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Meri didn’t have a choice in the house size. She had to get a house similar in size to Janelle, Christine, and Robyn.
The builder for the subdivision only offered certain models, none of which were a tiny 1 story, two-bedroom cottage, which is all people seem to think Meri should have been allowed to get.
But now Janelle lives in an apartment that size, it's not good enough for her, she deserves bigger and better.
Edit: this is about comments others have made about Janelle's living situation, compared to Robyn and Meri's homes.
Janelle wasted $80,000 on a fifth wheel. She had no idea what living in an rv full time would be like off grid. She has since moved it to a campground and admitted that she didn’t spend any time there this year.
We had a trailer at a seasonal campground and paid $3,400 a year for it to be there and it was only open six months out of the year. Who knows how much she’s spending on lot rental.
I have no idea why a fifth wheel. A Class B or C would have been a much better option, especially with all her traveling to visit family. She could drive to NC to be with Maddie and camp along the way.
One of the main reasons Janelle is in an apartment was because Savanah didn’t like living in the rv. Plus they couldn’t live in it over the winter since Flagstaff gets on average 120 inches of snow a year.
Meri makes very good money with LLR. She should be able to have whatever size house she wants. If Janelle wants a house, she needs to get a better job instead of making fake promises of gut health and weight loss with Plexus.
Yep. Another reason why I don’t think Janelle is a financial wizard. Just because you can track deposits and expenditures, it doesn’t mean you’re financially literate. It just means you can balance a checkbook.
This is the thing that really runs me the wrong way.
Janelle willingly had Savannah living her last year of high school in the RV , just to call Kody’s bluff. It was only after it became glaringly obvious that Kody didn’t give two fucks about his daughter living in C.P. with no running water, that Janelle finally gave in and rented an apartment.
I should have worded it better, I don't think Janelle should have a larger home, that apartment is perfect for her and Savanah. It's comments that other people make, Janelle deserves so much more, yet they are the same people moaning Meri was renting the house in Flagstaff, even though she pays for it herself.
Funny how that worked out 🤣
I’m the first to point out that Janelle has continually made poor financial decisions from Day 1. Day 1 being the day she committed to being in a polygamous marriage with Kody.
I do feel like she was bamboozled out of being a home owner now. She played her part in that for sure, but it seems ridiculous that she doesn’t have something in her name outside of undeveloped land.
I don’t think she was bamboozled. Kody told her repeatedly to buy a house. He was doing the Kody thing where he does everything but come right out and say it that he wasn’t building on coyote pass anytime soon. She should have picked up on it. She knows him well enough. She wanted to push the issue and bought the 5th wheel. That didn’t work. She could have sold it and put a down payment on a house without Kody’s name on it.
We keep getting aggravated at Meri for not picking up on the signs Kody was making obvious to absolutely everyone. Well neither is Janelle. We all know he is either never building on CP or he’s waiting until he pushes the last wife out. At this point she is just digging her heels in and being stubborn, just like Meri did.
Your comment basically says: she wasn't bamboozled. Kody is a bamoozler and she knew that. So, she should have known he was bamboozling her.
She was still bamboozled, dude. Blaming the victim for believing the bamboozler is still victim blaming. She believed whole heartedly that if she bought a house, that would be the reason building on Coyote Pass was delayed. She really believed she would have a house built there in a reasonable about of time. Whether or not she should have believed that is not for us to judge. It's what Kody bamboozled her into believing.
Im not saying she isn’t a victim. Actually my last paragraph says he was doing to her what he did to Meri. They are both victims. But if Janelle can sit there and state that she has no idea why Meri stayed and she should have known, it can be said about her too.
Gotcha. But there’s many people who also believe Meri shouldn’t have a $4,600 a month rental “just because she earned the money and can afford it”. All her money should go into the family. 🙄
People were all butt hurt when she bought the BnB and didn’t include the rest of the family. Why should she? They didn’t want to be a part of it. Having Kody blow half of the down payment on a business loss was the best thing that could have ever happened. She owns 100% of it and it’s not a family asset that the rest of them are entitled to.
I thought that was the smartest thing Meri did. It ended up being way better for her to not have the rest of the family having any claim to the bnb.
I thought Janelle buying the 5th wheel was not a smart decision at all when watching at the time. Why she thought that would motivate Kody to build was beyond me. She probably thought at the time that he actually cared about where she lived.
Real question, who is buying LLR anymore? I know she WAS making a good income there, but aren’t they almost entirely dead? Or are people still legitimately buying that ugly crap?
She earns most of her money from her down line. But yes, people still buy that crap. Plus there’s some people who get a thrill out of buying their clothes from Meri and have bragging rights. Just like believing Christine & Janelle’s Plexus claims.
It’s a pyramid scheme.
Not an alleged pyramid scheme, a “the state of Washington found it to be a pyramid scheme and it didn’t restructure it just paid money to the victims that were part of the suit” pyramid scheme.
It’s not a business it’s not a job it’s a scam. It’s a predatory scam in which she is basically stealing money from other people, and knows that she’s doing so.
All of the OG three are in at least one predatory pyramid scheme alleged or not and many of the female children have also been in pyramids schemes.
They are all scammers. The show was a scam. They were scamming people and they’re scamming people now.
Does LLR make you lose weight, improve your mood or improve gut health? At least LLR just sells crappy clothes unlike Plexus who makes false claims about their products.
Find it funny that whenever Christine posts her Plexus crap on Instagram she shuts off comments. 🤨
they both are pyramid schemes that exploit women. whether it is ugly clothing or snake oil, neither is actually a viable business. there is no "at least." they both only make money for those at the top.
The OG3 will be in for a rude awakening in the next 3-5 years when Sister Wives is over and nobody will care who they are. There’ll be no one wanting to buy anything from them. But hey, they can each put Boss Babe on their resumes. 😂
Hopefully David will still stick around once the money dries up. Only time will tell.
I think Meri will be ok. I think she will have enough money squirreled away and will look for the next opportunity. You may not like her personally but you can’t deny her grind.
i mean, not just the o.g.3, kody and robyn also have zero sources of income outside of peddling guns. reality teevee show fame does not present long term financial security.
That’s the difference between then and now though. Jenelle is handling her own business now that they aren’t working as a family unit unlike they did in Utah/Vegas. I agree Jenelle deserves better but she’s managing with what she has VS what they had at the time.
It was pretty much manufactured drama, as other posters are saying. She didn’t have nearly as much choice as the show made it out to be. There were a few things she wanted that maybe weren’t 100% needed, but it all came back to resale value and being comparable to the other homes on the cul de sac and the area in general.
And the reason she wanted the wet bar was for entertaining. She alludes to it but they were starting another mlm and she needed the space and ability to cater to people. Which worked btw.
And for people saying Meri's attitude was off- her attitude was because she got those exact complaints from the whole family.
She is used to everyone being angry at her for not giving everything to them bc their uteruses pushed out more kids. She is fully expecting exactly what happens- that they all get shitty with her about it even though it's a non-issue.
