One Hundred Dollars a Month - Page 1557 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 June 17, 2013 · 22 Comments

This was one of those weeks where there were so many different ways to save, that creativity definitely came in to play. Although there were no double coupons like the old days, it just goes to show show you there are a ton of different ways you can save on your grocery bill.

Amazon Grocery – FREE

I redeemed some of my Swagbucks for an Amazon gift card and went shopping in Amazon’s Grocery Department. If you want to learn about Swagbucks, head on over HERE.

Fred Meyer $6.72

My neighbor Hulda and I got together and did some canning last week and my contribution was canning jars, lids, pickling salt, spices and peppers. I had originally stopped by Safeway to get my peppers for $0.50 each but they were all sold out. They suggested I get a rain check but I needed the peppers for the next day so I went to Fred Meyer and asked if they would price match. It was the first time I think I have ever asked Fred Meyer to price match another store and much to my surprise, they said yes.

The cashier did say that the decision was up to each store manager, but I thought it was pretty cool.

Office Depot – $1.99

What do you do with you old ink cartridges? I hope you don’t just toss them in the trash because Office Depot {and a lot of other stores} have recycling programs and some of them will even give you a store credit when you recycle them.

I’ve been taking our empty ink cartridges to the Office Depot for a couple of years now and each time I turn one in I earn a $2 credit with their office rewards program {you can recycle as many as 10 a month}. Then each quarter, they mail you a voucher and you can pretty much spend it on anything in the store. There wasn’t anything I really needed, so I picked up some K-Cups for the HH. We don’t have a food tax so I only had to pay $1.99. Not to shabby for 18 cups of Joe if you ask me.

Albertsons $5.40

Albertsons had a gift card promotion going on, buy $100 in specific gift cards and get a coupon good for $20 worth of free groceries so I went ahead and picked up for gift cards for Father’s Day that I was planning on purchasing anyway.

The only down side to the $20 gift card coupon is that you cannot use it on liquid dairy products so I did have to pay for the milk. If I could have bought milk I think I would have stocked up and used the whole $20 so I could stock up and freeze milk for this summer.

QFC – $2.00

QFC has a buy 4 save $4 deal going on right now where you can score cream cheese for only $1 a block. Plus there is also a $0.50/1 Philadelphia Cream Cheese printable coupon available too. Use 4 coupons and get 2 pounds of cream cheese for only $2. Weeeee!

Omaha Steaks – FREE

The HH received a Father’s Day box with Omaha Steaks, bacon and beef jerky from his parents. Saweet! The Girl Who Thinks She’s a Bird claimed the bacon as soon as the box was opened. 🙂

I LOVE free produce!! Seriously, who needs to BUY food when you can grow it, or get it for free? Life is good!

How did you do this past week?

Total Spent This Week $16.11

Total Spent This Year $1,041.68

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.

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.

Heather’s Chicken Coop Made from Recycled Wood Pallets

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By Mavis Butterfield on June 16, 2013 · 6 Comments

A big THANK YOU to everyone who has sent in their photographs and stories. I hope by sharing other peoples pictures and stories here on One Hundred Dollars a Month we can all have a rock star garden this summer. Keep them coming!

Check out this DIY chicken coop my buddy Heather from Massachusetts built ALL BY HERSELF! You go girl!

Here is what Heather had to say:

The internet says building a chicken coop is a “weekend project”. And, well, we all know everything on the internet is true. Unless, of course; you’ve never built anything on your own – ever. And you don’t have a plan – except using free pallets. (side note: did you know that pallets are neither the same size or level, in any stretch of the imagination?) This “weekend-chicken-coop-project” took me the better part of 8 weeks.

PS: Some of you may be wondering why I haven’t included my husband in this little story. Well, when type-A husband begins every sentence with “ya know you’re suppose to…” well, type-A wife (me) fires type-A husband from the project in an effort to preserve marriage. 😉

We have four 10 week old chickens: two Rhode Island Reds and two Black Sexlinks. Both breeds are cold weather hardy. My kids named them Agnes, Roadrunner, Gold-finger (one of the Black Sexlink has one gold finger/toe) and Runt.

I began with the used windows I got from a friend and the pallets, then worked from there. I tried to use or re-use things I had around the yard or recycle as much as I could. The nesting boxes are milk crates that I’ve cut the sides out of. The roosting poles are green saplings.

Way more than I expected though, had to be bought. Hardware really adds nice finishing touches but is expensive. I chose metal posts for the chicken run because I didn’t want to have to re-do them when they rotted. And the wire is green 1×3″ fencing but with metal hardware wire on the bottom 12″ up the fence and 12″ flat on the ground to prevent predators from digging under the fence.

