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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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52 Ways to Save $100 a Month | Preserve Your Bounty {Week 9 of 52}

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52 Ways to Save $100 a MonthWelcome to my 52 Ways to Save $100 a Month series. We’re serious about saving money in 2016. Sometimes it’s the little things and sometimes it’s the big things. I’m here to walk you through some little things that can add up to BIG savings. 52 little things to be exact. Every week, join me back here for another small money saving tip or idea that might not seem like significant savings until you see the overall yearly savings. It might just blow your mind. So pop in each Tuesday and read a new tip that will help you on your way to save $100 a month!

Don’t look away just because you don’t garden. This post is for gardeners and non-gardeners alike. We’re talking about preserving your bounty. If you are a gardener, it’s the bounty in your own backyard. If you are not, it’s learning to take advantage of fruits and veggies when they are in season, buying in bulk and then preserving on one of these great ways:

canningCanning: Canning  is not only my favorite way to preserve food, but I actually enjoy doing it. Something therapeutic about seeing rows upon rows of canned goods all perfectly in line makes my OCD heart happy. You can pretty much can just about anything! Don’t be afraid of canning either. I  know a lot of people shy away from it because they think it’s much more complicated than it is.  Check out all my canning recipes you can choose from and get all the tips and hints you need to be a successful canner on my Canning Pinterest Board.

How to Harvest and Store Potatoes for WinterProper Storage: So much of what you grow can survive without being preserved if you simply know how to store it properly. That took a few years for me to learn the hard way before I got the hang of it. Carrots, potatoes and beets all store really well and last really long as long as you know what you’re doing. Check out my guide on How to Keep Carrots, Beets and Potatoes Fresh all Winter.

How-to-Freeze-Fresh-Corn1Freeze: Freezing some of your excess harvest will keep you in your favorite produce all year round. You can check out some of the things I like freezing HERE. Freezing peaches and freezing corn are family favorites.  I also love to make my Fast and Easy Strawberry Freezer Jam and store it in small containers.

How-to-Dehydrate-MangoesDehydrate: Buy yourself a handy dandy dehydrator and go to town. I dehydrate everything. Seriously. Sweet potatoes, tomatoes, and even sage. The thing I love most about dehydrating as a preservation option, is that it makes for a much quicker snack than say a can of green beans. Ha! I also love using up my dehydrated stash in soups all year long. Check out all my Dehydrated Recipes or click on over to my Dehydrated Recipes Pinterest Board.

one hundred dollars $100

How Much Can You Save: $600+ This depends on family size and how much produce you typically buy, but for my family of 4, I suspect I save myself about $50/month just by preserving my produce!

More Ways to Save:

52 Ways to Save $100 a Month | Clean Out Your Closet {Week 1 of 52}

52 Ways to Save $100 a Month | Break Up with Cable {Week 2 of 52}

52 Ways to Save $100 a Month | Barter Better {Week 3 of 52}

52 Ways to Save $100 a Month | Change Your Own Oil {Week 4 of 52}

52 Ways to Save $100 a Month | Adjust Your Thermostat {Week 5 of 52}

52 Ways to Save $100 a Month | Take Advantage of Your Perks {Week 6 of 52}

52 Ways to Save $100 a Month | Pack Your Lunch {Week 7 of 52}

52 Ways to Save $100 a Month | Make It Yourself {Week 8 of 52}

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.

Krave Jerky, Stick Horse, DIY Italian Seasoning, Food Saver Deal and More

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Quotes - a good laugh and a long sleep

Quote of the Day “A good laugh and a long sleep are the two best cures for anything.”

Creamy-Cauliflower-and-Spinach-Gratin

Last night I made a delicious side dish, a Creamy Cauliflower and Spinach Gratin and I think it would go great with ham or a pot roast. The HH loved it and I’ll definitely be making it again.

I hope you have a wonderful day…

♥ Mavis & Lucy

*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!}

food saverAmazon Daily Deals for 3/1/16

rachel dratchAvailable 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! 🙂

krave jerkySubscribe and Save Deals

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

adidas Ultimate Fleece PantsNordstrom has Men’s adidas ‘Ultimate’ Fleece Pants on sale for $22.49 shipped {was $45} and there are several colors to choose from. Small – XXLarge

recycled-wood-pallet-gardens-lettuce

Pallet gardening is rad.  So is homegrown salad.  Check out my post on creating your own Lettuce Wood Pallet Garden.  Find more cool garden projects on my Pallet Gardening Pinterest Board

electric lawn mowerHome and Kitchen Deals

wide calf boots

Zulily has Walking in Wide-Calf Boots on sale with savings up to 80% off. Prices start at $29.99. New to Zulily? Sign up HERE.

