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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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Fun Graduation Gift Idea – Water Bottle Full of Quarters

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Fun Graduation Gift Idea, Water Bottle Full of Quarters

My neighbor Hulda and I were talking about graduation gifts awhile back.  With The Girl’s graduation on the horizon {wah!}, I wanted to come up with some creative ways to slip her a little cash.  Hulda suggested filling a Camelbak water bottle with quarters.  Brilliant, I tell ya!

The Girl loves those particular water bottles, so it’s kind of its own gift.  AND, she can use the quarters for vending machines, laundry, parking downtown {Remember when I could also add a payphone to that list?  Ha!  Makes me feel ancient for so many reasons.}, etc.

I have to admit, I was shocked to find out how much money it held {$102.00}!  Still, I totally would have slipped The Girl some quarters anyway, if nothing else, just to make sure she was covered for laundry.

I don’t give money to everyone for graduation, but for nieces, nephews, etc., I am totally using this idea again and again.  It’s practical, consumable cold hard cash–all wrapped up in a reusable water bottle.  What kid {or adult} wouldn’t love that, right?

~Mavis

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How to Feed Your Family for $100 a Month – Week 19 of 52

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case of fuji apples

Fred Meyer – $26.40

Fred Meyer had Fuji apples on sale for $0.88 a pound last week so of course I stocked up. This time around the apples came in 30 pounds cases {most of the time they are 40 pounds} and so we’ve been snacking on apples and making apple chips like crazy around here the past few days.

sara lee whole wheat bread

Oroweat Bakery Outlet $5.00

The Girl and I went to the mall on Saturday to pick up a dress for graduation and decided to stop by the Oroweat Bakery Outlet in Tacoma on the way home. We met One Hundred Dollars a Month reader Allison there {Hi Allison!} and loaded up on bread that was Buy 1 Get 1 for $1.00 a loaf.

With school almost out, this should be enough bread to last our family all summer. 🙂

smith brothers milk delivery

Smith Brother’s Milk Delivery $11.16

I don’t know what it is about this time of year but we are not drinking a lot of milk right now. I think I may switch to an every other week milk delivery here pretty soon.

fred meyer shopping trip

Fred Meyer- $23.94

While I was busy sleeping in on Mother’s Day the HH went grocery shopping. 😉 Oh yes he did. Ha! Fred Meyer is actually having a huge Founder’s Day sale this week {not that the HH found any sale prices} so I think I’ll head over there later and see what kind of deals I can find. It’s the thought that counts, right?

Who does the shopping in your house, and most importantly, if you let your husband do the shopping every week do you think your grocery bill would be double? Triple?

Mavis wants to know.

Total Spent This Week $66.51
Total Spent This Year $712.12
Total Spent This Year on Garden Seeds/Supplies $38.94

Go HERE to read more Shopping Trip Stories.

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, Vegan Bean Fajitas, Sam’s Club Membership Deal, Bear Naked Granola and More

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mornings with Mavis

Well Hello there. 🙂 How was your weekend? Aside from pulling a few weeds this weekend and taking Lucy the puggle trouble for a few walks, I pretty much stayed inside and vegged out.

This week is going to be NUTS at our house and I needed to rest up big time.

Is it just me, or are you feeling like the end of the school year just can’t get here soon enough?

♥ Mavis

Amazon Gold Box Deal of the Day – 50% off Merrell Trail-Running Shoes for men, women, and kids

Vegan Recipes - Bean Burritos

I’m not sure what I’m going to make for dinner yet tonight but I woke up craving these Vegan Bean Fajitas. Lucky me I think I still have some sweet peppers in the freezer. Get the recipe HERE or Pin it for Later.

vacuum deals

Looking for a new vacuum? Here are a few deals:

car and driver magazine

Discount Mags is offering a 1 year subscription to Car and Driver Magazine for only $4.99 a year when you use code MAVIS at checkout. This deal will expire tonight 5/12/14 at midnight EST.

car wash dealsA few deals on car care products:

bear naked granola coupon

Check out these deals on Bear Naked Granola:

sams club coupon

Sam’s Club Savings Membership with Gift Card and Free Merchandise for just $45!

For $45, you and one other person in your household receive a year-long Sam’s Club Savings Membership, a $20 gift card and free merchandise worth over $91, for a 50% savings exclusively on zulily:

  • $45 Sam’s Savings Membership
  • $20 Sam’s Club Gift Card
  • Free Take and Bake Pepperoni or Cheese Pizza (16”, up to a $7.99 value)
  • Free Cheesecake Squares (16 count, a $11.98 value)
  • Free 5” x 7” Canvas Mini Print With Stand (a $6.86 value)

Go HERE to get the Sam’s Club Membership Deal.

critical thinking books

Keep your kiddos busy this summer with Time for Kids Reading Comprehension and Critical Thinking Bundles. Available for Grades 2–6.

10 Tips for Shopping at a Thrift Store

Do you love shopping at thrift stores? Check out these 10 Tips for Shopping at a Thrift Store for ways to save even more on those unexpected treasures.

zyrtec coupon

Got allergies? Print a $4.00 off any one (1) ZYRTEC product and save.

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.

Mavis Butterfield | Backyard Garden Pictures 5/11/14

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seattle backyard garden

It’s official. All 8 of our backyard garden boxes have been planted. 🙂 We’ve still got plenty of seeds left to plant, {cucumbers, beans and pumpkins to mind} but pretty soon we’ll be done planting for the summer season.

wood pallet garden

Our pallet garden is full of lettuce and strawberries and it shouldn’t be to much longer before we are harvesting lettuce {we usually get our first strawberries around the end of June}.growing carrots in a raised garden beds

We’ve got winter and spring carrots in the first garden box and broccoli and peas planted in the box behind them. growing radishes and onions in a raised garden bed

Red onions and French breakfast radishes up front with red, white and blue potatoes growing in the back.
raised garden beds with tomatoes and onions

We also have white onions, and Brussel sprouts and tomatoes planted and it won’t be too long before the Brussel sprouts are taller than the onions.

spring beets planted in a garden box

Beets and one lone Swiss chard plant that survived the deep freeze this winter are up front with kale and celery in the garden bed behind them. growing cabbage in raised garden beds

And last but not least, cabbage, leeks and a big ole’  bed of garlic round out the garden boxes.magnum glass greenhouse

The greenhouse garden is coming along nicely as well. We have a bed of cabbage growing in the raised garden bed alongside the greenhouse and lots of fresh herbs too.weeds

Ahh the weeds. For the last 2 years we’ve grown pumpkins in this area but this year we decided to leave it empty to give the soil a rest. Over the past few weeks the weeds have been popping up like gangbusters so I need to get our there and pull them all up before it becomes a huge mess.

overgrown raspberry patch

Finally, a picture of our raspberry jungle. 🙂 I noticed a few raspberry flowers are ready beginning to form on a couple of the canes and I’m keeping my fingers crossed for a bumper crop this year.

How is YOUR garden doing lately?

Have you planted all your seeds yet?

Mavis wants to know.

This years garden is being sponsored by the folks at Botanical Interests Seed Company. You can check out their website HERE, order their new 2014 Garden Seed Catalog HERE.

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