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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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Friday, March 3rd is the National Day of Unplugging

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tvDid you know that today, March 3rd is the national day of unplugging? Yep, it sure is. So what does that mean for YOU?

It means that from sundown tonight to sundown tomorrow you are supposed to “unplug, unwind, relax and do things other than using today’s technology, electronics and social media.”

Hey. I’m in!

Have a great and wonderfully relaxed weekend everyone,

~Mavis

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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.

What I Learned From Drinking 1 Gallon of Water a Day for a Month

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Last month I challenged myself to drink 1 gallon of water a day.

I had heard that drinking 8-10 glasses of water a day would all sorts of great things for me, so I thought I’d give it a go. After all, what did I have to lose besides maybe some free time and additional trips to the loo?  Based on my limited research, here’s what I expected to happen from this whole experiment:

  1. Better skin – No. I saw no improvement.
  2. Better sleep – Yes. Which actually, I was a little surprised at.
  3. More energy – Maybe. I couldn’t tell. I mean, I’m a pretty high strung/active person to begin with and I really don’t think I got more projects done in February than in January. I did get a little more of a workout though becuase I found myself having to use the loo at least once an hour. 😉
  4. Less headaches – Yes.
  5. Reduced sugar cravings – I wish. I think there are just some people who are hardwired to CRAVE sugar. I have been in love with candy, cookies and all things sweet since I was a kid. Some people like potato chips, or wine or soda. For me, I have two vices: tea and sweets. And you know what, I’m okay with that. I think I have incredible willpower… but sugar, sugar is my kryptonite.
  6. Shinier hair – No.
  7. Shrinkage of Muffy the muffin top – Debateable. Although I did lose 2 pounds last month, I think it was because there were two weeks in there that we didn’t go to a bakery. 😉 But maybe not. Maybe drinking all that water did help shrink Muffy. Actually, now that I think about it, maybe Muffy’s shrinkage might have also had to do with not drinking as much milk as I normally would have {I always put it in my tea}.

So, what did I learn from drinking a gallon of water a day for an entire month? Honestly? There was no epiphany. No “Oh my gosh, choking down a gallon of water a day is the best thing ever.” Nope. In fact, after about 4 days of drinking cold water {sometimes with lemon juice or strawberries floating around in it} I longed for my 15 cups decaf tea a day {with milk and sugar} and switched from cold water to drinking warm water with lemon in it.

Will I continue drinking so much water? Yes and no. While I probably won’t be tossing my tea collection in the garbage anytime soon, the last few days I have fallen into the habit of drinking 2 cups of tea {with milk and sugar} in the morning and one cup of tea in the afternoon and drinking either warm or flavored water throughout the rest of the day.

I think scaling back on my tea {and milk and sugar} addiction is a good thing. But you know what they say… everything in moderation. 😉

~Mavis

P.S. – Are you getting enough fluids? How much water do YOU drink a day?

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Free Chips Ahoy Thins, Silhouette CAMEO 3 Craft Bundle, Online Grocery Deals and More

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Quote of the Day “You must be prepared for good luck.” Edward Kennedy

Hello and Happy Friday! Lucy the trouble puggle was up bright and early this morning and ready to go. Where, I don’t know… but she’s ready. 🙂

On the agenda for today:

  • Take a nap and snuggle with the puggle
  • Clear inbox
  • Try a new recipe
  • Paint the dining room door
  • fold laundry
  • Photograph and list some rug hooking items
  • Make a big salad
  • Check Wilco for onion starts

How about YOU? What are your plans for today?

Have a great weekend 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 $35 purchase or Amazon Prime. {Sign up for a free Amazon Prime 30 day trial!}

Amazon Deal of the Day for 3/3/17 – Silhouette CAMEO 3 Craft Bundle $209.99

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.

Ibotta has some rebates right now for yogurt, Easter candy, and stuff that’s probably already on your list. Why not get a few bucks back? If you have the iBotta app I’ve been raving about the last few months be sure and check to see if you have the following rebates:

For those of you who don’t know, basically Ibotta is way to earn cash every time you shop. All you do is check the Ibotta app before you shop for product offers, bonuses, new store coupons. Then, simply upload a picture of the UPC code and your receipt and get paid {via paypal or gift cards} once your balance hits $20. Join Ibotta with this link {my referral code} and get $10! Trust me,  it’s easy.

