Since they all had their own bedrooms, they'd need a 4 bedroom home (assume Maggie still sleeps with Marge & Homer). The author is in Michigan. Let's choose Flint to simulate having a Nuke in the back yard. A 4 bedroom home in Flint (not in the 'lead zone', Marge would never allow it) is minimum $200,000. Payments on a mortgage at 3% are about $800/mo.
Monthly Expenses:
$800 Mortgage
$300 property tax
$700 food for 5
$150 clothes (the kids are growing, need shoes annually, need diapers for Maggie...)
$300 Auto expenses (used car, maintenance, insurance, gas)
$2,250/month so far. That covers the basics and leaves $16,000! But what about health insurance?
(gulp)
What are the odds that Homer's $20/hr. job includes fully paid health insurance for his family of 5? Let's give a little benefit and say at least it covers Homer as the employee (a stretch, yes?). His employer would require him to pay for his 3 kids and wife. Grampa is on Medicare/Medicaid + social security. So he's on his own...
To calibrate for the rest of the family...
Hmm... Healthcare.gov says that marketplace plans are not available in Homer's county.
And, according to eHealth.com, Homer doesn't qualify for 'savings'.
So, it's off to Healthcare.gov, which requires an account, so I'll stop there.
From recent personal experience, the most basic plans run $1,500/month and have deductibles that would bankrupt Homer. Lower deductibles would put the premiums out of reach. I think he is out of cash at this point.