Joanne raises 11 children on less than 2000 euros a month: “Each week, we buy 15 loaves of bread and 42 bottles of milk.”
With 11 children at home, every expense counts for Joanne and Tommy O'Rourke. As their energy bills have doubled, the couple has to adapt to make ends meet. Groceries, meals, birthdays: here are their tips.
Living with 13 people under one roof requires a lot of organization, especially when the budget is tight. Joanne, 39, and her partner Tommy, 41, live with their 11 children in a four-bedroom house in North London. Faced with rising expenses, the couple has had to rethink some of their habits and is now looking to save money wherever possible. As reported by the media outlet Inkl, which is sharing an account published by The Mirror, Joanne shares some of her tips for continuing to treat her children without breaking the bank.
A well-oiled organization for the races
With such a large family, grocery shopping inevitably represents a significant expense. The couple spends approximately €875 per month on groceries, an amount that has doubled. And the quantities purchased each week give an idea of what feeding a family of 13 entails: Joanne and Tommy buy, for example, 15 loaves of bread, 42 bottles of milk, and a kilo of pasta.
To try and keep their expenses under control, the parents have implemented a well-established system. Meals are planned, and they also make sure to limit their use of household appliances. Joanne, in particular, has reduced the number of daily loads of laundry from four to three, while still ensuring the machines are full. The couple also pays close attention to their electricity consumption, only turning on the television and lights in the evening.
Birthdays and outings at a lower cost
Saving money is also a key part of their daily lives. For family outings, Joanne and Tommy also look for less expensive alternatives. Rather than paying around €8 per person for a trip to the swimming pool, for example, they bought a large 12-foot inflatable pool to enjoy the sunny days at home.
The same principle applies to children's activities: an afternoon of baking cost them just €2, including cookies and icing sugar for decorating. Birthdays are also celebrated at home. For their son Tommy's 12th birthday, his parents recreated his favorite restaurant, Harvester, complete with a small salad bar. The party cost them less than €58, compared to around €175 for a meal at a restaurant.
For Ashlee-Dean's 10th birthday, they did it again. They bought pizza bases for about €0.77 each so the children could make their own pizzas. The couple also buys discounted gifts throughout the year to avoid a big expense at the end-of-year holidays. Joanne now shares these tips with her 50,000 followers to help other families save money!
