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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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Spinach Pasta Salad with Black Olives and Peppers

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Spinach Pasta Salad with Black Olives and Peppers

I bought a big fat bottle of Olive Garden Signature Italian dressing at Costco a couple of months ago. So when I was staring at a box of bowtie pasta in my pantry trying to think of a good side dish for dinner, I decided to put that dressing to work. I tossed in some peppers, olives and a little cheese and whipped up a pretty tasty and simple side dish if you ask me. Monkey Boy and the HH loved it. I might have had to stop myself from sneaking bites out of the fridge before dinner. It was a yummy mix of flavors!

spinach

Ingredients

12 oz bowtie pasta
6 oz spinach, chopped
3 oz {about 3/4 cup} grated Parmesan cheese
1 red pepper, chopped
1 {15 oz} can black olives, drained and sliced
1 cup Italian dressing {I used Olive Garden}
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Prepare pasta per al dente box instructions, rinse under cold water and drain. In a large mixing bowl, combine the pasta, spinach, cheese, red peppers and olives.
Pour dressing over salad and toss to combine. Salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate for an hour or so and serve chilled. Enjoy!

Spinach Pasta Salad with Black Olives and Peppers

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.

Halloween Craft – Toilet Paper Pumpkin

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Toilet Paper PumpkinOkay, so I know toilet paper crafts aren’t at the top of your to-do list, but this one should be.  It takes a couple of minutes to throw together, and you probably have everything you need lying around the house.  The kids will love it–because what kid doesn’t love secretly knowing that their craft is made from toilet paper {it’s toilet humor that kids always seem to get a kick out of}.

Halloween Craft - Toilet Paper Pumpkin

You’ll Need:

Full roll of toilet paper
1/2 sqaure yard of orange fabric
Brown paper bag {lunch bag sized}
Green pipe cleaner

Halloween Craft - Toilet Paper PumpkinDirections:

Lay out the square of fabric and set the roll  of toilet paper in the center of the fabric.  Fold the fabric up over the toilet paper and stuff it into the cardboard tp roll.  Now cut the paper bag in 1/2 and roll it up.  Stick it into the tp hole.  This should be enough to keep everything securely fastened around the toilet paper. Wrap one end of the pipe cleaner through the hole punched leaf, and tuck the other into the tp ring, along with the bag and fabric.  You can get fancy with the pipe cleaner and give it a twist or two, if you like.

Toilet Paper Pumpkin

That’s it, you’re finished.  You can officially consider yourself Halloween crafted.

~Mavis

Toilet Paper Pumpkin

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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Waking Up Is Hard To Do: Why You Shouldn’t Hit the Snooze Button

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Why You Should not Hit the Snooze Button

Yesterday on Facebook I shared this:

“My son has overslept {again} and I’m trying to decide if I should wake him up so he’s not late for work, or let him deal with the consequences. This is not the first time this has happened {or the second, or the third}. What would you do?”

I didn’t wake him… but when he finally woke up he was showered, dressed and out the door in 19 minutes all without being late for work. So while I am putting this alarm clock on Christmas list, I decided to look into some tips for getting yourself out of bed on time. Here’s what I found:

Don’t hit snooze. Numerous studies have proven that hitting the snooze button only makes waking up even harder. Your body needs some time to get you ready to wake up. When you hit the snooze button and let yourself go back to sleep, your body thinks you are doing just that and gets confused. So when the alarm goes off again, your body and brain are taken by surprise, resulting in that groggy, fuzzy-headed feeling called sleep inertia. The more you snooze, the more confused your body and brain gets. So avoid that snooze button!

Put the alarm on the other side of the room. If you have to physically get out of bed to turn it off, you are so much less likely to crawl back into bed.

Make it a routine. Set your alarm for the same time every single morning. Your body will get into a routine and begin to automatically wake at that time. It’s called wake training. I know it’s tempting to sleep in when you can, but if you consistently do it, you’re going to break your body’s sleep habit.