Easy-Kitchen-Tips-–-Italian-Seasoning-Recipe1

is the bomb-diggety on pretty much everything–veggies, chicken, you name it.  Rather than buy it all mixed together, you can use pantry staples to whip up your own.  Get the recipe HERE or Pin it for Later.

Canari Core Bike Shorts

REI Outlet Deal of the Day – Canari Core Bike Shorts – Men’s $17.73 {was $35}

me heater

A Few Cabela’s Deals

toy horseAdd 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}. 

purse

Groupon has the Amphora Collection Lock Satchel Handbag for just $29.99 shipped and there are oodles of colors to choose from. Great reviews too! New to Groupon? Join Groupon Here.

horse on a stickKid’s Stuff

dig-for-your-dinner-1

If you aren’t really the winter gardening type, take heart, March kicks off gardening season for everyone!  If you’ve been waiting to try out my gardening eBooks, March is the perfect place to start.  It will walk you through everything you need to do to start your gardening season with a bang–both inside and outside the house.

If you really want to map out your next few months of garden chores, go ahead and grab April’s eBook now too.  That way, you can read about gardening, even when the weather is not nice enough to be outside gardening.  All the cool kids eat, sleep and breathe gardening.

audible

Right now Amazon Prime members can get a 3-month FREE trial for Audible!!! {I like to listen to audiobooks while I garden.} With over 150,000 titles to choose from you’d be CRAZY to pass up this freebie. Listen with the FREE Audible app on your smartphone or tablet.

milano coupons

Check out these New Printable Coupons:

Find More Printable Coupons

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.

Slow Cooker Pork Roast with Sauerkraut

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I don’t know about you, but I’m all for set it and forget it recipes. They are pretty much a no brainer in my book. Especially recipes with only 2-4 ingredients.

I was visiting my friend Zoë and her mom Valerie in Pennsylvania last month and during our crafting party I noticed a pork roast cooking in a crock pot on Valerie’s kitchen counter. Would you believe in all my years I have never had a pork roast before? Seriously. How weird is that?

Anywho, I was pretty shocked when Valerie told me the only ingredients in the crock pot were a pork roast and sauerkraut. AMAZEBALLS. Right?

Maybe you already know about this recipe, but in case you don’t, I’ve decided this is my public announcement for the week. You {and your belly} can thank me later. 😉

Try it! You’ll love it.

Slow Cooker Pork Roast and SauerkrautIngredients

2 pound boneless pork roast
16-20 ounces sauerkraut
Potatoes and carrots

pork roast crock pot

Directions

Toss everything into your slow cooker {this is the one I use} and cook on low for 8 hours. pork roast with cabbage

Season with a little pepper and dig in!

~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’ Almost Zero Waste Home in 29 Days or Less – One Month Recap

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fig bar

I made it through an entire month and didn’t even fill a single grocery bag with trash.

How cool is that?

Even though I don’t think the average household can reduce their packaging 100%, I still think it’s pretty amazing how many resources are out there if we just take a few extra minutes each day to look around.  Even just being super conscious about my waste over this month, I’ve realized how I just totally take for granted that I can toss something right into the bin without a second thought.

zero waste

On a larger scale, companies like WeFood in Denmark are opening their doors to anyone interested in reducing food waste.  They contract with a large grocery store chain and other smaller suppliers to take food that would otherwise be tossed and sell it at deeply discounted rates {like 30%-50%}.  Seriously, if someone told me I could save that much on my groceries, I would totally be all over it.

Then, there is Original Unverpackt {literally translated as “Original Unpackaged”} in Germany.  It’s a grocery store with ZERO packaging.  Everything comes in the form of bulk bins {you must have to bring your own bag} and loosely packaged items.  There are no brand names–just real, whole food with zero waste.  Rad.

Personally, I think cancelling my garbage service and having to actually think about how I was going to dispose of things made me more conscious about what I bought {food wise} and what I threw away.  Simple things, like reusing plastic bags {the raisin bag} to hold trash would have never really occurred to to me before.

Since I won’t have garbage service this year at all, I plan to continue trying to keep our waste at a minimum.  Did any of you challenge yourself to an almost zero-waste home?  What did you learn?  Did you pick up any valuable tips?

~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