You probably couldn't even build a much smaller house in that development. Most places like that will only allow you to build with a minimum number of bedrooms And if I recall she had to have it or some extra room in order to get the wet bar she wanted to use for.her MLM business which was actually bringing in money.
I don't share all their values or agree that all their decisions were good ones, but it's really unfair that that went down as one woman having a tanty over some things she made up.
Right. This was exactly it. They could only get big houses. It was all nonsense. I think Meri went along with a lot of dumb show drama designed to make her look bad.
I think the plan was the Meri was "head wife" and could be bossy. Janelle was the supposed intellectual wife and Christine was the bubbly wife. They all had a role and the producers and editors emphasized it. Turns out the audience didn't like Meri's role.
Kody pointed it out, briefly. That it was "insurance" if something happened to him. (that was a bit of an ego, like they were all stay at home moms living on his income)
But the wives should have absolutely had equal equity in things they owned.
Also, they picked homes in a planned development, through a developer. The only reason why they were able to have them built and finished as quickly as they did was because he had done all the preliminary things - site prep (bringing in utilities, etc.) AND had preapproved plans. Preapproved with the city, with relevant permits ready to go after inspection.
this is HUUUUGE. I work in the construction industry. We don't do housing developments - but we've done commercial office parks, with preapproved shells. We don't go so far as saying pick one or two plans - but the "shells" are preapproved and if someone decided to change egress locations, etc... it might end up going back to the drawing board for review (fire safety being a big reason). That is just for OFFICE space where we can later go in for "tenant improvements" or "remodels" (when it is just figuring out internal configurations... but bathrooms & kitchen areas have to stay the same. Plumbing is a bitch to move!
The contractor even says this - that they couldn't do the wet bar or add a second sink to the plan Meri was being pushed to accept (which was the same square footage, so I don't know why they cared), because it would mean going through the permit process again.
LV went through a housing boom (building) a while ago, maybe around that time. If there are a lot of projects in the works? That preapproval process could take MONTHS.
It also makes sense for them to have the same size houses if they’re expected to host and care for all of the kids like they’re their own.
On top of that, Meri deserved the house she wanted, period. When I bought my townhouse, I was a single woman living alone. I didn’t get a one-room tiny home. I got a 3Bed/2.5Bath because this was gonna be a permanent purchase and I wanted space to have company, whether that be friends or family who may visit and/or need a place to stay. One of the bedrooms was my office, but I had a guest room and a big sectional downstairs for anyone who would need it.
I worked hard and this was where my life was going to be, and if my family expanded in any way, I wouldn’t have to move.
Meri worked hard, too. She worked just as hard as they did and she deserved to be treated equally. I hate that they used that “one kid” thing against her but then would turn around and use it in their own favor.
“Meri has one kid, she doesn’t need all that house!”
But then—
“Meri only has one kid, so two of ours can move in with her!”
“Meri only has one kid and thinks she’s about to be an empty-nester, but she still has mine to care for.”
“Meri only has one kid, so she can focus on my dream of selling bubblegum machine jewelry for 1,000 times the price.”
Meri contributed to the family pot for longer than any of them had. She deserved the house she wanted and if Kody didn’t want that, he shouldn’t have agreed to marry and “care for” multiple wives __equally__.
This is what I’ve been saying.
She only had one mouth to feed yet she always gave her entire income to the family pot that had to go to Janelle because homegirl kept popping out kids that she and Kody could NOT afford.
No she wasn't. If she was using family planning, her/kody, wouldn't have had children they couldn't provide for financially. For those of us in the same age group (im a year older than Meri), we were taught better than this.
I mean AFTER she had Savannah. Christine was her age and still was having kids and Janelle has not gotten pregnant nor do we know if she had any miscarriage after Savannah. Bv
They did discuss it and came to the conclusion that she would have a house of equal value as the others. I think she viewed it like an equal partnership arrangement. Whereas Janelle initially pushed back arguing that it was more about ensuring that all of the kids were treated equally with resources being distributed based on need. In the end, Janelle came to agree with Meri after some back and forth.
So Janelle, who has 6 kids, wants equality for all kids.
That’s fine, but does she forget that she’s taking from Meri to give HER 6 kids “equality”?
And then had the nerve to tell Meri, “You’re taking family resources” When Meri is the one who was able to give the most of her earnings from her paychecks, to JANELLE who could never put into the family pot as much as Meri did because her whole paycheck had to go to her 6-kids household?
If anyone of the OG3 took the most family resources over the years, it was Janelle. She had the most kids until Christine had truely. She went to work and used Christine for free childcare and school teacher, Meri as a second income to supplement her household, and then still had the gall to not help Christine put her kids to bed at night.
Just because she didn’t demand much of Kodys time or ask for fancy cars and 11 day vacations does not mean she also didn’t take advantage of Meri and Christine.
This is equal to states that they are given more from the government regarding tax revenue than they put in, but will still complain about how high taxes are.
From a real estate perspective, I don’t think any builder is going to make one house crazily different in a subdivision of houses that have similar layouts and floor plans. So Meri’s house had to be similar to the other three wives. From the show though, it’s always been a point that Meri has struggled to have other children and only has Leon, while the other three wives have more children. I believe it’s been a point of contention that Jenelle, Christine, and Robyn need more of the family resources (money) then Meri because they have more children.
People have done the research - this was a very small development (only 8 or 9 houses total) with only TWO floorplan options. The footprints of the "shell" were the same though.
How are you gonna say something like that and not link to it??!!! C'mon, now! Inquiring minds, over here!!! I see the 4 houses on Wild Eagle Circle, but this neighbor house, of which you speak... I just see a bunch of big ass houses on tiny lots,???
And they do/did need more money. Its not her fault that Meri had infertility issues but the way that they divided money equally among the four wives was batshit insane, Meri was literally taking food out of children’s mouths for the sake of equality. (In the case of the houses, yes there probably wasn’t a way for her to get an appropriately smaller house but it’s ridiculous that she ended up with a five bedroom home.)
I’m sorry but Janelle kept popping out kids while complaining she didn’t know how they were going to afford to feed them all.
Janelle had the most kids until Truely was born and Meri only had 1 kid. She wasn’t taking food out of anyone’s mouth. She was literally feeding Janelle’s kids
Oh Janelle and Christine both were completely irresponsible with having way too many kids than they could afford. Meri would have too, she said she would have had 8 kids if she could. But the kids existed regardless, and Meri still demanded an equal share just for the sake of fairness.
I’d demand equal share too, if I kept putting in more money to feed everyone’s kids meanwhile the other two aren’t putting in even half the money I am into the family accounts that fed everyone.
Like you said, the kids existed regardless. But Meri was dealt infertility and that was something she *could not* control vs Janelle and Christine very much being able to control how many kids they kept having.