Attention Fred Meyer Shoppers … Today only you can download an ecoupon for one FREE Chips Ahoy Thins Cookies 7 oz. Simply load the ecoupon to you Fred Meyer card and claim your freebie by 7/31/16. It’s that easy!

Home and Kitchen Deals

REI Garage Deal of the Day – $69.73 {was $140}

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}. 

Got Chickens? Turn their presents into GOLD for the garden. 🙂 Find out how and why {you should} to compost chicken manure HERE.

Prime Pantry Deals

If you are an Amazon Prime Member, you can get FREE Prime Pantry shipping {a $5.99 value} when you buy five qualifying items. Shop Prime Pantry.

Vegan Chocolate Coconut Ice Cream – This ice cream not only tastes awesome, it’s also super rich and creamy.

Kid’s Stuff

If you have a Bank of America debit/credit card, you can score FREE admission into over 100 museums this weekend as part of their Museum on Us program.

This awesome program allows Bank of America card holders to gain free admission into any participating museum during the first full weekend of every month. How cool is that? Don’t forget to bring your photo ID along with your Bank of America card to gain free admission.

Go HERE to see if your local museum is on the list!

Check out these New Printable Coupons:

$1.50 off any 2 Seeds of Change
$5.00 off one Orgain Protein Powder
$4.00 off one Adult Zyrtec
$1.50 off one Fresh Step
$1.00 off any 2 International Delight
$1.00 off ONE Scrubbing Bubbles Bathroom cleaner
$1.00 off one Minute Maid Juice Box 10pk
$2.50 off one Carmex Cold Sore
$1.00 off any 2 DINTY MOORE products
$1.00 off 2 General Mills Big G Cereals
$1.00 off any 2 SPAM Products
$1.00 off 1 Yoplait Yogurt

Find More Printable Coupons

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11 Fabulous Ironing Tips

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I was talking to my friend Amberlina the other day. She told me a hilarious story about how she went into her laundry room to iron something and couldn’t find the ironing board on its normal hook on the wall. She went to ask her husband if he’d seen it {because, honestly, who the heck loses an ironing board} when he told he it was hanging where it always was. He walked back with her and showed her the ironing board hanging in a new spot behind the laundry room door. “Well that’s why I couldn’t find it,” she said. “I moved it almost 2 years ago,” he replied.

Clearly Amberlina doesn’t iron. Martha would be appalled! When I asked how she survives, she said a spray bottle and a low heat tumble in the dryer is all it takes for all clothes she doesn’t have dry cleaned. So this post full of ironing tips is for her. Just in case.

  1. Start with a perfectly flat ironing board by placing your ironing board cover on the board while it’s still damp, and letting it dry in place for a perfect.
  2. Use aluminum foil under the ironing board cover so you can iron both sides at the same time. The foil reflects the heat and irons the underside while you iron the top.
  3. Never use tap water. Instead, use distilled water in your iron to keep deposits from clogging it up.
  4. Iron in batches. It takes awhile to lug out the ironing board and set up the iron. Makes sense to spend 30 minutes and iron a bunch at once, hang ’em up and you’re good to go for awhile!
  5. Iron everything inside out. This helps prevent a shiny sheen that the irons leaved behind.
  6. Never never ever iron a dirty article of clothing. If it hasn’t been freshly laundered, all of the dirty soil and ick basically gets baked into it. Yuck!
  7. Iron in straight strokes, not in a circular motion. It’s easy to accidentally stretch out your clothing by ironing in circles.
  8. Lay a towel down and place any embroidered or raised designs facing down towards the towel, and then iron as usual.
  9. Use paper clips to hold pleats firm and in place while you finish your ironing.
  10. Don’t iron the biggest mass first, instead, iron the smallest part first. So hems, colors arms and cuffs before body.
  11. Hang up your clothes right after you press them or all that hard work might be for nothing!

And there you go Amberlina {and all of the rest of you novice ironers!}. So now I must know. How often do you iron?!

~Mavis

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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