One Hundred Dollars a Month - Page 653 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.

Penny Pinching Tip – Reuse Wrapping Paper and Gifts Bags

The links in the post below may be affiliate links. Read the full disclosure
By Mavis Butterfield on December 21, 2015 · 18 Comments

Just a friendly reminder as you unwrap all your gifts this year to save that paper {those gift bags, too!}. I’m not sure who decided that wrapping paper and gift bags in perfectly reusable shape were a one-and-done item. It’s crazy talk to me! People unwrap and then toss. Or even crazier, pull out an item from a gift bag and toss. The bag was barely even touched!

You are throwing away money, people.

And depending on how frequently you attend baby showers, birthday parties or buy presents for holidays, that adds up. I haven’t had to buy bags OR wrapping paper for 3 years now. THREE YEARS! I simply carefully fold up the paper or the gift bags after the present opening and then store them on a shelf in the closet until they are needed. I even save tissue paper if it’s in great shape!

So the next time you tear into a present, pause before you go to town on the paper. Saving that paper instead of chucking it is a great penny pinching tip!

Do you save wrapping paper? What about gift bags? Anyone save tissue paper?

Not wanting to re-gift those bags or that wrapping paper? Here are 12 Clever Ways to Re-Use Wrapping Paper.

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.

Weekly Grocery Shopping Savings Show and Tell {Week 51 of 52}

The links in the post below may be affiliate links. Read the full disclosure
By Mavis Butterfield on December 21, 2015 · 5 Comments

Harbor Greens Market $3.57

This week I found some great deals on produce at our local produce market. Each week they have a few items on sale and if I’m over in that area I try and take advantage of them. 2 pounds of green beans for $1? Yes please!

Albertsons $5.00 for 2 pounds of butter

Fred Meyer $ 5.94 for 3 gallons of milk.

Remember last week when I told you I was going to try and stay under $1,800 {$150 a month} for the year? Well I am SUPER close. So far this year I have spent $1,798.07 on groceries. That only leaves me with $1.93 for the next 9 days. Weeeeeee. I do have $5 Target gift if I need to buy some more milk but I am totally going to try and make it to the finish line without going over $1,800 for the year.

Here are some of the meals I made last week:

Cranberry Bean Soup with leftover chicken. De-lish and even better the next day. I’ll post the recipe in Janaury because there are a few more dessert recipes I want to write about this month.

Steel cut oats with a little brown sugar and milk.

Green beans and baked potatoes. Boring, but tasty.

Big salad night.

I thought I might be coming down with something so I went to bed super early last Wednesday and made the boys a heaping platter of potatoes and ham for dinner before diving under the covers. They loved it.

JJ’s Spiced Applesauce Cake. It goes well will tea. You should try it.

Butternut Squash and Bacon Saute. This was so good I have added it to our Christmas dinner menu.

Do you save your bacon grease? I do.

Sunday breakfast.

And last but not least, I whipped up a batch of Nutella Filled Cinnamon Rolls.

Simple and homemade was last week’s theme. This week…. it’s all about the desserts and side dishes baby! Yee- Haw. It’s time to break out the stretchy pants.

~Mavis

Total Spent This Week $14.91

Weeks 1-28 Shopping Exclusively at Costco $1,229.25 {$43.90 a week/$175 a month average}
Weeks 29-51 Shopping wherever the heck I want $568.82
Total Spent Year to Date $1798.07

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.

Kindle Books, Seed Starting Trays, WaterBOB, Acoustic Guitar, Free Redbox Rental, Pizza Deal and More

The links in the post below may be affiliate links. Read the full disclosure
By Mavis Butterfield on December 21, 2015 · 9 Comments

Word of the Day: Agglomeration Definition: A massing together, a cluster, clump Used in a sentence: He found an agglomeration of material hard to describe.

The. Girl. Is. Home. Wahooooooo! This afternoon I’ll be taking her to get her hair chopped off {Sniff, Sniff}. The HH was going to take her but something came up at work and now I have to watch. Too much drama for a Monday if you ask me.

Well, it’s another wet one out there today so stay dry. If you have snow at your house please consider sending me some, there’s nothing more I’d love than a white Christmas.

Peace Out,

♥ Mavis

*This deal post will be updated throughout the morning so be sure and check back for deals.