Finishing touches: The cinder blocks I spray-painted a “camouflage” color making them less bright, draping plants down the side takes up the empty space next to the door and a perennial hosta plant (that the chickens think is delicious!)

If we are working around the yard we let them free range, as long as we can watch them – we call it “chick sitting”. They love going under the deck as there are spiders and tons of bugs.

After visiting three grocery stores I found one that will let me take a box of food for the chickens! He said he gives 7 boxes a week to a local farmer but didn’t think the farmer would mind if he gave me one – yeah!

~Heather from Massachusetts

*******

If you would like to have your garden, chicken coop or something you’ve made featured on One Hundred Dollars a Month, here’s what I’m looking for:

Your Garden Pictures and Tips – I’d especially like to see your garden set ups, growing areas, and know if you are starting seeds indoors this year. If so, show me some picture of how you are going about it.
Your Chicken and Chicken Related Stories – Coops, Chicks, Hen’s, Roosters, Eggs, you name it. If it clucks, send us some pictures to share with the world.
Cool Arts & Crafts – Made from your very own hands with detailed {and well photographed} pictures and instructions.
Your pictures and stories about your pets. The more pictures and details the better.
Garage Sale, Thrift Store and Dumpster Diving pictures and the stories behind the treasures you found including how much you paid for them.

If I feature your pictures and the stories behind them on One Hundred Dollars a Month, I will send you a $20.00 gift card to the greatest store in the world: Amazon.com.

Go HERE for the official rules.

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 Plot Pictures – Week 25 of 52

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By Mavis Butterfield on June 16, 2013 · 5 Comments

Backyard Garden Plot Pictures – Week 24 of 52

It was a busy week in the garden. I was able to work on a really cool art project {I’ll show it to you tomorrow} pick a boatload of peas, plant my zucchini’s for the THIRD time {slugs are evil} and harvest baskets of strawberries. Life is good!

Here is a view from the garden gate. The beans are looking good and I think we’ll be harvesting cabbage in about two weeks.

The weight of the peas was just too much for one of the wooden teepees and it has been trying to fall over for days now. I’m not sure what’s holding it up {maybe the peas?}.

Lemon the lemon tree is doing especially well as are the potatoes planted along side the greenhouse. I’m tempted to pull up a few new potatoes and then replant a few of them for late fall spuds. I’ve never done that before, have you? Will it work?

Talking about potatoes, check out the potato towers. These are rockin’. We even have potatoes coming out of the compost bin behind them.

A view from the back deck.

Along with the sugar snap peas we having growing along the fence and up the tepees, we also planted green arrow peas in their own little patch next to the chicken coop. These are shelling peas and I plan on freezing them to use later in the year.

The raccoon graveyard. Ha! No, it’s the pumpkin patch. We planted pumpkins in the same spot last year and they did great. Once this get’s going, it’s really fun to watch and this is exactly the reason why I love taking weekly photos of the same areas of the garden. To watch them grow.

Last year this whole area was covered with thick green leaves and different shades of orange squash. It was beautiful.

Ye ole’ raspberry patch. Most of the blossoms are gone and all but a few of the bees have moved on. I guess this means raspberries are next.

Here is a view of the raspberry garden from the kitchen window.

And last but not least, the herb container garden. 3 of the 4 pots are overflowing! I guess that means it’s time to get out there and harvest.

Gardening is cool no matter how you do it.

Stay green,

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.

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.

Slow Cooker Steel Cut Oatmeal with Apples and Brown Sugar

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By Mavis Butterfield on June 16, 2013 · 14 Comments

Have you ever tried steel cut oats before? Wowza! Talk about a stick to your ribs kind of food. I started a batch of steel cut oatmeal with apples and brown sugar in the crock pot last night and by early this morning they were ready. How’s that for an easy peasy breakfast?

Plus, as an added bonus, my house smells delicious thanks to the cinnamon. Apples + Cinnamon+ Oatmeal = Awesomeness!

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups steel cut oats {I used Bob’s Red Mill}
4 cups water
2 cups milk {I used 2%}
1 tablespoon butter + extra for coating the inside of the slow cooker
1 apple, peeled, cored and chopped {I used a Granny Smith apple}
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Directions

Coat the inside of your slow cooker with butter {or cooking spray}

Place all ingredients in a slow cooker and cook on low for 7 hours or high for 4 hours.

If you want to make steel cut oats but don’t have a slow cooker, simply place all your ingredients in a large sauce pan and simmer for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally to make sure it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan. Serve with extra milk if desired.

Looking for more easy crock pot meals? Check out my Crock Pot Meals recipe index.

My favorite Crock Pot – Crock-Pot Cook’ N Carry 6-Quart Portable Slow Cooker
My Favorite Slow Cooker Cookbook – Fix-It and Forget-It Big Cookbook: 1400 Best Slow Cooker Recipes!

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.