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.

Graduation Gift Idea – Money in a Tissue Box

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By Mavis Butterfield on May 22, 2019 · 6 Comments

Looking for a cool graduation gift to give this year? Not sure what to give? How about money? Because seriously, what kid wouldn’t want to head of to college with a few extra bucks in their pocket?

In years past I’ve given Money Lei’s or CamelBak Bottles filled with cash, to my kids or their friends, but this year, when I the graduation card came in the mail from Mrs. Hillbilly’s daughter, I knew I’d have to come up with a new idea. Mrs. HB reads the blog after all, and so I knew I wouldn’t be able to use one of my old ideas. 😉

And with the little HB girl graduating next week, I thought a cleverly disguised box of tissue would be a super fun gift for her daughter to receive. Because seriously, what fun is just depositing a check in the bank? This was so much more fun!

Supplies You’ll Need

Square box of tissue
Transparent Tape
Money
Piece of card stock or printer paper
Scissors

Directions:

Remove tissue from box and set aside.

Tape dollar bills together end to end with transparent tape.

Once you have all your bills taped together, roll the dollar bills into a nice tight roll and set aside. A custard dish works perfectly for this.

Write a message onto a piece of printer paper or card stock. The longer the message the better as it create a little anticipation on the gift receivers part. Using a piece of transparent tape, tape the message on to the last dollar bill in the roll and roll tight again.

Stuff 3 pieces of tissue into the bottom of the tissue box {for a little cushioning} and then carefully set one piece of tissue on top of the box over the opening. Gently set the roll of money into the tissue box making sure to keep a hold on the paper message portion.

While holding the message portion of the gift, stuff a few more pieces of tissue around the roll of dollar bills and in the box for cushioning.

And there you have it! A super cool money gift any graduate would love! 🙂 🙂 🙂

Have a wonderful day everyone,

~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.

Strawbery Banke Museum – Portsmouth, New Hampshire

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By Mavis Butterfield on May 21, 2019 · 15 Comments

Last week for date day the HH and I visited the Strawbery Banke Museum in Portsmouth, New Hampshire for the day, and we both walked away feeling like got our money’s worth {and then some} for the admission price of $19.50 per person.

“Strawbery Banke Museum, in the heart of historic downtown Portsmouth, New Hampshire, is an authentic 10-acre outdoor history museum dedicated to bringing 300+ years of American history in the same waterfront neighborhood to life.

The Museum is a place for children, adults, multigenerational families and groups to gather to explore eight heritage gardens, 32 historic buildings and traditional crafts, preservation programs, hands-on activities, the stories told by costumed role-players and the changing exhibits that offer hours of fun and discovery.

The Museum’s restored buildings and open space invite visitors to immerse themselves in the past, using objects from the museum’s collection of 30,000 artifacts, and the histories of the families who lived and worked in the Puddle Dock neighborhood to engage, educate and entertain.” ~ Strawbery Banke Museum website

A flag out front meant a building was available to tour {some with docents, some without} and on the particular day we visited, I believe 17 of the buildings were open to take a look around.

Some of the homes in Strawbery Banke were very grand and filled with period furniture and the tables set with fine china. It was as if the homeowners had just stepped out for a minute or were in another room.

How many guests do you have in your bedroom at any given time? Do you have seating for 6? 😉

Indian shutters. Oh how I love seeing the Indian shutters in old Colonial Homes. My friend Zoë {who lives in Pennsylvania} has an exterior kitchen door with an original Indian shutter on her home. Imagine if those doors and shutters could talk.

One of my favorite stops on our self guided walking tour was the Ethnobotanical Herb Garden which wasn’t actually installed until 1967 but is filled today with both medicinal herbs that were used in New England before the 1800’s, as well as herbs used by the following generations.

Wouldn’t it be lovely to walk out your kitchen door to snip a few herbs for your meals? And I absolutely LOVED how the herb border was made with vines and branches. Both are something we have oodles of on our property. I might have to try this around my own herb garden.

Pickwick’s, a sweet little gift shop in the outdoor history museum that was filled with old fashioned toys, nightgowns, candles and other treasures.

I don’t remember the name of this building but it was filled with all sorts of model boats and shipping vessels from the colonial period.

The thing the HH and I loved most about visiting the Strawbery Banke Museum, was that many of the buildings were in various states of repair. Some of the homes were in excellent condition, while others were waiting their turn to be brought back to their former glory.

Chipped paint, layers of wallpaper, exposed lath and plaster walls, it was all on display.

This was no Monticello, with it’s perfectly laid garden beds and landscaped plots at every turn. The Strawbery Banke Museum is still very much a work in progress. And because of that, the whole place has such a charm about it.

