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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.


one hundred dollars a month

What Do You Think… Stolen Goods or Fair Game?

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By Mavis Butterfield on · 54 Comments

*This post was written on Tuesday afternoon as tropical storm Isaias was getting ready to run its course through New England.  I figured hey, I should probably get my post ready because if the power goes out I won’t have internet and it will be a pj day. 😉 And you know me, I like to be prepared.

Yada yada yada….

On Monday The Girl and I took a walk on the beach.

Remember those sandals and blue blender bottle someone left behind at the beach last week? Well on Monday there was a hat next to the sandals and blue bottle {that wasn’t there several days before!}. Odd, but maybe someone found the hat on the beach and thought the kind of person who would wear the hat would also be the one who wore the sandals? I dunno.

And then on Tuesday the HH I were walking on the beach and noticing how empty it was and how the a work crew from town was taking down all the stairs and lifeguard stations and hauling them away because of the impending storm…

And then, as we were walking back, I spotted the hat STILL THERE sitting on the seawall. The HH gave me a funny look… and then raised his voice and said DON’T TAKE IT.

And I was like WHY!? Obviously no one is coming back for it… just like their not coming back for the sandals, those boogie boards that have been sitting over there for days, those plastic beach toys, those little boy’s Keen shoes that have been set by the trash cans for 6 weeks! I’m taking it. 

And then he freaked out and said it was theft.

I just rolled my eyes at him.

And then told him I was going to ask YOU what you thought about the hat.

So what do you think? Team theft… or team… hey, it’s been sitting there for 36 hours… so free hat. Curious minds want to know.

~Mavis

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Recipe for Candied Bacon

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By Mavis Butterfield on · 7 Comments

A few months ago while visiting our local bakery/cafe we noticed they starting serving candied bacon on the weekends at $2.75 per slice right there alongside the pastries, croissants and quiche slices they normally offered for the breakfast crowd.

Well let me tell you Bob, the bacon was flying out the door, people just couldn’t get enough of it. It was crazy! So, this past week when The Girl brought us home some bacon from her latest shopping trip, the HH tested a few recipes he found and after a bit of tinkering, we all decided this was the best one he had come up with.

Let’s just say I ate SIX SLICES of bacon… and they were fantastic!!!

If you’ve never tried candied bacon before, rest assured, this is what has been missing in your life! You need to try this recipe. We all LOVED it, and I think you will too.

Have a wonderful day everyone,

Keep Calm and Eat On.

~Mavis

Ingredients

1 pound thick sliced bacon
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1 teaspoon Tabasco chipotle sauce {optional}

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small cowl combine the brown sugar, maple syrup, pepper and Tabasco sauce with a whisk and set aside.

Spread bacon slices out evenly on a lined baking sheet {we always use parchment paper for easy clean up} and using a pastry brush, slather sugared mixture over the bacon strips.

Bake at 350 degrees until crispy on one side. Flip bacon over on other side and slather with the remaining mixture and return to oven. The bacon is done when it is a deep brown color and crispy {about 20 -25 minutes total cooking time}.

Remove the baking pan from the oven and using tongs, move the bacon from the baking pan to a cooling rack {making sure to put a few squares of paper towels beneath the rack to catch the bacon grease} and let the bacon cool on the rack a good 5 – 10 minutes before serving. This will allow time for the bacon to crisp up and the sugars to harden a bit.

Breakfast is served!

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Monthly Meal Planning and Grocery Shopping Trips – Week 31 of 52

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By Mavis Butterfield on · 17 Comments

Hannaford $11.96

Last week I bribed The Girl with a free breakfast for her and a friend if she would do our grocery shopping for us and it worked! 😉 She took the bait and headed off to the shops with a big list in hand and I didn’t have to deal with the whole zombie apocalypse thing. It was lovely.

We have totally blown our grocery budget this year and it doesn’t even bother me. It’s not something I choose to worry about because seriously, we haven’t been buying or really going anywhere else this year so hey… why not spend that money on comfort things like food instead?

The Girl found a 10 pound box of frozen chicken breasts for $9.97! What a deal. Those Aidells weenies, have you tried them? The pineapple and bacon are our favorites. And more bacon… you can never have enough bacon.

Costco $385.61

I think the HH is good on cereal and chips for awhile. 😉

The last of the bakery gift card. 🙁

T’was a good week. Lots of walking, lots of house projects, lots of food, and a lot of PIE. 🙂

How about YOU? What are you eating these days that’s making you happy?

Have a great Monday everyone, stay awesome.

