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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.


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Employer Implanting Chips In Its Employees

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32M implanted chip

Um, what?! I just read this article and freaked out a bit. There’s a company in Wisconsin that is implanting tiny radio frequency chips into the hands of its employees so they can, “make purchases in their break room micro market, open doors, login to computers, use the copy machine,” says the company, 32M. I’ve seen this “futuristic-type” thing in movies and I know it’s been around for awhile, it just seems so creepy to me. I don’t want a company implanting anything in my body!

The company says that while it’s not mandatory, they think about 50% of their workforce will get the chip. They say that it’s the way of the future and they are basically trendsetters by launching it first. All of the awesome things it can do seem beneficial, but I think I’ve watched the Borne movies too many times to be comfortable with it. They say they can’t track their employees with it, but it doesn’t seem that far fetched to me. If it can do all that other fancy stuff, certainly it can track my every move, right?

And what about the health implications? Is it safe? I know we wear gadgets and play with technology constantly that probably emits the same type of radiation or radio waves or whatever sciency-thing our devices do, but it just seems like I’m safer with my skin as a barrier. Is that silly of me to feel that way. How safe do you think this is?

“We foresee the use of RFID technology to drive everything from making purchases in our office break room market, opening doors, use of copy machines, logging into our office computers, unlocking phones, sharing business cards, storing medical/health information, and used as payment at other RFID terminals. Eventually, this technology will become standardized allowing you to use this as your passport, public transit, all purchasing opportunities, etc.”

Do you agree? Would you do it? Do you think it’s crazy or cool? Do you think this will be the standard in a few years and I’ll look back on this post and laugh?

Your chip-free friend,
~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.

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Lucy Has a Play Date, Online Grocery Deals, Raspberry Pie, 114 Ounces of Ketchup and More

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Quote of the Day “Life is like a game of cards. The hand that is dealt you represents determinism. The way you play it is free will.” Jawaharlal Nehru

Hello Thursday!

Yesterday Mrs. HB brought her dog over for a visit and we walked our furry friends around the neighborhood. Lucy had a blast with her bff and then pretty much spent the rest of the afternoon exhausted on the couch. Mrs. HB talked about how she is giving up bread, pasta and rice. I thought about making a pie. Priorities. We’ve all got them.

Temps will be in the low 70’s today {a nice break} so I think I work outside for a bit and then get some wool dyed and listed in my Etsy shop. How about YOU? Do you have anything exciting planned for today?

Have a great day everyone,

♥ Mavis

*This deal post will be updated throughout the morning so be sure and check back for deals. * Amazon prices can change without notice. Please verify price before ordering. Amazon offers Free Shipping with a $49 purchase or Amazon Prime. {Sign up for a free Amazon Prime 30 day trial!}

Amazon Deal of the Day for 7/27/17 – GreenWorks G-MAX 40V Twin Force 20-Inch Cordless Lawn Mower $259.99

Available Kindle Books I think look interesting…

The prices on Kindle Books can change quickly, so grab them while you can. Don’t have a Kindle? Download the kindle app on your other devices. It’s easy! 🙂

Subscribe and Save Deals

Subscribe and Save prices reflect a 15% discount for ordering 5 or more items in 1 month.

Fresh Raspberry Pie – It says fresh in the title and contains fruit. It’s basically a health food. Right? If you’ve got an abundance of raspberries… Make this! It’s freakin’ awesome.

Home and Kitchen Deals

REI Garage Deal of the Day – REI Co-opQuartz Peak Fleece Jacket – Boys $34.73 {was $69.50}

Add on Items

*These are all Amazon Add-on Items and they will ship with qualifying orders over $25 and are eligible for free shipping on $25 orders with Amazon Prime {or will ship FREE on $35 orders without Prime}. 

dig-for-your-dinner-1

If you’d like to map out your next few months of garden chores, grab a few Dig For Your Dinner eBooks. That way, you can read about gardening, even when the weather is not nice enough to be outside gardening.

Kid’s Stuff

Getting married soon?

