Sign up for my newsletter and get a copy of my "28 Ways to Slash Your Grocery Budget"

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.


Instagram has returned invalid data.

Mavis Garden Blog – For the Love of Swiss Chard

The links in the post below may be affiliate links. Read the full disclosure
By on · 14 Comments

I have a confession to make.

As soon as I reach 2,000 pounds of produce, I’m planning on ripping up all the Swiss chard and kale in the back yard and tossing it to the chickens.  Let’s hope it happens before Thanksgiving. Don’t you think the Swiss chard be a wonderful Thanksgiving meal for them?  Ohh, I bet they would totally love it. Yep, I’m pretty sure they would.

I’d give it to Mrs. Hillbilly or The Hunter, but they won’t even take it anymore.  Apparently I’m not the only one who’s tired of it. I don’t know what I was thinking when I planted it.  Wait, actually I do.  Both kale and Swiss chard are beautiful at maturity.  Especially the Rainbow Swiss chard.

But since I am not out of the clear yet,  I decided to transfer the last of the Swiss chard from the greenhouse out to the raised garden beds in hopes of it will grow better outside. Thus giving me a few more pounds of food. I think I have 3 beds full of Swiss chard right now.  Uggg.

Have you ever planted a vegetable just because you thought it was pretty?  I mean is that a valid reason for growing something? The chickens like it, so it’s not like the food is going to waste or anything.  But I think next year, I may just grow it for them.

Is that weird?  Growing food for chickens?

Hmmm.

What do YOU think?

~Mavis

You Grow Girl: The Groundbreaking Guide to Gardening ~ Amazon.com

This is not your grandmother’s gardening book. You Grow Girl is a hip, humorous how-to for crafty gals everywhere who are discovering a passion for gardening but lack the know-how to turn their dreams of homegrown tomatoes and fresh-cut flowers into a reality.

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.

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

The links in the post below may be affiliate links. Read the full disclosure
By on · Leave a Comment

This was great for stocking up.  I did a little trading with my neighbors, bought some basics and splurged a little on myself.  And all for around $20.  Not to shabby if you ask me.

Here is what I purchased this week:

Fred Meyer $7.50

If you have teenagers, then I’m sure you know how much milk they drink!

Albertsons Campbell’s Soup: $2.50

I spent $2.50 out of pocket and walked away with a $1.50 catalina coupon.  This deal is over but you can read all about this deal HERE. I still have the coupon and need to spend it this week.

Local Produce Store: FREE

Mr. Produce Guy came through again and I was able to reclaim a nice selection of fruits and veggies from the “chicken scraps” he gave me.

Albertsons Double Coupon Shopping Trip $ .03

I was able to combine 2 of the $5.00 Albertsons store coupons along with manufacture coupons to score everything you see above for only $.03 out of pocket.  You can see the transactions broken down and how I did it right here.

Bartering with Mrs. Hillbilly: $0

I scored FREE BEEF, guacamole, 3 year old weenies and some other loot.  You can read all about it HERE.

Gevalia Tea $9.99

I also splurged and spent $9.99 and ordered 4 boxes of Gevalia tea and a teapot for $9.99 shipped.  The deal is now sold out but you can still score the coffee deal HERE.

All in all it was a pretty good week.  How did you do last week?  Do you have a turkey for Thanksgiving yet?

~Mavis

Total Spent This Week $ 20.02
Total Spent This Year $ 1,065.65
Total Spent This Year on Garden Seeds/Supplies $516.21
Total “Seed Money” donations received $51.00

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.

Mornings with Mavis – Crocks 65% off, 20 Photo Cards $1, Win $500 + 2 Free Turkeys!

The links in the post below may be affiliate links. Read the full disclosure
By on · 2 Comments

So here’s the deal.

Over the past few weeks I’ve been going back and forth trying to figure out if I wanted to write about all the Christmas and holiday deals popping up.  But then last night it hit me.  In order for me to blog about deals, I’d have to plant my keister in front of my computer 24/7  in hopes of sharing with you how to save $2.75 off a piece of plastic crap from China that your kid probably doesn’t need anyway.

Plus I have a garden, food to cook, and laundry to fold.  And let’s face it, this is a one man {woman} show.

