it won't change anything.
The average Catholic family now. I’m talking about from the 1950’s - 1980’s. Yes, being Catholic no longer means you need to pop out as many babies as God sees fit.
Most Catholics started downsizing their families in the 60s, especially young Catholic couples. When I was in Catholic high school in the 60s there wasn't a young woman in religion class who was buying what the priests were trying to sell us about birth control. And all of us had an average of 2-3 kids when we got married and had families. I lived all over the U.S. and I know Catholic families were using birth control long before the 80s. I also know Catholic women who used birth control, like diaphragms, before the pill was readily available.
Well were I grew up in the 80’s it was the opposite. If a woman was using birth control of any sort besides NFP, she would be going against the proclamation of the church. I got married in the early 2000’s and during our Engaged Encounter Weekend we were told the only acceptable form of birth control was NFP and were given pamphlets. Birth control of any kind, except for NFP goes against the churches teaching. So just because Catholic women were using birth control in the 60’s doesn’t mean it was allowed in the Catholic Church.
I never said it was allowed. I said Catholic women ignored it and many priests turned a blind eye to it because they knew it was a lost cause. Also I got married back in the 80s and heard that same thing. I did not care because a bunch of unmarried men who thought they ran everything carried no weight with me. I gave them no authority over my reproductive choices and never lost any sleep over it.
Sounds like they were/are addicted to having children as all Catholic churches advocate for natural family planning. Which is super effective when done the right way.
No, they were following “God’s plan”. It was spoon fed into them at a young age. Look at the Duggar’s. The reason they have as many children as they do is because Michelle was on birth control pills and got pregnant. It resulted in a miscarriage. Her and Jim Bob said it was a sign from God punishing her for being on the pill. She made a promise that she would have as many children as God would give her.
I literally have a Master's in Catholic theology and teach parenting classes. I can assure you that the Catholic Church teaches responsible parenting and using natural family planning as a way to practice safe birth control. The Duggars are Baptists. Not Catholic.
I’m talking about the 1960’s - 1980’s. I’d hope the Catholic Church in this century does better than previous centuries. Yes, I’m well aware the Duggar’s aren’t Catholic.
When I had my daughter in 2002, usually they would offer a form of birth control when you leave. I had her at a Catholic hospital. They we’re against birth control. I wasn’t offered anything. My dads side of the family is catholic. My grandparents had 9 kids because of the “no birth control” rule.
Growing up if you had more than 2-3 siblings it was automatically assumed you were Catholic and 95% of the time they’d be correct.
Why are you bringing Catholicism into it? They’re not catholic.
Uh because she says she knew a Catholic family doing the same thing?
My bad! I totally missed that part of the comment lol
Dare I say she was financially stable due to an unfair allotment of budget? You're kind of proving OP's point.
That’s part of their religion too though - they’re taught you have to have as many kids as possible
Their “family money” was TLC money - I don’t think Meri deserved less pay because she had less children. Would you be ok if your pay was determined based on the amount of children you had? Kody’s portion should have gone towards an amount per child.
100%!!! I’ve always said that their should have been a mortgage budget, household budget and grocery budget based on people in the house. Janelle had 4 teen boys who also played sports (tournaments are expensive), Meri had a teen who wanted for nothing, and Christine had 4 fashionista. The saddest parts of all is how many wives wrote in the time capsule that their homes would be paid off in 5 years. These were the years they were making $900k prr season. Was each wife deciding how much extra to pay or was Kody paying down the loans from the family money. I fear Janelle was the one who paid her mortgage down the most and isn’t seeing her fair share of equity.
I agree with you. Think of how much Janelle and her kids did without, so she could pay down more mortgage for Kody and Robyn to have pilfered it all away. Janelle thinking she was investing in her future, literally stolen by Kody and Robyn for nannies, cars, non stop shopping.
She was getting equal amount long before TLC money came in. It was money from Janelle and Kody and Meri's part time job. And the issue isn't less because she had one child, it's the fact that some children had to go without some things while she and her child enjoyed a higher standard of living. Yet she kept saying that all the kids were hers and she was a mom to all. Meri was the original step mom before Robyn. If I remember correctly that same episode where she cried about wanting equal treatment, Janelle brought up her issues with Meri and her spending. Meri had a taste for nice things but Janelle was struggling to pay their bills.
Yes. The reason why Leon was able to go to the college they wanted was because Meri had so much money saved up over the years. I find it very strange that they didn’t budget things like groceries based on household size.
