One Hundred Dollars a Month - Page 1767 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.

Simple Front Porch Decorations – Less is More

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By Mavis Butterfield on December 3, 2012 · 3 Comments

Do you have your front porch decorated yet? We don’t have much in the way of front porch decorations, just Mr. Snow and a handmade wreath.

When my parents moved a few years ago I inherited Mr. Snow and his green clay pot. My mother used to stick him beside her front door and place poinsettias around him.

But poinsettias cost money, and while I understand there are loads of people who love buying them every year, I’d rather spend my money on flower bulbs and garden seeds.

Maybe I’m just cheap. Who knows, but if I can get my decorations for free by just walking out my front door and cutting a few springs off various trees, well then I’m going to do it.

Just remember, you don’t have to spend a lot of money to decorate. Be creative, and do what makes you happy. It’s not a competition.

~Mavis

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25 Days Of Christmas Cookies – Buttered Rum Meltaway Cookies

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By Mavis Butterfield on December 3, 2012 · 6 Comments

If you are looking for an extra special cookie to make for your cookie platter this year, you’ll totally want to make a batch of these buttered rum meltaway cookies.

I made these cookies last year and everyone LOVED them.

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted softened butter
1 cup powered sugar
1/4 cup dark rum
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Combine butter and 1/4 cup powdered sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in vanilla and rum. Slowly add the flour, cornstarch, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and salt and combine.

Place the dough onto a piece of parchment paper. Fold the parchment over the dough and roll into a log that is about 1 1/2″ thick. Wrap in parchment. Place in the freezer for at least an hour or until firm.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove dough from parchment and slice into 1/4″ slices (or if you are a rebel like me, slice it a little wider. Place on lined cookie sheets {I use silpats*} and bake about 15 minutes.

Let cool about 15 minutes. Gently toss cookies in remaining 3/4 cup powdered sugar. Brush excess sugar away from cookies and enjoy! Makes 30 cookies.

Martha Stewart’s Cookies: The Very Best Treats to Bake and to Share*

*Direct link to an Amazon.com product

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Gardening with Mavis, In December

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By Mavis Butterfield on December 3, 2012 · 8 Comments

Do you ever feel like your backyard or garden looks horrible? Me too.

I think by the time December rolls around I’ve pretty much had about 4-6 weeks off from any serious gardening, and I start to feel the itch to get out there and do something again.

So while the boys were inside watching a football game yesterday, I spent most of my day pulling up brush in the backyard. When the kids installed the chicken run this past summer I never got around to clearing the brush in front of the run. I’m not exactly sure what I’m going to plant in front of the wire fencing yet, but I was thinking about planting a few of those bulbs I picked up the other day at Lowe’s.

Ideally, I would love to plant some sort of vine up the sides of the chicken run, but I don’t see how it would be possible. I have a feeling the chickens would just munch on what ever I planted, so maybe some sort of flower garden in front of the fence would be a better solution. What do YOU think? Anyway, all I know is that it felt good to spend an entire afternoon outside yesterday, in the pouring rain pulling up roots and weeds. Even if I have no idea what I’m going to plant, at least the area is cleared {for now}.

Now I only have about half an acre to go until I’m all done.

~Mavis

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

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By Mavis Butterfield on December 3, 2012 · 18 Comments

Although I didn’t do a ton of shopping this past week {I totally bailed on Albertsons double coupons this time around}, I still managed to score some great deals. Having a stockpile is totally cool. It allows us to stock up when the prices are low, and stay home and shop from our pantry when the deals are not really exciting.

Albertsons Shopping Trip – $6.38

After finding out about the awesome bulb sale at Lowe’s, I decided to go back and grab another $100 gift card and, in the process scored another $20 Albertsons store coupon for free groceries. I didn’t have a game plan, and Monkey Boy was with me so I just picked up a couple of loaves of bread, some garlic bread for pasta night, orange juice, mushrooms, crappy tomatoes, a few yogurts and a bag of chips for my helper.

Oroweat Bakery Outlet Store – FREE

Then of course as luck would have it, I found myself at the Oroweat Bakery Outlet in Puyallup the next day using my last $10 Sharing Spree bread vouchers. You can save so much money by shopping at bakery outlets it’s amazing. If I were you I’d be on the lookout for one in your area so you can start saving a ton of dough.

One Kings Lane – $18

A few weeks ago there was a smokin’ hot deal on flour sack towels from One Kings Lane. I was able to score 30 towels for $18. If you have not signed up for One Kings Lane yet they are still offering a $15 credit on your first purchase of $30 or more.

Grandma- FREE

Monkey Boy scored half of a bag full of popcorn from our neighborhood grandma. You can read all about it HERE.

Local Produce Store – FREE

We scored a ton of delicious produce this past week from Mr. Produce Guy. So much in fact we ended up sharing with Mrs. Hillbilly and Girly Girl. I love it when the kids can pack free fuits and veggies in their lunches.

Bartering with Mrs. Hillbilly – Free

There was so much fruit that we simply could not eat it all, so I called up Mrs. Hillbilly and asked her if she wanted some of it. She ended up trading me 2 yogurts and some granola bars for the kids lunches.

So how did you do this week? Have you been doing much grocery shopping lately, or did you buy too much around Thanksgiving and still trying to use up what’s in your refrigerator?

~Mavis

Total Spent This Week $ 6.38
Total Spent This Year $1,125.88
Total Spent This Year on Garden Seeds/Supplies $524.20
Total “Seed Money” donations received $51.00

Go HERE to read more Shopping Trip Stories.

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