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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.

Monthly Meal Planning and Grocery Shopping Trips – Week 48 of 52

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By Mavis Butterfield on · 30 Comments

Big Purchase of the Week $5.11

Surprisingly, bananas are a little hard to come by at the General store. I’m always putting them on my list for my personal shopper and the HH only finds them about 25% of the time. Also, that little bin of lettuce, it’s the perfect amount for my 2 big salads a week.

General Store – Large salami and cheese sub to share $8.5o

Crazy good! And there’s even a little capicola in there for an extra kick. 

Butternut squash ravioli from Costco. HOLY COW MAN… it was excellent {and we still have another container of the stuff!}.

The blue box. Why mess with childhood? 

The HH cooks!

And I ate leftover potatoes for lunch the next day. 

The HH also made the Copycat Panera tomato bisque soup recipe. It was soooooo good, I told him he should make it again this week. Have you tried it yet? Seriously, it takes just like Panera’s. 

The Girl came with exotic gifts from afar…

  • Fuji Apples – You can’t find them in these parts
  • Giant Potatoes – See above
  • Meyer Lemons – Seriously? See above

When The Girl makes dinner. 

The HH had a special request for his famous meatballs {in Rao’s sauce of course}.

And last but not least, our turkey dinner from last night. I was planning on making a cranberry pineapple marshmallow salad, but totally forgot I needed to soak the cranberries overnight so we had to use the cranberry sauce out of a can and I immediately regretted it. Blech. 

Also, I asked The Girl if she wanted any of the extra turkey or scalloped potatoes to take home and she was like, sure, I can take it all. 😉

Oh well. We’ve got another turkey breast in the freezer, and honestly, it makes me happy I’m sending her home with containers of food {she wanted the meatballs from the night before too!}. 

Comfort food. It’s the best thing on earth.

How about YOU? Did you end up with many leftovers this Thanksgiving? Curious minds want to know. 

Have a good one, 

~Mavis 

Total Spent This Past Week on Groceries, Bakery Treats We Brought Home $13.61

  • Total Spent in November on Groceries and Bakery Treats $174.71
  • Total Spent in October on Groceries and Bakery Treats $871.38
  • Total Spent in September on Groceries and Bakery Treats $71.47
  • Total Spent in August on Groceries and Bakery Treats $426.99
  • Total Spent in July on Groceries and Bakery Treats  $222.60
  • Total Spent in June on Groceries and Bakery Treats $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 
  • Total Spent in January on Groceries and Bakery Treats $346.47
  • Total Spent on Groceries and Bakery Treats in 2020 $4544.93

You can go HERE to read more Shopping Trip Stories

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My 14 Goals for 2020 Week 48 of 52

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By Mavis Butterfield on · 18 Comments

My 14 Goals for 2020


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

My resident handy man installed the new light fixture in the entryway and so {hopefully} his project this week will be to tear up the old tile in the entry and change out a few outlet/light switches for me in the family room so I can begin painting in there. 

Goal #2 – Take Better Care of Myself. 

The Girl arrived yesterday and so after she made everyone a plate of pickety bits, we retreated to the bedroom and watched 3 movies in a row {The Grinch, Elf and A Christmas Story}. And then I kicked her out of my room because it was 8 o’clock and I’m old and wanted to go to bed. 🙂 

Goal #3 – Get Organized

On the agenda for today at Camp Butterfield is making jammie pants {and yes, that is a YELLOW wall!}. We found the free pattern online at Trevor Loves Mommy. I’ll post some pictures when we get them all sewn up. 

We’re using this adorable lobster print fabric from Alewives Fabrics here in Damariscotta Mills, Maine.  They have the best selection of fabric and luckily they have an online shop too. Also, if you are looking for the best ironing board on the planet, I finally splurged earlier this year and bought the Brabantia ironing board and it has been an absolute dream to use. I’m still on the hunt for a new iron though, so if you have one you absolutely love, please let me know in the comment section below. 

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

Goal #5 – Master Bedroom Make Over Done!

Goal #6 – Kitchen Update Done!

Goal #7 – Install Vegetable Garden Done!

Goal #8 – Explore More of Maine Done!

Goal #9 – Host Some Sort of Get Together Done!

The only visitor we had this week was 1 lone turkey. Poor Tom. All his friends are MIA. 🙁 

Goal #10 – Read/Listen to 12 Books {1 more to go. I’m only counting real books, not cookbooks or home decor books}

Currently waiting my turn to listen to The Exiles by Christina Baker Kline, A Christmas Carol by Dickens and The Best of Me by David Sedaris. and still working my way through Chickens, Gin, and a Maine Friendship: The Correspondence of E. B. White and Edmund Ware Smith.