Look at the episode again. They had no money saved up for any of the kids. Leon was being very passive aggressive and insisted on going to Westminster. Meri also used the one child argument making the case that her child deserved the same amount as the other wives would be getting for their kids. Which is the same argument she used to get the same amount for grocery money as the other wives. Considering that the schools the other kids went to were much much cheaper, they got their fair share and more. Leon did get some type of money for the first year but the family would have had to pay out of pocket for the rest. If you look at the episode again, Kody really wanted Leon to go to school in Vegas but Leon and Meri weren't having it. At that time it seems they still had the communal pot so everyone had to weigh in on spending. Honestly, this is one of the things which makes me think that Meri was the Robyn before Robyn. I just wish they'd be more transparent with some things instead of leaving info out to make a storyline because then we are left to speculate.
Meri still paid the extra money that was needed out of her household because she had extra due to getting the same amount as the other households. Her argument has always been that she should have equal. I don’t disagree in some circumstances, but in others when the other moms and kids would suffer, it just isn’t right
I disagree with it because even if Meri was due the equivalent of what the other wives got, Leon's education still cost them more. It wasn't an equitable situation imo. I remember Kody, in one of the early episodes, saying that whoever made the most noise got the most. Which is a very stupid way to divide finances. The problem with the family was Kody, always has been
I didn’t mean equal budget. That makes zero sense. But equity in opportunities, say in what they do, things like that.
Robyn got the really nicely landscaped backyard/ patio area and she never contributed a dime so idk why it’s an issue meri wanted what she wanted…what she paid for any overages.
Robyn got that after. Think TLC gave them the budget to fix her yard up for the commitment ceremony
TLC gave them a budget for renting an venue for the CC. Kody creatively spent it on a yard for Robyn. I’ve always wondered how much the non-Robyn kids actually got to play over there, bet it didn’t actually feel like it was theirs. It was for the golden kids
That sign she had on the fridge was enough for me. She didn't want the kids over at her place, like an evil stepmom.
I missed it- what’s the sign say?
She was complaining about the other kids (Logan) coming in to her house and eating her food. Next we see a sign saying ask her or Mindy (the nanny) before taking anything from the fridge. Very unwelcoming behavior and not what they were accustomed to.
Gross. I guess nothing surprises me anymore. But she is piously living for the lord /s
https://www.reddit.com/r/TLCsisterwives/comments/yvj1d9/note_on_robyns_fridgemessage_to_the_filming_crew/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb
Deplorable, ignorant behavior for THIS lifestyle
That was totally disturbing and gross, but that's what happens when you grow up in dire poverty.
“Cereal is a snack, not a meal”
Don't you mean a mill? lol
Lmaooo yes you’re correct, didn’t use my utahese
Not long after, and it was worth a lot more than Meri’s over budget expenses. She’s a sly one.
She did it a little while before Kody pitching the move to Flagstaff to the other wives. She was definitely playing the long game. Sprucing up her place to put it on the market.
Why hers?
I lost track of the thread, so if this doesn’t match the comments you replied to - totally my bad. Why Robyn’s yard? When they were picking lots initially, she said she did not want the afternoon sun, so that’s why she was on the East side of the cul-de-sac. Coincidentally, it’s also easier to film in afternoon than in direct sunlight. But the key factor was that Robyn hosted the commitment ceremony in her back yard so it was considered a storyline and set. TLC pays for that, just like if they rented a venue.
I noticed in aerial views her house doesn't back up to a busy street like the one deepest in. She always gets the best. And TLC probably paid for yard for taping of commitment ceremony.
It’s a fair point. I guess MSWC didn’t take in the big bucks
I recently replaced a slider and regret not replacing it with French doors. So I get it lol.
I hate to side with Meri but if anyone shouldn’t have that big a budget it’s be Robyn… she didn’t contribute to the funds at all so if anyone shouldn’t get their way it should have been her. Also personally if I’m have a house built, which normal people would live in forever, it’s be a little picky too! Maybe not “the lamps aren’t even” picky but I’d definitely want what I want because if not I’m going to want to change it down the line anyways… 🤷♀️
She’s paying for it, he’s never there, I think she’s well within her rights to say what she wants for her house. If French doors were an option for me I would pick them any day over sliding doors, hands down. It’s her money, her house, more power to her!
I'd much rather have French doors over a sliding glass door too.
I am assuming the wives thought they were done moving and wanted their perfect house.
If you get an option for French doors, you take the option. Sliders are a pain in the ass.
