Before the Derricos were a divorce headline or a comeback story, they were a math problem. Sixteen people under one roof. Four sets of multiples. One kitchen, one grocery list, and a monthly food bill that made the entire internet do a double take.
Long before Deon Derrico confirmed cameras are rolling again for a new season targeted for 2027, according to reports, he and Karen Derrico told the world exactly what it costs to feed a family of their size. And fans have never gotten over the numbers.
The Grocery Bill That Broke the Internet
In an exclusive interview with The List, Karen put the family’s monthly grocery spending at “$2,500-$3,500 a month, easy.” Soap Dirt, citing In Touch, landed on roughly the same figure: about $3,500 a month, with Deon at the grocery store basically every day.
Stop and think about that. For most families, $3,500 is rent. For the Derricos, it was just food — and that was back when the youngest triplets were still in diapers. With teenagers now eating like teenagers, fans joke the real 2026 number would make that old figure look like a bargain.
15 Boxes of Waffles, 20 Rolls of Toilet Paper — Every Single Week
The weekly numbers are somehow even wilder than the monthly ones. “In a week we go through 15 boxes of waffles, 20 rolls of toilet paper,” Deon told People, via The List. That is not a stock-up run. That is a weekly restock of an entire small store’s breakfast aisle.
Bulk buying was not a lifestyle choice for this family. It was survival. Karen explained that shopping restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic hit them especially hard, because limits on meat and supplies assumed a normal-sized family. “This is our family size. We need that,” she said. A household that burns through 20 rolls of toilet paper a week does not do “just grab one.”
YOU MAY LIKE“We’re Filming Right Now” — Deon Derrico Confirms the Derricos’ TV Return Is Coming30 to 40 Pancakes Before School
Then there is breakfast itself. On an average pancake morning, Karen flipped between 30 and 40 pancakes to feed her hungry family, according to Soap Dirt. One parent. One griddle. Forty pancakes. Before the school run.
It is the detail that turns the Derrico grocery bill from a number into a picture. Most parents count pancakes per child. Karen counted them by the dozen — and still had a line at the stove.
The System: Birth Order, Bulk Buys, and Haircuts at Home
How did they hold it together? Organization, turned up to a level most families never need. Karen lined the kids up by birth order to check things off, a system fans still quote whenever a new parent of multiples asks how anyone survives the chaos.
The family also cut costs everywhere the cameras could see. Entertainment was mostly free or at-home. Deon cut hair, Karen did the girls’ hair, and Halloween costumes were made at home — the same do-it-yourself spirit that kept the grocery bill from swallowing everything else. Getting around took a fleet, too: a 15-passenger van plus a 7-passenger minivan, because one car simply does not hold a family of sixteen.
2026: Two Households, the Same Math
Here is where the old numbers meet the new reality. The Derricos divorced in June 2024, and according to reports, 12 of the 14 children now live with Deon, who works as a school bus driver, while Karen works as a substitute teacher. Under the divorce terms reported by TMZ, Deon pays $1,166 a month in child support while Karen covers medical insurance.
None of that changes the math fans fell in love with. Whether it is one roof or two, fourteen kids still eat like fourteen kids. The grocery bill that once shocked viewers is now the quiet proof of something fans respect even more: two parents who kept showing up, kept working, and kept feeding a small army — with or without a camera crew.
So settle it for us: what is the hardest part of running a 14-kid household — the food bill, the laundry mountain, or the driving? And be honest: how long would YOUR grocery budget survive one week as a Derrico?
Sources
- The List, “The Derricos Reveal Their Biggest Challenge With Having 14 Kids” (grocery bill $2,500-$3,500 a month, 15 boxes of waffles, 20 rolls of toilet paper weekly) — https://www.thelist.com/442873/the-derricos-reveal-their-biggest-challenge-with-having-14-kids-exclusive/
- Soap Dirt, “‘Doubling Down with the Derricos’: Karen & Deon Reveal How They Handle 14 Kids” (30-40 pancakes per breakfast, bulk buying, grocery store every day) — https://soapdirt.com/doubling-down-with-the-derricos-karen-deon-reveal-how-they-handle-14-kids/
- Lenox and Parker, “Karen Derrico’s Breakdown Is a Result of What Happens When a Woman Abandons Herself For Love and Family” (grocery bill, at-home haircuts and costumes, child support under $2,000 a month) — https://www.lenoxandparker.com/karen-derricos-breakdown-is-a-result-of-what-happens-when-a-woman-abandons-herself-for-love-and-family/
- Remote and Tea, “Deon Drives a Bus, Karen Subs in Class: The Derricos’ School Jobs” (Deon as school bus driver, Karen as substitute teacher, according to reports) — https://remoteandtea.com/derricos-school-jobs-deon-bus-karen-substitute/
