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.

Gardening in Maine – Fall Clean Up and Wide Open Spaces

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By Mavis Butterfield on October 23, 2020 · 28 Comments

Hello and HAPPY FRIDAY! It looks like it’s going to be another beautiful day here in Maine.

Yesterday I went outside with my shopping bag in hand to scrounge around for some twigs to build a fire in the wood stove. And well, one thing lead to another and before I knew it I had my pruners and a rake out there and was yelling for the HH to come help me.

Not get twigs, but to cut the scraggily brush and saplings that had come up along the edge of the of the property this year.

I swore I was done with gardening projects for the year… but well, that didn’t last long. Even the HH was like what happened to you staying in your pajamas until next spring? 🙂 I don’t know, once a gardener, always a gardener, right?

But just cleaning up that little stretch, it made me so happy. I do love a good mini project after all.

I don’t think the HH was super thrilled though when I told him the area would look much better if the leaves were raked up and hauled off to the woods.

But look at the difference… The right side of the of our little forest of birch trees that we worked on yesterday looks much more tidy and picturesque than the left. I guess that means we’ll be back out there today to finish up the project… just as soon as we take a few old lady pills that is. 🙂

I haven’t even begun to think about what we’re going to do with the rest of the yard. But with an entire winter to figure it out, all I can say is this… the possibilities… are endless, and I couldn’t be happier.

Wishing you the very best on this gorgeous fall day,

~Mavis

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Old Guys and Coffee Cans Filled with Nails… It’s a Thing

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By Mavis Butterfield on October 22, 2020 · 32 Comments

Well, I guess we won’t have to worry about running to the hardware store this winter because the house we bought came with a lifetime supply of nails, screws, washers, nuts, bolts and a ton of other manly man bits and bobs. Giddy up!

I know you are all totally jealous. 😉

Not only did we score a sweet collection of hardware any old man would be proud of, but about half of the loot was in an assortment of old coffee cans. Clearly, grandma wasn’t picky about her coffee brands. This is Yankee country after all, and I’m sure that whatever was on sale at the grocery store, was the flavor of the week. 🙂

But even more amusing than the variety of cans, was the fact that these old coffee tins fetch a pretty penny online on sites like Ebay and Etsy. Who knew? I found one listing for a set of 8 similar coffee tins on Etsy for $59.99! Who buys stuff like that? Seriously.

We’ve got nails in jelly jars…

And baby food jars…

And trays full of man bits.

I don’t know what would be faster… driving to town for a nail, or searching half the day through the various tins, jars and drawers for just the right one.

All I know is this…

The HH, he is now officially in the Old Man Club.

Lucky, lucky me. 😉

Have a great Thursday everyone, I hope your day rocks.

~Mavis

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How to Price Your Home to Sell

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By Mavis Butterfield on October 21, 2020 · 17 Comments

We recently sold our house, and as always, we learned a few new things about the home selling process {even though we’ve done it a time or two before}. It’s still pretty fresh on my mind, so I figured with the real estate market still hot in many places across the US, now might be an ideal time to sell for you and maybe I could use that knowledge to help a few of you potential sellers out.

Or you can bookmark this page and refer back to it if you decide to sell in the future. I’ve been told it’s a seller market right now, but given how quickly that changes, you could read this tomorrow and it would be a buyer’s market! Either way, here are a few tricks I’ve learned to help you price your home to sell:

Have a plan. Before you list, regardless of whether you sell your house on your own or hire a realtor, sit down and talk out pricing. Know what you are willing to take as a bottom line, and be honest about what you want or need to get out of the house. Just because you list your house for $399K because that’s how much you want for it, that doesn’t mean you are going to get that price. Know that typically what you list at is not what you’ll be offered.

Know your stuff. If you are selling your house, research is your best friend. Pull tons of comparable houses in your area that have recently sold, are pending or are on the market. Compare all of their similarities and differences. See how much they are selling for, or how much they have sold for and how long they were on the market. This will give you a great idea of what to expect.

Price it right. Be honest with yourself about the worth of your house. You might be wildly attached to your house and feel like it is worth much more than all of the comparable houses, because it’s where you raised your babies, or it’s your first home, or where you’ve watched your family grow.

Or maybe you are hoping to get money back for all of the sweat labor you put in to renovate it. Those things don’t matter when pricing your house. The only thing that matters to potential buyers is that it is priced fairly for the square footage, neighborhood, and finishes. You have to take some of the emotion out of it. If you overprice your house, it simply won’t sell.

Try the 999 trick. If you want to ask $500k for your house, price it at $499K instead. Seeing the 4 instead of the 5 could make all of the difference. It’s a weird mental thing us humans are wired for.

Price it low. I know that seems like an odd strategy up front, but hear me out. If the market is loaded with comparable homes, price yours just a bit lower {but still within the price you’re comfortable taking}. Seeing a similar house at a lower price should peak the interest of more buyers and could potentially cause a multiple offer situation.

Hire a professional. I’m all for trying to fix my dryer using a DIY tutorial on YouTube, but when it could mean the difference between my overpriced house sitting on the market for 6 months, or a house priced right selling in days, I’ll hire a professional. Do your homework here, too and find a trusted one with a lot of experience. They’ll do all of the comp legwork, and historically will get you more for your home than if you sold it yourself.

Listen to your agent, but do your homework. When your agent, who should come to you with a wealth of home comps, suggests you start at a certain price or that you lower the asking price if it’s not moving, be open to that. If you’ve hired a trusted realtor, remember to trust them! But also be familiar with the market so you can tell if they’re trying to encourage the sale of your home at a lower price to pocket a paycheck or help their time-on-market stats!

Any tried and true advice on how to price your home? Share it below.

Have a great day,

~Mavis

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Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Fig Cookies

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By Mavis Butterfield on October 20, 2020 · 14 Comments

I don’t know about you, but I ABSOULTY LOVE a cookie recipe that can double as a breakfast recipe! Oatmeal, eggs, dried fruit, what more do you need to start the day? Tea maybe? 😉

I tried out this new recipe for oatmeal chocolate chip cookies yesterday and not only did I fall in love these, but as they were cooling on the rack the HH swooped in and gobbled up three cookies in a row, and then proceeded to tell me how good they were at least a half a dozen times… so you know they’ve got to be good.

Quick and easy to make, these oatmeal chocolate chip fig cookies make a great snack or an easy meal on the go.

Ingredients

1/2 cup {1 stick} plus 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda {15 Cool Uses for Baking Soda}
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 1/2 cups quick or old-fashioned oats
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup dried figs, chopped {about 10 dried figs}

Directions

Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, beat butter and sugars on medium speed of electric mixer until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well. Add oats, chocolate chips and dried figs; mix well.

Drop dough by 2 tablespoon cookie scoops onto parchment paper lined cookie sheets.

Bake 10 -12 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to wire rack. Cool completely. Store in a tightly covered container.

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