One Hundred Dollars a Month - Page 916 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.

The Next Generation of Farmers

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By Mavis Butterfield on February 26, 2015 · 10 Comments

I was so happy to read an article on NPR the other day about America’s next generation of farmers. Apparently, over the past several years, there has been a sharp decline in the amount of people choosing to become farmers. According the article, the average age of America’s farmers is 58.3. As farmers have aged, young people have not chosen to follow in their path. There has been a bit of mounting concern that as farmers age and retire, no one would be there to take their place. Luckily, in areas like Maine, there has been an upward trend in the amount of young people choosing to start small scale farms. In Maine alone, “farmers under the age of 35 have increased by 40 percent.” That’s good news for those of us that like to, well, eat. Until now, it appeared the smaller scale farms would be swallowed up by big business agriculture.

The article mentioned that one of the things stopping would-be farmers from getting into the food growing business is the price of land. It take a lot of seed money {pun intended} just to get started, and let’s face it, you don’t go into farming for the money.

Still, I love that being a farmer is making a comeback–even if the numbers are still small. In an age where technology is everything, it’s nice to know that some people are still going back to their roots–literally. Knowing how to grow our own food, and/or having local sources to get it from means we have more control over what and how we grow/eat. Which, I think is a pretty good thing.

I totally think I could be a small scale farmer, if my circumstances were different. I really hope more people start to see the value in it.

~Mavis

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2 FREE Starbucks Drinks, Free Kindle Books, Mandolin Slicer, Meow Mix Coupons and More

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By Mavis Butterfield on February 26, 2015 · 3 Comments

Word of the Day: Brackish Definition: Salty, distasteful Used in a sentence: He could not drink the brackish water.

I’m headed to the East Coast today!!! Wahoooooo. Hopefully the roads will be fine and there won’t be too much ice on the roads. I wonder what my garden looks like and how many inches of snow it’s under. I’m excited! I plan on sharing pictures tomorrow.

Have a great Thursday everyone,

♥ Mavis

Amazon Gold Box Deal of the Day – Up to 70% Off Select Samsung NX Digital Camera Sale

Amazon Bonus Deal of the Day – 30% Off Blu Studio 6.0 HD Unlocked Smartphones

Back in Stock! Amazon has the 3-pack of Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day Liquid Dish Soap on sale for $10.23/$3.41 each shipped when you use the subscribe and save option at checkout. Choose between basil, lemon or lavender. {The basil soap smells divine!}

*Keep in mind you can cancel your Subscribe and Save membership at anytime. To cancel or change your items, simply click on “My Account” and then click on “Subscriptions.” You can easy peasy modify or cancel any of your Subscribe and Save items at anytime, no obligation at all.*

There’s a bitter chill sweeping across the nation right now. A toasty warm fire sounds pretty awesome right about now. Check out How to Store and Dry Firewood. Find more cool projects on my DIY Pinterest Board.

Get 2 FREE Starbucks Drinks via Zulily today!!!

Simply use the link on THIS PAGE to join My Starbucks Rewards and opt in to receive email from Starbucks. You’ll receive two emails within two weeks containing redemption instructions.New to Zulily? Go HERE to Sign Up. Then HERE for your FREE Drinks.

Calling all Brook’s Beasts… 6pm is having a huge Men’s and Women’s Brook’s Sale with everything from clothing to shoes on sale. You don’t want to miss this!

Discount Mags is offering a 1 year subscription to Running Times Magazine for only $5.99 a year when you use code MAVIS at checkout. This deal will expire tonight 2/26/15 at midnight EST.

Amazon has the 12-Piece T-fal Signature Nonstick Thermo-Spot Heat Indicator Cookware Set on sale for $70 shipped ans the reviews are great!!

Amazon also has the Norpro Mandoline Slicer Grater with Guard on sale for $17.77! This is the one I have and it ships for FREE with Amazon Prime.

This Butternut Squash with Spinach and Pasta was the first time I’d tried {and loved} butternut squash in pasta. I totally didn’t regret it. Get the recipe HERE or Pin it for Later. Find more recipes on my Pasta Pinterest Board.

REI Outlet Deal of the Day – Canari Radiator Pro Vest

Check out these New Printable Coupons:

Find More Printable Coupons

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Giveaway: $50 Target Gift Card from GiftCardRescue.com

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By Mavis Butterfield on February 25, 2015 ·

If someone told you you could easily save up to 35% off things you buy everyday without a coupon or coupon code, wouldn’t you jump at that chance? That’s exactly what GiftCardRescue.com does!

