Parents of 11 Reveal $1,200 Weekly Grocery Bill After Adopting 6 Kids (Exclusive)

Groceries are expensive, even with just one mouth to feed, but Alicia and Josh Dougherty have 11 children to consider.

The couple, known as the Dougherty Dozen online, share glimpses into what it takes to raise such a large family with their 12 million followers, giving insight into their spending habits, daily meals and unconventional but close-knit family dynamic.

Alicia’s grocery hauls often go viral, as she fills up to four shopping carts to feed the family for just one week. She exclusively tells PEOPLE that, nowadays, their monthly grocery bill can get up to almost $4,800.

“The cost of groceries is increasing rapidly. During the pandemic-ish time, I was spending $500 to $750 a week, I would say,” Alicia says. “And then the past year [since the election] has been rising. I am buying the exact same stuff, our menu does not change drastically, and now I’m spending about $1,000 to $1,200 a week.” 

With so many growing kids under one roof, Alicia says she has to be mindful of spending and is always “watching” to see if she has to cut back on anything. 

“If my kids could, they would eat steak every single week,” she jokes. “I bought a four-pack of ribeyes on Sunday for $101! I’m more mindful of, ‘Okay, chicken is cheap. We’re gonna have chicken more.’ ”

Alicia says she used to go from store to store to find different brands and items that her kids liked, but eventually realized she was spending too much “time and energy” driving around.

“To get it all at one store is easier for me,” she notes, “but I will say, since the election, I am going to wholesale stores, probably double what I used to.”

With grocery costs rising, Alicia also worries about the recent cuts to Medicaid and how other foster children might bear the brunt. 

“Six of our kids have Medicaid. Thankfully, Josh has amazing health insurance that also covers them, but I have no idea what that would mean for the 400,000-plus children in the foster care system who rely on Medicaid,” she says.

Alicia and Josh have four biological children — Zoey, 13, Dashel, 11, Bodhi, 8, and Harlee, 6 — and adopted six children — Alex, 19, James, 18, Patrick, 16, Bree, 14, and 10-year-old twins Jordan and Jason.

All of their adopted children have Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD), a group of conditions that can occur in a person whose mother consumed alcohol during pregnancy. FASD can lead to physical problems, as well as learning and behavioral difficulties.

In 2022, Alicia and Josh also welcomed 15-year-old Dayshawn into their family. Dayshawn’s mother grew up with Alicia and the family now has permanent custody of the 11th grader.

“His last name’s not Dougherty yet, but he’s a Dougherty,” Alicia shares.

Alicia says she and Josh don’t see any more kids on their horizon as they navigate raising 11 kids while building and growing their social media presence, which she admits can make things “tricky.”

While Josh is a teacher, Alicia has been able to monetize their channels to help support her family and has turned social media into her full-time job, spending about 75 hours a week making content.

While their content often reaches a supportive community, Alicia says not all of the attention has been good. She says the “backlash and hate from random strangers online” can be “very invasive and tough.”

She says there are people who often “bully and harass” her “under the guise of protecting kids from child exploitation.” However, she notes that the people who make videos about her have “monetized” their own videos.

At times, the backlash has become so intense that they have needed to hire security.

Given the level of negative attention, Alicia says she is “constantly second-guessing” whether she should continue posting on social media.

“I’ve taken the kids out of a lot of my content, and it’s mostly just me now, me what I’m doing for my kids content, just to protect my kids,” she shares.

“I’m constantly like, ‘Should I keep going with this?’ And my main thing is I don’t want the bullies to win. Yeah, I quit. The bullies won. They got me and my family suffering because of it, because then I gotta find another career,” Alicia adds. “And what kind of career am I going to have to make this kind of money to support my family? So I’ll just keep going and I just show up every day with a smile on my face and just keep going.” 

Despite any online hate, Alicia is both enjoying and finding challenges in the “whole new world of parenting” adult children, especially when they are also dealing “with bipolar disorder and FAS.”

“Parenting adults is my hardest parenting adventure yet, because you can’t really tell them. You can tell them, but they don’t listen,” she says, noting that she “can’t force” them to take their medications or do other things.

Alicia first spoke with PEOPLE back in 2020 and told the story of adopting her eldest son, Alex, who was just 4 years old when they welcomed him into their home. The couple worked tirelessly to support the then-preschooler, who flourished under their care. Caseworkers were so impressed with the couple’s success that they continued sending them children facing similar struggles.

“So many people gave up on these kids,” Alicia told us at the time, “but they knew we wouldn’t.”

Fast forward to now and Alicia says she’s so “proud” of Alex, who decided by himself that going to college wasn’t “the right path” and got a job working at a construction supply company instead.

“He’s doing great, he works full time and has a girlfriend and his own apartment,” she shares.

James, her second oldest, did a two-year program in culinary arts. “That was his dream,” Alicia says. “And he’s doing it.” 

While things are going well for the family, there are still occasional behavioral issues and annoyances, but Alicia tries never to yell and keeps in mind what she was like as a kid. 

“I try and live a lot of ‘Okay, I can’t get mad because I did that as a kid.’ You get irritated for a second, but it really doesn’t matter,” Alicia shares. “I still think the grand picture of it is that I went so long wanting to be a mom that now I just really am thankful to be a mom, and that stops me from getting irritated about mom stuff.”

Alicia is trying not to let the little things get to her, and she realizes all her children are in different stages of life and dealing with their own unique sets of challenges.

“Probably every week when the house is a mess, and I’m like, ‘Oh, my God, I can’t stand the messes.’ But then I’m like, ‘You know what? Someday it’s not going to be a mess, because they’re not going to be here anymore.’ ”

Despite having such a large family, Alicia says she and Josh still make time for one-on-one time with her kids, cherishing every minute amid the chaos.