One Hundred Dollars a Month - Page 1406 of 2143 - 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.

10 Ways to Save Money at Christmas Time

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By Mavis Butterfield on November 14, 2013 · 7 Comments

The holidays always seem to cause a hemorrhage in the money department. There are tons of ways to keep up with the spirit of giving without breaking the bank, though. Here’s 10 easy ways to slash your Christmas spending without really even noticing:

Christmas Wrap. Expensive Christmas wrapping is completely unnecessary. There are tons of creative ways to wrap presents without spending money on wrapping paper. Use the newspaper and add a red or green bow. Ask for paper bags all year round at the grocery store. When Christmas comes around, turn those suckers into wrapping paper. There is something nostalgic about a brown paper wrapped present, anyway.
Make homemade Christmas presents. If you canned from your garden this year, they make perfect, can’t buy in the store gifts.
Send e-Cards instead of Christmas cards. You’ll save on the cards, the postage, and the waste.
If you will be shopping online, make sure to shop through sites like ebates so you can receive cash back on your purchased.
Set budget boundaries up front and stick with them. Sit down with the kiddos and get real with them over their expectations. Agree on spending limits for them as well.
Think about gifts that are personalized and discounted when ordered in multiples, like calendars with personal pictures, etc.
Use old Christmas cards as gift tags. Cut the front picture off and write on the back. Attach it to your gift with some ribbon.
Turn your Christmas gatherings into potlucks. You’ll get to sample your family and friends favorite dishes, plus you’ll save money by not having to provide all of the food.
Ask family to participate in a name draw. Put everyone’s name in a hat and pull one out. Set a dollar limit and you only have to shop for one person.
Christmas is a great time for charity, but there are soooo many great ones to give your money to. Decide as a family where you will allot your charity budget upfront, that way, as the requests roll in, you know exactly whether or not they are part of this year’s budget.

I hope some of these help keep the holidays a little less stressful. Do you have any great money saving tips you use to cut costs around Christmas?

~Mavis

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How to Grow Your Own Food – 11/14/2013 Garden Tally

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By Mavis Butterfield on November 14, 2013 · 8 Comments

It seems like it’s been a long time since I’ve updated my 2013 garden tally so I thought I would share with you what’s been happening in our backyard lately.

In a nutshell, not much. 😉 Besides the occasional salad harvest here and there, we are still in maintenance mode. Or lazy mode, I’m not sure which. Yes, there are still oodles of potatoes to dig up, and yes we have things like beets, carrots, leeks, turnips and some other vegetables growing, but for the last few weeks I’ve been taking a wee break from gardening to work on a few projects around the house instead.

A few weeks ago we have planted our lettuce starts in the greenhouse, and right now we have 4 containers of basil growing under the grow lights on my desk in the office.

Some of the leaves are ready to pick now, but I’m trying to hold off until Thanksgiving. I’ve never used fresh basil in any of my Thanksgiving recipes before so it will be a nice treat.

How about you? Are you in maintenance mode right now too, or have you already put your garden to bed for the winter?

Mavis wants to know.

Here is what I have harvested so far this year:

Basil – 1 pound 3 ounces

We’ve got basil growing under the grow lights. In the past we’ve enjoyed making fresh pesto and strawberry basil jam with it.

Beets – 133 pounds 12 ounces

We’ve got plenty of beets to dig up, but I’m holding off until Thanksgiving.

Bok Choy – 7 pounds

We didn’t end up growing too much bok choy this year, but it’s on the list for 2014.

Broccoli – 13 ounces

Cabbage – 40 pounds 14 ounce

We are still waiting to harvest our fall cabbage. I feel like I keep saying that, but cabbage totally has a mind of it’s own. Plus, apparently it’s frost hardy too, so why rush things. 🙂

Carrots – 43 pounds 11 ounces

I’m hoping these ones will be my Valentine Carrots.

Chives – 2 pound 8 ounces

We regular chives and garlic chives growing right now.

Cucumbers 9 pound 6 ounces

I’ll be buying hothouse cucumbers at Costco until next summer.

Egg Count – 2,197

Sadly The Girl did not keep track of the egg count for the past 3 weeks!!! so I can’t update it. Boo!!