Another unusual aspect of Strawbery Banke, was that within the 10 acre village setting, there were homes and even a few shops {like the corner market above} that were from not only from the colonial time period, but dating all the way up to the 1940’s. And the reason for that, is because the Strawbery Banke Museum didn’t actually become a historic village landmark until around the 1950’s.

The area was actually slated for an urban renewal project in which all the buildings were going to be torn down and new structures put in there place. Luckily though a bunch of local townspeople stepped in and started fundraising and saved the Strawbery Banke area from being totally wiped out.

Campbell’s Soup… 3 cans for $0.25! What a deal. {Although I don’t think cream of mushroom soup is a deal at any price. Gag}.

An icebox, indoor plumbing, and a cast iron cook stove heated with wood. It’s hard to imagine none of those things were available when the home was originally built in 1795 but were available when the last occupants moved away. If only those wall could talk. All those families, all their struggles and those long and cold new England winters.

Cooking over an open hearth was no joke. I nearly had to cover my mouth with my t-shirt because the smoke coming out of the hearth was so thick. How the colonial people didn’t die from smoke inhalation during the winter months still surprises me.

Their furniture though…. You just can’t beat it. I’d take an old colonial tavern table over anything from Target or Ikea any day of the week.

No plastic here. Everything was made to last.

I can’t decide. Do you think the chair was stuffed with horse hair or human hair?

Strawbery Banke Museum, you have my heart. I absolutely LOVED the place and cant wait to visit again. I hear they even have an ice skating pond in the winter and a fall festival that is filled with outdoor demonstrations and colonial era vendors.

I know I’ll be back!

Have a wonder day everyone,

~Mavis

Strawbery Banke Museum
14 Hancock Street
Portsmouth NH 03801

P.S. They even have a small cafe with a few tables and some nibbles. {Or you can pack a lunch and eat outside on one of the many picnic tables in the center lawn}. ♥

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.

How Much We Spent on Groceries and What We Ate – Week 20 of 52

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By Mavis Butterfield on May 20, 2019 · 29 Comments

Hello and Happy Monday! Today is going to be a muggy one around here with temps in the low 80’s and thunderstorms in the forecast for this afternoon. According to the app on my phone, the humidity level is currently at 87%. Wowza.

I didn’t get to snap a whole bunch of meal photos this week because most of our meals were taken on the go in between mowing and garden chores. The past few days I’ve been working on fixing up the bit of growing space next to, and behind our mini greenhouse.

It took me a while to come up with a game plan, but after a walk around our property and finding 7 small peony plants scattered around the perimeter, I finally decided what to plant in the somewhat awkward garden space.

First, they’ll be a rock border, then a row of purple coneflower, then pink peony plants, and then at the back of the bed I’ll have lupine for a little height.

I have already planted the coneflower, the peony plants will be transplanted in the fall, and the lupine I’ll be starting this week from seed. So really, the garden bed won’t come into fruition until next year, but at least I’ve got a plan. This season though, I’ll be filling the space with some lemon queen sunflowers for the bees and birds to enjoy.

I also found some mint growing in the back. I have no idea what I’ll do with it though.

And the other project that I’ve been working on? Well, that one is going to take some time to fine tune as well. We have a really nice pond in the back woods, but once spring rolls around and the trees begin to leaf out it’s hard to get back there.

So I thought, why not line a path down to the pond with old logs and clear the path and build up the sides with our garden trimmings. Who knows, maybe in a few years all the compost will have settled down and I’ll be able to plant a boatload of spring bulbs along the side of the path and maybe even add a bench down by the pond.

Gardening. It comes with so many distractions and it never seems like you are really ever done. Once you have one area figured out, you are suddenly off in 10 different directions again.

Lil’s Cafe in Kittery, Maine. They have the best crullers on the planet earth. The PERFECT gardening distraction if you ask me. And, Lil’s makes a mean London Fog as well.

Bob’s Clam Hut in Kittery, Maine.

For date day last week we ended up in Portsmouth, New Hampshire and since Kittery is just a hop step and a jump away, we had breakfast at Lil’s Cafe, then spent a few hours checking out the Strawbery Banke Museum {I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow} and a few other spots before heading to Bob’s Clam Hut for lunch.

Clam shack season. It’s here. Giddy up!

Market Basket $78.76

While I was busy dyeing wool the other day, the HH and The Girl did some grocery shopping.

I’m not sure if they were planning on a pickled beet blind taste test or what, but I did notice they spent nearly $8 on on beets. {Sometimes it’s just better not to ask why they bought what they did in my opinion. But maybe I’m just saying that because I didn’t want to have to eat a plain boiled beet}.