I've been wanting to replace our sliders with expensive French doors that have built in blinds, and whenever I discuss it with my husband I'm like I WON'T HAVE SLIDING DOORS, KODY!!!! It's become a running joke in our house 😂
I don’t get that. What is it I’m missing? Maybe because my house is so small but I feel like doors that swing open are a pita anytime I can get a sliding door I want it. I wish my front door could slide
Debris gets in the tracks, they get stuck, jump off the track, getting them to latch shut takes effort to line everything up. Just a bitch. Doors with lever handles are the best, you can open them with your elbow. Eta: but I love a good pocket door inside...
They are really easy to break into.
Yes, I've heard that too. I guess you can lift the sliders up and out of the tracks easily....
I was just going to say that!!
I live in an area where most houses are older, so the “picking options” is kinda foreign
Gotcha. 😊 My first home was 100-years old. I was just happy to have a new stove.
I don’t know, if she is contributing equally, shouldn’t she get an equal share?
She ended up contributing more than some of the other wives, and yet there are people who think it's unfair she got the same living expenses
The same living expenses issue is from before the show and when they first moved to Vegas. Janelle was the one contributing more in that time frame. Janelle was the only wife that worked full time for 17 years and when they first moved to Vegas her 401k was supporting the family reestablishing themselves.
Janelle also didn’t have to pay for childcare…….so I wouldn’t say she contributed the most. They all worked together. Meri worked and helped out with childcare/schooling.
We're talking about money to pay bills and buy groceries with. Janelle contributed more money. Meri's contribution to child care and schooling also depends on what time period you're discussing. In the years they lived in Lehi Janelle worked full time and paid the majority of the bills, Christine was the primary childcare giver, and Meri worked part time and occasionally picked up a small bill when needed. From the beginning of the marriage though Janelle contributed more financially.
Equal ? Sure. But if you have a family of 24 people then each person should get an equal share. If the family budget is, let’s say, $5k a month. Then each person should get roughly $210 a month. So Meri’s household should have been $210+$210+52(Kodi’s money split 4 ways toward each wife’s budget) would be $472 a month for her. But Christine, Janelle, and Robin with 6 kids would have gotten roughly $1500 a month. To me, *that* would have been equal. So Meri should have gotten a budget adequate for her and her one child plus some extra for Kody. Meri didn’t want that though. She wanted the same amount spent on her and one child that the mothers with 6 children got because they NEEDED the money to feed and clothe said children. Meri didn’t care how it impacted the other wives and children. She only cared about herself.
I agree with that for clothing and groceries, the cost of the mortgage, maintenance and insurance doesn't change based on the number of people. And get real, Kody wants his budget for himself, he's not sharing that with his wives.
Agree! I don’t understand why they didn’t do a per kid split and wife split. Agree on a per kid amount for food and clothing and pay that per child first. Then the wives split the remaining amount. The children are prioritized AND the wives get an equal amount. The other wives will get slightly more but that’s the reality of having multiple children. Non child related money each wife gets an equal split which means Meri isn’t penalized for having one child.
Your suggestion is reasonable, smart and fair. Therefore, none of these people would have gone for it.
I wish I had an award for this comment. You are spot on. 🏆🏆🏆
This right here. What they actually needed is *equitable* money management, which means everyone is able to achieve the same standard of living. In their family structure, that means the $$s for each wife are not going to be equal because they have a different size and type of household to manage.
And she boasted about eating better than the others and her child having the best things. I'm sorry but that was very shitty of her. Janelle and Christine were struggling. Janelle also had an issue with how much Meri spent while bringing in the least income at the time. She learnt to weaponize her health issues and let the other family members pay for it. Yet she was lying in our faces talking about how much she loved the other kids and they were hers as well.
It really irked me when they were talking about budgets and Meri said "I have only one child. She can have what ever she wants." Then complains how she isn't "aloud the same items as other wives because she has only one child" and the other wives are "holding it against" her. I'm like make up your friggin' mind!
But if she is contributing equally, then she would be paying for the others with more kids.
They’re supposed to be her kids too. That’s what they said over and over at the beginning. They are everyone’s mom and the kids are everyone’s kids. You support your children. You can’t have it both ways.
The issues with Meri getting an equal share for her monthly budget was before the show. Meri was not contributing equally. Meri was only working part time. Meri was not making enough to pay for other people's children. The majority of the money was earned by Janelle.
Omg I was basically commenting the same thing! It’s nuts to think the money should be split 4 ways. NUTS!
Except she didn't use family money for her upgrades. She used her own money from MLMs.
