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One Hundred Dollars a Month

I am your typical housewife living in high maintenance suburbia. I have a handsome husband, 2 kids and a flock of pet chickens. I try and feed my family with $100 a month. With the help of coupons, gardening and bartering I am able to squeeze the most out of our grocery budget and still manage to have a little fun along the way.


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How to Grow Garlic

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How to Grow Garlic

Is it already time to plant garlic bulbs again? Where does the time go. It seems like it was just yesterday and I was harvesting garlic from our garden. Is it just me, or are there more things to do in the garden in the fall than in the Spring?

how-to-plant-garlic

Growing garlic is very simple and straightforward. For starters you want to try and find certified garlic bulbs {most local nurseries have it in stock this time of year}. Some people just buy garlic bulbs at the grocery store, but a lot of times produce {even bulbs} can be sprayed to slow growth, so I like to buy certified garlic bulbs so I know exactly what I’m getting. Botanical Interests and Territorial Seed have a great selection.

fall-how-to-plant-garlic-bulbs

To plant garlic, first break the bulb apart and inspect the cloves for any damage.  Toss any cloves that are brown or have decay on them. Next, plant the garlic about 2″ deep and about 6″ apart in loose, well drained soil. Cover the bulbs with soil, water and walk away. Mother Nature will take care of the rest until spring. Unless of course you live somewhere where it never rains during the fall and winter months. If that’s the case, then be sure and give your garlic bed a drink every now and again.

fall-planting-how-to-plant-garlic-bulbs

Once the garlic begins to sprout in the spring, I like to cover my garlic patch with a couple inches of leaf litter to help insulate the garlic bulbs a bit from the cold {if you live in a warmer climate you don’t need to do this}.

how to grow garlic shoot

I don’t know about you, but I use garlic practically every day in my cooking, so it’s really nice to be able to grow it in my backyard each year for a nice stash when I need it.

How to Grow Garlic

  • Plant cloves 6 to 8 weeks before a hard freeze so the roots have a chance to get established
  • Do not break cloves until you are ready to plant
  • Plant cloves 2″ deep with the root end down and the point side up
  • Space cloves 4″- 6″ apart {depending on size}

elephant garlic bulbWill you be growing garlic this year?

How many bulbs do you usually by each year and when do YOU plant your garlic?

~Mavis

Looking for more information in growing, cultivating and enjoying garlic?  Check out the book The Complete Book of Garlic By Ted Jordan Meredith.  Amazon currently has it in stock and ready to ship.

This post may contain affiliate links. These affiliate links help support this site. For more information, please see my disclosure policy. Thank you for supporting One Hundred Dollars a Month.

Free Kindle Books, $5 Bras, Vegetarian Times Magazine, Butterflies, Polo Jackets, Coupons, Recipes and More

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waiting in line at the airport

Home again home again jiggety- jig. 🙂 I got in late last night after being on the East Coast for 6 days working on a few projects at our vacation home {mostly painting} and let me tell you Bob, I am tired. Not exhausted, but tired. Which is something I cannot afford to be because big things will be happening in Mavisland over the next 6-8 weeks and it’s going to be one heck of an adventure. And the fun starts tomorrow. WITH PICTURES. Because you probably wouldn’t believe me otherwise. 😉

Yee-Haw…. Change is good.

♥ Mavis

storage shelf

Amazon Gold Box Deal of the Day – 40% Off Origami 4-Shelf Collapsible Storage Racks

free kindle books

Available Kindle Books I think are cool…

The prices on Kindle Books can change quickly, so grab them while you can. Don’t have a Kindle? Download the kindle app on your other devices. It’s easy! 🙂

bright yellow safety vest

Amazon has the Neiko High Visibility Neon Yellow Zipper Front Safety Vest with Reflective Strips for just $7.25  as well as the Lighting EVER LED Headlamp and they both ship for FREE with Amazon Prime. These are a must have for your cars emergency kit! Better safe than sorry.

Learn how to get free shipping with Amazon Prime.