Garlic 9 pounds 2 ounces

We planted our garlic a few weeks ago and we have tiny shoots popping up now.

Garlic Scapes 11 ounces

We use them to make Garlic Scape Pesto.

Green Beans 17 pounds 11 ounces

Kale – 42 pounds 14 ounces

I have it growing alongside the chicken coop and I grow it mostly for the chickens.

Kohlrabi 5 pounds 10 ounces

Lettuce – 37 pounds 13 ounces

Note to self – Harvest lettuce in greenhouse.

M icrogreens 5 ounces

Mint 13 oz

I made some blueberry mint jam this summer.

Oregano – 1 pound 12 ounces

I used fresh oregano in my heirloom tomato sauce this summer.

Onion – 37 pounds 8 ounces

I wonder if we have anymore onions hidden in the garden beds?

Pears 47 pounds 7 ounces

Pear butter is AWESOME!

Peas – 42 pounds 9 ounces

Potatoes – 319 pounds

How to Harvest and Store Potatoes for Winter.

Radish – 22 pounds 2 ounces

Raspberries – 21 pounds 7 ounces

Rhubarb – 39 pounds 9 ounces

Sage – 14 ounces

Squash 230 pounds 10 ounces

After all was said and done we ended up with 230 pounds of pumpkins. Not what I was hoping for. My pumpkin crop totally failed this year due to poor crop rotation.

Spinach – 15 ounces

I planted more in the greenhouse for a winter harvest.

Sprouts –2 pounds 15 ounces

Here are instructions for growing your own sprouts.

Strawberries 23 pounds 14 ounces

Swiss Chard 52 pounds 4 ounces

Gag. Our backyard chickens love it and it’s great for trading.

Tomatoes 234 pounds 15 ounces

Wheatgrass – 7 ounces

Zucchini – 72 pounds 13 ounces

Total Food Harvested in 2013: 1455 pounds 10 ounces

Total Eggs Collected in 2013: 2,197 {+more that we forgot to count}

If you are new to gardening or just want to learn more about organic gardening, my #1 favorite garden book is The Gardener’s A-Z Guide to Growing Organic Food By Tanya L.K. Denckla.

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Amazon Deals, Free Kindle Books, Cotton Candy Maker and Supplies, Awesome Toilet Paper Deal

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By Mavis Butterfield on November 14, 2013 · 2 Comments

It’s hard to believe that in just a few more weeks all the leaves will be gone and we’ll just be left with evergreens. 🙁 I can never decide which season I like best, spring for fall but I know one thing, I LOVE this time of year!

♥ Mavis

Amazon Gold Box Deal of the Day – Fujifilm Digital Camera with Fuijinon F2.8 to F5.6 Telephoto Lens

Available Kindle Books I think are cool…
The 66 Secrets of Steve Jobs FREE {I downloaded this one}
New Thanksgiving Table $3.03
Food Preservation Book Package Free {Awesome, Grab it!}
Good Eating’s Party Snacks and Appetizers FREE
Growing Ferns in Containers FREE
Homesteading (Back to Basics Guides) $3.99 {Great book!}
Creating YOUR Plan for Weight Loss Success FREE
Public Speaking Tips FREE

The prices on Kindle Books can change quickly, so grab them while you can.

Get a 4-Pack of Emergency Hammers/ Window Punch & Seat Belt Cutters for your car. We have one of these in all of our cars. Makes a great stocking stuffer or gift.

Vistaprint – 140 Customized Labels – $5 Shipped

It’s that time of year! Vistaprint is offering up $5 personalized labels just in time for the holiday season! With this great deal, you can get 140 personalized labels shipped right to your door for only $5! With tons of designs, these labels are perfect for holiday return address labels or cute gift tags, giving your holiday cards and gifts a personal touch. This deal expires 11/15/13 at midnight!

We gave our daughter a cotton candy machine a few years ago for Christmas and now she uses it every time she has a sleepover. The kids love it and it’s become a cool tradition at our house.

Cotton Candy Maker $27.96
Floss Sugar and Cones Kit $17.95
Cotton Candy Sugar – 5 Floss Sugar Flavor Pack $24.65

Looking for some inexpensive V-neck shirts? Prices start at $4.23 for these Next Level Apparel Women’s Deep V-Neck T-Shirts. Now that’s a great deal! There are 16 colors to choose from.