Create an Amazon Wedding Registry! Check out these benefits:

  • 10% Gift – Receive a wedding gift after your event date. Get 10% off most products on Amazon for a savings up to $100.
  • World’s Largest Selection – Register for all the items you both want.
  • It’s universal – keep track of what you want from anywhere. Add from other websites to your Wedding Registry with the universal button.

Create an Amazon Wedding Registry HERE.

Have you signed up for my daily newsletter yet? Sign up HERE to get the daily deals {and other awesomeness} delivered to you each day via email. Because really, you never know what’s going to happen around here.

Have a Great Day!

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.

Do You Really Only Get One Phone Call From Jail?

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I just thought I’d give you a heads up and let you know that in case I don’t show up to work tomorrow, {you know, here on the blog} it’s because I’ve been arrested and I’m sitting in jail.

Which brings to mind so many questions, like:

What will the food be like?

Will I have my own cell? How many people will have slept on that particular mattress? Has it been sanitized? And if so, HOW? What do you think the silverware will be like? Will I get a pencil and paper, because I can’t imagine I’d get to bring my laptop.

Will I really only get one phone call? How long will I have to talk? And if so, who should I call? I’m thinking my mom. I mean, if there is anyone who could be all hands on deck in 2 seconds or less and who could channel the get ‘er done mentality of Shirley McClain from Terms of Endearment {Give my daughter the shot!!} it would be my mother. And likewise, if she ever got picked up by the feds, I’d like to think I’d be the one she’d call first too.

And mom if you are reading this, you totally know that’s true.

I’m your person.

Yada yada yada…

Yesterday I got a robo call from some male generated voice saying an arrest warrant was going to be issued in my name if I didn’t immediately call the designated number back. I think he said something like I “had tried to do a fraud with the IRS” or something.

But I was busy making muffins. And then I totally forgot about the phone call. Until just now. When I got a second call. Which of course I missed because I was out back pulling weeds.
So now I’m like, great, like I don’t have enough to do today. Now I’ve got to pack for jail.

Good times people. Good times.

Maybe I’ll see you tomorrow, maybe I won’t.

But hey, if I do get thrown in the pokey, don’t be a stranger. Please write.

~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.

How to Pick the Perfect Coconut

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I’m sure you’ve seen people strolling the produce aisle, thumping, sniffing, squishing their produce all in an attempt to pick the perfect one. Some of that nonsense is in vain, but some of it will help you on your way to the very best coconut! These tips will help:

Pretty is Best:  Inspect your coconut carefully. Overall, coconuts are pretty ugly. It’s true. But you want to avoid a coconut that looks especially lopsided or one that has any leakage out of the three black “eyes” at the top. Leakage is bad! Also, if one of the eyes is protruding, this could be a sign of infected flesh inside. Look carefully for any discoloration on the soft “eye.” It should be covered by a circular dry brown disc.

Shake It Up: Pick up your coconut and give it a good shake. You should hear and feel the coconut water sloshing around inside. If you don’t, the coconut is bad. Put that one down and walk away.

Heavy Does It: The perfect coconut should feel solid and heavy for its size. Lighter coconuts mean less flesh.

What’s the Score: While this might not always be possible, try to find one that has been scored around the middle. This will make opening your coconut when the time comes that much easier!

And there you have my fail-proof method to choosing the best coconut EVER!

Now that you’ve picked the perfect coconut, here are some yummy recipes to use it in:

chocolate macaroons recipeChocolate Dipped Macaroons – Coconut + Chocolate = Love

Vegan-Recipe-Chocolate-Coconut-Ice-CreamChocolate Coconut Ice Cream – It’s creamy. It’s Vegan. It’s delicious.

Carrot Cake with Coconut and Raisins – First off, there are carrots in this, so it is totally a health food.

Chocolate Chip Cookies with Almonds, Cranberries and Coconut – These cookies have everything but the kitchen sink.

Almond Joy Granola – “Joy” is part of the name for a reason.

Cranberry Coconut Breakfast Cookies – Cookies for breakfast always make the day a little happier.  And bonus, these are actually healthy.

Banana Bread with Walnuts, Coconut and Chocolate Chips – The walnuts, coconut and chocolate chips, completely change the deliciousness of this basic banana bread recipe.

~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.

Mavis Butterfield Etsy