ALDI $10.85

They also stopped off at ALDI to load up on our favorite crackers. 🙂

Overall I’d say our grocery bill has been a bit out of whack since we moved here a little over a year ago. We are spending more on food, and eating out on average once a week. I don’t know if we are making up for lost time {like, the past 25 years when we rarely went out} or are just throwing caution to the wind a little when it comes to buying more of what we want to eat, vs what can we get for the lowest possible price with coupons {which honestly was a lot of junk and prepared food}.

It’s kind of weird, and I don’t really know what to think about it.

We are swimming in eggs!

1690 House Bakeshop and Cafe in Wells, Maine.

Heather and I stopped in for breakfast on Saturday morning before our spoon making class for one of their handmade croissants filled with an over-easy egg, ham, brie and dijon. It’s my favorite thing to order there {well, that and the mini pear almond tart}.

And after a long day at our spoon making class, we had {grilled} chicken Caesar salads waiting for us when we got back home thanks to the HH. Wasn’t that nice of him?

This past week was a busy one, and now that summer is here, and the garden is going to demand more of my attention, I know things are going to go be crazy around here for a little while. And that’s okay. I just need to remember to SLOW down and throw something in the Crock Pot before I head out for the day. 😉

How did you do this week? Is your garden starting to take over every ounce of your free time these days too? What are you doing to stay ahead of the meal prep game? Curious minds, we want to know.

Have a wonderful day Monday everyone.

~Mavis

Total Spent on Groceries This Week $89.71

Total Spent on Groceries in May $193.35
Total Spent on Groceries in April $284.56 {My husband bought a smoker and a BUNCH of meat!}
Total Spent on Groceries in March $321.69
Total Spent on Groceries in February $220.92
Total Spent in January on Groceries $41.19
Total Spent So Far on Groceries in 2019 $971.89 {Goal is to average $150 – $175 a month for the year}

You can 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.

My 22 Goals for 2019 – Week 20 of 52

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By Mavis Butterfield on May 19, 2019 · 42 Comments

My 22 Goals for 2019

Goal #1 — Spend More Time Doing What I Love

Last week seemed to zip on by and I am so glad I took a bunch of photos to help me remember everything! 😉

Goal #2 — Garden, Garden, Garden

A few days ago I planted all my squash seeds {pumpkins, gourds, and summer squash} in those thin little breathable fabric pots I like so much and hopefully this year, I’ll get a bumper crop. Have you every grown birdhouse gourds before? Look at those seeds! They’re so funky.

Goal #3 — Plant an Orchard

Yesterday the HH moved Lemon outside for the summer. The peeps at Snug Harbor Farm said that once the evening temps hit 50 degrees, it was safe to keep her outside until the early fall when the temps begin to drop again. I’ll overwinter her in the heated morning room but for now, it’s fresh air and sunny skies for my potted Meyer lemon tree.

Goal #4 — ~~Gussy Up the Potting Shed~~ Done!

Goal #5 — Grow Enough Extra Vegetables, Eggs and Flowers to Earn $1500 at my little roadside vegetable stand.

I’ve decided to grow my wall of spinner gourds along the garden fence and on the potting shed roof this year. Apparently the vines can grow up to 35 feet long so they are going to need some room to spread out. The gourds won’t dry in time to sell this year at the little farm stand, but by next summer they should have dried out and I’ll be able to sell a little gourd craft at the stand. I’m excited!

Goal #6 — Finish Every Single Unfinished Rug Hooking Project in My Pattern Bin + 10 Things from back Issues of Magazines/Books I’ve Been Meaning to Make.

WHAT DO YOU SEE in the dye pot above? I was totally freaked out after I sprinkled some dye in the pot and saw this. My next Etsy Shop update will be on Friday, May 31st at 6pm EST and while I didn’t get much hooking done this past week, I did dye a few pots of wool. 😉

I only finished one rug from my pattern bin.

I started the year off with:

73 rugs in my pattern bin {now down to 50}
183 hooked flowers {finished 90, now down to 93}
10 “things” from back issues of magazines {finished 0}

Goal #7 — Create 12 New Rug Hooking Patterns {with at least half of them being large ones}

10 down, 2 to go! This past month I added 4 new patterns to my Etsy shop.

I am looking forward to continuing to hook up new patterns and in June, I am going to work exclusively on ONE GIANT rug so although it will be a bit of a challenge to get it hooked in 30 days {it really is huge} working on just one rug, will be a nice change of pace.

New rug hooking patterns I’ve created and added to My Etsy Shop this year:

Goal #8 — Split and Stack 2 Cords of Wood for Next Winter

Nothing to report. But hey, this winter’s wood is looking pretty good.

Goal #9 — Do Something with the 5,002 Photos on My Phone

Nothing to report. This goal makes me a little crazy. If only for the fact that I know if I had to pay to get 5,000+ photos developed at the photo mat, I wouldn’t have taken so many. Why do we feel the need to hang on to photo’s we will never use?

