I’m convinced there is no way to get through cravings, pregnancy or not, by being frugal.
Let’s go back a bit. Last week, I went to the doctor to confirm that yes, I am pregnant. According to the ultrasound I had to do yesterday, the little bugger is about 8 weeks old. So yes, get ready to see diaper stockpile pictures soon.
Anyway, I have been extremely tired, sleeping all day, morning sickness during daylight hours and hungry as the dickens at night. Although it would have been nice to crave items that we have an abundance of in our stockpile, it seemed to never work out that way. When you’re pregnant and you have a craving, you have to obey. No substitutions will do. It’s much different from being a woman and craving chocolate but getting a small piece of dark curbs the craving without adding the calories. If I want a large pickle and a liter of ginger ale, that’s what I want. And if you don’t give it to me, I’m going to cry. The End.
Now, when it comes to being frugal about this little problem, I haven’t been able to conquer the challenge. With my last pregnancy it was easy: my cravings were fruits and veggies and the occasional Taco Bell crunchy beef taco with no cheese and extra lettuce. No silly stuff like ice cream and pickles or whole steak dinners. This time, with this little bundle of insanity, I crave the finer things.
Beef. And lots of it. Chili, steak, burgers, I need it all. If I could get a big porterhouse steak for dinner every night, I would. I could easily get my iron from some wonderful veggies that are loaded with it, but no. The baby wants meats. And not just any meat. Chicken seems to not sit well, and after thanksgiving, turkey isn’t gonna cut it. I need beef.
Chinese food. This one is SO hard for me because you all know how much I love to make my fried rice. It’s easy, it’s tasty and it usually curbs my chinese food craving as a normal woman. But, preggo brain lady needs Chinese food. And guess what? It has to have BEEF in it. Beef and mushrooms over white rice, beef fried rice, beef won tons and teriyaki beef sticks. I ordered all of that JUST FOR ME one night. I don’t even want to tell you all how much that bill was. Remember, there are 2 other people who had to eat as well, so add in their meals. And yes, within 2 days, I ate all of that food. Lord help me.
Pickles. This is a new one for me. You hear that it’s a “pregnancy staple” all the time, but it just wasn’t for me with Sonny Boy. Cucumbers, yes, but pickles, no. Every night now, I find myself at the fridge eating a salty, brine-soaked, pickle. Unfortunately, I had no stockpile of this either, and had to pay the “sale” price for them. I had been craving them for 3 days and couldn’t take it anymore.
Canned corn. Nope, not fresh, not frozen, it has to be canned. I am lucky enough to have a stockpile of this, but at this rate, it’s going to be gone very soon. It has to be buttered and made in the microwave. Any other way, and it makes me nauseous.
Those are just a few things that have caught me off guard so far. Usually, I would stay level-headed, take on this challenge and come out victorious. But, I’m not quite sure how to tackle this one. I can easily stockpile on these few things(except the Chinese food) and be prepared for my evening munchies, but as most women who’ve been pregnant know, your cravings can change in a drop of a hat. Can you imagine how extremely angry I would be to suddenly HATE pickles and have 20 jars stockpiled? Or go crazy the next time ground beef is at a rock bottom price and all of a sudden not be able to stand the sight of it?
I’ve decided, for now, that we’ll tighten a little bit more in all of the other aspects of the budget and add a little more to our entertainment/eating out budget. That’s the only thing I can see that might help. I do anticipate a few impulse buys at the store too, since “the baby” will be shopping with me from now on, but I’ll try to restrain myself. Yeah, right.
So, I turn it over to you. Do you have any ideas on how I can not turn this into a great big money pit? Or should I just let it ride? Or you can just tell me Via Con Dios, and say a prayer for me. Yeah, I like the last one.
Congrats. Did your doc check your iron levels? That could be causing the beef cravings. When I was pregnant I craved things I hate to eat normally but my husband loves — General Tso’s Chicken and fried fish. It wasn’t cheap, sorry!
BJ’s often sends out coupons for canned corn though if you have one near you!
Congrats to you and hubby, Amiyrah! Just go with the flow and enjoy!
Congrats. With my last pregnancy I craved beef like crazy, but I couldn’t stand to smell it cooking. As a result we wound up eating out A LOT. It was crazy expensive, but since it was our first child we had the extra money and it wasn’t a big deal.
This time I’m craving more chicken and bacon, but the other day I called my husband and told him I NEEDED a cheesesteak. And it needs to be from a specific place. He promised to take me there Saturday and I’m barely managing to hold out. I don’t think he really understands that it is a need and not a want.
I’ve also avoided stock piling foods I’m craving because early in my pregnancy I was craving taquitos. I went out and bought 2 boxes. By the time we were half way through the second box I couldn’t stand the sight of them. I’ve had to shove them to the back of the freezer because I feel sick just looking at the box. Ah, the joys of pregnancy.
Sorry I don’t really have any frugal tips for you with cravings. My theory is to just go along for the ride and enjoy it as much as you can. We’ve been over our food budget for the last 2 months because of my cravings and lack of energy to cook. Thankfully I have been able to make up for that by cutting back in other areas.
I knew it…lol When I read on your Mealplan about how you can’t stand turkey, I thought “i wonder if she’s pregnant”.
CONGRATULATIONS!! I’m so happy for you guys.
I’d say, just let go & satisfy those cravings. You are frugal in so many ways, so just enjoy your pregnancy. I’m sure you’ll make up for the expense (on satisfying the cravings) in other ways.
CONGRATS to you , your hubby and Sonny boy!!!!! With my first I craved liverwurst and raw onion sandwiches, my second it was black olives. Good luck to you and your family..
I can’t believe your pregnant!!!! I thought you were supposed to wait for me!!!??? 🙂
CONGRATS! Guess that means I’m next…..
