A supermum-of-16 has offered a glimpse into what it’s like to order Friday night takeaway when you are part of ‘Australia’s biggest 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 – who usually spends an average of $450 on groceries every week – treated her family to Hungry Jacks to celebrate her son’s 10th birthday.
She shared a sweet picture of the birthday boy Damian sitting with four large family bundle meals, which included eight beef flame-grilled Whoppers, eight cheeseburgers, 40 chicken nuggets, 16 fries and 16 soft drinks.
Despite the huge order, the meal came to a total of just $131.80.
A supermum-of-16 has offered a glimpse into what it’s like to order Friday night takeaway when you are part of ‘Australia’s biggest family’
The parents-of-sixteen have nine sons and seven daughters, aged between six and 31
‘Mummy is definitely feeling all the feels about all her babies growing up… Loving just the little bit of takeaway for his birthday dinner,’ she wrote on Instagram.
In her post, she cheekily wrote ‘feeding a crowd’.
Her post comes just four months after the mum shared a picture showing what it’s like to ‘pop to the shops for bread and milk’.
She usually does on a huge supermarket shop at the start of the week to stock up on pantry staples, fresh meat, fruits and vegetables, spending an average of $450.
But 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 and fresh produce.
Earlier this year the mum shared a picture showing what it’s like to ‘pop to the shops for bread and milk’
In one of her mid-week shops, 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.
‘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 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.’
Father of 16 Ray Bonell (pictured during his recent shop) has offered a glimpse into what it’s really like to do a ‘small’ grocery shop for his growing family
The electrician dad was tasked with picking up essential items including milk, bread, fresh fruits and vegetables as his wife stayed home to recover following surgery
Earlier this year, her electrician husband Ray was tasked with picking up grocery items while she recovered at home following surgery to remove a tumour on her kidney after her cancer returned for the second time.
With the help of his daughter Eve, the pair purchased 10 boxes of breakfast cereal, 15 litres of milk, four loaves of bread, 40 ice cream popsicle sticks, and an array of fresh fruits and vegetables.
Their grocery haul came to a total of $195.66.
‘As you all know my wife Jen is recovering from a large operation and it looks like it’s dad’s turn to do the groceries,’ Ray said in the latest YouTube video.
‘Jen usually keeps the freezer well stocked so we need to go and get some basics like bread, milk, fruits and vegetables.’
Jeni (left) usually does the weekly grocery shop but she’s currently recovering at home following surgery to remove a tumour after her cancer returned for the second time
After arriving home, the pair revealed what they purchased for the family.
‘We’ve got some cereal – so two boxes of cornflakes, three boxes of rice puffs, two boxes of omega-3 variety, three boxes of fruit rings and Sultana Bran,’ Eve said.
Ray then joked a ‘few extra things had fallen into the trolley’ which included two boxes of Cheezels, potato chips, Samboy, flavoured milk and Arnott’s biscuits.
‘This definitely looks like a dad shop,’ he said.
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Other items they purchased included sliced ham, fruit salads, grated cheese, four boxes of banana and chocolate ice cream sticks, and five bottles of 3L milk.
‘We’ve also got some fresh fruit and veggies consisting of oranges, lettuce, grapes, mushrooms, tomatoes, apples, pears and fresh bananas,’ Ray said.
‘And most importantly we’ve got some more toilet paper.’
With the help of his daughter Eve, the pair purchased 10 boxes of breakfast cereal, 15 litres of milk, four loaves of bread, 40 ice cream popsicle sticks, and fresh fruits and vegetables
Jeni usually does the massive weekly shop where she ends up with two to three shopping trolleys filled to the brim with grocery items (pictured Ms Bonell on one of her many shops)
Ray described the grocery haul as ‘only a little shop’.
‘I’m not quite cut out for doing the groceries. I’m glad that Jen does it all the time,’ he said, to which his daughter Eve responded: ‘I think mum might be better at doing the groceries.’
To keep costs down each week, the mother previously said she always buys homebrand items, stocks up on half-price products and buys fresh 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.’
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.