Amazon Deal of the Day for 12/21/15 – Up to 69% off Popular Tools

Today only you can also Save up to 44% on select Dyson Upright Vacuums

More Amazon Daily Deals for 12/21/15

Up to 66% Off Select Bluetooth Speakers
45% Off Merrell Winter Boots
BLU Vivo Air LTE Smartphone – GSM Unlocked – Black $149 shipped

Available Kindle Books I think are cool…

One More Skein: 30 Quick Projects to Knit $5.71
Etsy School Free
Effortless Savings $2.99
In the Heart of the Sea $13.99
Gardening: Hydroponics for Self Sufficiency Free
Handcrafted Bitters $0.99
FRANKY THE FROG Free
The End of Self-Help Free
The Good Daughters $9.99

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! 🙂

Today only Cents of Style has their Layering Bracelets on sale for $10.95 shipped when you use code – w/code LIFEACTUALLY20 at checkout.

Subscribe and Save Deals

Rice-A-Roni Broccoli Au Gratin (Pack of 12) $8.55 shipped when you clip the 25% off coupon
Dove Men+Care Antiperspirant Deodorant (Pack of 3) $8.84 shipped when you clip the 20% off coupon.
Walkers Shortbread Highlanders, 2count (Count of 24) $12.84 when you clip the 20% off coupon
Huggies Little Snugglers Diapers, Newborn, 88 Count $13.46 when you clip the 30% off coupon

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

Williams-Sonoma – Save 20% off 1 item plus get FREE SHIPPING with code MERRY at checkout.

Kids Stuff

LEGO Friends Little Foal $4.99
Munchkin Caterpillar Spillers Stacking Cups $5.99
Educational Insights Puppets-on-a-Stick Set of 3 $8.91
adidas Performance Starlancer IV Soccer Ball $9.99
Harrisville Designs 7″ Potholder Loom Kit $13.56
First Act Discovery Acoustic Guitar $38.99

Get the Disney APT Convertible Car Seat, Mouseketeer Mickey as low as $55.99 {RED} shipped. The Minnie Mouse version is $58.99 shipped.

Did you know you can create an Amazon Baby Registry? You can and they are awesome.

Plus, if you create an Amazon Baby Registry and add items, you’ll be automatically entered into the Amazon Baby Registry Sweepstakes for a chance to win a $500 Amazon Gift Card! They’ll pick one winner every week through December 31st, 2015.

It’s Back! Groupon – Papa Johns – Buy a $25 Gift Card, Get 2 Large 1 Topping Pizzas for FREE

Customers will receive three separate emails, one containing the voucher and two containing one promo code for a large one-topping pizza. The voucher can be used as a payment type at any Papa John’s restaurant and online at papajohns.com. Free pizza promo codes do not have to be redeemed in the same order. Get This Papa John’s Deal Now

Plus if you use your gift card to order your pizzas online at Papa John’s through December 27th, you can order three medium 3-topping pizzas for only $21 when you use promo code POST3M at checkout. Sweet diggity!!

Get the Carmen 3-piece Duvet Cover Set, Grey Size Queen for $55.99 shipped. I have this same bedding set in white and I LOVE it!!

Home and Kitchen Deals

Stanley Razor Blade Scraper with 5 Blades $3.79 shipped
AmazonBasics Adjustable Jump Rope $4.99
RAVPower iSmart Technology 40W 4-Port USB Charging Station $11.99
AmazonBasics 14-Inch Laptop and Tablet Bag $11.99

Luxury 100% Ringspun Cotton Bath Mat, Luxury Size 2-Pack $13.99
Etekcity Digital Body Weight Bathroom Scale, 400lb $15.88
Set of 3 Pre-Seasoned Cast Iron Skillets $21.65 {Awesome Deal}
Grow Light System with Stand Rack for Seed Starting, 4-Feet $52.95 shipped
Signature Sleep Essential 6-Inch Twin Mattress, White $80.17 shipped

Grandma’s Cherry Cola Jello Salad is a hit with kids and adults alike around the dinner table. Get the recipe HERE or Pin it for Later. Find more side dish recipes perfect for your holiday feast on my Side Dish Recipes Pinterest Board.

Get the Cabela’s Deluxe 10-Tray Dehydrator on sale for $109.99 shipped {was $189!!} Plus if you order by December 24th you’ll also score $20 Cabela’s Bucks when you spend $100 or more.