Goal #10 –Lose the Muffin Top

Working theory: Muffy will just fall off during gardening season. And Manny is my new workout buddy. 😉 So far I don’t think it’s working. Maybe I need to spend more time outside?

Goal #11 — Run, Walk or Crawl a 5k, ~~10k~~, Half Marathon and ~~Marathon~~

Nothing new to report.

Goal #12 — Read or Listen to 26 New Books {11 down, 15 to go}

I started listening to The Four Tendencies by Gretchen Rubin a few days ago and well, I am 42 minutes into the audiobook and not sure if I am going to continue. I don’t think I can handle listening to {pretty much} the same thing over and over again for another 5 hours. Some books, you can get the gist of it within the first 15 minutes. And others, they hook you in to the end.

Also, I need to add some more books to my reading list. Do you have any suggestions? Historical fiction and autobiographies seem to be winners for me this year.

I am waiting my turn on the library wait list for the following audio books:

Books I’ve Read or Listened to So Far This Year:

Marilla of Green Gables #1 Favorite
Before We Were Yours #2
Secrets of a Charmed Life #3
Where’d You Go, Bernadette #4
Carnegie’s Maid #5
The Alice Network #6
The Shape of Mercy #7
Will’s Red Coat #8
Bunny Mellon {Doesn’t count because it was my second time}
Walden
Finder’s Keepers
Delicious!
Following Atticus

Goal #13 — Try 52 New Recipes.

I have a new recipe I want to try. I just need to make the time to make it. Maybe next we’ll stay put and not go on any mini adventures and cook instead.

Goal #14 — Clean Up 52 Old Recipes on the Blog

Seven recipes down, 45 to go. I need to get going on this goal. Big time. I keep telling myself that fall will be the best time to do this {now that we are spending so much time outside these days}.

Goal #15 — Fill 100 Canning Jars 34 down, 66 to go.

So far this year I’ve I canned:

Goal #16 — Finish Furnishing Our House

No new furniture or even treasures from the recycling center to report.

Furniture pieces I’m still on the hunt for:

~~Coffee table for the family room~~
Console, cupboard or sideboard for the one and only tv in our house which is in the family room. I could totally live without a television, but my husband says the tv stays.
~~Long rectangular table for the craft room.~~
Table for the formal dining room.
2 wing back chairs for the family room.
~~I’d also like to decorate the mantel in the keeping room~~ as well as put up some sort of decoration above the other 3 2 fireplaces in the house. I’m not one for a lot of things on the walls, but it would be nice to throw up a little pilgrim bling on the plaster.

Goal #17 – 52 Dates with the HH {17 down, 35 to go}

Last week the HH and I headed to the Strawbery Banke history museum and boy was it ever worth the $18 admission price. I’ll tell you all about it on Tuesday. It was awesome.

Goal #18 — ~~Take One Adult Education Class~~ Done {I’ve taken 2!}

Another cool thing I did last week was take a spoon making class with my buddy Heather from Massachusetts. It was a long day, but we both went home with some pretty cool spoons. I’ll share the pictures soon.

Goal #19 — Secret {for now} Holiday Project

It’s official, I now how 2 secret holiday projects. The good news is, BOTH of the projects, are something YOU will be easily able to re-create in plenty of time for the holidays if you want to {I’ll share the tutorials in September after I’ve had time to write up the posts, take loads of pictures and create my version of the finished product}.

Goal #20 — Create 12 Wowie Zowie Party Platters

4 down, 8 to go.

Goal #21 — Visit 12 General Stores

5 down 7 to go.

So far this year we’ve visited:

Harrisville General Store
Dodge’s Store in New Boston, New Hampshire
Zeb’s General Store in North Conway, New Hampshire
Dan and Whit’s in Norwich, Vermont
Hussey’s General Store in Windsor, Maine

Goal #22 — Compete with Carole….. Get on My Front Door Game On

Mama Robin is still protecting her nest {located right on top of our front door lantern} but I did manage to snap a picture of the hanging basket I hung up last week. The HH is planning on painting the door {and building me a barn door to go over the front door during the winter months} so hopefully that spot will have a cool new look to it soon.

Front Door Bling I’ve Made So Far This Year to Compete with Carole:

Late January : Valentine Heart
Late February : Shamrock
Late March : Giant Carrot

**************

How about YOU? What are your goals for 2019? If you told us about them HERE, check in! We want to know how you are doing. Because seriously, it’s so much easier to get those goals checked off your list when you have people rooting for you! 🙂

♥ Mavis

You can read more about my 22 goals for 2019 HERE.

Have a Great Sunday!

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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