The second month of my pregnancy was, hands down, the most spendy month of my frugal life. While I don’t think it was quite on par with my 200-pairs of-shoes existence, it was exorbitant by every other month, especially when it came to our grocery bill. Of course, I understood that when there was a third person at the dinner table, our mealtime expenses would go up. What I didn’t realize, though, was how much that pint-sized nugget of bliss was going to mess with our meals before it even got to properly enjoy refuse to eat one.
It Started With Chicken
Right before we found out I was pregnant, I was doing my usual Penny thing in the kitchen every night. I’d race home after tutoring and try to get dinner on the table before Mr. P finished coaching. I’m not a gourmet by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, if you’ve followed me on Twitter long enough, you probably remember The Great Bag Clip Debacle of 2016. Basically, a magnetic bag clip got stuck to the bottom of a baking sheet, and I didn’t notice until my oven was full of orange plastic goo…and every toxin known to man. Mr. P, brave soul that he is, offered to eat that meal anyway. Me? Personally, I was ready to throw out the oven.
So, I’m cooking away in the kitchen. And since no human in their right mind no 30-going-on-90-year-old should have to wait until 7:30 to eat, I had a little sample. My eyes bugged out of my head. Did I miss the expiration date? Did I not get the chicken in the fridge fast enough? Did my discount grocery store finally fail me? I wasn’t sure how, but I knew without a doubt, that I was going to poison my husband if I fed him the rancid chicken. Down the disposal it went. That was night one of frozen pizza. On a Tuesday of all things.
Then It Was Everything
Fast forward to that Friday. Mr. P burst through the door early enough to actually watch me shake part of the Crock Pot into the sink. He convinced me to let him have a taste before I tossed the rest of that night’s dinner. Turns out, three nights in a row is the line in the sand when it comes to frozen pizza. Mr. Stomach of Steel thought the Crock Pot stinkfest was delicious. I had to light a candle and go upstairs. Just the smell was too much.
On a normal month, our grocery bill is victoriously low, clocking in around $200. Then I got pregnant. In one week, we were well over $100, not only because I threw out most of our meals but because my taste buds changed so fast, I’d pack a lunch in the morning and have to run out to the store by lunch time. During one stage, I was subsisting entirely on string cheese and Saltines pretty effectively until my cheese started tasting like soap. (Thanks, Mom. Apparently, there are some things your taste buds never forget.) To say food got expensive fast is an understatement.
Convenience Items or Bust
When things started to get really rocky, I stopped buying fresh meat and switched to frozen items. I know, I know. Not only does it have the nutritional value of styrofoam, but it’s so expensive. To make matters worse, the produce section suddenly started smelling the cacophony of Bath & Body Works. I couldn’t scoot past the deli counter fast enough. Once, I pushed my cart down the aisle of fresh spices only to come out in front of the fish counter. Luckily, my cart was empty because I had to grab my purse and run for the exit.* Basically, I think Mr. P has resigned himself to the fact that I was going to bring home the equivalent of magic beans for dinner instead of actual groceries.
*To those of you who have never experienced the joy of growing a human or living with someone who has, I assure you that this is not some hyperbolic reenactment of the B-list sitcom that it sounds like. Life gets crazy, for real.
Lesson Learned
So let him grocery shop, you say. Ah, yes, wise one. You are right and we got there eventually. But here’s what you forget. I’m a proud son of a gun with an affinity for our $200 budget. Not only did I believe it to be unreasonable to ask someone who works twelve hour days to chase sales at multiple grocery stores, but meals are one way I contribute to our relationship. It took me a long while to realize temporarily waving a white napkin didn’t mean that I was failing in our finances or our marriage. I will eventually regain my grocery budget crown. One day.
Note: I write this post filled with more love than I knew I could feel. There’s that B-list sitcom again. Shoot, someone tell the Hallmark Channel I’m ready for my close up. Every good day and every bad day is a blessing. But in the spirit of full disclosure, I thought I’d share my budget fails with you.