Photo Deals:

VidPro Gripster Flexible Compact Camera Tripod $5.69
SanDisk 32GB Class 4 SDHC Memory Card $8.95 {AWESOME Price}
SanDisk Extreme 32GB UHS-I/U3 SDHC Memory Card $19.90
AmazonBasics 60-Inch Lightweight Tripod with Bag $23.49
Photography Photo Portrait Studio $49.50 shipped
Nikon Coolpix Point and Shoot Digital Camera with 5x Optical Zoom$88.10 shipped
Canon EOS Rebel T5 Package $549.95 shipped {I use this one}.

Pop on over to Driscolls.com to enter their Pie Lovers Sweepstakes for your chance to win a 1 year supply of fresh berries, An Artisan Le Creuset Holiday Pie Gift Set and Kate Lebo’s Book Pie School. 3 People will win!!!

REI Outlet Deal of the Day – Airhead CHAOS Inflatable Snow Toboggan $19.73 {was $49.99}. REI also has the REI FLASH 18 PACK on sale for $19.99 {was $34.50}.

This waterBOB Emergency Drinking Water Storage {100 Gallons} would make a great addition to your Emergency kit!!! It Stores up to 100 gallons of water for emergency use and has excellent reviews.

Add on Items

Little Boys’ Five Panel Camo Baseball Cap $4.82
Fisher-Price Brilliant Basics Baby’s First Blocks $6.28
Folkmanis Mini Winged Piglet Finger Puppet $6.34
RiverRidge 2pc Soft Storage Bins $6.49
16″ Round Dog or Cat Bed Lazy Cup $6.53
Shark Mania Board Game $6.75
72 Cell Grower Starter Kit With Dome $7.61

*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}.

Botanical Interests is offering FREE SHIPPING on all orders over $40 through December 24th. {Excludes HI & AK}. See all the seeds I typically order for my garden HERE.

All wrapped up and ready to go… Amazon gift cards make the best gifts. FREE 1 Day shipping and lot’s of styles to choose from too.

Today Only The Home Depot is offering UP TO 40% OFF SELECT KWIKSET DOOR LOCKS & HANDLESETS

Today only 12/21/15 use code HOLIDAY at Redbox.com or on the mobile app to score a FREE DVD rental.

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.

Downton Abbey Countdown Continues…

The links in the post below may be affiliate links. Read the full disclosure
By Mavis Butterfield on December 20, 2015 · 11 Comments

We are only two weeks away people! How is the binge watching going? Have you completely tossed aside child-rearing, cleaning the house, and basic hygiene in order to catch up on the previous 5 seasons? Good! {Remember, they are totally FREE to stream for Prime members.}

In anticipation, I’ve decided to throw you some basic fun facts {fun is relative} about Downton Abbey, and its inhabitants. No need to thank me, just know that I do this for you:

Did you know just 100 years ago, 1.5 million people were employed as servants? Yep, yep, I would not lie.
Ever wonder why the actress, Elizabeth McGovern, that plays Cora Crawley looks so familiar? Well, she had a pretty successful career in America before relocation to England. She played opposite Kevin Bacon in the 80’s classic, She’s Having a Baby, and was nominated for an Academy Award for her role in Ragtime. She even kissed Brad Pitt {we have that in common} in her movie, The Favor.
Before landing the role as Edith, actress Laura Carmichael was working as secretary in a doctor’s office.
By season 3, Downton Abbey was the MOST watched series in the world. Pretty impressive.
The actress who plays Lady Mary actually has too “blue collar” of an accent to play her role, so she had to work extensively to fix it.
Each episode costs between 1 and 1.6 million dollars to make. Holy. Buckets.
Hugh Bonneville {Robert Crawley} and Elizabeth McGovern {Cora Crawley} have played on-screen spouses before in a BBC series called Freezing.
The servants quarters of the show are all in a studio, and not filmed in the actual Highclere Castle.
The grandmother, Violet Crawley, is the best character. That is not an opinion, it’s fact. Look it up.
Gillian Anderson from the X-Files was originally offered the role of Cora Crawley.

Okay, now get back to watching those first 5 seasons! Remember, season 6 premiers January 3rd on PBS.

~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.