I'm a single mom-of-12 - soaring living costs have left me unable to FEED my kids without relying on food stamps

A single mom-of-12 has revealed that she has been forced to rely on food stamps due to the cost of living crisis - and admits she 'can't afford' to feed her family without them. 

Veronica Merritt, from New York, has shared how she has to feed her brood a diet of macaroni, hot dogs and packet ramen - after her food bill skyrocketed to a staggering $24,000 a year.

The 39-year-old candidly opened up about being trolled on TikTok for 'not being able to afford' her big family by people who claim she should not have had kids in the first place.

But Veronica has insisted that she does not regret having so many children and said that having babies feels like her 'superpower.'

Veronica Merritt, from New York, has shared how she has to feed her brood a diet of macaroni, hot dogs and packet ramen - after her food bill skyrocketed to a staggering $24,000 a year 

The 39-year-old candidly opened up about being trolled on TikTok for 'not being able to afford' her big family by people who claim she should not have had kids in the first place 

Veronica, who works as a content creator on the video-sharing platform, explained that she had used food stamps 'on and off over the years.'

The family receive help from the government in the form of $1,400 in stamps each month which she claims 'is actually not enough at all because food is so expensive.'

She continued: '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.

'It's impossible to feed [everyone] on $1,400 - the prices of everything right now are tight.

'I used to feed a family of 12 for $500 a month but now you need $2,000 to $3,000 a month to feed this many people ramen.

'We're living on ramen when we used to be able to buy anything. I used to be able to go to the grocery store, and get whatever we wanted, and not have to worry about it.'

It was recently revealed that the average American household now spends $1,080 per month at the grocery store as two years of rampant inflation continues to take its toll on household budgets.

In February, the cost of food-at-home specifically had risen 2.6 per cent in the last 12 months - with the annual rate of inflation of 3.1 per cent nationally stretching even high-income families.

Veronica, who works as a content creator on the video-sharing platform, explained that she had used food stamps 'on and off over the years' 

'We're living on ramen when we used to be able to buy anything. I used to be able to go to the grocery store, and get whatever we wanted, and not have to worry about it,' she shared 

Veronica had her first baby Victoria in March 2000 when she was aged 14 at Crouse hospital in Syracuse, New York.

She shared her first 10 kids with her first husband before going on to marry an old friend and welcoming two more children.

Currently, her brood consists of mom-of-one 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.

'I never would've had kids if I'd waited until I was rich - I don't regret any of my kids,' she dished.

Additionally, Veronica said she actually wanted more kids but has been forced to undergo a hysterectomy because of a fibroid on May 2.

'Six boys and six girls is pretty perfect, especially because I color code and have a boy and girl for every color,' she said.

'It's oddly perfect how well it worked out. If I did want to have more, I'd have to be rich and hire a surrogate.

'I was 14 when I had my first, I was really young, and I didn't really understand how reproduction worked.

'I thought you had to be 16 to get pregnant. I thought, "it won't happen to me," but it did, pretty much as soon as I was sexually active.

'I don't think of kids as accidents. They're my little surprises.'

Veronica has insisted that she does not regret having so many children and said that having babies feels like her 'superpower' 

Veronica added: 'I really like growing my family. I like having babies.

'I thought "I'm just going to see what nature decides and see what happens, you know?" And so I just kept getting pregnant.'

But having such a big brood has put a strain on her finances.

She said the cost of toys and electronics vary but Christmas alone costs her $7,000.

Veronica bought her nine-bedroom house on the East Coast of New York for $20,000 - and admitted it needs a lot of repairs that require a lot of money that the family doesn't have right now.

But she intends to raise the funds by making money on TikTok and selling paintings.

She added: 'Housing is about $13,000 but that's just taxes and utilities - we have no mortgage or rent.

'School supplies cost me about $4,000 and trips to visit family cost a few thousand dollars.

'I used to work at Chuck E Cheese a few years and worked in McDonalds when I was a teenager.

'My TikTok usually makes $1,200 - $7,000 a month through the creator fund but I haven't been posting much so last month I only made $300.

'This month I only made $70 so I really need to post more.'

Veronica explained that being a single mom of 12 is incredibly challenging but said that she would not change it for the world.

'I wish I would have chosen better partners so that I wasn't a single mom right now,' she added.

'But I love having babies. I think that having a baby is like the greatest, most precious and wonderful thing ever.'

Veronica said she actually wanted more kids but has been forced to undergo a hysterectomy because of a fibroid on May 2 

The mom-of-12 insists that she loves each of her kids equally - and she refuses to pick favorites 

Nonetheless, Veronica claims that her family's lifestyle attracts a lot of comments from trolls.

'People comment on my TikToks that if you're not perfect you shouldn't have kids at all,' she said. 

'I'm just trying to take care of the kids as best I can. I'm just very honest about things online.

'I don't only show the best meals - I'll show them eating hot dogs and macaroni and cheese. I don't make sure everything is perfect and clean. Our house gets messy.'

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.

'I started color coding by accident because my daughter (Victoria) was obsessed with a lot of pink.'

Mara will wear yellow, while Darla loves purple and Dash prefers to wear orange.

'It's almost like their colors shaped their personalities.'