One Hundred Dollars a Month

My goals for 2017

Get 7- 8 Hours of Sleep Each Night

It was another good week for sleep at Casa de Butterfield. Yesterday especially. The HH had the day off and we slept in until 6:30. A treat for us since we usually get up around 4 am. Lucy decided to lounge around until around 9:30 which is a little unusual for her.

Make Saving a Priority, Not an Idea

I don’t know about you, but I LOVE getting my electric bill in the summertime. It makes we want to do a HAPPY DANCE because it’s so LOW. Especially since we have only turned on the A/C for about 9 hours this summer. If it were up to my husband he’d probably have it running 24/7 during the summer months. But this girl has a dream and the only way to achieve that dream is to cut down on spending where I can. Luckily fall is just around the corner {my favorite season} and that will mean lower temps and a cooler house.

Other things I’ve done this month to save money:

• The HH and I gave each other haircuts
• I used gift cards to buy groceries
• Paid an extra 4 {really, closer to 5} principal payments on the mortgage for August
• I called Comcast out on overcharging me on my internet bill and ended up getting my bill reduced by $15 a month.
• Ate yummy stuff out of the garden instead of buying produce at the grocery store.
• I redeemed 2200 Swagbucks for a $25 gift card to Amazon.
• Listened to audiobooks via the HooplaDigital app {free through my local library}
• I’ve been staying home more {lot’s more actually} and in turn have reduced the amount of money I spend on every day stuff, as well as gasoline and wear and tear on my good clothes and shoes.

Did you just read the “good clothes and shoes” comment and was like… is she serious? Ha! I remember reading a Linda Greenlaw book {I can’t remember which one} and she mentioned something about the only time people dressed up is when they went off the island. And that was how you knew they were going somewhere. Because really, when you stop to think about it, if you are a homebody like I seem to be these days {or live on a secluded island, or really just in your own little world}, why would/should I bother dressing up in my “good clothes” when all I’m going to do is work in the garden all day or work on hooked rugs in the privacy of my own home?

Maybe I should care more about my appearance. But I don’t. Maybe I’m just happy being who I am. Boring clothes, ponytail and all.

In other news… If you have a Verizon account, be sure and log in to see if you have enough Smart Rewards to score yourself a free gift card. The Smart Rewards program ends November 1st, so if you don’t use them, you’ll lose them.

Live a little

No clubbing or 8 seconds on the mechanical bull this week. Maybe next week?

Visit 52 REAL Bakeries

This past week The Girl and I checked out Happy Donuts in Puyallup, Washington. We went all out and bought a dozen donuts. We were not able to finish all of them and so we froze the old fashioned ones to enjoy later. Did you know you could do that? Yep. Pretty neat trick.

Have 1 “no spend” week each month

I did that last week when I used gift cards to buy all our groceries.

Start a Line of Rug Hooking Patterns

I was too busy this past week dying wool to work on my patterns. Although I have 8 rug hooking patterns listed in my Etsy shop, 5 more completed rugs that I need to get patterns printed up for so I can get them listed, and 3 more drawn out but not completed. I’ll get them done, sooner or later.

Turn My Wool Stash into $2,500 Mission Accomplished

It was another great week and I ended up I selling $347.48 worth of goodness in my Etsy shop and Ebay store which brings my total to $6380.32 for the year. Hobbies, they’re pretty cool. Especially ones you can make a little side money with.

Purge 250 Items Including Selling Larger Items We No Longer Feel We Need

The Girl donated 3 pairs of running shoes she no longer needed and I found 4 more books which brings our total to 240 items purged for the year. Yee-Haw, we’re almost there.

On a side note: The Girl ran a qualifying time for the 2018 Boston Marathon this summer. Qualifying well under the 3:35 time was one of her goals for this year, and we are so proud of her. It took a lot of dedication to achieve her goal and now we are all waiting for sign ups to begin in mid September. Just because you have a qualifying time doesn’t necessarily mean you make it in, it all depends on how many peeps sign up and how many of them have a better time than you do. I think she’ll be fine, but still, it’s nerve racking.

Learn to Crochet Mission Accomplished

Dote on My Husband Even More Than I Do Now.

After sleeping in with the HH yesterday, I made the most delicious bacon, onion and broccoli quiche for breakfast. I LOVE quiche. I especially love that I can freeze the extra slices and pack in his lunch throughout the month too. 😉

Lose the Muffin Top. {again} Mission Accomplished 

Wear out {most of} the clothing I already own.

Working it. And dishtowels too apparently.

Try 52 New Recipes

I posted a recipe for zucchini scones and I have another scone recipe in the works. Stay tuned…

Read 52 Books

I stumbled upon How To Be a Tudor: A Dawn-to-Dusk Guide to Tudor Life by Ruth Goodman the other day and I am HOOKED. It takes you though every inch of the Tudor life from what it was like to be a laborer to a royal. Everything from undergarments, what each class ate, what they slept on and how they lived and interacted. I’m only about half way though and I think it’s pretty fascinating.

Give Back to 12 Different Organizations in My Community

January – Donated to Quilts from the Heart in Memory of my brother.
February – Donated to Empty Bowls Fundraiser for the Boys and Girls Club.
March – Donated to my daughter’s mentor who was in a horrible car accident.
April – Donated again to my daughter’s mentor who was in a horrible car accident.
May – $100 Tip to a waitress on Mother’s day.
June – Started collecting men’s shirts to donate this winter.
July – Chew Dog Rescue

And then, there’s those top secret goals we’re not talking about yet.

• Secret Goal #1 Sell East Coast House Mission Accomplished
• Secret Goal #2 Chickens! Mission Accomplished
• Secret Goal #3
• Secret Goal #4

~Mavis

Read About My 2017 Goals HERE.