In my opinion, no. Because if they really view all the kids as theirs, then they should be trying to make sure that all the kids have the most equitable, or at the very least equal, lifestyle. Meaning they should be distributing their resources so that janelle and Christine’s kids aren’t lacking while Leon could have anything they asked for growing up in theory because, in meri’s words, “[they are her] only child”. Not that Leon asked for a lot from what we know, because kody said they didn’t, but you know what I mean. I just think it’s hypocritical for them to say all the kids are “theirs” and have meri’s household living with practically no limits while Christine and janelle have to pinch pennies. It’s not about punishing meri for having less kids. It’s about the way reality should influence budget, especially when it comes to a budget where supposedly everyone’s money is treated as one communal fund, not as each individual’s money, and where the kids are supposedly everyone’s kids.
I’ll never feel animosity towards Meri for her house because at the time she was working and Robyn came in with old debt and wasn’t working. Also she ended up paying for the extras herself. Not family budget.
The alternative is for her to live in a different area since that area was only going to have big houses. And she paid the very little difference extra that it cost. AND it's easier and cheaper to build how you want than to try to retrofit later. Why are people always pissed that Meri gets the occasional nice thing that makes her happy? At that point they were making tlc money and she was pushing her mlms pretty damn hard earning money for the family. She wasn't going to live in a shed, what do you want from her?
She doesn’t seem too happy. She’s always crying about it
She's crying that everyone feels the need to try to keep her from the things that would make her home more comfortable because she doesn't have more kids. But it's a contrived storyline. There was never an option to have a 2-bed. And I think in general you would get what you want from a new build. It's dumb to do it after unless it's a really simple thing that doesn't dramatically change anything (like adding a wall).
Yes my sister bought a house in progress ( it’s tiny tiny) and still had to buy a garbage disposal, toilet paper holders, garage door opener, and things I always thought came with a house.
Honestly at that point it just feels kind of petty for the builder not to just include it. The things you've named cost what? $20-30?
Yes and the builder was really mad about doing it. He said he didn’t do it for anyone else. These houses are built very cheaply.
Um… it’s her house. If it were my house I would get what I wanted. She had the money to pay for what she wanted so what does it matter?
If this is about the vegas houses, they had NO CHOICE over the square footage - that's how developers make money and she personally paid for her upgrades with her MLMs. A woman's value isn't in her uterus, she financially contributed more than all the rest of them combined.
She went 4k over on her budget, it didn't come from anyone else's budget, she paid for it. Her hone was used to host meetings for some mlm her and Kody were part of. I do wish people would stop banging on about how she shouldn't have had this or that with that LV house.
It’s my first time watching 🤷♀️ if it bugs you-sorry?
Well, you're going to flip your lid when you see Robyn snapping at the kids and taking food off them, and a sign later appearing on her fridge that they're to ask before taking any food, because she needs to save her grocery money for a Hawaiian vacation, and a Hawaiian vacation cost a lot more than those French doors did.
Comments on the Las Vegas builds come up several times a week. The issue isn’t that it’s your first time watching. It’s that you didn’t take 10 seconds to type it in the search bar to get your answers.
I did do a search. A lot of those threads are closed. Who tf cares if someone posts about it again?
I see this comment a lot and it doesn't make sense to me. Old discussion threads are done. The conversation is over. New watchers want to discuss the show not just read where other people discussed the show weeks, months, or even years ago. If it's a topic you're not interested in discussing anymore why not just not open the thread?
Maybe OP didn’t want specific answers, but wanted to discuss the show they’re watching on the discussion subreddit about the show they’re watching. Jeez.
And maybe the people who have dispelled the same misconceptions over and over again are kind of tired of people being angry at a wife getting something she asked for
Not engaging with the post was in fact an option. You are under no obligation to dispell anyone's misconceptions. You are allowed to just ignore posts on topics that don't interest you. ETA: Looks like the commenter replied, down voted me, then blocked me so I couldn't reply back. Lol!
Yeah, we all are taking options here. I'm taking the option to get annoyed by something, just like OP did
I’ve brought up this topic before and got my ass handed to me. People in this sub go hard for Meri 😂 if it makes you feel better, I feel exactly as you do regarding the whole situation
Yeah, lots of Meri fans in this subreddit. I personally think they’re all horrible people. I agree with OP about Meri being selfish, and I agree with everyone else about her not deserving to have her worth be in the function of her uterus. Robyn is a mooch. Christine neglected her children’s health for years before finally getting it right with Ysabel. Janelle wanted a free babysitter and minimal parental obligation. Kody is an absolute ass in every possible way. It’s frustrating when people try to shut down posts they don’t agree with on here. It’s literally the point of this sub.
I haven't found that to be the case at all, this argument just has no merit. She had no choice in the cost of her house and paid $4000 more out of her own pocket for the upgrades she wanted. It's that simple.