GiftCardRescue.com sells gift cards at a discount from over 400 major retailers, including Visa, American Express, Walgreens, CVS, Costco, Subway, Amazon, and T.J. Maxx. They also provide the easiest and fastest way to get rid of unwanted gift cards. So if you have unused or partially used gift cards piling up and gathering dust, you can turn them into cash and get up to 92% cash back! How awesome is that?

If you go out to eat a lot, GiftCardRescue.com is for you. If you love to shop for clothes, GiftCardRescue.com is for you. If you ever travel or go to movies, GiftCardRescue.com is for you. If you ever buy, food, toiletries or household goods {so that is pretty much every last one of you!}, GiftCardRescue.com is for you.

I’ve personally used this site and have really loved it. The site was simple to navigate, I found an awesome deal on the gift card I was looking for {I saved about $10 off!}, and it shipped quickly. Hello Christmas and birthday gift card giving at a discount! I was also able to choose the cards specific to what I was looking for that they were currently sold out of and add them to my “wish list,” and they emailed me when they had them for sale again. So I was able to quickly click over and get exactly what I was looking for.

You can buy and sell gift cards with confidence. Here’s why:

Fast payment for gift cards sold
Best-in-Class Gift Card Exchange
100% Money Back Guarantee
Great Customer Service
Free shipping on all gift card purchases under $500

And just in case you weren’t totally convinced GiftCardRescue.com is awesome, they are giving away a $50 Target gift card to one lucky reader!

Enter HERE for a chance to win a $50 Target Gift Card.

Do not leave a comment below to enter, you must follow THIS LINK.

This giveaway ends Sunday, March 8th, 2015 at 6pm PST and the winners will be announced in the Monday March 9th, 2015 edition of Mornings with Mavis. You will be notified via email and have 48 hours to claim your prize.

Good Luck. I hope you win.

Peace Out Girl Scouts!

♥ Mavis

*GiftCardRescue.com provided me a used gift card to try out, but the opinions in this post are 100% mine! If I tried them and hated them, you wouldn’t see a review anywhere near my site. Integrity people!*

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.

Stocking a Dry Goods Staple Pantry

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By Mavis Butterfield on February 25, 2015 · 13 Comments

I get a lot of questions about how to start cooking from scratch, and what to have on hand in your pantry/kitchen. Cooking from scratch requires an inventory of basic items that you will use over and over again in a lot of your recipes, in addition to more frequently purchased fresh/frozen produce and/or proteins. I decided that the easiest way to tell you how to start a staple pantry is give you a basic list of dry goods.

Stocking a staple pantry kind of depends on HOW you eat as a family, so keep in mind that you may have to tweak the list if you avoid certain foods {i.e. glutens, sugars, animal products, etc.} due to dietary choices and/or restrictions.

For your pantry, here are the basic must-haves:

Sugar
Brown sugar
Flour
Baking powder
Baking soda
Salt
Shortening {or butter in the fridge if you prefer}
Cornstarch
Powdered sugar
Rolled oats
Honey
Chocolate Chips
Cocoa powder
Vanilla
Yeast
Peanut butter
Oil of your choosing {vegetable, canola, avocado, etc.}
Olive oil
Chicken/Vegetable/Beef Broth
Tomato Paste
Canned Tomatoes
Red Wine Vinegar
Rice {your choice}
Pasta {your choice}
Canned or Dried Beans {black, kidney, pinto…whatever your family prefers}
Maple Syrup {I prefer the real stuff, but it’s up to you}

Spices {this list can be tailored to personal preferences, obviously}

Garlic Powder
Salt
Pepper
Cinnamon
Chili Powder
Oregano
Cumin
Allspice
Nutmeg
Rosemary
Thyme
Bay leaves
Basil
Red pepper flakes

There are, of course, more items that I personally would always have on hand, but this is a pretty general starting point. With this list, you would be pretty good to go with most basic recipes.

If any of you are just starting to cook from scratch, I would love to hear from you in the comments section. I was kind of tossing around the idea of making a list for basic kitchen cookware and utensils, fridge must-haves, etc. Would any of you be interested in those kind of lists?

~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.