A supermum-of-16 has offered a glimpse into what it’s really like to quickly ‘pop to the shops for bread and milk’ for her growing family.
Jeni Bonell and her husband Ray, from Queensland, have a super-sized family consisting of nine sons and seven daughters, aged between six and 31.
The 51-year-old mother usually does on a massive supermarket shop at the start of the week to stock up on pantry staples, spending an average of $450.
However, the stock would only last the family half the week. And so she would return to the store mid-week to pick up essential items such as milk, bread, fresh fruits and vegetables.
In her latest shop, she picked up six bottles of 3L milk, three loaves of sliced bread and an array of fresh fruits and vegetables.
The haul included 2kg carrots, four punnets of strawberries, two punnets of blueberries, 1kg grapes, 400g of cherries, 600g of grape tomatoes, 4kg potatoes, two salad kits, a punnet of peaches and a bag of apricots.
A supermum-of-16 has offered a glimpse into what it’s really like to quickly ‘pop to the shops for bread and milk’ for her growing family
Australia’s supermum-of-16 Jeni Bonell has offered a glimpse into what it’s really like to do a grocery shop to feed her growing family (pictured Ms Bonell on one of her many shops)
‘When you just need milk, bread and some fruit and vegetables,’ she wrote on Facebook, alongside a huge grocery haul of her ‘quick shop’.
Her latest grocery bill came to an estimate total of $132.67.
Dozens of people were amazed with her shop, with one joking: ‘You don’t need to join a gym. So much weight training going on, lifting the milk jugs.’
Other parents shared what their typical shop looks like in their home.
‘My family is the same but there’s only ten of us here, just a couple of days essentials. Love the fresh veggies and fruit,’ one mother wrote.
And another added: ‘Makes me smile. We are over the hump. 11 kids, but four married now and we have more grandkids than kids.’
Her latest haul comes after she previously shared what her weekly grocery shop usually looked like.
‘Let me explain how I grocery shop… I don’t shop just for the food for that week. I actually stockpile,’ she said in her YouTube video last year.
To keep her costs down each week, the mother said she buys homebrand ingredients, stocks up on half-price products and buys meat and fresh produce in bulk.
‘So I tend to buy up whatever we need to make meals for that week to add to our supplies or if I have something that I find that’s on special or half-price or it’s a great bargain, then I will buy up on that product and we will stockpile it,’ she said.
‘We’ve bought certain ingredients to go with certain meals that we are going to make this week – and the rest of it is basically we are just filling the cupboards back up to what fits in the pantry.’
Jeni and her husband Ray, from Queensland, have a super-sized family consisting of nine sons and seven daughters, aged between six and 31
Earlier this year, the mother said joked that she ‘looked like a panic buyer herself’ after filling three shopping trolleys with essentials during her regular shop
To keep her grocery costs down each week, Jeni said she buys homebrand ingredients, stocks up on half-price products and buys meat and fresh produce in bulk
Despite coming home after filling up two shopping trolleys to the brim, Ms Bonell said the stock would only last the family half the week.
And so she would normally have to return to the supermarket to purchase fresh produce such as fruits, vegetables, meat and milk in a few days time.
With every shop, Ms Bonell said she always comes back with toilet paper.
To make spaghetti for her family’s dinner, she usually buys 1.5 kilos of homebrand spaghetti. For the sauce, she cooks 1.5 kilos of lean beef mince with 700 grams of homebrand pasta sauce, which she would cook with 500 grams of mushrooms.
Normally the family would drink through 50 litres of milk per week, but Ms Bonell said last year they are trying to cut back on the dairy.
‘We’re trying to pull back on milk for a little bit just for budget sake so [I bought] six three-litre bottles, and we’re trying to get by with just 12 three-litre of bottles per week,’ she said. This means the family is currently drinking 36 litres of milk a week.