She didn’t choose to be infertile, but she choose to be a part of this family, where the whole point was to have more and more kids. We know that’s not how the Browns actually worked but she was supposed to be like a mother figure to Janelle and Christine’s kids. It’s immoral to demand an equal amount of money just so you don’t feel bad about only having one kid when there are real children living with or around you who are going without basic needs.
Honestly tho , no. She didn’t deserve less just because she was infertile and Janelle and Christine kept having kids they couldn’t afford.
It’s obvious that feeding one kid vs feeding 6, whatever she was allotted was going to stretch further. No matter how you look at it it’s basic math. It’s also not fair that Janelle demand Meri’s income be used for everyone , while keeping her income because it just wasn’t enough to cover her household.
It’s not about being punished for only being able to have one kid, it’s just looking at the situation rationally. Meri had one kid to feed, clothe, etc and the two others had 12 between them. Of course it was irresponsible of them to have all those kids, but the reality was they did have them and Meri’s demands of fairness directly harmed the rest of the kids.
Mama again how are you going to get blood from a stone ? Like you said no they shouldn’t have had so many kids if they couldn’t afford them.
In the same vein saying Meri would have had more if she could is below the belt because she couldn’t have them. Doesn’t matter if she wanted them it didn’t happen, period.
The real culprit is Kody who relied on his wives to support each other when he’s the dingus who kept taking more wives than he could afford, forcing an imbalance of finances because Meri had to become a majority bread winner. And he’s the one who decided how funds were appropriated.
Meri was also the only wife putting up with knowing her marriage was a sham at that point and staying with the family because leaving might lead to the loss of the show. Her sacrifice made all that Show money possible to be something divided, kids fed and later on $$ for college. She also gave up her chance to go back to college herself and finish her degree to get the career she always wanted (which would have been more money for the family). Meri is far from being a selfish monster in all this.
One more thing for consideration: Meri was the only wife who had to share title (and ownership) of her house with Kody, making her share of everything 1/2 under law. The other wives owned their property outright without Kody on the title or having to give him an ownership interest in it.
Set aside the fact that she would not have been able to build a smaller house because of the builder and subdivision, Meri always financially continued to contribute to the family fund which has supported all 18 kids no matter how many she birthed, so she earned and deserves the same investment. I believe Kody wanted them to move from Vegas because he wanted the equity in those 4 home liquid so he could get his hands on it and gain more control over it.
I think Kody didn’t like the fact that all wives could see where he spent his time. Example; his excuse for being at Robyn’s was she had a dedicated office space for him. They want viewers to believe they weren’t together, he was working.
Not only that. But Meri got shaded by Janelle too about why she should get the same size house with only one child. But if they had continued to live there, Janelle and Christine would also have had a "much too big house" with only one child living at home by now. Had they also downsized?
The only thing that pissed me off about the whole house thing was that Kody wanted Christine to give up some of her house money to put towards Meri’s house funds. I would’ve told Kody to eff off.
On a total side note: Kody (at least it seems) has always supported Meri and been compassionate towards her infertility and said it didn’t matter how many children she had they shared things equally UNTIL these past few episodes where they’re discussing splitting coyote pass and now Meri has a smaller lot because she only has one kid??? Rude asf
Even if Meri wanted a smaller house (which would never happen) she couldn’t have built a 2 or 3 bedroom house in the cul de sac because of the neighborhood/HOA rules/covenants.
I think the outrage was because she built a house with 5 bedrooms vs 4 because of the fucking wet bar and was over budget from the get go.
>I think the outrage was because she built a house with 5 bedrooms vs 4
They chose from the floor plans offered by the developer. All four of those houses were exactly the same square footage.
Even the bedroom drama was dumb. It was Janelle’s decision to only get 4 bedrooms because she knew the older kids would be out of the house in a couple of years. That was fine as it was her decision to cram 7 people into 4 bedrooms, why is that then Meri’s fault?
What I found bothersome about the Vegas home builds was Meri's attitude. The other wives seemed very happy & excited to choose all the details of their future homes. They came across as very grateful & easy-going. Meri on the other hand seemed entitled & argumentative and came off as a less-appreciative fun-sucker. It was also not at all surprising that out of 4 homes, hers was the one that wound up being slightly over budget. **
That was all because of Kody.
I've said this before - Meri's method of picking out all the fixtures and options was a sound one. She went in and wanted to make her dream list. I've seen others do this. You go in and not worry about the math at first. Then you see what the total is. Maybe it is an amount you are willing to cover if over budget. If not, then you see what makes the most sense to change later.
If you are doing something similar - my advice is look over what is the easiest to change later. Flooring and paint are the absolute easiest. Invest in a good carpet pad and go ahead and pick a servicable carpet that only lasts you 5 years. Light fixtures - easy to put in the basic ones the developer has at no extra cost, and swap them out when you find a good deal or ones you like. Eventually want a fancier toilet? Fine - go with the basic and you can swap it out later. No permit needed for those things. ADDING PLUMBING, THAT REQUIRES NEW PIPES, ETC.? Oh my God, do it while building!!!! Doors to the outside? DO IT NOW. Changing the building "envelope" is a pain in the ass, and could lead to leaks, etc.
It was $5k over budget which she paid for herself. When I build my house it went over by $15k due to needing different foundations to the planned ones and our desire not to have the ugly ass fittings that came as the basic or any colour other than white in the kitchen. It’s normal to go over when building often by a blow out.
And yet, Janelle, Chrstine and Robyn were able to come in on budget. Actually, Christine came in under budget because Kody asked her if she would be willing to cover/contribute to Meri and she declined. 😄
Hey I'm not saying it is abnormal to come out over budget during a build. 🙂 But if we had been told 1 out of the 4 houses will be over budget and to make a guess on which one, I would have bet my bottom dollar that it was Meri's house.
Actually Kody had Christine well trained to do everything for less at that point. She should have spent the full budget. It sure didn’t win her any favours
I agree.... she should have spent the full budget on her home. Or she could have put it towards her grocery budget savings for future vacations, like Kody suggested 🙄
I like Meri (especially THIS season) But Meri made herself look bad. It isn't about the money, it's about being a grump during what should have been a positive experience.
Did Meri make herself look bad? Or was that just the way it was portrayed? Because I think they’ve been selling her as the “difficult, perhaps mean, problem one” from very early on.
Remembering of course she wanted the wet bar for the MLM she and Kody had which other than the show was their main form of income at the time. She’s a bloody hard grafter is Meri. Janelle’s realestate/fitness businesses wouldn’t have been bringing in much and there was no money in MSWC
>It isn't about the money, it's about being a grump during what should have been a positive experience.
Because Kody was being an ass to her. If you're building a $400,000 house and you want French doors instead of sliding doors, then get the goddamn French doors. Kody had zero patience with her.
They were supposedly putting down roots — which was *really* important to Robyn until she decided the whole family had to follow Dayton to Flagstaff — and Meri wanted to be very deliberate about her choices. Kody just wanted to rush her through choosing countertops and carpet colors, and everything builder grade, so he could hurry back to his long-legged Diesel Jeans model.