Many women would stamp their feet proclaiming “But I’m pregnant!” as a delightful excuse for ditching the food budget. But not our Penny! Perhaps you may need to break up your shopping into smaller, more targeted trips to trick the nausea into leaving you alone. I’m sure you’ll find a routine that works for you soon.
I’m mostly past it now. Thank goodness! I tried really hard to not use it as an excuse, but honestly feeling so ill for so long taught me an important lesson in the difference between excuses and reasons!
When I was pregnant, smells didn’t bother me so much, but nothing seemed appetizing except…cereal. So, I basically ate nothing but cereal the first trimester! It WILL go away and you’ll be back to eating more normally soon, I imagine. Congrats, BTW! My husband and I are July babies. 🙂
Hooray for July babies! That’s good to know I’m not alone with this carb fest I’ve been having, Bonnie! And I do feel better now. It was like someone flipped a switch on my stomach when I hit the 14 week mark!
Hahaha, it starts with the chicken every time. 🙂
I haven’t had kiddos yet, but I’ve heard that the whole “things tasting horrible” phase doesn’t last forever. So that’s good right? 😛
You guys are still doing really well! It’s easy to blow through your budget during any big life/medical event or change. Don’t beat yourselves up too much and just enjoy. 🙂
Yes, I ultimately realized that finding something I could keep down mattered a whole lot more than sticking to our exact budget.
And it’s shocking to me how many women shake their heads when I tell the chicken story. All the little secrets I’m being let in on now.
It’s hard to give up control, isn’t it? I usually do our grocery shopping too, and I’m efficient, thrifty, and rational. When I’m busy or sick, my husband steps up, and what he buys will definitely get the job done, but it’s more gourmet and there are always a few treat yo’self surprises. Beggars can’t be choosers, right?
Exactly! And it was a really important reminder that he WANTS to help. He’s been really great this entire time. Frozen pizzas and all!
Mrs. SSC went thru that and then some. Fortunately, I cook well and don’t mind doing groceries either. BUT, we did end up with higher groceries because some weeks she might just want all fruit and veggies, and others it’s cottage cheese and crackers, or oatmeal and more oatmeal. Who knew, certainly not her. And the smells, oh man, even with me cooking separate meals, like you described she would get nauseous just smelling regular normal food cooking.
It happens, cut yourself some slack and accept things are going to be different for a bit. And for the record, Mrs. SSC’s tastes for some things have never come back. Spicy food for instance, sushi, although she is now eating fish again, and others have ended up as “foods I liked pre-pregnancy”. It’s life, it changes, no biggie. 🙂
Good luck dealing with that, hopefully it settles out for you soon, but if it doesn’t don’t beat yourself up about it. You’ve got other things to worry about, like growing a human… No small feat in itself. 🙂
Ha! Yes! I do try to focus on the bigger picture here. I am feeling better. Still not great, but I feel much more human. I’m really curious to see what I’ll end up having a taste for when everything is said and done! Thanks for the support and insight.
CHICKEN. Ugh, ewwww. It was the only thing I couldn’t eat during my first pregnancy and was Item #1 on I Don’t Want To See It for pregnancy #2. I’m due in July as well – congrats! 🙂
It’s so strange how the taste buds change. We cook with a lot of spices, garlic, etc and it’s totally different for me this pregnancy…it didn’t bother me at all last time, but everything is so smelly now. It all seems so magnified – the other day I was convinced that my husband had bathed the dinner in garlic when I wasn’t looking. All I want is salt! My go to snack (or meal, if I’m being honest) is currently salt and vinegar chips dipped in cottage cheese. Judge away…
I’m so glad you’re feeling a bit better!
No judgment here! All the salt and all the sour. And it’s crazy how noses work during pregnancy. I feel like I can smell EVERYTHING. Congrats on baby #2. So exciting!
While I’m sure experiencing this was anything but funny, you did give me a chuckle. Just think of this as practice for rolling with the punches. Flexibility is probably the most important quality in a parent, with patience coming in a close second. I hope you’re feeling back to your usual diet soon.