~Mavis

Total Spent This Past Week on Groceries, Bakery Treats We Brought Home $397.57

  • Total Spent on Groceries and Bakery Treats We Brought Home in August $397.57
  • Total Spent of Groceries and Bakery Treats We Brought Home in July $222.60
  • Total Spent of Groceries and Bakery Treats We brought Home in June $194.12
  • Total Spent in May on Groceries and Bakery Treats $256.47
  • Total Spent in April on Groceries and Bakery Treats $1083.55 WOWZA
  • Total Spent in March on Groceries and Bakery Treats $446.03 {includes a $50 gift card}
  • Total Spent in February on Groceries and Bakery Treats $416.98 {the fridge and freezer are packed!}
  • Total Spent in January on Groceries and Bakery Treats $346.47
  • Total Spent on Groceries and Bakery Treats in 2020 $3363.79

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 14 Goals for 2020 Week 31 of 52

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By Mavis Butterfield on · 9 Comments

My 14 Goals for 2020

 

Goal #1 – Take Full Advantage of Having My Husband Home 24/7

The poor HH. I kept him busy this week. Changing light bulbs, taking down bunting, replacing tan outlets with white outlets, moving things from one end of the house to the other… I don’t think he enjoys working from sun up to sun down as much as I do. 😉

Goal #2 – Take Better Care of Myself. 

Beach walks at sunrise. Check!

Goal #3 – Get Organized

I desperately need to make a list of ALL THE PROJECTS I want to get done before fall. Because HELLO, all I did was walk past our front porch yesterday and noticed the wood was faded and 10 minutes later I was out there staining the boards. It wasn’t even on my radar.

I think I suffer from shiny object syndrome. 😉 But hey… look at the difference! But now I feel the need to re-paint the white railing now because you can’t do one and not the other, right?

Goal #4 – Get Proper Window Coverings on All Our Windows. 

Taking a break on this project, but will put it up again in the fall. This is the tutorial I used in case anyone is interested.

Goal #5 – Master Bedroom Make Over {almost done!}

This past week I finished the second closet in our bedroom so I’m pretty happy about that. I used all the trim paint in that space though and realized I didn’t have any left to do the closet doors. So I ordered another gallon from Home Depot {did you know you can order paint online?} and that should be here in about a week or so.

I plan on getting started on refinishing the floors later this month {or early September} I’m still trying to decide what color of stain I want to use.

Still left to do:

  • Paint Writing Desk a Glossy Black
  • Finish the 2nd closet
  • Paint the Creamy Closet Doors White
  • Refinish the Floors

Goal #6 – Kitchen Update

All that’s left to do is paint the kitchen cabinets which we’ll do as soon as the temps drop and there is a nice breeze. Spraying cabinets in 80 degree heat just does not appeal to us.

Goal #7 – Install Vegetable Garden Done!

Last night we harvested blueberries, basil a few cherry tomatoes and a pint of blueberries. We’ll be picking green beans today and I then I’ve got to get another round of bean seeds in the ground. I think they take about 60 days so we should be fine.

Goal #8 – Explore More of Maine 

I don’t think we went anywhere exciting this past week, too busy with home projects, maybe next week though.

Goal #9 – Host Some Sort of Get Together

Does having a yard sale count? Yes, I think it does. 😉

Goal #10 – Read/Listen to 12 Books 

No new audiobooks this week {our library uses Libby but the selection isn’t that great with this particular library} but Amazon Prime just added a few of my favorite movies so I’ll be watching those this week as I finish up some rug hooking projects.

On Amazon Prime this month:

So far this year I have read/listened to:

Goal #11 – Learn A New Skill or Craft

Anxiously waiting for my neighbor’s glass kiln to arrive!! It should be any day now. I already know exactly what my first project will be! 🙂

Goal #12 – Visit 12  Museums, Historical Homes or Botanical Gardens {and bakeries too!}

Sadly a lot of museums and botanical gardens are not open {or the effort is go is too great} that this goal has sort of fizzled. It started out great, but quickly went downhill. 🙁

January

February

March

May

June

July

Goal # 13 – Reach 5,000 Etsy Sales by the End of The Year 

As of this morning, I have made 4576 sales on Etsy. That’s up from 2804 on January 1st! Only 424 sales to go before I hit my goal.  This past week I dye wool and listed it in my Etsy shop as well as finishing up the last of the  items for my next Etsy shop update for finished goods on this Friday, August 7th.

I’m hoping to squeeze in some time to get another fall themed kit ready in time for my update, but we’ll see.

Goal #14 – Once a Month Menu Planning {for 2}

  • The HH’s meal plan for the month: Snacking & BBQ
  • My meal plan for the month: Ice Cream, Pie, Salads and Pickety Bits {It’s going very well}

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Have YOU made any goals for this year? If so, DO TELL! We all want to hear about them.

Have a great Sunday everyone, enjoy the sunshine.

~Mavis

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Mavis Butterfield Etsy