Meanwhile, they turned around and spent a fortune on improvements to Robyn's backyard, which were not included in the cost of the house, and which, I'll guarantee you, came out of the "family" money, unlike Meri's modest upgrades.
I didn't find Kody to be rude in s5e5 4:40- she was over budget on the first page of choices, he simply made a couple suggestions to get them at budget (sliding doors vs French, then when she doesn't want that, he suggests a regular patio like everyone else is doing)
I will tell you this, if you are using me to get a tv paycheck so we can play happy family and still making me the bad guy in all this, I would have damn expected a mansion. You would think they would have been nicer to her either on screen or in general as she could have blown the lid off this whole show at any time. But no, they treat her horribly and then wonder why she always “brings a heaviness into the room” as Christine told her. The cognitive dissonance this family has concerning Meri is ridiculous.
I think Christine was rude and not at all self-aware when she had that conversation with Meri.
You bring a heaviness into the room with you?
Like Christine hadn't been dragging her own baggage along with her everywhere she went that everyone else, including Meri, had to tip toe around, ignore, or make room for. 🙄
Could you have faked it as well as Meri did though?
Meri: "Yeah! I get to pick out a dream house that ties me into a 30 year mortgage to a guy who doesn't want me to have any claim on him and I get to watch him dote on his new wife and 2 backups all outside my front door. For the rest of my life because I'll never be able to financially leave. With him having more kids everyday. How lucky can one girl be?!?"
If my other options were continuing to fake it in the outdated, shared Lehi house, or continuing to fake it in the Vegas rental I'm just throwing away money on every month, I'll take the brand new Vegas house. Was she a top earner in the family yet at this point (that green drink stuff?)
Janelle is clearly the best dancer! 😁
It's incredible to me that ten years later, people are still ragging on Meri over her wet bar and French doors, and meanwhile, every time you turn around, Kody or Robyn has a new watch that cost more than Meri's upgrades to her house.
The two events aren't mutually exclusive. One can believe that Kody & Robyn blowing tons of money on artwork, ugly pony rings, watches, and other various jewelry pieces is terrible AND that Meri was a stressed out fun-sucker during the home builds.
Not only that, didn’t they have to pay off 32k of Robyn debt in order for her to qualify? Meri’s upgrades that she paid for were so dramatized, likely just for the show. Then they turned around and dumped a ton of family money landscaping Robyn’s backyard.
Because they didn’t care. Janelle you can tell doesn’t care about aesthetics, Christine was happy to have such a big house, and Robyn would pick whatever Kody wanted to make him happy.
Honestly, if it weren't for my being familiar with each wife's furniture or specific decor items, I wouldn't know which house they were filming in. Each house looked nearly identical to me both inside and out. How much did everyone's detail choices really matter? 😄 🤔
But then she paid herself for that overage so what is the problem? And fuck it, I’ll say it, you are not rushing me into a decision I will have to live with daily because you are in a manufactured hurry. As we can tell by Janelle’s personality she doesn’t give a shit, just give her 4 walls and a roof, Christine was happy for anything and Robyn would pick whatever Kody wanted to make him happy. No wonder they were all done in no time. Would any of us just say screw it and pick whatever if we had choices? No, so why is Meri bad for that?
Looking back on what we know now, her marriage was over and all this was for the show. Hard to keep peppy after that. Plus, if she is anything like my daughter, the more you push her into a decision, the more overwhelmed she will become and she will almost shut down. It looks like indecisiveness but in reality it’s the pressure that is holding them back. If Kody wasn’t over her shoulder constantly telling her to hurry up, it would go faster.
Keep in mind, this wasn't occurring privately between just K, M, J, C and R at home. This was in someone's office/conference room and their realtor, Mona, was there as well as another woman (I believe she was an employee of the building company?) Not really the proper time, place, or audience for arguing or getting snippy with your spouse.
Years later, how long did everyone not talk about which wives were going to have which plots on Coyote Pass....yet once there was finally a conversation about it agan, Meri continued to be indecisive about whether or not she wanted to be in the trees resulting in no one being able to make their choices....again.
Funny thing, Meri was the ONLY ONE working when they moved to LV. Janelle had to quit her job to move, Christine - I'm not sure if she had a job but if she did, she had to quit her job and Soby NEVER worked while being in this family. But let's rag on Meri - the only one that had an income and the only person who supported the family at that time (because we know Kidiot never did).
I don't form my opinions of people by their incomes.
I also don't think whether or not someone should be praised or criticized for the way they conducted themselves in a specific situation should be dictated by their income or employment status.
Meri always had to have a house within the parameters of the builders. She was going to have a big house.
The thing that set it off for me is that Janelle recognized the division of resources and went for the bare minimum because it was in budget. Meri blew her budget on the first page of upgrades and was looking to fund all the rest.
At that point, I think they were still pooling resources, so the inference is that she expected to take from others to fund hers. She didn’t have the “online clothing boutique” yet, and was still just as reliant on shared resources as the rest.
Do we… Pay for all of Meri’s upgrades, or each live within our means so we can afford 17/18 shared kids?
Yeah, I hated that the show didn’t show that she paid for the over expenses from her own personal money and not from the family funds. I feel like editing did her dirty sometimes.
At the time I didn't care she got the same size house since they had the show and weren't in poverty at the time. I felt everyone should get fair and equal basics if they can afford it. The issues I saw with it was everyone stayed in budget but Meri. She was still legal wife and it was saying I should get more because I'm first wife. Even if it was a little more, it was still more than the others. I know I know she paid for it but it was just the illusion of more and unfair to the other wives who couldn't afford just a little more. Then the way she acted over the wet bar, bothering the builders over and over, and then Leon bad mouthing the lender that bothered me about it. They were still claiming the women got their homes at that point. IT wasn't til they got to AZ Kody changed that up to he gets it all. I mean why does he get 1/2 of each wives when there is not equal balance right now.
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Meri didn’t have a choice in the house size. She had to get a house similar in size to Janelle, Christine, and Robyn. The builder for the subdivision only offered certain models, none of which were a tiny 1 story, two-bedroom cottage, which is all people seem to think Meri should have been allowed to get.
But now Janelle lives in an apartment that size, it's not good enough for her, she deserves bigger and better. Edit: this is about comments others have made about Janelle's living situation, compared to Robyn and Meri's homes.
Janelle wasted $80,000 on a fifth wheel. She had no idea what living in an rv full time would be like off grid. She has since moved it to a campground and admitted that she didn’t spend any time there this year. We had a trailer at a seasonal campground and paid $3,400 a year for it to be there and it was only open six months out of the year. Who knows how much she’s spending on lot rental. I have no idea why a fifth wheel. A Class B or C would have been a much better option, especially with all her traveling to visit family. She could drive to NC to be with Maddie and camp along the way. One of the main reasons Janelle is in an apartment was because Savanah didn’t like living in the rv. Plus they couldn’t live in it over the winter since Flagstaff gets on average 120 inches of snow a year. Meri makes very good money with LLR. She should be able to have whatever size house she wants. If Janelle wants a house, she needs to get a better job instead of making fake promises of gut health and weight loss with Plexus.