Thanks, Gary! I am learning how to roll with it. And I am SO BAD at that! I feel like becoming a parent is going to be a great lesson in learning how to relinquish control sometimes. Or to learn more about what to focus on controlling!
It always starts with chicken! Thirty five years ago I was pregnant with our first child. I was mentally and emotionally prepared for weight gain, swollen ankles and having pain with childbirth. Nothing I couldn’t deal with. I am Woman, hear me roar! I bring forth life! And, apparently, I also bring forth the contents of my stomach into the kitchen sink upon opening the package of chicken and getting a good wiff of it. Evidently, I’d missed the memo about the change in how things smelled and tasted! I don’t know how many pounds of meat I threw away because I thought they were rotten. The hubs ended up doing most of the cooking because even the smell of the meat, fish or poultry cooking was enough to make my stomach start heaving. To this day, raw chicken still smells rotten to me!
Another smell issue was perfumed anything. Even my toothpaste made me gag from the smell. Spent my pregnancy brushing my teeth with baking soda! DEFINITELY couldn’t go down the cleaning/detergent aisles at the store. Did you know that baking soda cleans A LOT of things? Lol!
Sounds like you’re over the hump and it should keep getting better!
You speak the truth, Kim! I thought I knew what the big hurdles were. Even looking at raw meat in the grocery store turned my stomach in the worst way. I love my toothpaste…and my mouthwash. But when I went in for my cleaning, the dental hygienist was fully prepared for people who do not. She was shocked that I said toothpaste didn’t bother me. Now, shampoo, conditioner, face wash, perfume?! At almost 15 weeks, it has to be fragrance free or it doesn’t happen!
I had no idea chicken was a specifically popular thing to develop an aversion to because mine went from “Feed me ALL the things” to retching when I even opened the fridge. I took you at face value when you claimed to have ruined a few meals but I did wonder how that had suddenly become a pattern when you’d never had that problem before! Usually my pregnancy-radar catches on a lot sooner 🙂
My husband kept saying I was a pregnant, and I thought he was crazy. Surely, I would know first. No dice.
And I hear you. It got to the point where even thinking about grocery shopping sent me into a panic attack. Thankfully, I’m past that now!
I know it’s not funny while you’re going through it, but you have turned this experience into a humor masterpiece. And reminded me of the first Matt Smith Doctor Who episode.
But even I had to throw a bunch of frozen cauliflower out this week because it tasted like plastic, and I felt awfully guilty about a) throwing out relatively new stuff that I only bought a month or so ago and b) not having any veg with dinner.
I’m not sure this is a frugal fail, though. Eating while pregnant is more like taking medicine. Hopefully you find something that agrees with you soon.
That’s a great reminder, Emily! Whatever it takes to grow a healthy human, I guess!
And I think frozen veggies can get a weird taste. And this is normal-taste-buds Penny talking!
I know it’s not easy, but the nausea fades away. Then, be prepared, because you’re going to get really hungry. It has been really crazy this time, like um double as bad, for me. I have cycles of being so hungry that I wake up in the middle of night and start scavenging for food.
The Good News: In my experience, the budget doesn’t take a huge hit once little ones join you for meals. They pretty much eat whatever you’re having – either mushed or cut up in itty bitty pieces. Of course, we’re expecting that to change as they get older. LOL – five teenagers are going to eat a lot of food!!!
Oh my gosh, Harmony! I think your last sentence just tipped the scales in favor of “only child”. 🙂
Welcome the world of motherhood and changes. The next hurdle will be tiredness, sleepless nights, and the mood swings. Be ready!. Enjoy each feeling
Thank you so much, Pellrider! I’m thrilled. Of course, I’m very nervous, too! Thankfully, people like you have been so kind with encouragement and advice! I know I will have lots to learn every minute of every day!
I am currently 36 weeks pregnant with my second baby. I never had any problem with nausea for both pregnancies. But the fatigue that came with the second, good Lord. For one whole month, we’ve already eaten in all the food chains in our neighborhood. I swore to never get pregnant again, and we’ll just have to stop at 2 kids. No more.
Good luck to you, Mary! What an exciting and exhausting time!