Wagon that fits 2 adults & 3 kids, manual transmission, and FWD

The new Volvo V60 is in the same niche as the Saabs, though a little over your budget. There are also BMW and Benz wagons. Reliability on all is, well, European, although the Volvos are probably the least of the three evils to maintain. Although if you realy like the older Saab wagons, they're still available used and if you look around I'm sure you can find one that was well taken care of.

I'm a fan of the Honda Fit. It has 20 cubic feet of storage space behind the 2nd row; so significantly more than behind the 3rd row of the Mazda 5, but probably not quite as much as a wagon. If that size works for you, you could get one new and it will be a few thousand dollars less per year to own and operate than a $30k european wagon. The Mazda3 hatch will be similar.

You may need to measure across your 3 seats and make sure you get a car with enough rear hip room to fit the seats.

And while you don't need the AWD, there are always the Subarus, where you can choose Impreza/Outback/Forrester based on how much size you need. Their MPG has improved over the years, so the AWD penalty, while still there, is mitigated.

I wanted to suggest the Volvo V60, but they don't offer it with a manual here.

When I had three kids in seats I learned that anything with more than 45 inches of rear hip can fit them, if you have the right combination of seat models. Few cars have less than this amount. The problem with the Mazda5 has been no center seat in the second row.

Typo in my earlier response, now fixed. The 2014+ BMW has been offered here only with AWD. But some earlier years, including the 2011, were offered with RWD.