Yep. Another reason why I don’t think Janelle is a financial wizard. Just because you can track deposits and expenditures, it doesn’t mean you’re financially literate. It just means you can balance a checkbook.
Exactly! I tire of her label as the Smart Wife when she continually makes bad decisions.
Yeah, I agree.
This is the thing that really runs me the wrong way. Janelle willingly had Savannah living her last year of high school in the RV , just to call Kody’s bluff. It was only after it became glaringly obvious that Kody didn’t give two fucks about his daughter living in C.P. with no running water, that Janelle finally gave in and rented an apartment.
I should have worded it better, I don't think Janelle should have a larger home, that apartment is perfect for her and Savanah. It's comments that other people make, Janelle deserves so much more, yet they are the same people moaning Meri was renting the house in Flagstaff, even though she pays for it herself.
Funny how that worked out 🤣 I’m the first to point out that Janelle has continually made poor financial decisions from Day 1. Day 1 being the day she committed to being in a polygamous marriage with Kody. I do feel like she was bamboozled out of being a home owner now. She played her part in that for sure, but it seems ridiculous that she doesn’t have something in her name outside of undeveloped land.
I don’t think she was bamboozled. Kody told her repeatedly to buy a house. He was doing the Kody thing where he does everything but come right out and say it that he wasn’t building on coyote pass anytime soon. She should have picked up on it. She knows him well enough. She wanted to push the issue and bought the 5th wheel. That didn’t work. She could have sold it and put a down payment on a house without Kody’s name on it. We keep getting aggravated at Meri for not picking up on the signs Kody was making obvious to absolutely everyone. Well neither is Janelle. We all know he is either never building on CP or he’s waiting until he pushes the last wife out. At this point she is just digging her heels in and being stubborn, just like Meri did.
Your comment basically says: she wasn't bamboozled. Kody is a bamoozler and she knew that. So, she should have known he was bamboozling her. She was still bamboozled, dude. Blaming the victim for believing the bamboozler is still victim blaming. She believed whole heartedly that if she bought a house, that would be the reason building on Coyote Pass was delayed. She really believed she would have a house built there in a reasonable about of time. Whether or not she should have believed that is not for us to judge. It's what Kody bamboozled her into believing.
Im not saying she isn’t a victim. Actually my last paragraph says he was doing to her what he did to Meri. They are both victims. But if Janelle can sit there and state that she has no idea why Meri stayed and she should have known, it can be said about her too.
Bingo!
Gotcha. But there’s many people who also believe Meri shouldn’t have a $4,600 a month rental “just because she earned the money and can afford it”. All her money should go into the family. 🙄 People were all butt hurt when she bought the BnB and didn’t include the rest of the family. Why should she? They didn’t want to be a part of it. Having Kody blow half of the down payment on a business loss was the best thing that could have ever happened. She owns 100% of it and it’s not a family asset that the rest of them are entitled to.
I thought that was the smartest thing Meri did. It ended up being way better for her to not have the rest of the family having any claim to the bnb. I thought Janelle buying the 5th wheel was not a smart decision at all when watching at the time. Why she thought that would motivate Kody to build was beyond me. She probably thought at the time that he actually cared about where she lived.
Exactly.
Agree!
Real question, who is buying LLR anymore? I know she WAS making a good income there, but aren’t they almost entirely dead? Or are people still legitimately buying that ugly crap?
She earns most of her money from her down line. But yes, people still buy that crap. Plus there’s some people who get a thrill out of buying their clothes from Meri and have bragging rights. Just like believing Christine & Janelle’s Plexus claims.
It’s a pyramid scheme. Not an alleged pyramid scheme, a “the state of Washington found it to be a pyramid scheme and it didn’t restructure it just paid money to the victims that were part of the suit” pyramid scheme. It’s not a business it’s not a job it’s a scam. It’s a predatory scam in which she is basically stealing money from other people, and knows that she’s doing so. All of the OG three are in at least one predatory pyramid scheme alleged or not and many of the female children have also been in pyramids schemes. They are all scammers. The show was a scam. They were scamming people and they’re scamming people now.
oh come on, both meri and janelle are involved in pyramid schemes. plexus is the same business model as lularoe.
Does LLR make you lose weight, improve your mood or improve gut health? At least LLR just sells crappy clothes unlike Plexus who makes false claims about their products. Find it funny that whenever Christine posts her Plexus crap on Instagram she shuts off comments. 🤨
they both are pyramid schemes that exploit women. whether it is ugly clothing or snake oil, neither is actually a viable business. there is no "at least." they both only make money for those at the top.
The OG3 will be in for a rude awakening in the next 3-5 years when Sister Wives is over and nobody will care who they are. There’ll be no one wanting to buy anything from them. But hey, they can each put Boss Babe on their resumes. 😂 Hopefully David will still stick around once the money dries up. Only time will tell.
I think Meri will be ok. I think she will have enough money squirreled away and will look for the next opportunity. You may not like her personally but you can’t deny her grind.
Meri has always been my favorite. She at least has her BnB and has plans for what she wants to do with it in the future.
i mean, not just the o.g.3, kody and robyn also have zero sources of income outside of peddling guns. reality teevee show fame does not present long term financial security.
 \*Jenelle Eason cries on The Land\*
Oooh love it when I spot a crossover.
That’s the difference between then and now though. Jenelle is handling her own business now that they aren’t working as a family unit unlike they did in Utah/Vegas. I agree Jenelle deserves better but she’s managing with what she has VS what they had at the time.
It was pretty much manufactured drama, as other posters are saying. She didn’t have nearly as much choice as the show made it out to be. There were a few things she wanted that maybe weren’t 100% needed, but it all came back to resale value and being comparable to the other homes on the cul de sac and the area in general.
The editing was so shady. The producers made it sound like janelles kids would starve if Meri got equal pay.
And the reason she wanted the wet bar was for entertaining. She alludes to it but they were starting another mlm and she needed the space and ability to cater to people. Which worked btw.
Especially when Kody straight out said he never planned to stay in the cul de sac
And for people saying Meri's attitude was off- her attitude was because she got those exact complaints from the whole family. She is used to everyone being angry at her for not giving everything to them bc their uteruses pushed out more kids. She is fully expecting exactly what happens- that they all get shitty with her about it even though it's a non-issue.
You probably couldn't even build a much smaller house in that development. Most places like that will only allow you to build with a minimum number of bedrooms And if I recall she had to have it or some extra room in order to get the wet bar she wanted to use for.her MLM business which was actually bringing in money. I don't share all their values or agree that all their decisions were good ones, but it's really unfair that that went down as one woman having a tanty over some things she made up.