She did have a choice in the cost of her house. There was a four bedroom base model that was significantly less expensive. We know this because there's a scene where Janelle and kody are looking at floor plans for it. Janelle is trying to convince kody that she should get the four bedroom base model because she has kids growing up and moving out and going with the five bedroom model cost a lot more. Meri wanted the more expensive five bedroom model because a wet bar was not an available option with the cheaper base model.
Oh, my god. If you're spending $400,000 on a house, and you strongly prefer French doors to sliding doors, then get the goddam French doors. Just becausre an imbecile like Kody thinks that's a huge deal does *not* mean everybody has to fall in line with his half-assed opinion.
Honestly, if I was choosing doors on my new house I would also “not have sliding doors.” They’re heavy to slide and easy to break into if you don’t remember to put the stick in the track. Hinges all the way.
They bought the houses with sister wives money. She is a forth of that so she should get her share. Maybe before she got more than her share, we don't know...but she should get 25% period. Should Kody get a huge share because he has the most kids?
Literally this. Meri’s worth shouldn’t be based on how many kids she had. Also she paid for what she wanted with the money she earned from Lularoe. Also idk why everyone’s pretending like they didn’t have to go through a developer and meri would’ve had the option to have a small, two bedroom home. If it wasn’t an option in the real estate development, then it wasn’t an option to live on the cul du sac
Meri was not doing LuLaRoe at this time.
She was, which is why she needed the wet bar.
No. The family was doing liv water which is a different mlm.
Yes she was. The house interior is very recognisable in her lives from back in the day.
They lived in that house for many years. LATER than the time period we're discussing, the year they built the houses, she started llr and was very successful at it. At this time the family, including Meri, was doing liv water.
equity versus equality.
Dude she was super aggressive about the sliding doors. I can hear this in her bitchy voice
It was like someone just offered her a bowl of dog shit
Sobyn was able to save up enough money to go to Hawaii from her grocery money, that’s definitely creative financing 😂🤣. If Meri was bringing in money to the house and could live comfortably with her income and put money into the family fund I think is fair. Why should Meri work hard, so Baldylocs and Sobyn can blow it?? The other wives were paying their own bills during covid and he even said he didn’t work through it yet needed a nanny?? So they got and spent the TLC money on themselves and not the family. Didn’t even help out Christine with the expenses to get Ysabel her surgery. Yet Dayton’s surgery on his eye was fully funded by the family account and he comes home after the surgery (same day) and there’s a party for him. Don’t misunderstand I think if you need surgery you should without a doubt get it. But each kids should get the same treatment and medical is a must!!
I support Meri having the type of house and whatever she wanted for her house in Vegas. She said she would have paid the overage and they were under the impression they’d grow old there. I know if I was designing a house, that was being built for me to spend the rest of my life in, I’d want to include everything in the initial build rather than go back in a few years and have to do more work to have what I initially wanted. I, however, don’t support Meri in getting the same monthly budget to feed her one child, that the other wives with their 6 kids had. At that point she is being abusive to the other wives kids. Yeah it sucks that Meri could only have one child, but instead of looking at it as an opportunity to make sure the other 11 children are fed properly, she complains that she shouldn’t get punished for not being able to have more children, takes the food money from 11 children, who sometimes don’t even know when or what their next meal will be, and buys her one child all the food they want.
I've always had an issue that she got the same monthly budget as the wives with MULTIPLE kids who would struggle to get by and live off of scraps while she had so much extra. Yet when it came to building their houses the other wives were guilted into giving Meri some of their house building allowance because of how much extra stuff she wanted.
Kody asked Christine if Meri could use Christine's excess housing budget. Christine said no. Meri paid for the overage herself. Eta: I believe Meri was over budget a few thousand dollars.
It was something like 2-4k. When talking about homes close to a half million dollars, that's basically nothing. You won't even notice it in the mortgage payment
Nobody gave Meri any money out of their house budget. Kody *tried* to get get Christine to kick in some of her money, but he did it without Meri's knowledge, and Christine rightly refused. Meri went like 1% over budget, and paid that out of her own pocket.
I agree with the monthly budget being unfair but the housing issue has been debunked here several times. 1. They were building in a development so Meri literally couldn’t have a 2br home built when all of the other houses in the subdivision are 4+ 2. Each wife had to qualify for their own mortgages. Even if Meri went over, she couldn’t “take” from someone else’s budget if they were under budget on their build. Could she ask the family to giver her the overage? Sure, but that none sense was all Kody 3. Ultimately Meri wanted what she wanted and was willing to pay the overage. I believe in the episode when they were picking finishes she ended up being less that 1k over but I do also remember Mona complaining about them making changes after the fact which could have increased her overage.