Is-Microchipping-People-in-Our-FutureMicrochipping: does it freak you out as much as it does me? Is microchipping people in our future?

bulk gummi candy dealsAmazon has great Bulk Gummi Candy Deals… Here are my favorites:

See more bulk deals on Gummi Candy

carharrt jackets

This morning I noticed The Clymb has Men’s and Women’s Carhartt clothing on sale with savings up to 60% off. My daughter loves The Clymb and their deals. Go HERE to Sign up for The Clymb and check out all the loot.

maidenform-logo

Maidenform has bras on sale for $7.50 each!! Plus you can save an extra 50% off clearance bra styles with bra styles as low as $5 each when use code EXTRA50 at checkout. I just ordered the MAIDENFORM SELF EXPRESSIONS T-SHIRT BRA for only $5!!! That’s a steal!!

little tykes kitchen

Order up! Amazon has the Little Tikes Super Chef Kitchen on sale for $65 shipped!

gymboree sale

Gymboree has FREE shipping today with no minimum and markdowns start at just $5.99! Plus now through October 5th you can redeem $25 Gymbucks for every $50 you spend {that’s 50% off} Wahoo! Shop the Gymboree Sale before all the good stuff is gone.

silk_almond_300x250

Check out this $1/1 Silk® Vanilla Almond milk coupon. Are you an almond milk fan? Print it while you can!

vegetarian times magazine

Discount Mags is offering a 1 year subscription to Vegetarian Times Magazine for only $6.99 a year when you use code MAVIS at checkout. This deal will expire tomorrow night 9/26/14 at midnight EST so be sure and grab your subscription before then.

butterfliesButterflies!

If you have a Bank of America debit/credit card, you can score FREE admission into over 100 museums this weekend as part of their Museum on Us program.

This awesome program allows Bank of America card holders to gain free admission into any participating museum during the first full weekend of every month. How cool is that? Don’t forget to bring your photo ID along with your Bank of America card to gain free admission.

Go HERE to see if your local museum is on the list!

polo jackets

Remember when Polo Jackets were all the rage? Well 6pm has Polo Jackets on sale right now starting at just $19.99 shipped! That’s like a totally awesome deal man. 😉

how to make apple chips dehydrate apples

Apples seem to be on sale practically every where I go these days. Here’s a great recipe forHomemade Apple Chips. They’re super simple to make, I promise.

butterball turkey burgers coupon

Check out these New Printable Coupons:

Find More Printable Coupons

This post may contain affiliate links. These affiliate links help support this site. For more information, please see my disclosure policy. Thank you for supporting One Hundred Dollars a Month.

Homemade Oatmeal Pie

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Homemade Oatmeal Pie

I love me some good oatmeal cookies. I also love a good bowl of oatmeal in the morning. And I love pies. So the fact that I thought this oatmeal pie was so good I wanted to marry it should come as no surprise. What was a little surprising was that I left some for my family to taste. Now they are asking if I can make one for breakfast. It’s practically oatmeal, so that’s totally fine, right?

oatmeal pie

Ingredients

1 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup light corn syrup
1/2 stick of butter, melted
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/4 cups uncooked quick oats
1 unbaked pie crust {My Homemade Pie Crust Recipe}

oatmeal pie

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Whisk together first 5 ingredients in large mixing bowl.  Add eggs, corn syrup, melted butter and vanilla and stir until combined. Stir in oatmeal, and then pour into unbaked pie crust.

Bake for 45-50 minutes {I covered my edges with foil so they wouldn’t burn}. Let pie cool completely or until firm {this part is sooo hard because the pie smells so dang good and you’ll want to eat it right out of the oven. I won’t tell if you won’t!}. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream. Enjoy.

Homemade Oatmeal Pie

This post may contain affiliate links. These affiliate links help support this site. For more information, please see my disclosure policy. Thank you for supporting One Hundred Dollars a Month.

The Evolution of the Lunchbox Note: Secret Message Bananas

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Secret Message Bananas

I see your cute messages on a napkin in your kids’ lunchboxes and I raise you one. I’ve always loved to leave little notes when I pack my children’s lunch boxes or get snacks ready for their sporting events. But now I’ve taken that to a whole new level. Check out this fun way to send a little love or pick-me-up to your kids as we find ourselves at the start of another school year:

What You Need:

A banana
Non-toxic permanent marker
An imagination

Now all you have to do is take a banana and write a little message on the side. Then place that banana in their lunchbox or bag and you’re done! Perfect for days when they have a game or practice right after school.

This is much easier to do when your kids are small. Pretty much anything you write on their banana, they’ll love. But when you have older kids and especially high schoolers, you have to come up with witty, non-lame messages. That’s a little trickier, although I suspect it wouldn’t matter. I’m sure you’d get an eye roll regardless. 😉

Still, as ridiculous as they may think you are, they’ll get the point; you’re thinking of them long after they leave the house in the morning!

This post may contain affiliate links. These affiliate links help support this site. For more information, please see my disclosure policy. Thank you for supporting One Hundred Dollars a Month.

Mavis Butterfield Etsy