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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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Free Epic Bar, CUISINART 12-Piece Stainless Steel Cookware Set, How to Keep Guacamole From Turning Brown and More

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Quote of the Day  Never go on trips with anyone you do not love. ~ Ernest Hemingway

Ahh Friday, I’m so glad you are here! I feel a cold coming on so I think I’ll take it easy today and hang out with the puggle princess, stay inside and get some rug hooking done. How about YOU? Do you have anything fun planned for today? Also, what are you making for dinner? I need some ideas. 😉

Have a great weekend everyone,

♥ Mavis

*This deal post will be updated throughout the morning so be sure and check back for deals. * Amazon prices can change without notice. Please verify price before ordering. Amazon offers Free Shipping with a $49 purchase or Amazon Prime. {Sign up for a free Amazon Prime 30 day trial!}

Available Kindle Books I think look interesting…

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! 🙂

Subscribe and Save Deals

Subscribe and Save prices reflect a 15% discount for ordering 5 or more items in 1 month.

Attention Fred Meyer and Kroger Shoppers … Today only you can download an ecoupon for one FREE Epic Bar Simply load the ecoupon to you Fred Meyer card and claim your freebie by 2/11/18. It’s that easy!

Home and Kitchen Deals

Having people over and want to make your guacamole ahead of time?  Make sure to check out How to Keep Guacamole from Turning Brown to keep it nice and fresh looking.

Add on Items

*These are all Amazon Add-on Items and they will ship with qualifying orders over $25 and are eligible for free shipping on $25 orders with Amazon Prime {or will ship FREE on $35 orders without Prime}. 

{Sale Extended through Midnight tonight} –> Thinking about placing a bulk order with Zaycon Fresh for the first time? Well LUCKY YOU because Zaycon is offering a $0.99 per lb. Chicken FLASH Sale for new customers when you use code WELCOME99 at checkout. This will take the price of the chicken from $1.89 per lb. to $0.99 per lb. which is only $39.60 for a WHOLE CASE of chicken! Please note, this sale will run through Friday, January 26th or UNTIL the chicken sells out! There is a VERY good chance it will sell out before the deadline so if you are interested, hop to it! Not sure what to do with all that meat? Read my post on How to Process and Prepare Your Bulk Chicken Order for some great tips.

Kid’s Stuff

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.

Should Cell Phones and Laptops Be Allowed in Classrooms?

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Ahhh technology. I’ve said this before and I don’t think I’ll stop saying it anytime soon: it’s such a blessing and a curse. Cell phones, laptops and tablets are a way of life for us. Even if you have somehow avoided the technology, you can’t go anywhere without seeing someone using a device. And now they’ve made their way into the classroom. Is this an awesome way to supplement learning or a train wreck causing massive distraction for students? There seems to be national debate forming about that very thing.

On the one hand, those sleek little supercomputers promise to connect us to all human knowledge. On the other hand, they are also scientifically designed by some of the world’s top geniuses to feel as compelling as oxygen.

A recent NPR article revealed that a national survey found two-thirds of K-12 teachers said the number of students who are negatively distracted by digital technologies in the classroom is growing. Of those teachers surveyed, 75 percent said students’ ability to focus on educational tasks has decreased.

The article covers interviews of 4 different professionals, all with different takes on the matter. They dive into the pros and cons, the discuss the reason for “no,” the benefit of “yes” and the possibility of a happy medium. It’s an eye-opening read.

What are your thoughts on cell phones/laptop use in classrooms. Are you all for it, totally against, or do you believe there’s a way to successfully embrace it?

Weigh in below!

~Mavis

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.

Read More Posts About NPR

Online Deals, Homemade Butter in a Jar, Last Chance for $0.99 per lb Chicken Breasts, and More

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Quote of the Day  “Life is like an 6-slice apple pie at a 12-guest dinner banquet. If you just sit back and wait for it to come to you, chances are, you’re going to miss dessert.”

This dog! Seriously, it’s like she thinks she is a tiny human or something. If only she could talk…

Have a WONDERFUL day, and be sure and give a random person a compliment today. 😉 It will brighten your day as much as theirs.

♥ Mavis

*This deal post will be updated throughout the morning so be sure and check back for deals. * Amazon prices can change without notice. Please verify price before ordering. Amazon offers Free Shipping with a $49 purchase or Amazon Prime. {Sign up for a free Amazon Prime 30 day trial!}

Available Kindle Books I think look interesting…

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! 🙂

Subscribe and Save Deals

Subscribe and Save prices reflect a 15% discount for ordering 5 or more items in 1 month.

Looking for something for the kids to do? Why not have then whip up some butter with this Homemade Butter in a Jar Recipe. Your kids will have a blast shaking away.

Home and Kitchen Deals

These blackberry scones are one of my favorites and so I think I’m going to make a batch today but replace the blackberries with blueberries instead. Nothing like a scone and a cup of tea to lift the spirits on a cloudy day. Get the recipe HERE.