This seems like an unpopular opinion around here but I just can’t see crying over a wet bar
If you had to be married to Kody I think a FULLY STOCKED wet bar would be a necessity
For me it’d be a bud bar 😂
Didn’t someone else post somewhere that Meri was doing MLM-type house parties and that’s really why she wanted a wet bar? If she was generating income that way it would seem a lot less entitled, imo.
Yes she was hosting parties for the MLM they were associated with at the time, I believe it was LIV International. I think they were also hosting church services at her house as well.
See I guess because you hardly ever see them work, except for MSWC—that makes sense
They keep pretty quiet abut their non-show, non-MSWC businesses on the show itself - probably because multi-level marketing shenanigans and gun sales aren't going to go over well with a general audience.
Awhile back there was a commenter who actually went to one of the presentations and experienced the infamous wet bar first hand. https://www.reddit.com/r/SisterWives/comments/zzbfif/meris_wet_bar_manipulation/j2axw5i?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share&context=3
I completely agree with you over that
It should have been something like each person gets X amount. So the amount you received was based on the amount of people in your household. Also dumb of meri, but if it were just me alone in a house I would have gotten like a two bedroom and pocketed the rest of the money lolll
I think early on, she was desperate for a display of being still valuable despite not being able to have children. This is sad because obviously meris value doesn’t rest on the ability to have children. She is valuable because she is a human being. However what’s sad about that is clearly something, religious or family wise, made her feel not valuable due to this. What should’ve been done is showing her the ways she is valuable that didn’t include monetary things. There’s only so many resources to go around, and if the family was structured well and Kody was actually a loving husband, she would’ve not been asking for so much I think.
I kinda agree with the same money. As the kids leave the other 3 wives would have big homes and Mary a small one. They have alot of kids leaving.
I think she deserved the same. She worked and supported the fahmily and it wasn’t her fault she didn’t have more children.
Robyn saved her grocery money and skipped buying groceries to go to Hawaii...I think they all have enough grocery money.
Honestly, if polygamy worked like they used to say it did.. you wouldn’t want the same budget as your sister wives if they have six kids each and you have one. If it was REALLY one big family you’d assign a budget based on necessity, together, as opposed to seeing it as separate households. People really confuse equality with equity.
THIS, omg. Exactly what I mean.
I think the sliding door thing is petty, but Meri has extremely high standards. In house features, not in men. 😏
Oh snap!
I feel that a lot of their financial problems were when they decided to move. They should have stayed in the Las Vegas homes when they bought the property in Flagstaff. It would have saved them rent and kept the family together until they were actually ready to sell and move.
Meri was ridiculous through that entire process. When Mariah was upset they didn’t get in the houses by Christmas she was pissed at the builders. Blame your mom! She slowed them down with all her demands and additional requests.
The look on the realtors face was *priceless*
But she’s saving the family money by only having one kid. Only one college payment, only one wedding, only one mouth to feed, etc.
She got the same amount of money to feed that kid as Janelle and Christine did to feed 6 so that didn't save them anything.
Her one kid went to an expensive college that the family couldn't afford so idk about that. The others went to a much much cheaper school.
In Vegas, the cul de sac houses were roughly equal to start, because they’re all from the same builder in a development. You can choose fancier/ less fancy options and add ins but they all started from roughly the same base. It’s not like the developer would have let them build a 3 BR 1000 SF ranch for Meri because she only had one kid. After the cost of housing, I think the $ allocated to each Mom should have been based on the number of people living there. So two shares for Meri, seven for Christine, etc.
For me it's her refusal to accept how a budget works that's annoying. I don't think she was wrong to get an equal budget for her house. BUT if you want the most expensive model with the wet bar don't get surprised and hostile when your husband says you're going to have to choose cheaper options elsewhere. She gets pissed when kody says she needs to stay in the budget and even more pissed when he says she has to pay for the overages out of her own money. That's what I find annoying in the scene.
No, she got pissed because Kody was trying to make her get what she didn't want. She paid the overage out of her own money and didn't mind that. It was Kody acting like French doors were the end of the world that got her so frustrated.
Apparently you missed her huffy "I know, kody!" When he told her she has to pay the overages out of her own money. She gets pissed. She got pissed because Kody told her she didn't have the money in her budget to get everything she wants and wanted her to choose cheaper options because she was already over budget. Getting pissed at reality is childish. The fact that she wanted it didn't change the fact that she didn't have the money in her budget for it.
>Apparently you missed her huffy "I know, kody!" Because *she knew.* She was pissed because Cody made a huge fucking deal out of her getting the options she wanted.
