One Hundred Dollars a Month - Page 1491 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.

Mondays with Mavis – How to Feed Your Family for $100 a Month

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By Mavis Butterfield on August 19, 2013 · 8 Comments

Albertsons $15.54 {Toilet Paper not included}

Have you been to Albertsons lately? Oh my word are the prices dropping over there or what? Seriously, if Albertsons keeps lowering their prices like they have been, I think I’ll be shopping there a lot more often.

I don’t know about your Albertsons, but the produce department at mine keeps having manager specials for really random items. Last time around it was peaches for $.50 a pound, this time I was able to pick up 10 ounce tubs of salted almonds and chocolate covered peanuts for a buck. A buck! What a deal.

Local Fruit Stand $3.84

3 peppers for $1, 3 cucumbers for $1, fresh spinach and broccoli for stir fry.

Even though the HOA chopped down most of the blackberries in the neighborhood, The Girl and I were still able to find a few. Some people think blackberry bushes are a pain, but not me.

And last but not least, here is a sampling of what we picked from our backyard garden.

Life is good!

How did YOU do this week shopping for groceries? Find any great deals?

~Mavis

Total Spent This Week $19.38

Total Spent This Year $1,451.36 – It’s official, I’m over for the year!

Total Spent This Year on Garden Seeds/Supplies $893.99 {I bought a Meyer Lemon Tree, Rhubarb crowns, 6 Fruit Trees , 16 yards of soil}, Walla Walla Onions and 90 pounds of seed potatoes. Plus, supplies to make my own potting soil. I also picked up a boatload of heirloom tomato plants at the Seattle Tilth sale.

Read more Shopping Trip Stories.

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Nature Walk Scavenger Hunt

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By Mavis Butterfield on August 18, 2013 · 7 Comments

When the kids were younger, the lazy days of August always became the “Mom, I’m bored!” days. It was usually about this time of year, the neighbor and I would pack up a picnic lunch and take the kids on a nature scavenger hunt. They got to experience the great outdoors—for free, and I got to walk and chat away the afternoon with another adult. It was win-win.

If you are experiencing the “I’m bored!” days of summer, here is an easy nature scavenger hunt you can have the kids do to keep the idleness at bay:

Something that has wings
A stick shaped like a letter
Animal footprints
Two different kinds of leaves
Something fuzzy
An animal’s home
A flower {take this one home, dry and press it, then glue it to a mat in a picture frame. Put a picture of the kiddos doing the scavenger hunt in the frame.}
A pinecone
A spider
A feather
Water {other than a water bottle}
Spider web
A weed
A clover leaf
A squirrel

Give the kids a plastic grocery bag to collect what they can, and a camera to capture the rest.

Headed to the beach yet this summer? Try out my Beach Scavenger Hunt.

Happy Hunting,

Mavis

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Mavis Butterfield | Backyard Garden Plot Pictures – Week 33 of 52

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By Mavis Butterfield on August 18, 2013 · 3 Comments

Backyard Garden Plot Pictures – Week 33 of 52

My goal today is to spend at least 8 hours in the garden because tomorrow I’m getting my crappy British teeth worked on and I’ll probably be drugged up pretty good for a couple of days. I think it would be wise to stay away from any and all garden tools for awhile.

Maybe I can get my garden fix by watching Grey Gardens, or Calendar Girls instead. I don’t know, I guess we’ll see what happens.

Anywho, the garden is doing great!

The lettuce seeds I planted in the pallet garden last week are just starting show. They are in the pallets to the right. Can you see them?

Actually all the garden boxes are really looking sharp right now. We even have some ornamental strawberry corn growing in one of them. My fingers are totally crossed because I’d really like some ornamental corn for my Thanksgiving table this year and the strawberry corn is my favorite.

The bean tepees are looking good too. I had forgotten what kind of squash I had planted at the base of the tepees, but yesterday I noticed a few Buttercup and also some Howden pumpkins starting to form. As long as I get some sort of winter squash I’ll be happy.

Lucy and I planted two pots full of Sugar Snap Peas the other day {they are in the tan colored pots} and spinach is next on my list. I’ve grown spinach successfully in the greenhouse in the spring, so I’m going to go ahead and try growing it this fall too.

According to inspector Lucy, everything is in order in the cabbage patch.

Besides needing to be weeded, the potato towers are still hanging in there.

While we were away the HH accidentally mowed over a few of my pumpkins. BOO! I think we’ll still have enough though.

The raspberries are done for this year, and the purple sage and oregano have gone to seed. The rosemary and thyme is still kickin’ though and the parsley is coming back for a second act.

Life is good!

That’s what’s happening in our backyard garden, what’s going on in yours?

~Mavis

This years garden is being sponsored by the awesome folks at Botanical Interests Seed Company. You can check out their website HERE, order their new 2013 Garden Seed Catalog HERE, or visit my online boyfriend Ryan’s blog HERE.

Up for a tour? Read about our behind the scenes tour of Botanical Interests Seed Company.

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Farmers Breakfast Skillet with Sausage and Eggs

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By Mavis Butterfield on August 18, 2013 · Leave a Comment

Can someone please explain to me my the simplest meals are always the ones that taste the best? Seriously, a few homegrown potatoes, an onion, fresh eggs from the chickens out back and a few sausages. Does it get any better than that? I think not.

Ingredients

6 breakfast sausages, chopped
1/4 cup chopped onion
6 small potatoes, chopped
6 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup shredded cheese {I used a cheddar/mozzarella mix}
1 tablespoon canola oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
fresh chives

Directions

In a large skillet, combine the breakfast sausage, potatoes, onion and oil and saute over medium heat until everything is cooked though and slightly browned. Pour beaten eggs into the skillet, stir and cook. Once the the eggs have set and are firm season with salt and pepper, add cheese and garnish with fresh chives.

Order up!

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.