Okay. Confession time. Lately I have not been very frugal.
You see, there’s this thing called pregnancy and I have it. This being my second time around, I am comparing everything to the first time, and finding, much to my disappointment, that all to do with food and fatigue seems to be the same...or worse. Because I am so tired (I describe it as feeling like I have been beaten up or sucked dry with a huge syringe,) and so nauseous all the time, I don’t feel like cooking at all. That’s problem # 1. We all know a big fact about pregnancy is you eat, eat, eat. Well, that’s problem # 2. Take the need for eating about every 2 hours and combine it with nausea and fatigue, and you pretty much have me on the couch moaning and hungry with no alternative except to eat out. And that’s problem # 3. A huge frugality buster. Not to mention that in addition to the need for food I have major aversions to breads, pastas, and sweets, and I don’t look too kindly on vegetables either, depending on the hour.
That pretty much narrows down all the options to almost nothing that can be quickly prepared. Okay, so I do manage to cook sometimes, but after cooking 1 or 2 meals a day I am still hungry for more and what to do but have someone else cook it for you? I’m sure that the people who work at the restaurants that we frequent lately are probably a little tired of seeing us and wondering why we eat at the same place so often…sometimes it’s just too much to explain the whole pregnancy thing, you know?
That is my big confession. I eat out way more than any normal person should, and especially more than a frugal person should. I feel bad, but weighing it out with the physical bad I feel when I don’t have good food to eat…you know where it goes. My husband is so sweet to me though. I told him that it’s expensive to have me pregnant, but he hasn’t refused me anything I have wanted as of yet. I hate it though. It makes me sicker to think of all the money being spent on food right now. I hope that this season passes soon.
For more Frugal Friday posts visit Crystal's site here.
2 comments:
Poor sis! I know what you mean. When I was pregnate it was the same sometimes though the only thing I craved were salty french frys or trailmix. I felt bad for spending the money though.
I'm preggo too (with my 3rd) and more tired than I've ever been in my life. I am sure that life with 3 littles will be easier than being pregnant since pregnancy is sooooooo exhausting (and pregnancy with twins is likely doubly exhausting!) I suffer with awful morning sickness the first few months of each pregnancy and have spent lots of money on fast-food and frozen meals for my husband during those months. With this third one I tried to freeze a bunch of meals the very minute I found out I was preggo since I knew the sickness was coming.
Now that I have just a month or less to go, I'm feeling the fatigue in a major way. Between the heat and two sometimes cranky toddlers, making dinner is the last thing I want to do. Normally I'm the ultimate frugal grocery shopper with my weekly menu and list and coupons but this week has found me at the grocery store two nights in a row searching for something quick to fix for supper. Fast food sounds tempting every night!
Here are some tips that may help you:
*Have your mom or best friend come over some morning, when your energy levels are at peak, and help you make up some bulk meals for a few hours. Lasagna, chicken/rice casserole, burritos, enchiladas, etc.
*Have your hubby (or yourself) hit up Wal-Mart and buy tons of canned chili, frozen ravioli, frozen pizzas, soups, skillet dinners, etc. The definition of frugal has changed due to the circumstances in your life. Frugal for you now is whatever is cheaper than eating out. Don't worry about spending a bit more right now. Stocking up on pre-prepared foods will at least insure that your hubby and child can eat even if you can't and it's cheaper and less stressful than going out every night.
*Make supper every morning and have it ready to just reheat when hubby gets home from work. Eat whatever sounds good to you.
*Go for easy. When shredded cheese or pre-washed, bagged lettuce go on sale, stock up! When you aren't pregnant you can worry about making everything from scratch. I was into making my own homemade bread all the time but I just can't anymore. So, I buy wheat bread on sale and call it good. Just do what you can!
*Admit your need for help. If you have no one to volunteer, consider hiring a young woman to come clean or babysit for a couple of hours a week. My parents gave me a mother's helper (gal from church) once a week during the morning sickness trimester as my Christmas gift and it was SO NICE! It's worth the $10 or $15 you may have to pay!
*Let go of expectations. Resting, eating, and caring for your daughter and hubby are what count right now. So, don't volunteer to help out with this or that at church or allow yourself to get sucked into doing too much or running too many errands. Relax your cleaning standards and try to live as simply as possible during this stage of life.
For more ideas and tips on surviving pregnancy and morning sickness, see my blog!
God's blessings to you friend! You're doing great!
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