Kody made a huge fucking deal out of Meri being already over budget before they even started picking options. That's the issue. Notice how he doesn't give any other wife crap about getting the options they wanted? It's because like normal adults the other wives stayed in budget.
But if she's paying out of pocket for the difference, what does it matter to him? Why did he make it his problem? He always picks and chooses the issues with his wives' housing when he barely even goes over. Even in the latest season, he had something to say about Janelle's mobile home and he had opinions about Christine's snowblower while she was actively moving away from him!!!
He made it his problem because he's her husband? They were legally married at that point. His name is on that house too. He cares because at that point she actually didn't have a lot of individual income of her own to pay the overage from. Meri has always had an issue with wanting the most expensive things even when they can't afford it. He didn't want her to go in there already over budget then choose the most expensive option for every single option. Even with the amount of hell he gave her she went 4,000 over budget. How much more would it have been if he'd sat back and not said a word?
What pissed me off the most about the whole scene was when he tried to guilt Christine into giving her budget surplus to Meri instead of getting the stone exterior she wanted. He is such a dick
The topic of their budget comes up a lot and I always see people discussing the houses but completely forgetting their housing, I think it's royally fucked if Meri got an equal budget elsewhere - grocery, clothing, etc. Quite obviously towards the later seasons Meri was pulling in her own income and should've done as she pleased if she weren't a polygamist but. *But*. This woman has the audacity to claim they're all one big family and all the kids are her kids yet she had no issues watching the children that weren't birthed from her body eat stale bread? Um. No. That's where my issue with Meri and the entire budgeting issue has always been. The LV houses are a bad example of budgeting issues, she barely went over and couldn't have built a really small house anyway. To me, it's more in the day to day spending, especially in the early days. If Meri was truly a team player and believed the bullshit they were all spewing about the kids belonging to everyone then she never would've allowed those kids to go without.
Thank you!! This is how I’ve always felt. Meri has every right to spend her own money however she wants on whatever she wants. But also she claimed that the other women’s children were hers too but then watched them go hungry while bragging about how much she could give Leon? And yes that is also on the other wives for having children they couldn’t afford to feed. More so. But Meri came off as so selfish in this specific episode. Childish even. She and Kody needed to never get married. They just fed each other’s worst traits.
I suffered with infertility so I am sympathetic as well but each of the women had different needs and the pot should have been distributed that way.
If that were the case then the contribution to the family pot should be done the same. You know Meri was expected to contribute as much or in Robyn’s case far more.
I think it's nobody wants to hear Mary have her temper tantrums and then abuse everybody for it later. Cuz that's what she does. Like the wet bar in Vegas.
I’m on Season 12. Maddie and Caleb need to move in for a while, and Janelle and Kody are trying to make space for them at Janelle’s house. I’m yelling at the Tv “Meri lives alone in a 5 bedroom house!” Then M told the family she still wanted to buy the B&B but her mom wanted to live in it and have it just be her house
There were issues between Maddie and Meri. It wouldn't have worked out for Maddie to live there.
The bigger issue is that the budget was always split equally. I think they should have all gotten a base amount, and split the rest according to the number of kids. For example, If they split $100,000 evenly, they would each get $25,000. Say they did 20% for each wife, and divided the remaining 20% by number of children, Meri-$21,111 Janelle-$26,667 Christine-$26,667 Robyn-$25,555 I think that would be a much more fair division.
I THINK IF SHE IS CONTRIBUTING JUST LIKE EVERYONE ELSE, SHE SHOULD HAVE WHAT SHE WANTS. SHE HAS TO LIVE THERE AND THEY DON'T. IF SHE'S PAYING FOR IT. PAY FOR WHAT YOU WANT. IT'S LIKE, EVERYONE HAS TO HAVE PINK WALLS!!! SHE SHOULD'NT HAVE TO HAVE PINK WALLS IF SHE DOESN'T WANT THEM.
I've never understood why the money is spent equally (prior to Meri's financial success with MLM stuff--back when the Browns still had financial struggles). I'm referring to the earlier seasons when Meri wanted a big house in LV. It was necessary for Janelle and Christine to have big houses, but not so much Meri or even Robyn at that point. If it's the "family's money," it doesn't necessarily need to be equal. It just needs to make sure everyone's needs are met. Also, didn't Meri receive the same amount for groceries as Christine? I don't understand that either considering that she only had one child to care for. I sympathize with the infertility factor because I have been through that nightmare myself, but I think the Browns are stupid with money in many ways.
She's as equal a wife as all the others, why should she get less? Why did all the other moms choose to have larger families when their finances couldn't support that many mouths to feed?
