One Hundred Dollars a Month - Page 1688 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.

Bartering with Mavis – Francisco Cleans Out His Pantry

The links in the post below may be affiliate links. Read the full disclosure
By Mavis Butterfield on February 17, 2013 · 8 Comments

Last night my neighbor Francisco sent me a text:

Francisco: We are purging our cabinets are you interested in some non vegan goodies?

Mavis: Should I come over right now?

Francisco: Give us 15 🙂 if you are free

Mavis: K will do

So I quickly ran to our the pantry and found some loot. Please take special notice the the frozen log of polenta. Mrs. Hillbilly traded me that last summer. The vinegar, razors, soap, cereal, soba noodles and sesame ginger rice were all free. I think I paid $.25 for the whole wheat pasta.

This is what Francisco had to barter with. It was a take all or nothing sort of thing since he was clearing his pantry of all non vegan products. So I didn’t inspect things {re: expiration dates} too closely and happily took everything he offered. The highlights of course where the Dove chocolates and the mini containers of olives, cookies and crackers he had received over the Christmas holiday in a gift basket from a client.

However if you look closely, you will totally notice the roasted red pepper soup. I gave that to him last fall and you can see it here in this video. Hilarious! What makes it even more funny is that Mrs. Hillbilly gave it to me. So mark my words, the next time I trade with Mrs. HB I’m going to try and barter back the soup. Ha!

I did pass on his box of tofu eggs though {OH MY WORD- can you say gag me with a wooden spoon?}. Believe it or not, I do have my limits of what I will eat. Even it’s free.

Here is Francisco with his new, cleaned out, vegan friendly pantry. Clearly he is not a prepper. But that’s okay, if there is an emergency and he needs more than a 3 day supply of food, I’ve got him covered.

Peace Out Francisco, it was fun bartering with you.

~Mavis

The Prepper’s Pantry: Building and Thriving with Food Storage

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.

How to Grow Swiss Chard {Start to Finish}

The links in the post below may be affiliate links. Read the full disclosure
By Mavis Butterfield on February 17, 2013 · 6 Comments

I don’t know about you, but I am planting a boatload of Swiss chard seeds this spring. I started 1 packet of seed under my grow lights this morning, but I think I’ll wait until early spring to plant the rest of them outside. It’s great in stir-fry, but most of all, my chickens love it. Plus, you can’t kill it, so if you are a new gardener, you may want to give Swiss chard a try.

Brief description: Swiss Chard is a hardy leafy green. It has a slightly bitter tasting stalk with milder tasting leaves. It will continue to produce from early spring to late fall.

Where to Plant Swiss Chard: Plant in containers, raised beds, or garden beds. It is ideal for smaller space gardening.

Planting Seeds: Plant 1/2″ deep. Thin to 1 per pot when plant reaches about 1″ tall–it’s best to thin with scissors rather than pull seedling out, as seeds often produce more than one plant per seed. When transplanting, space about 10″ apart.

Growing Tips: Slugs love swiss chard, so protect around your plants with crushed eggs shells, or the like.

How to Harvest: Harvest outer leaves if only harvesting a little at a time. You can harvest the whole plant, if desired, just leave 2 inches of the plant so it can regenerate. Chard is ready to harvest when it is about 10″ tall.

Are you ready to start your garden but you’re not sure when you should plant your seeds or set out your transplants? Head on over HERE and you’ll be taken to a handy dandy chart that is broken down into what vegetables should be planted {or transplanted} each month in your area.

Anyone can do this. Dirt + Seeds+ Water = Food!

~Mavis

Here are a few of my Favorite Swiss Chard recipes:

Rainbow Swiss Chard and Sweet Potato Au Gratin

How to Dehydrate Swiss Chard

Rainbow Swiss Chard Smoothie

Fun Fact: Swiss Chard provides more than 300% the daily value of Vitamin K–a great reason reason to ~~choke it down~~ enjoy it!

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 8 of 52

The links in the post below may be affiliate links. Read the full disclosure
By Mavis Butterfield on February 17, 2013 · 9 Comments

Week 8 of 52 – Mavis’ Backyard Garden Plot

Things are moving right along in our backyard garden. The rock border is gone, and Monkey Boy filled all the garden boxes with soil yesterday.

Yee- Haw! Now we just need some warmer weather and we can start growing some food around here.

I wonder how early I can plant radishes? I’m tempted to toss some seeds down even though I know it’s still too early yet.

We still have plenty of dirt to move, so I’m hoping I’ll have enough to get this area carved out today.

Last year we grew beans up the teepee poles and and started hubbard squash in the mounds. But this year I think I’ll try growing winter Lakota squash in this area instead. It’s a new variety for me and I think it looks really cool.

The old raised garden bed that was surrounded by fallen trees is now being turned into 5 {or maybe 6} garden rows. At first I was just going to have one large growing area, but then decided to break it up a little so we’d be able to walk between the rows.

Future perennial flower garden area.

The artichokes are now in the greenhouse!

This area still needs a little work, and I have yet to start filling the new wood pallet compost bin. I have thought about staining it because it’s so stinkin’ bright and stands out in the garden like a sore thumb. We’ll see.

Holy garden crack!

The Handsome Husband spent the better part of yesterday shoveling dirt. I still can’t decide if I should grow pumpkins or potatoes here. Last year we grew pumpkins in this spot so I should probably plant something else.

The chickens new kale and Swiss chard bed is taking shape.

There will be leafy greens in front of the coop and a mulched walkway. Not sure yet if there will be stepping stones.

Raspberry patch.

And last bu not least, the future herb garden. I noticed 2 more large brown pots in the garage yesterday so I may haul them out there and plant a few more herb pots. We shall see.

All I know is the weather is holding out and we’ve been busy, busy, busy.

Peace Out Girl Scouts,

We’ve got about 5 more yards of dirt to shovel.

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.

Shopping with Mavis | Albertsons Double Coupon Shopping Trip

The links in the post below may be affiliate links. Read the full disclosure
By Mavis Butterfield on February 17, 2013 · 13 Comments

While I was out running errands this morning I stopped by Albertsons so I could stock up on a few things. Mostly I went out for the free Activia yogurt. I love using yogurt in smoothies. I also picked up some free Uncle Ben’s Rice cups and gum for the kids and a couple boxes of free cake mix as well.

Here is what my Albertsons Double Coupon Shopping Trip transactions looked like:

Transactions 1 & 2

Activia Multipack – $2.00
Used {6} $1/1 Activia Multipack, exp. 3/3/13 (SS 01/13/13)
Final Price: FREE after Double Coupons

Transaction #3

Stride ID Gum – $1.00 *Only 3 are pictured
Used {3} $1/2 Stride ID Gum coupons {2/10 SS}
Final Price: FREE After Double Coupons

Transaction #4

Uncle Ben’s Ready Rice Cups – $1.00
Used {3} $1/2 Uncle Ben’s Rice Cups Coupons {1/06 RP}
Final Price: FREE after Double Coupons

Transaction #5

Duncan Hines Red Velvet Cake Mix – $1.25
Used {3} $0.50/1 Duncan Hines Signature Red Velvet Cake Mix Printable Coupons
Final Price: FREE After Double Coupons

I had also wanted to stock up on some free Planter’s Trail mix {see deal scenario below} but the store was out of stock so I think I’ll check back in a day or two.

Planters Trail Mix {6 oz} $2.00
Used {3} $1/1 Planters, Jar, Canister, Bag or Multi-Pack {01/27 SS}
Final Price: FREE after Double Coupons

What about YOU?

Will you be going to Albertsons this morning? What are you planning on stocking up on this time around?

~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.