Mum of 16 shares how she does Christmas on a budget
Stay-at-home mum Reni Bonell has shared her family’s secret to celebrating Christmas on a budget. What makes her advice unusual is that it’s based on her experience raising a whopping 16 children!
Jeni and Ray Bonell live in Toowoomba, and their family has often been dubbed ‘Australia’s largest’ because they have 16 children aged between seven and 32 years old.
They have to plan Christmas as far out as one year in advance, which includes buying presents for next year’s Christmas on Boxing Day.
Jeni says the family tries to stick to a $4000 budget that covers gifts, decorations and food, and they don’t just factor in their own children, but their children’s partners and their grandchildren as well. The family also like to “share their blessings” by donating to charity around Christmastime as well.
She shared her budget tips on her YouTube Channel, and her primary piece of advice is to know your budget. “We all know this time of year budgets are really hard to stick to and finances are really tight. [So] know how many people you need to buy for. Know what is your disposable income.
“Everyone knows to have a really good budget you need to know what is coming in and what is going out. If you have a large income and you can afford to spend thousands on Christmas gifts, that’s fantastic, but for most people it’s pretty tight this time of year and you have to be very careful with your money.”
Jeni likes to buy during sales, and keeps a close eye on catalogues. She also doesn’t rely on just one supermarket, explaining to 7 News, “We don’t do the full grocery shop at one supermarket. You can really save money by grabbing bits and pieces from different stores. It’s worth it to shop around.”
She told 7 News that her Christmas 2021 lunch menu will consist of a range of salads, legs of ham, roast chicken, and turkey for the main course, as well as ice cream, plum pudding, custard and fruit salad for dessert. Fortunately, her older kids pitch in by bringing food on the day as well.
As for gift shopping, she starts almost a year in advance, taking advantage of the Boxing Day sales. She also gets her kids to write their wishlists as early as July, as buying presents early allows her to pay in installments so it is less overwhelming. “We have a lot of kids, so a lot of different personalities, which is challenging to buy for them all.”
Her other tips include having a Christmas fund and signing up to a rewards program. She explains, “Most banks will offer you a Christmas fund account where you can put money in each month and only withdraw it at a certain time of year.”
As for rewards programs, she explains that you can then use the points you have accrued over the year to buy gifts, or turn them into a gift card. She recommends Shopback, where users can receive cash back from purchases made at over 2000 online retailers. This service allowed her to save over $700 in 2021.
The family has numerous social media pages where they post about regular family experiences, with a twist: for example, having to buy 17 movie tickets, or having to meal prep 53 meals for the coming week. They’ve previously discussed their weekly grocery shop, which usually comes to a total of $600 per week, and can include as many as six dozen eggs, 18 litres of milk, 30 chicken drumsticks and 24 rolls of toilet paper.
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