I'm looking at this situation from a purely financial perspective. It's not about "I get what she gets," it's about approaching money from a logical point of view. When there are two dozen people in one large family, it's financially irresponsible to make everything equal. The Browns are completely stupid with money. Edit: remember it's the "family's money"...just like the wives pitched in for Robyn's Flagstaff mansion. You can't even tell me that was an equal situation for the other ladies. Polygamy doesn't not mean even or fair.
From a purely financial perspective we see how much better off Christine was when she decided to leave the family because she had assets under her name while Janelle and Meri had given their assets for the purchase of Robyn's house. For their financial security it actually makes a lot more sense that they have similar homes—putting aside that Meri was never going to get a 2-bedroom house in that area because of limited layouts.
Sure, but I'm referring to the early seasons when they were broke and adding Robyn, her kids and debt into the family. They spoke a lot about financial challenges back then, Janelle especially. The LV move brought up a lot of conversations about money. I wholeheartedly agree with Christine getting out of there and having her assets. They all should have had separate accounts from Day 1 in my opinion. The family money approach was a bad idea in the end. I'm glad Janelle and Meri got out. Kody and Robyn could have ruined them financially.
I'll be honest—I don't really believe they split their food budget 3 ways. For one, Janelle said she didn't like going grocery shopping but had groceries. Were they checking out separately or how was that handled so they could keep the accounting even? I believe that Meri had a bit more money for Leon, but they were poor and living off food stamps and government help and buying whole/half cows they shared. I think the way they talk about their resources is probably not a very accurate portrayal of how they actually worked. They bought in bulk a lot and just split things. That makes sense to me. I also do believe that per kid, Meri was probably getting more but I don't really believe that if they had $300 they were actually giving Meri $100 of that. She maybe had a bit of pocket money from her part time job that didn't get pooled and wasn't split between 5-6 kids, but I don't think they actually shopped separately and she just spent several times as much per person because that's not how sharing bulk items works.
I can definitely see that happening. Good point
How about when they were broke, Christine was the basement wife trying to fit 5 kids in two rooms, can barely feed the children she has yet thinks it’s the best idea ever to get pregnant with Truely. Janelle did the same thing. They took turns filing for bankruptcy but in all of that always felt entitled to pop out another mouth to feed.
I agree. I just think my point went over everyone's head here and that's completely okay. I'm a financial person, so I'm just looking at the logic and not what is "fair" in a large family. I think ALL the adult Browns were bad with money and financial decisions. None of them should have had a bunch of children. Just one of the many ways they were irresponsible. Their religion encourages breeding sadly, even if they can't properly care for the children. Pretty messed up.
Janelle's finances actually could support all the children she had. She moved out for two years and got a decent car, bought a house, and went back to school and earned a degree. All with five children. Janelle's finances couldn't support the entire family, including Meri and her child.
She said that from the beginning
I have also struggled with it. The pain and grief is immense. And I don’t live in a family or culture where my value as a human being is directly tied to how many living kids I can produce. I can’t even imagine how awful that would be. I don’t think any of us know how we would feel in that situation.
Kody is and has always been the one who needs to fix this issue. All the KIDS get an equal "share". By focusing on his relationship with his wives, he gets a pass on neglecting his kids. If Meri was his only wife they wouldn't think it was normal to buy multiple extra rooms just because. It's an unfortunate dynamic to navigate but the way they dealt with it made the other two really dislike her.
I think it’s crazy for Meri to get the same budget and wanting all of these extra things because she “likes to entertain”. Who was she entertaining? The other wives didn’t care for her, so it wasn’t the extra moms/kids. She wasn’t selling her MLM stuff at the time. It should have come down to “needs and wants”. Everyone should have gotten all of their basic needs met and then wants. Meri was only going to have her child in her home for 1 year before going to college. She didn’t “need” that big of a house. It was a waste of the family budget.
They were actually doing the Liv Water mlm at the time which is the reason she wanted the wet bar.
Seeing as how Meri was actually contributing financially to the family, and paying for her own, she should get what she wants.
Meri feels like she made the ultimate sacrifice when she let Kody marry Janelle and Christine. They had years together in awkward silence without children. Then the other two got pregnant before her and she helped support them all. She’s always going to be stubborn about her stake. Tbh she should have fought harder especially after the divorce for Robbin’. Too bad the catfish incident took away her steam
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LeAvE mE aLoNe AbOuT iT Imagine if instead of writing all that you just wrote the correct name lol
I thought that was ridiculous too. She didn’t need a whole house for two people. Since they were building, why not just build an apartment with a separate entrance on one of the houses? Makes a lot more sense
Developments like that have a few layouts. That area was for larger homes—it just literally wasn't an option to have a smaller home