A MUM-of-12 shared her clever hacks to keep her weekly shop down to £320 with bargains from Asda and B&M.
Zoe Sullivan has to put food on the table to feed her husband, eight girls, three boys, her baby and her cat every week – luckily she’s revealed how she keeps her groceries cheaper by the dozen.
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The 44-year-old is terrified by the rapidly rising cost of living and has scrapped her dreams of taking the brood abroad.
But there are some tricks and tips the supermum swears by when picking up her supplies.
Zoe shops around between at Tesco, Aldi, Asda, Home Bargains and B&M to find the best deals.
She also often heads to the supermarkets in the evenings when items are discounted.
Her budget is a tidy £320 a week for groceries, which works out at around £21 per person on food.
Both Zoe and her husband RAF serviceman Ben have given up alcohol to cut costs and neither of them smoke.
Luckily, some of her little ones have lunch at school which saves some cash in her weekly shop.
The supermum also tries to stick to unbranded products that work out cheaper at the till.
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Yet the skyrocketing cost of living means Zoe is worried she might not be able to cling onto Heinz baked beans much longer.
In the past the family has had to put groceries on a credit card but they’re hoping to be able to avoid that.
The busy parents have also kept the heating off all summer to minimise their energy bills but due to soaring prices they’ve seen their monthly bill double from £240 to £400.
Zoe said: “I have a budget of £320 a week for everything – food, toiletries, that would probably cover the shopping, some of the kids have lunches at school.
“I always shop around to get the cheapest things I can.
“Fruit and things like that are really expensive, when you find blueberries are £3 and then become £3.50, it’s a big price increase.
“I’m at home all day with the little ones, it gets cold in winter in the north of Scotland.
“We are thinking ‘are we going to have to go around in blankets. There isn’t any more money to pay any more bills.”
The Sullivans said it’s impossible to avoid using certain necessities such as their water heater which runs on gas.
We have got a cat, luckily he doesn’t eat very much.
Zoe Sullivan
The family’s size also forces them to drive two seven-seaters for work and shopping.
Yet Zoe doesn’t want to give up life’s little luxuries for her kids either.
She has two sets of twins, Charlotte and Isabelle, 14, and Leah and Erin, six and likes to buy branded shampoo for her daughters’ long hair.
Her little ones look forward to having a Pepsi Max and a chocolate bar on Friday and Saturday night as a treat and Zoe doesn’t want to take that away from them.
Baby Florence wears own-brand nappies and Agnes, five, has a milk allergy which means Zoe has to splash out on expensive alternatives to feed her.
The mum-of-12 said: “The kids have never been abroad, I think we always thought ‘one day’, but the money is being spent on just living.
“We have got a big garden and we’re close to two beaches, rather than going on holiday we have family time.
“Six of the girls do dance lessons and our older boy does football, they are their passions, we don’t want to take that away.
“We have got a cat, luckily he doesn’t eat very much.”
Zoe’s clever saving tricks follow one shopping expert’s hacks to make the most out of your groceries.
He revealed how to save £182 on your food shop in July with a few simple storage tips that can help your food to last longer.
Another savvy shopper saved hundreds on her weekly supermarket stash, cutting it from £100 in two weeks to just £9 a week.
The Newcastle student used apps like Olio and Too Good To Go to cut her spending while shopping to save herself.
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