A super-mum of nine kids has shared how much she spends on her food bill every month - and let’s just say it does not come cheap.
Ashley Couzens from Florida, US, first fell pregnant aged 16 to her daughter Alexis, who is now 19.
She soon found motherhood was ‘second nature’ to her, and went on to have Ashlyn, 17, Tre, 16, Ava, 13, Jerzy, 11, Jett, 10, Adayah, 8 and Aila, 7, with her now-ex-husband.
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While she ‘felt complete’ after having eight kids, she soon found out she was pregnant with her ninth child Jrue, who is now eight months old.
Despite a chaotic schedule, the cleaning business owner gives her family a happy and comfortable life, describing her kids as her ‘best friends’.
But looking after so many little humans certainly takes its toll on the bank account, with Ashley, 36, spending around £1,670 a month on food alone.
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She mainly cooks large meals like spaghetti or lasagne as they're able to feed so many hungry mouths.
"It's so hectic being a mother of nine. My days start very early and end very late," explained Ashley.
"As soon as I wake up I go directly to the laundry room and put in a load. That's kind of an all day thing, it never really ends. I probably do three to four loads a day - it's just crazy.
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"Everyone's like 'financially that's one thing, but how can you mentally and emotionally support all nine of these people who need so much attention from their mother and still try to help yourself to be on top of things?'
"I say I'm not sure but I feel like it's second nature for me, like riding a bike - this is all I know."
The mum-of-nine said there are ‘multiple reasons’ why she hasn’t used contraception, stating: “I come from a Catholic household and so they were always against that and I kind of just picked up on that.
"And I'm so extreme to the point where I'll rarely even take ibuprofen, I'm very anti any types of medicine, especially birth control."
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She continued: "I have girlfriends that chose to have abortions or had birth control for so long that they're having a difficult time getting pregnant or their first child right now, and they're like 'man I'm so tired, I really wish I had been doing this younger'."
As for whether Ashley would have any more children, she takes a ‘never say never’ approach.
"I would say since he [ex-husband] and I are not together and I'm moving out on my own, I'm definitely not looking for a mate at this time but I will say, the shop is still open,” she said.
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The Tampa resident described the hardest thing for her right now is making sure her older kids have someone to talk to about school and friends.
Thankfully she has developed a strong enough bond that they feel they can come to her about anything.
"My eldest was pregnant and I was the first one she told, so that made me extremely happy because I'll never forget when I was younger, I didn't want to tell my mum that I got pregnant,” added Ashley.
"Definitely just keeping the lines of communication open and letting them be able to express themselves has always been important to me.
"Just establishing that close relationship and even though people say you shouldn't be friends with your kids I disagree, my kids are my absolute best friends."
Topics: Parenting, Life, Money, Food and Drink
Daisy Phillipson