Mom of 12 can’t afford all her kids with her food bill now $24K a year — but still calls having children her ‘superpower’
A controversial TikTok mother from New York revealed how she “can’t afford” to feed her 12 children, struggling to stay afloat amid the cost of living crisis.
Veronica Merritt, 39, claims she receives a one month payment from the government of $1,400 in food stamps, but she says that’s not even enough “because food is so expensive.”
“I’m trying to take care of my kids as best I can. This month I didn’t have any money, so had to spend $1,400 in food stamps,” Merritt said, according to SWNS.
“It’s impossible to feed 11 people on $1,400 — the prices of everything right now are tight. I used to feed my family of 12 for $500 a month but now you need $2,000 to $3,000 a month to feed this many people ramen.
The content creator documents her life on social media, posting videos preparing her kid’s fruit loops, macaroni, and other easy-to-make meals due to her food bill totaling $24,000 a year.
Merrit supports her children Victoria, 24 — who has one child — Andrew, 19, Adam, 17, Mara, 16, Dash, 14, Darla, 13, Marvelous, 11, Martalya, 9, Amelia, 7, Delilah, 5, Donovan, 4, and Modi, who is 2.
“I’m not saying I regret my kids, I’m saying life keeps kicking me while I’m already down. It’s like people see that I have 12 kids and just want me to fail to “punish” me for wanting a family. I wasn’t expecting to be a single mom when I started,” she captioned in a video to her TikTok.
Merrit got pregnant with her first child at 14, admitting she was technically pregnant in just the 8th grade before the single mother kept having children.
Her first dozen children were with her first husband, then she had two more children with her second husband.
In Jan. 2022, Merritt claimed that neither of her baby daddies pays child support, although one covers the family’s utility bills. She gets between $100 and $200 a month from TikTok — her earnings depend on the total number of views she gets — and, in a good year, brings in $15,000 as a freelance artist.
In many videos posted to her TikTok account, Merritt often spends days arguing with trolls who mock her for not “being able to afford” her big family.
According to SNAP statistics, there are approximately 42.2 million people on food stamps in 2024 — accounting for 12% of the US population.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the well-known program that provides food assistance for millions of low-income citizens, provides for around 2.8 million New York residents.
Other clips show what it’s like for Merritt and her children when holidays like Christmas and Easter come around — where the mother flaunts how creative she has to get to keep everyone happy.
She spent $7,000 on the kids’ Christmas gifts and roughly $10,000 on each of the 12 kids’ birthdays each year.
“I start my Christmas shopping years in advance, so one of my kids presents is something that I bought four years ago,” she said.
“Usually what I do is I find things from the halloween store, find things on clearance, or I find cool things at the thrift store,” Merritt added. Honestly, sometimes I forget that I bought them, and then I’m, like, oh sh-t, someone’s present.”
Meritt previously proclaimed that she’d want at least five more kids.
“I’m not dating right now and I’m super picky. But I’d love to keep on going,” Merritt told the Post in 2022.