32 count Cottonelle Clean Care Toilet Paper double rolls for only $14.43 shipped when you clip the $2.00 off coupon {must be logged into your Amazon account to see the coupon} and use the subscribe and save option at checkout. What a deal!

You can also get Brawny Giant Roll Paper Towels 16 pack {like 20 regular rolls} for as low as $17.44 shipped when you click the $1.50 coupon and use the subscribe and save option at checkout.

Hot Wheels 9-Car Gift Pack $8.00
Hot Wheels Triple Track Twister Track Set $27.09
Hot Wheels Blastin Rig Semi-Truck Vehicle $15.99

If you’ve got a teenager this What Does the Fox Say? T-Shirt for $6 would make an awesome gift! {Not that I just bought one or anything} 😉

If you do any shopping online you’ll want to make sure you are signed up for Ebates first.

Ebates offers cash back from any of 1,500 stores any time you start your shopping trip at Ebates.com. There are no points to redeem, no forms to mail in, and no fees. Stores pay Ebates a sales commission for sending shoppers their way, and Ebates uses the commission to pay you cash back.

If you are new to Ebates, you will also score a FREE $10 gift card to Target, Macy’s, Walmart, Kohls, or Ebates. How cool is that? Simply sign up HERE and you will receive the gift card of your choice in the mail after your first $25 purchase. We use Ebates ALL THE TIME in our house, even our kids use it. Go HERE to sign up.

Education Gifts Are Cool…

Funky Fun Colorful Magnetic Numbers Wooden Fridge Magnets $0.60 shipped!
Colorful Funky Fun Magnetic Alphabet/ Wooden Fridge Magnets $3.59 shipped
Magnetic Poetry Kids Story Maker $13.62
Magnetic Poetry Kids’ First Words $13.72

Discount Mags is offering a 1 year subscription to Field and Stream Magazine for only $4.49 a year when you use code MAVIS at checkout. This deal will expire tonight 11/14/13 at midnight EST so be sure and grab your subscription before then.

Here are a few more Fishing Deals –

River Monsters Deluxe Tackle Kit, 137 Piece $11.99
Fishing Tackle Bag $19.98
Fishing Rod Case Organizer $21.00
Redington Clark Fork Mesh Fly Fishing Vest $23.97 and up

Craving butternut squash? This recipe for Butternut Squash with Spinach and Pasta is delish!

Vitacost is offering 15% off food purchases when you use code 15FOOD at checkout. If you haven’t signed up for Vitacost yet, you can sign up HERE and you’ll get a $10 off any $30 purchase coupon code emailed to you. *One code can be used per transaction.

Here are a few Men’s Deodorant Coupons:

$1.00 off ONE Dove Men + Care Antiperspirant
$3.00 off any two Degree Men Twin Packs
$2.00 off any two Right Guard Xtreme™ Products

Find More Printable Coupons

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Cast Iron Skillet Cornbread with Jalapenos

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By Mavis Butterfield on November 13, 2013 · 4 Comments

A few years ago I tried some corn bread at a restaurant. It had jalapenos in it that gave it a little kick, and I knew I wanted to try to make a version of it myself when I got home. I got distracted and never got around to it. Until today. Let me tell you it was worth the wait! This corn bread is so good I’m thinking of serving it at Thanksgiving dinner.

Ingredients

3 cups milk {I used 2%}
1 cup corn kernels {I used frozen}
3/4 cup finely ground cornmeal
1 jalapeno, seeded and diced
3 teaspoons baking power
2 tablespoons butter + 1 tablespoon for buttering the pan
1 tablespoon thyme leaves
1 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 eggs

Directions

Heat oven to 350 F. In a large saucepan over medium heat, combine 2 cups of the milk and the corn, and bring to a boil. In a separate bowl, whisk together cornmeal with the remaining milk. Add cornmeal mixture into the boiling corn mixture, whisking constantly. Reduce heat and simmer on low for 3 minutes, still stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Mix in the butter, thyme, salt, pepper, and eggs. Pour batter into a well buttered {I used 1 tablespoon} 8-inch cast iron skillet}. Bake for 30 minutes, or until golden. Serve warm. Or room temperature. Or cold. You really can’t go wrong 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.