Somebody kick me in the behind, please!

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Somebody kick me in the behind, please!
9
Tue, 04-04-2006 - 6:56pm

Alternative heading (but it wouldn't fit): Confessions of the self-appointed grocery guru.

Agh!! I have been spending out the wa-zoo on groceries, and I can't seem to stop myself. Normally, I'm the one saying, "You can cut your grocery budget. It's not even painful! Here's how:" But today I'm saying, PLEASE HELP ME!!

It started with our switch to organics. I upped our grocery budget, but I just kept going over even the increased amount. So we decided to continue buying organic meats and dairy, but go back to standard on everything else. That should fix it. But it hasn't, because now I am just impulse buying.

I haven't made up a plan in weeks, maybe months (except the one week where you all helped me get through without spending anything). No menu plan, no grocery plan. We decide what we're going to eat minutes or, if lucky, hours ahead, and run out to the grocery store for extra stuff. And of course buy more fruit, more snacks, etc.

Then I got pregnant, and I somehow feel entitled to anything that sounds appealing at any given minute. Tonight I spent $50--FIFTY DOLLARS--on an impulse run. We bought crab legs (!!!!), sushi ($5 for twelve pieces), cup 'o noodles (my biggest morning sickness craving), strawberries, bananas, hot dogs, and frozen pizzas. It's not even healthy stuff, mostly! Yikes!

I excuse myself, saying I've got to have constant snacks on hand to ward off the morning sickness which rears its head if I go thirty minutes without something fresh in my belly. But do I really have to spend $50 for three days worth of groceries???

And then the fatigue and nausea that comes with pregnancy for me means I don't want to travel to the five different stores I normally would to hunt down the best deals on the things I need, so I overpay for stuff I could get much cheaper elsewhere.

Somebody help me! Help me get my head back in the right place. This could seriously undermine our budget if I keep this up. And it's not fair to dh, who works so hard for our money and sacrifices so much to keep our budget in line.

Help!!

Thanks. (Tentative smile)

Heather

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-25-2003
Tue, 04-04-2006 - 8:00pm

Well, no kicking from me - I just got back from a trip, and trust me, while I was not super spendy, nor was I particularly thrifty.

You need to put your recent splurges behind you (and of course, enjoy eating them), and get started fresh! Everyone indulges once in a while, and there's nothing wrong with that. But now you need to reboot, and sit down and write out a menu. Maybe during your pregnancy it may not be feasible to go to 5 different grocery stores for the best prices, but you can just hit two?

We all know you can do it!

And, I haven't said yet, Congratulations on your new addition!

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-06-2006
Tue, 04-04-2006 - 8:35pm
In the past 2 years we've had a baby boom at my office and it seems every woman around me has described what you're going through. One would be in the mood for something, go to the store and stock up on a weeks worth of food and the next day be too sick to eat any of it. They moved when she was 5 months pregnant and they brought 4 or 5 big boxes of canned food to give away at the office because she couldn't eat and they weren't bothering to move it with them. Could you cook on the weekends and freeze some meals that might help with dinners? How about prepping fruit, or veggies so you have a ready to grab healthy snack? Cut celery, carrots, apples etc. and store in ziptop baggies? Don't beat yourself up, this will pass and you will get back on track. Good luck and congratulations.

Proud sister of a Marine:

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iVillage Member
Registered: 01-06-2005
Tue, 04-04-2006 - 9:10pm

HUGS!


Morning sickness is a good excuse for making a few mistakes with your $$$.

 

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Wed, 04-05-2006 - 11:26am

Good luck-I know you can do it. I'm not the kick in the rear type but I did find myself oh no Heather stop now! I know that part of our CC debt is from when I was PG and just didn't deal well with life at all. It can be so easy to buy all the food and go with the cravings. Our life got really crazy when I was diagnosed with GD and had to go on a restricted diet (at one point-I had to eat/give a shot at 5 p.m., fed DD around 6 p.m., DH came home and ate around 7-8 p.m. can you say convenience foods for them?) but here's one thing I learned from that which might help motivate.