Let the light shine in. If it’s possible and you have access to natural sunlight, open all the blinds and let that flood your room. Natural light does all sorts of good for our bodies, but bright light for an hour or two once you wake up can also help set your body clock to accept your wake up time. Who knew?

Get enough sleep. Speaking of routines, you need to figure out how much sleep your body needs. I can fully function on much less than 8 hours of sleep, but so many people need more. Keep track of how many hours of sleep you must get to feel rested. And then try to rearrange your schedule to carve out that much sleep each night.

Take some melatonin. Your body naturally makes melatonin to stimulate your sleep. If you are really struggling to get quality sleep. You can take a melatonin supplement to help re-orient your body clock. Try a very small does about 5 hours before bedtime and see if that helps.

Do you have any tips that help you drag yourself out of bed easier?

~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.

Kindle Books, Packing Tape, Smartwool, Loom Kit, Free Magazines and More

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temporizeWord of the Day: Temporize Definition: To delay, to yield to current opinion, to comply with time and occasion  Used in a sentence: The senators wisely refused to temporize.

lucy the puggle dog

Lucy, her royal puggle would like to wish you a marvelous Tuesday. She is requesting you HUG SOMEONE today. Just for the heck of it. It could be a random stranger, someone you love, or the lady at the checkout line who looks like she’s having a horrible day.

Life.Is.Good.

You are ALIVE.

♥ Mavis

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

cat necklance

Amazon Daily Deals {Today Only and While Supplies Last}

PicMonkey Collage

Available Kindle Books I think are cool…

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! 🙂

fire tablets

Kindles start at $49.99 shipped!

simply organic gravy mix

Subscribe and Save Deals

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

12 Ways to Organize Your Kitchen

Just because it’s not January doesn’t mean you can’t start setting some “get organized” goals and get them marked off your list before the holidays! These 12 Ways to Organize Your Kitchen should help! Find more cool ideas on my Organization Pinterest Board.

levi original 501 jeans

Check out the Levi’s Lowest Prices of the Season Sale with prices starting at $36.99 shipped!

better homes and gardens buffet

Walmart has the Better Homes and Gardens Autumn Lane Black Buffet For 55″ TVs on sale for $60.54 shipped {was $164}.

pyrex set

Get the Pyrex Easy Grab 6-Piece Glass Bakeware and Food Storage Set on sale for $11.55!! This ships FREE with Amazon Prime. {Get Prime FREE for 30 Days}.

Sherpani Chloe LE Shoulder Bag

REI Outlet Deal of the Day Sherpani Chloe LE Shoulder Bag $21.73 {was $48.95} . I LOVE THIS BRAND and I own the tablet version of this bag and love it to bits!!! Find More Sherpani Bags on Sale.

smartwool knee highs

6pm has Smartwool Socks on sale for $9.99 a pair!

amazon prime free magazine subscription

Attention Amazon Prime Members…. Through October 14th, 2015  you can get a boatload of FREE 4- Month Magazine Subscriptions! Go HERE for the details.

beeswax bars

Home and Kitchen Deals

Granola-with-Walnuts-Pumpkin-Seeds-and-Mango1

If you’re looking for the perfect way to use up those pumpkin seeds, this Granola with Walnuts, Pumpkin Seeds and Mango is it! {Pin for Later} Find more recipes on my Pumpkin/Squash Pinterest Board.

cabelas vacuum sealer

Cabela’s has their Cabela’s Pro-Elite Vacuum Sealer on sale for $169.99 shipped {use code HARVEST at checkout}. This vacuum sealer normally sells for $249.99!

pinched bed set

Get the Carmen 3-piece Duvet Cover Set, Grey Size Queen for $61.99 shipped. I have this same bedding set in white and I LOVE it!!

potholder loom set

Baby and Toy Deals

old mother hubbard dog treats

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}. 

funsize candy 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.

Mavis Butterfield Etsy