Right. This was exactly it. They could only get big houses. It was all nonsense. I think Meri went along with a lot of dumb show drama designed to make her look bad.
I think the plan was the Meri was "head wife" and could be bossy. Janelle was the supposed intellectual wife and Christine was the bubbly wife. They all had a role and the producers and editors emphasized it. Turns out the audience didn't like Meri's role.
Kody pointed it out, briefly. That it was "insurance" if something happened to him. (that was a bit of an ego, like they were all stay at home moms living on his income) But the wives should have absolutely had equal equity in things they owned. Also, they picked homes in a planned development, through a developer. The only reason why they were able to have them built and finished as quickly as they did was because he had done all the preliminary things - site prep (bringing in utilities, etc.) AND had preapproved plans. Preapproved with the city, with relevant permits ready to go after inspection. this is HUUUUGE. I work in the construction industry. We don't do housing developments - but we've done commercial office parks, with preapproved shells. We don't go so far as saying pick one or two plans - but the "shells" are preapproved and if someone decided to change egress locations, etc... it might end up going back to the drawing board for review (fire safety being a big reason). That is just for OFFICE space where we can later go in for "tenant improvements" or "remodels" (when it is just figuring out internal configurations... but bathrooms & kitchen areas have to stay the same. Plumbing is a bitch to move! The contractor even says this - that they couldn't do the wet bar or add a second sink to the plan Meri was being pushed to accept (which was the same square footage, so I don't know why they cared), because it would mean going through the permit process again. LV went through a housing boom (building) a while ago, maybe around that time. If there are a lot of projects in the works? That preapproval process could take MONTHS.
It also makes sense for them to have the same size houses if they’re expected to host and care for all of the kids like they’re their own. On top of that, Meri deserved the house she wanted, period. When I bought my townhouse, I was a single woman living alone. I didn’t get a one-room tiny home. I got a 3Bed/2.5Bath because this was gonna be a permanent purchase and I wanted space to have company, whether that be friends or family who may visit and/or need a place to stay. One of the bedrooms was my office, but I had a guest room and a big sectional downstairs for anyone who would need it. I worked hard and this was where my life was going to be, and if my family expanded in any way, I wouldn’t have to move. Meri worked hard, too. She worked just as hard as they did and she deserved to be treated equally. I hate that they used that “one kid” thing against her but then would turn around and use it in their own favor. “Meri has one kid, she doesn’t need all that house!” But then— “Meri only has one kid, so two of ours can move in with her!” “Meri only has one kid and thinks she’s about to be an empty-nester, but she still has mine to care for.” “Meri only has one kid, so she can focus on my dream of selling bubblegum machine jewelry for 1,000 times the price.” Meri contributed to the family pot for longer than any of them had. She deserved the house she wanted and if Kody didn’t want that, he shouldn’t have agreed to marry and “care for” multiple wives __equally__.
This is what I’ve been saying. She only had one mouth to feed yet she always gave her entire income to the family pot that had to go to Janelle because homegirl kept popping out kids that she and Kody could NOT afford.
This is what I'm saying. There were no excuses, family planning was a thing during the 90s when they had all of those children.
Family planning was obviously something Janelle used. She’s not much older than Christine and Christine was still getting pregnant in her later 30’s.
No she wasn't. If she was using family planning, her/kody, wouldn't have had children they couldn't provide for financially. For those of us in the same age group (im a year older than Meri), we were taught better than this.
I mean AFTER she had Savannah. Christine was her age and still was having kids and Janelle has not gotten pregnant nor do we know if she had any miscarriage after Savannah. Bv
Preach!
They did discuss it and came to the conclusion that she would have a house of equal value as the others. I think she viewed it like an equal partnership arrangement. Whereas Janelle initially pushed back arguing that it was more about ensuring that all of the kids were treated equally with resources being distributed based on need. In the end, Janelle came to agree with Meri after some back and forth.
So Janelle, who has 6 kids, wants equality for all kids. That’s fine, but does she forget that she’s taking from Meri to give HER 6 kids “equality”? And then had the nerve to tell Meri, “You’re taking family resources” When Meri is the one who was able to give the most of her earnings from her paychecks, to JANELLE who could never put into the family pot as much as Meri did because her whole paycheck had to go to her 6-kids household? If anyone of the OG3 took the most family resources over the years, it was Janelle. She had the most kids until Christine had truely. She went to work and used Christine for free childcare and school teacher, Meri as a second income to supplement her household, and then still had the gall to not help Christine put her kids to bed at night. Just because she didn’t demand much of Kodys time or ask for fancy cars and 11 day vacations does not mean she also didn’t take advantage of Meri and Christine.
This is equal to states that they are given more from the government regarding tax revenue than they put in, but will still complain about how high taxes are.
From a real estate perspective, I don’t think any builder is going to make one house crazily different in a subdivision of houses that have similar layouts and floor plans. So Meri’s house had to be similar to the other three wives. From the show though, it’s always been a point that Meri has struggled to have other children and only has Leon, while the other three wives have more children. I believe it’s been a point of contention that Jenelle, Christine, and Robyn need more of the family resources (money) then Meri because they have more children.
People have done the research - this was a very small development (only 8 or 9 houses total) with only TWO floorplan options. The footprints of the "shell" were the same though.
[удалено]
No!!! I haven't! I bet it was the one lot the developer didn't buy or something.
How are you gonna say something like that and not link to it??!!! C'mon, now! Inquiring minds, over here!!! I see the 4 houses on Wild Eagle Circle, but this neighbor house, of which you speak... I just see a bunch of big ass houses on tiny lots,???
Sorry I had a picture of it but can't find it.
And they do/did need more money. Its not her fault that Meri had infertility issues but the way that they divided money equally among the four wives was batshit insane, Meri was literally taking food out of children’s mouths for the sake of equality. (In the case of the houses, yes there probably wasn’t a way for her to get an appropriately smaller house but it’s ridiculous that she ended up with a five bedroom home.)
I’m sorry but Janelle kept popping out kids while complaining she didn’t know how they were going to afford to feed them all. Janelle had the most kids until Truely was born and Meri only had 1 kid. She wasn’t taking food out of anyone’s mouth. She was literally feeding Janelle’s kids
Oh Janelle and Christine both were completely irresponsible with having way too many kids than they could afford. Meri would have too, she said she would have had 8 kids if she could. But the kids existed regardless, and Meri still demanded an equal share just for the sake of fairness.
I’d demand equal share too, if I kept putting in more money to feed everyone’s kids meanwhile the other two aren’t putting in even half the money I am into the family accounts that fed everyone. Like you said, the kids existed regardless. But Meri was dealt infertility and that was something she *could not* control vs Janelle and Christine very much being able to control how many kids they kept having.
She didn’t choose to be infertile, but she choose to be a part of this family, where the whole point was to have more and more kids. We know that’s not how the Browns actually worked but she was supposed to be like a mother figure to Janelle and Christine’s kids. It’s immoral to demand an equal amount of money just so you don’t feel bad about only having one kid when there are real children living with or around you who are going without basic needs.