I'm a type A personality so when they told me I needed to stick to a meal plan and eat at set times I followed that to the letter-here's what I found

1) I tended to rotate the same foods so I could just cut and paste a lot from week to week.
2) I felt so much better once I was eating on a regular schedule and eating very healthy foods. Obviously, this was accentuated because of the GD. So, the first couple of weeks when I was telling myself no to foods I felt like having were rough but after that I felt so much better that it seemed worth it.
3) I could fit my prepregnancy jeans within 2 weeks after having Ian. I gained about 40 pounds over the pregnancy but much of that was water weight (My Dr. had me do Gatorade the last month when I started gaining about 5 pounds a week in water-have you ever priced that stuff? Good grief!)

I don't know if this will help motivate you at all but personally I would adjust the budget some so you're not going to 5 stores or see if you can send DH to a couple of them. Get back to the meal plans and focus not just on the money aspect but also on the health aspects for you and the baby.

Taleyna

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Thu, 04-06-2006 - 12:26pm

Thanks for all the motivation, guys! As always, you're the best (I think I need a shorthand for that--YTB, maybe?--since I repeat it so often--but it's so true!).

Anyway, I made up a menu, and then a grocery list. I loved the suggestion that I go to two stores since I can't make five. I considered carefully and realized that actually, I can probably get by with just one, but a different one than I have been going to. WalMart!! It's not my favorite place to shop (I don't like their politics, for one thing, or their purchasing practices), and it doesn't have the best deals on everything, but overall it's probably the cheapest one-stop place, and while it won't carry all my health-food essentials, it'll get us through. I can go back to my high-and-righteous moral qualms after I'm done with morning sickness! LOL And if I really feel the need for something else, I can make occasional trips to the health-food store (or send dh, since it's impossible to go with the kids--too many things in easy-to-reach bulk bins with convenient scoops--yikes!), and later this summer, the farmer's market for melons.

I think using this method, I can keep my grocery bill under control. And of course having the menu and list is a huge help and will reduce impulse shopping. Last night we had "grilled" chicken salad--using leftover greens and a boiled chicken (saved the broth for another meal, of course). Tonight, rabbit and dumplings (basically, chicken and dumplings but with rabbit instead since that's what I have. I just need celery).

So off I am to WalMart. Thanks, everyone!

Heather

Avatar for 2locachicas
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-14-2003
Thu, 04-06-2006 - 12:42pm

Heather-

I am not a huge fan of walmart either and there aren't really any around us so it isn't an issue but one thing that is handy(while you are shopping there) is they match competitors ads. So if your local grocery store has whatever on sale bring that ad with you to the store and they willmatch the price without question....

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-02-2004
Thu, 04-06-2006 - 4:23pm

Well good luck with your shopping and eating challenges. I know it's not easy.

One suggestion I have: For morning sickness, I found peppermint calmed my nausea. I always had peppermint lifesavers with me, drank mint tea, and even sniffed a bottle of peppermint extract.

I remember those days and you have my sympathy. When I was PG, I couldn't stand a lot of smells, so I didn't want to cook much. Going to a restaurant was out, the smell of bacon sent me into heaves immediately.

Keep your eye on the prize--a beautiful new baby! All that barfin' will be worth it.

Avatar for mymartes
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Thu, 04-06-2006 - 9:25pm

Not have any advice/suggestions. Just wanted to say congrats on being pregnant.

MYM

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Fri, 04-07-2006 - 9:00am

Thanks everyone, for everything! Just wanted to quickly update, I went to Walmart yesterday and bought everything we need until next payday for $50. I had to pull the money from another budget because I had already overspent on groceries for the month, but that should get us through.

While at Walmart, I noticed a curious thing. I was terribly, terribly hungry--stomach growling, hands shaking (my blood sugar drops and does funny things to me)--but no nausea! I haven't had morning sickness since! I'm amazed--I've only had two weeks of it this time around, and apparently that's all I have to deal with.

Still terribly fatigued, but that I can deal with. And at least it doesn't fuel food cravings. I can go back to eating healthy and normal meals now.

Thanks again for all the support.

Heather