But there is that part of me that really, really LOVES a good deal and showing people how to save money online and in the stores.  So I’ve decided on a compromise.

So instead of turning this goofy site of mine into a deal blog just for the holidays, I’ve decided that from now until December 24th I’ll be posting a few deals early in the morning {just like I have been} and then you’ll see a Mornings with Mavis post.  Mornings with Mavis will kind of be like a summary of a the hot offers of the day I see before I get out of bed. This way I get my deal fix.  You can read it, or scroll on past.  Whateva.

How does that sound?

Who knows, you might find something you like, something you can actually use.  But if I were you, I’d grab a cup of coffee {or tea} first.

Mornings with Mavis

Today’s Amazon Gold Box Deal of the Day is 40% off Select Slim LED Seiki HDTV’s.

You can score the 40 inch LED HDTV you see above for $289 shipped.

6pm.com is has Crocs on sale for up to 70% off!

Holy Cow Man!  If you like plastic shoes, then Go HERE to check out all the amazing deals on crocks for the whole family.

York Photo is offering  {20} 4×8 photo cards for $1 PLUS 40 Free Prints. You do have to pay a shipping fee of $3.49, but this is a great deal!  Go HERE to get your prints and Holiday cards.

Want to win a FREE Turkey Dinner? How about $500 and 2 free turkeys? I know I do.  Head on over HERE to enter the Turkey Success Giveaway from Reynolds and Butterball.  Good luck!  I hope you and I both win!!

That’s it… That’s all I’ve got.  See, that was pretty painless right?

Alright, I’m going to go eat breakfast now.

Peace Out Girl Scouts, see you back here in a bit for Mondays with 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.

Bartering with Mavis – Free Beef

The links in the post below may be affiliate links. Read the full disclosure
By on · 15 Comments

This morning I got a call from Mrs. Hillbilly.  She wanted to do some bartering.  Mrs. Hillbilly made her menu plan for the week and had discovered a few things missing from her pantry. On her wish list; diced tomatoes, onions, black beans, and pasta.

So of course I showed up with a few extras.  Annie’s Pasta {free from Vitacost} was a total no go, as was the boxed oatmeal.  She also turned down my canned water chestnuts.

So in the end, this is what was up for trade.

  • 1 bags Arrowhead Puffed Rice {free with coupons}
  • 4 boxes Barilla whole wheat grain pasta {free with coupons}
  • 1 box Wheat Chex {free with coupons}
  • 1 container of jalapenos {free with coupons}
  • 1 container Planter’s sunflowers {free with coupons}
  • 1 can black beans {cheap, I can’t remember how much I paid}
  • 1 gallon diced tomatoes {purchased from Costco 2 years ago}
  • 1 panty hose leg full of onions {scored a deal at Costco}

We decided to split the giant can of diced tomatoes.  Mrs. Hillbilly plans on making homemade tomato sauce with hers, and I’ve already decided to what I’ll be doing with mine {you’ll have to check back tomorrow to find out}.  So after we divided the tomatoes up, I tried to figure out what I wanted in exchange.

The only thing I knew I wanted for certain was ground beef.

After grabbing the beef from her freezer, Mrs. Hillbilly suggested I take a look in her “gift closet.”  At first she tried offering me some disgusting candles that only old ladies with gobs of perfume and big hair would like.  Seeing I was dissatisfied, she then reached for a Burt’s Bees Gift bag.

I almost wet my pants.

It was the same Burt’s Bee gift bag I had given to her last year for Christmas {the Mad Scientist had given it to me at her Hunukkah party only a few days prior to  me re-gifting it to Mrs. Hillbilly}.  I was laughing so hard I could barely get “Hey, I gave that to you last Christmas.” out of my mouth.  It was AWESOME!

Then I took a whiff of some nice smelling peach soap {another re-gift she was trying to pawn off on me}.

In the end, this is what I came home with:

  • 5 out of 8 Starbucks peppermint hot chocolate packets
  • 1 bottle Log Cabin syrup {sugar free, gag}
  • 2 cans of beans
  • 1 box of corn bread mix
  • 1 smelly peach soap
  • 1 frozen pouch of guacamole
  • 2 pounds of ground beef

So what do you think? Who got the better deal?  Mavis, or Mrs. Hillbilly?

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