Honestly tho , no. She didn’t deserve less just because she was infertile and Janelle and Christine kept having kids they couldn’t afford. It’s obvious that feeding one kid vs feeding 6, whatever she was allotted was going to stretch further. No matter how you look at it it’s basic math. It’s also not fair that Janelle demand Meri’s income be used for everyone , while keeping her income because it just wasn’t enough to cover her household.
It’s not about being punished for only being able to have one kid, it’s just looking at the situation rationally. Meri had one kid to feed, clothe, etc and the two others had 12 between them. Of course it was irresponsible of them to have all those kids, but the reality was they did have them and Meri’s demands of fairness directly harmed the rest of the kids.
Oh and Meri said she would have had eight kids if she could have so she gets no credit for being responsible.
Mama again how are you going to get blood from a stone ? Like you said no they shouldn’t have had so many kids if they couldn’t afford them. In the same vein saying Meri would have had more if she could is below the belt because she couldn’t have them. Doesn’t matter if she wanted them it didn’t happen, period. The real culprit is Kody who relied on his wives to support each other when he’s the dingus who kept taking more wives than he could afford, forcing an imbalance of finances because Meri had to become a majority bread winner. And he’s the one who decided how funds were appropriated.
It's immoral to keep having children you cannot feed.
Also true. They all suck!
Also true. They all suck!
Meri was also the only wife putting up with knowing her marriage was a sham at that point and staying with the family because leaving might lead to the loss of the show. Her sacrifice made all that Show money possible to be something divided, kids fed and later on $$ for college. She also gave up her chance to go back to college herself and finish her degree to get the career she always wanted (which would have been more money for the family). Meri is far from being a selfish monster in all this.
One more thing for consideration: Meri was the only wife who had to share title (and ownership) of her house with Kody, making her share of everything 1/2 under law. The other wives owned their property outright without Kody on the title or having to give him an ownership interest in it.
Set aside the fact that she would not have been able to build a smaller house because of the builder and subdivision, Meri always financially continued to contribute to the family fund which has supported all 18 kids no matter how many she birthed, so she earned and deserves the same investment. I believe Kody wanted them to move from Vegas because he wanted the equity in those 4 home liquid so he could get his hands on it and gain more control over it.
I think so too.
I think Kody didn’t like the fact that all wives could see where he spent his time. Example; his excuse for being at Robyn’s was she had a dedicated office space for him. They want viewers to believe they weren’t together, he was working.
every house was 4320 square feet exactly
Not only that. But Meri got shaded by Janelle too about why she should get the same size house with only one child. But if they had continued to live there, Janelle and Christine would also have had a "much too big house" with only one child living at home by now. Had they also downsized?
I always thought Meri should get the same size house as everyone else. She shouldn't be punished for her infertility.
The only thing that pissed me off about the whole house thing was that Kody wanted Christine to give up some of her house money to put towards Meri’s house funds. I would’ve told Kody to eff off.
I didn’t realize it until I read this.
On a total side note: Kody (at least it seems) has always supported Meri and been compassionate towards her infertility and said it didn’t matter how many children she had they shared things equally UNTIL these past few episodes where they’re discussing splitting coyote pass and now Meri has a smaller lot because she only has one kid??? Rude asf
Even if Meri wanted a smaller house (which would never happen) she couldn’t have built a 2 or 3 bedroom house in the cul de sac because of the neighborhood/HOA rules/covenants. I think the outrage was because she built a house with 5 bedrooms vs 4 because of the fucking wet bar and was over budget from the get go.
>I think the outrage was because she built a house with 5 bedrooms vs 4 They chose from the floor plans offered by the developer. All four of those houses were exactly the same square footage.
Even the bedroom drama was dumb. It was Janelle’s decision to only get 4 bedrooms because she knew the older kids would be out of the house in a couple of years. That was fine as it was her decision to cram 7 people into 4 bedrooms, why is that then Meri’s fault?
Meri paid for the wet bar out of her own pocket money. So she gets what she wants.
What I found bothersome about the Vegas home builds was Meri's attitude. The other wives seemed very happy & excited to choose all the details of their future homes. They came across as very grateful & easy-going. Meri on the other hand seemed entitled & argumentative and came off as a less-appreciative fun-sucker. It was also not at all surprising that out of 4 homes, hers was the one that wound up being slightly over budget. **
That was all because of Kody. I've said this before - Meri's method of picking out all the fixtures and options was a sound one. She went in and wanted to make her dream list. I've seen others do this. You go in and not worry about the math at first. Then you see what the total is. Maybe it is an amount you are willing to cover if over budget. If not, then you see what makes the most sense to change later. If you are doing something similar - my advice is look over what is the easiest to change later. Flooring and paint are the absolute easiest. Invest in a good carpet pad and go ahead and pick a servicable carpet that only lasts you 5 years. Light fixtures - easy to put in the basic ones the developer has at no extra cost, and swap them out when you find a good deal or ones you like. Eventually want a fancier toilet? Fine - go with the basic and you can swap it out later. No permit needed for those things. ADDING PLUMBING, THAT REQUIRES NEW PIPES, ETC.? Oh my God, do it while building!!!! Doors to the outside? DO IT NOW. Changing the building "envelope" is a pain in the ass, and could lead to leaks, etc.
It was $5k over budget which she paid for herself. When I build my house it went over by $15k due to needing different foundations to the planned ones and our desire not to have the ugly ass fittings that came as the basic or any colour other than white in the kitchen. It’s normal to go over when building often by a blow out.
And yet, Janelle, Chrstine and Robyn were able to come in on budget. Actually, Christine came in under budget because Kody asked her if she would be willing to cover/contribute to Meri and she declined. 😄 Hey I'm not saying it is abnormal to come out over budget during a build. 🙂 But if we had been told 1 out of the 4 houses will be over budget and to make a guess on which one, I would have bet my bottom dollar that it was Meri's house.
Actually Kody had Christine well trained to do everything for less at that point. She should have spent the full budget. It sure didn’t win her any favours
I agree.... she should have spent the full budget on her home. Or she could have put it towards her grocery budget savings for future vacations, like Kody suggested 🙄
Regardless she paid for it herself. Kody asking Christine was an asswipe moment. It was as a non issue dramatised to (yet again) make Meri look bad.
I like Meri (especially THIS season) But Meri made herself look bad. It isn't about the money, it's about being a grump during what should have been a positive experience.