Add on Items

*These are all Amazon Add-on Items and they will ship with qualifying orders over $25 and are eligible for free shipping on $25 orders with Amazon Prime {or will ship FREE on $35 orders without Prime}. 

dig-for-your-dinner-1

If you’d like to map out your next few months of garden chores, grab a few Dig For Your Dinner eBooks. That way, you can read about gardening, even when the weather is not nice enough to be outside gardening.

Kid’s Stuff

HOT HOT HOT –> Thinking about placing a bulk order with Zaycon Fresh for the first time? Well LUCKY YOU because Zaycon is offering a $0.99 per lb. Chicken FLASH Sale for new customers when you use code WELCOME99 at checkout. This will  take the price of the chicken from $1.89 per lb. to $0.99 per lb.  Please note, this sale will run through Thursday, January 25th or UNTIL the chicken sells out! There is a VERY good chance it will sell out before the deadline so if you are interested, hop to it! Not sure what to do with all that meat? Read my post on How to Process and Prepare Your Bulk Chicken Order for some great tips.

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.

Plans for My 2018 Vegetable Garden

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So I have a bit of a confession to make…. When we were searching for our forever home, one of the things on my “must have” list was a long driveway. Not just a long driveway but space at the end of a long driveway for a small backyard garden type vegetable stand. Nothing big, just room for maybe a small table with some sort of covering to put our extra garden produce out for peeps in the neighborhood to buy during the summer months. No fancy signs, no advertising, just sort of a hey, I LOVE to grow food, and well, we can only eat so much. Here’s an honor box, if you like what you see and want to take some home, cool beans.

Really, my only goal is to re-coup the money I spent on seeds and supplies, anything extra, would be a total bonus.

Because I am starting from scratch, this years vegetable garden is going to be a 45′ x 15′ double dug plot. I’m hoping to have the ground dug and ready to go by the end of April… That is, as long as the ground isn’t still frozen. I don’t know when people in the Northeast usually plant their peas, but if I can get those in a little sooner {and covered}, that would be nice.

My 2019 garden though, it’s going to be much larger. The idea is to grow veggies in the 45′ x 15′ plot this year, and then in 2019 turn that plot into a flower, herb or perennial fruit/vegetable garden {strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, rhubarb, asparagus}. I haven’t totally decided yet. Luckily, the area where this 45′ x 15′ plot of land is, is totally fenced in.

Then, once I get the 45′ x 15 plot up and running, I am hoping to clear some land over the summer and fall for a more formal vegetable garden like the one I spotted at Mount Vernon. The only difference will be that in the center there will be a chicken coop {the shape of the garden may also be a rectangle instead of a square}. The HH doesn’t know it yet, but he will be extending the fence to protect the formal garden from deer.

So basically, I HAVE BIG PLANS for my new garden…. and I couldn’t be happier about it. I can’t even tell you {but I’m sure you already know} how much I’ve missed having a gigantic growing area {that’s not over shadowed by pine trees and peering eyes!} these past three years. I NEED dirt. I need WIDE OPEN SPACES…. I need not to look out a window and INTO MY NEIGHBORS KITCHEN, BEDROOM, GARAGE… I crave privacy, and the sounds of NATURE.

And this year…. I’m finally going to get it. 😉

So let’s talk about seeds, and what I plan to grow in my garden this year….

Tomatoes 

Sun Gold Cherry {57 days} Our favorite cherry tomato
Artisan Bumble Bee Blend Cherry {70 days}
Red and Yellow Pear {75 days}

Glacier Tomatoes {55 days}
Green Zebra {75 days}
Black Krim {70 days}
Red Pear Piriform {78 days}

Cherokee Purple {80 days}
Oxheart {85 days}
Pineapple {90 days}

If I go off the the comments all the peeps from New England have left, I think it would be wise to wait and start my tomato seeds under lights at the end of March. Everyone has pretty much said that May can be pretty unpredictable so I’m thinking that if I plant the seeds March 31st, and then start to harden off the seedlings towards the middle to the end of May in the greenhouse, I should be able to get the tomato plants in the ground June 1st.

Which, with a little luck, I may just be able to harvest those 90 day pineapple tomatoes that we love so much. We’ll see.

Peas and Beans 

I’m just going for the basics this year…. And seriously, who doesn’t love a giant bean teepee?

Roots

Corn

I wanted to grow some sort of decorative corn so I could make a fall swag for the front door and the painted mountain variety should fit the bill.

Cucumbers and Zucchini

Eggplant and Peppers

For the Chickens

Pumpkins and Winter Squash

Sweet Potatoes, Rhubarb, Strawberries, Blueberries and Asparagus

I plan on creating an asparagus patch this year and planting crowns next year. There are a few raspberry and blueberry plants on the property so I’m going to wait and see what those produce this year before buying more.

Herbs

If there is anything I missed, or want to buy as starts, I’ll just pick it up at the local feed store {seed potatoes} or farmer’s market.

I tell ya, there is nothing more exciting than a new vegetable plot. Call me crazy, but I am SO looking forward to all the hard work to come. Now, let’s just hope the proposed garden area isn’t full of rocks. 😉

Keep calm and dream on,

~Mavis

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