A single mother of 12 has disclosed that she has been forced to rely on food stamps due to the cost of living crisis, admitting she ‘can’t afford’ to feed her family without them.
Veronica Merritt, of New York, has revealed that she had to feed her children a diet of macaroni, hot dogs, and packet ramen after her food expense soared to an astounding $24,000 each year.
The 39-year-old honestly admitted to being ridiculed on TikTok for ‘not being able to afford’ her large family by individuals who believe she should not have had children in the first place.
However, Veronica has stated that she does not regret having so many children and that producing babies feels like her’superpower.’
Veronica, a video-sharing platform content creator, stated that she had used food stamps ‘on and off over the years.’
The government provides the family with $1,400 in food stamps per month, which she believes is insufficient because food is so expensive.
She went on to say, ‘I’m doing my best to care for my children. This month, I had no money and had to spend $1,400 on food stamps.
‘It’s hard to feed [everyone] for $1,400 because everything is so expensive right now.
‘I used to feed a family of 12 for $500 a month, but now it costs $2,000 to $3,000 to feed this many people ramen.
‘We used to be able to buy anything, but now we’re only eating ramen. I used to be able to go to the grocery shop and buy anything we wanted without worrying about it.
It was recently revealed that the average American home now spends $1,080 per month on groceries, as two years of runaway inflation continue to strain household finances.
Veronica gave birth to her first child, Victoria, in March 2000 at Crouse Hospital in Syracuse, New York, when she was 14.
She had 10 children with her first husband before marrying an old acquaintance and welcoming two more.
Victoria, 24, Andrew, 19, Adam, 17, Mara, 16, Dash, 14, Darla, 13, Marvelous, 11, Martalya, nine, Amelia, seven, Delilah, five, Donovan, four, and Modi, two, are her current children.
‘I never would’ve had kids if I’d waited till I was wealthy – I don’t regret any of my children,’ she admitted.
Furthermore, Veronica stated that she wanted additional children but was forced to have a hysterectomy due to a fibroid on May 2.
‘Six boys and six girls is quite perfect, especially since I color code and have a boy and a girl for each color,’ she explained.
‘everything’s strangely perfect how wonderfully everything turned out. If I wanted to have more, I’d have to be wealthy and pay a surrogate.
Veronica insists that she loves each of her kids equally – and she refuses to pick favorites.
She said: ‘People think I can’t love all the kids, which is silly because that’s like saying you can’t love 10 of your friends.
‘Sure, there might be days where I spend more time with one than the other.