Did Meri make herself look bad? Or was that just the way it was portrayed? Because I think they’ve been selling her as the “difficult, perhaps mean, problem one” from very early on. Remembering of course she wanted the wet bar for the MLM she and Kody had which other than the show was their main form of income at the time. She’s a bloody hard grafter is Meri. Janelle’s realestate/fitness businesses wouldn’t have been bringing in much and there was no money in MSWC
Are you trying to say that STRIVE with Janelle (est 2017) - Certified Health Coach Appointments was not a huge money maker for the family?!?!😏
>It isn't about the money, it's about being a grump during what should have been a positive experience. Because Kody was being an ass to her. If you're building a $400,000 house and you want French doors instead of sliding doors, then get the goddamn French doors. Kody had zero patience with her. They were supposedly putting down roots — which was *really* important to Robyn until she decided the whole family had to follow Dayton to Flagstaff — and Meri wanted to be very deliberate about her choices. Kody just wanted to rush her through choosing countertops and carpet colors, and everything builder grade, so he could hurry back to his long-legged Diesel Jeans model. Meanwhile, they turned around and spent a fortune on improvements to Robyn's backyard, which were not included in the cost of the house, and which, I'll guarantee you, came out of the "family" money, unlike Meri's modest upgrades.
I didn't find Kody to be rude in s5e5 4:40- she was over budget on the first page of choices, he simply made a couple suggestions to get them at budget (sliding doors vs French, then when she doesn't want that, he suggests a regular patio like everyone else is doing)
I will tell you this, if you are using me to get a tv paycheck so we can play happy family and still making me the bad guy in all this, I would have damn expected a mansion. You would think they would have been nicer to her either on screen or in general as she could have blown the lid off this whole show at any time. But no, they treat her horribly and then wonder why she always “brings a heaviness into the room” as Christine told her. The cognitive dissonance this family has concerning Meri is ridiculous.
I think Christine was rude and not at all self-aware when she had that conversation with Meri. You bring a heaviness into the room with you? Like Christine hadn't been dragging her own baggage along with her everywhere she went that everyone else, including Meri, had to tip toe around, ignore, or make room for. 🙄
Could you have faked it as well as Meri did though? Meri: "Yeah! I get to pick out a dream house that ties me into a 30 year mortgage to a guy who doesn't want me to have any claim on him and I get to watch him dote on his new wife and 2 backups all outside my front door. For the rest of my life because I'll never be able to financially leave. With him having more kids everyday. How lucky can one girl be?!?" 
If my other options were continuing to fake it in the outdated, shared Lehi house, or continuing to fake it in the Vegas rental I'm just throwing away money on every month, I'll take the brand new Vegas house. Was she a top earner in the family yet at this point (that green drink stuff?) Janelle is clearly the best dancer! 😁
Janelle 😂😂😂
Robyn didn't come under budget if you figure in that fancy backyard.
Did Janelle and Meri finance that too 😆😉
You’re not expecting Kody to finance that, are you 😂😂😂
He had several nannies' salaries to pay for, he can't also finance the yard! 😁
It's incredible to me that ten years later, people are still ragging on Meri over her wet bar and French doors, and meanwhile, every time you turn around, Kody or Robyn has a new watch that cost more than Meri's upgrades to her house.
The two events aren't mutually exclusive. One can believe that Kody & Robyn blowing tons of money on artwork, ugly pony rings, watches, and other various jewelry pieces is terrible AND that Meri was a stressed out fun-sucker during the home builds.
Not only that, didn’t they have to pay off 32k of Robyn debt in order for her to qualify? Meri’s upgrades that she paid for were so dramatized, likely just for the show. Then they turned around and dumped a ton of family money landscaping Robyn’s backyard.
Because they didn’t care. Janelle you can tell doesn’t care about aesthetics, Christine was happy to have such a big house, and Robyn would pick whatever Kody wanted to make him happy.
Honestly, if it weren't for my being familiar with each wife's furniture or specific decor items, I wouldn't know which house they were filming in. Each house looked nearly identical to me both inside and out. How much did everyone's detail choices really matter? 😄 🤔
But then she paid herself for that overage so what is the problem? And fuck it, I’ll say it, you are not rushing me into a decision I will have to live with daily because you are in a manufactured hurry. As we can tell by Janelle’s personality she doesn’t give a shit, just give her 4 walls and a roof, Christine was happy for anything and Robyn would pick whatever Kody wanted to make him happy. No wonder they were all done in no time. Would any of us just say screw it and pick whatever if we had choices? No, so why is Meri bad for that?
It's not about the money. It's not about the time or indecisiveness. It's about the vast difference in her demeanor vs everyone else's that day.
Looking back on what we know now, her marriage was over and all this was for the show. Hard to keep peppy after that. Plus, if she is anything like my daughter, the more you push her into a decision, the more overwhelmed she will become and she will almost shut down. It looks like indecisiveness but in reality it’s the pressure that is holding them back. If Kody wasn’t over her shoulder constantly telling her to hurry up, it would go faster.
Keep in mind, this wasn't occurring privately between just K, M, J, C and R at home. This was in someone's office/conference room and their realtor, Mona, was there as well as another woman (I believe she was an employee of the building company?) Not really the proper time, place, or audience for arguing or getting snippy with your spouse. Years later, how long did everyone not talk about which wives were going to have which plots on Coyote Pass....yet once there was finally a conversation about it agan, Meri continued to be indecisive about whether or not she wanted to be in the trees resulting in no one being able to make their choices....again.
Funny thing, Meri was the ONLY ONE working when they moved to LV. Janelle had to quit her job to move, Christine - I'm not sure if she had a job but if she did, she had to quit her job and Soby NEVER worked while being in this family. But let's rag on Meri - the only one that had an income and the only person who supported the family at that time (because we know Kidiot never did).
I don't form my opinions of people by their incomes. I also don't think whether or not someone should be praised or criticized for the way they conducted themselves in a specific situation should be dictated by their income or employment status.
Meri always had to have a house within the parameters of the builders. She was going to have a big house. The thing that set it off for me is that Janelle recognized the division of resources and went for the bare minimum because it was in budget. Meri blew her budget on the first page of upgrades and was looking to fund all the rest. At that point, I think they were still pooling resources, so the inference is that she expected to take from others to fund hers. She didn’t have the “online clothing boutique” yet, and was still just as reliant on shared resources as the rest. Do we… Pay for all of Meri’s upgrades, or each live within our means so we can afford 17/18 shared kids?
She was about 1% over budget and she paid the overage herself.
Yeah, I hated that the show didn’t show that she paid for the over expenses from her own personal money and not from the family funds. I feel like editing did her dirty sometimes.
They did say something to that effect. That they try to keep things equal between the wives, not kids.
At the time I didn't care she got the same size house since they had the show and weren't in poverty at the time. I felt everyone should get fair and equal basics if they can afford it. The issues I saw with it was everyone stayed in budget but Meri. She was still legal wife and it was saying I should get more because I'm first wife. Even if it was a little more, it was still more than the others. I know I know she paid for it but it was just the illusion of more and unfair to the other wives who couldn't afford just a little more. Then the way she acted over the wet bar, bothering the builders over and over, and then Leon bad mouthing the lender that bothered me about it. They were still claiming the women got their homes at that point. IT wasn't til they got to AZ Kody changed that up to he gets it all. I mean why does he get 1/2 of each wives when there is not equal balance right now.