Books I’ve enjoyed this year:

Goal #11 – Learn A New Skill or Craft Done

I learned how to make swizzle sticks with my former neighbor and I think they turned out great for my first try {you can see the kiln pictures here}.

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

No adventures this past week, in fact the only time I left the house was for a Dr.’s appt. Have I told you how much I LOVE being at home?

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

As of this morning, I have made 5529 sales on Etsy. That’s up from 2804 on January 1st. Wahoo! My new goal is to hit 5600 sales by the end of the year.

On Friday I listed some more wool bundles and this week I plan to make two new kits available in the Etsy shop {and possibly list 3 more pillows}. 

I sold lot’s of ornaments this week and I’m looking forward to getting the kiln set up {hopefully in January or February, we just have to figure out where to put it first}. 

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

  • The HH’s current meal plan for the rest of the month: Extra Toasty Cheeze It’s {gross}
  • My current meal plan for the rest of the month: Pickety Bits and Turkey Goodness

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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 view.

~Mavis

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One Hundred Dollars a Month – Mavis’ Weekly Highlights 11/28/2020

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By Mavis Butterfield on · 19 Comments

Hello Saturday,

Check out the sunrise this morning from my kitchen table here in Maine. It’s kind of spooky if you ask me.

On the to-do list for today:

  • Clean up the dining doom {there is wool ALL OVER the place!}
  • Make a Pie and all the other make ahead foods for the Thanksgiving Feast we’ll be having tomorrow
  • List more wool bundles on Etsy
  • Pack up orders and ship them out
  • Take Miss Puggle Love on a nice walk
  • Wait for The Girl to get here

How about you? What’s on your list for today?

Have a great Saturday everyone and stay warm,

♥ Mavis & Lucy

Stories, Recipes and General Nonsense From this Past Week

Amazon has the Tea Forte Organic Assorted Variety Tea Sampler, Tea Tasting Tea Chest Gift Box on sale for $48 or $43.20 with subscribe and save. My Mom, The Girl and I all love these teas! Amazon also has the Kati Cup and Tea Set on sale for $20. Wahooo!

Small Business Saturday – 5 Things I Found on Etsy I Think Are Pretty Cool

3 Things I Am Waiting For to Go on Sale {so if you see a deal, please let me know!} 🙂

  • Yankee Candles {They are 40% off right now, but $10 – $12 for the Large Candles is my limit} 
  • Botanical Interests {Waiting for a 20% off sale whether it’s on seeds or gift cards so I can stock up on my seeds for next year}. 
  • Tall Brown Ugg Boots {My feet are ALWAYS cold. Looking for a price of $150 or less}

I’ve been craving this Fig and Hazelnut Biscotti for a week now… I suppose it’s time to make it! 🙂 

I should probably make the HH a batch of my Cashew Cranberry Brittle. It’s crazy good, have you tried it? 

And last but not least, a picture of Miss Lucy, the greatest snuggle puggle on the planet. 🙂 

Have a Wonderful Weekend!

♥ Mavis

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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.

Let There Be Light

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By Mavis Butterfield on · 16 Comments

Yesterday, rather than celebrate Thanksgiving on Thanksgiving… we worked on projects. {The Girl will be coming up for the weekend and so we’ll have all our traditional festivities then.} Mainly, the HH worked on swapping out a few outlets and installing the new light fixture in the entryway. 

Apparently it was supposed to be an easy installation, but the little metal box that fits into the ceiling {I have no idea what it’s called} hung down too low and the HH had to remove it and install a new thingamajig so the fixture would sit flush with the ceiling.

I just stayed in the other room next to the woodstove and worked on a rug hooking project while he figured it out and waited for my cue to help. 

Holding lightbulbs is a serious job! 😉

And after an hour, the fixture was finally installed!! 

Isn’t the new Moravian star light fixture a beauty!!! I LOVE the pattern it makes on the ceiling. Now all that’s left to do in the space is to remove the old tile and install the new slate floor, paint the trim, find some sort of bench, and the space will be completed. 

Putting personal touches into a home… it’s one of my favorite things to do. 🙂 

Have a wonderful Friday everyone, enjoy your leftovers. 

~Mavis

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Mavis Butterfield Etsy