CONGRATULATIONS! Sonny Boy is going to be a big brother….how exciting! I’m so happy for you.
Congratulations! Sorry I can’t help or even identify. I have three adopted children.
Since I won’t be needing them, would you like all my diaper, formula, and other baby coupons from my flyers every week? I’m happy to send them to you.
Gina
Don’t stress over it….just go with it!!! Congrats!
I agree with everyone who has posted that you should just go with it.
With both pregnancies I had very bad “morning sickness” until well into my 5th month. With my first I ate nothing but chocolate croissants from 5-7 months and then had an awakening about the health risks of that! With my second I never had any cravings. In fact, I had a hard time eating anything, even after the “morning sickness” had subsided.
May you encounter many Use Today or Freeze specials in the Butcher’s Case. And maybe you can tell the meat man of your problem so he might let you know when there’s going to be a mark-down on beef?
Holy Cow!!!!
And congrats.
Congrats! Time to raise your houshold budget.
Congrats on the pregnancy! and you know you can make all that chinese food dishes yourself. just get some of the basics sauces – oyster, fish, general tso hot sauce, asian chilly oil, sweet sauce, sessami oil and soy sauce and you can use them. just stirfry thinly sliced beef and add veggies, toss some greens like bokchoy and ginger and green onions and add some of the sauces. if you want spicy then use general tsao and if you want regular then it’s oyster sauce. you’ll never miss take out afterwards. Have fun experimenting!
thanks for all the comments! I really wasn’t looking for “advice,” I just thought you all would get a kick out of a post about frugal, or non-frugal, cravings of a mad, pregnant woman.
Lucky, all that stuff is fine. Actually, thats how i found out. I was worried that some of the things that run in my family were starting to show up, so they took 7 vials of blood to test for EVERYTHING. Only thing that popped up was a baby lol.
Jenny,
Darling, if i could make it myself, you know i would. thats why I said I am the fried rice queen, but standing up in the kitchen for more than 5 minutes and staring at raw meat and even veggies, makes me barf to no end. I don’t have a choice but to order out most of the time now. But you KNOW I would be making it if I could. It would be so much cheaper!
Thanks for all the well-wishes!
Congratulations to your family! Sonny boy is so cute I can only imagine another adorable baby. I craved raspberry anything! Especially Graters ice cream (an Ohio specialty!) Yummm!
oops! Gina, I get about 4 papers a week, so i get pretty stocked up on coupons. I’ll sign up again for similac and start getting those checks again too. Thanks for thinking of me, though!
The only thing I know for sure is that no two pregnancies are ever the same- and something you would kill or die for during the first half of the pregnancy, you might just be sick of by the second half! If cooking is really making you feel horrible, then I would say just pamper yourself and order that Chinese food and buy whatever pickles strike your fancy. You’re always very frugal and careful with money, so take a break and treat yourself during this pregnancy! 🙂
Dhunny
How wonderful that you and your husband are going to enlarge your circle of love! Enjoy your special time. Maybe you could sit on the couch (With Chinese food and a pickle) and tell the baby how much joy you know he/she will bring into your world.
Best wishes from Best Bun
Congrats!!
I had a major craving for Arby’s Beef and Cheddar all the time with #2
I also had terrible sickness I don’t say morning because it was really anytime of the time that it felt like showing it’s ugly head. I did find that wearing those nausia bands that you can get at the store helped alot.
Silly girl!!! Were you craving that gumball?
Rhonda
Amiyrah – I’m soooo happy for you! Sonny Boy is going to be a great big brother.
Congrats on the baby! I’m so excited for you =)
HOLY MOLY Congratulations!!!
I thought you said you were “sick”…lol. This is much better. I guess this explains why I haven’t seen you in a few days. I hope everything is well!
I didn’t have wierd cravings either time but the 2nd one was an expensive craving… mushroom/swiss burgers and cheesesteaks. The first one it was just Welch’s grape juice. I’d say stick with middle ground, don’t try to ignore them but don’t give in every time. Like I’d want a m/s burger or cheesesteak every day (would probably eat one every meal if I could) but instead I just got one once per week and sucked it up the rest of the week. I had really bad sickness too and I’m not a fan of ginger but these are pretty good hard candies. I still use them if I feel nausteous for some reason http://www.gingerpeople.com/gin-gin-candies/gin-gins-hard-candy.html. I couldn’t stand the crystalized ginger though it was nasty. I tried 2 different ones of the chews but they were too spicy for me (yes I can’t take any spice at all).
Good luck 🙂
Amiyrah – I very happy for you and your family. They must be so excited, too! Congratulations to you all!
Aloha – Tenney
Congratulations! I know I haven’t “visited” in awhile but life has a way of getting in the way. The fact that you’re still blogging despite being so busy is awesome and awe-inspiring.
Someone mentioned coupons and what not…I don’t know how it happened but I must have got on just the right mailing list because I’ve gotten all kinds of baby formula coupons in the mail. Not sure how cause I wasn’t actively seeking baby stuff–no reason to do so, you know what I mean. Anyhow, a good website that I found the last time I was preggo–back in 2001–was babycenter.com. I got all kinds of free stuff and coupons from them.
Congrats again!!
Congratulations, Amiyrah! Ask your husband and the big-brother-to-be to pamper you a little bit. You need it.
Oh, and here’s something another mom told me: Tell Sonny Boy that he has an important job when it comes to this baby — he has to teach him/her how to smile. That’s supposed to get them to stand by the bassinet and grin a lot.
Although how can you NOT smile around a baby?
I’m happy for you and your family.
Congrats! I lost your blog link for a few months and just now read the good news. It’s nice to have your blog back in my favorites!