Sign up for my newsletter and get a copy of my "28 Ways to Slash Your Grocery Budget"

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

My 14 Goals for 2020 Week 36 of 52

The links in the post below may be affiliate links. Read the full disclosure
By Mavis Butterfield on · 18 Comments

My 14 Goals for 2020

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

My new laptop arrived yesterday and so the HH has been working on setting it up for me. We must be getting old because we’re both totally annoyed that you have to go in and disable the microphone and the camera {I always put a sticky dot over mine anyway} and about 10 million other things before getting to actually use the computer. No, I don’t want to sign up for this, or register for that, I just want a basic machine where I can get my emails, write my blog and search the internet. I don’t need anything else.

Goal #2 – Take Better Care of Myself. 

My sleep schedule is totally off and I don’t know how to get back to normal. I’ve been waking up between 3:30 – 4 am for the last week or so, but the weird thing is, I feel totally rested when I get up… so I get up and start my day. What happened to sleeping in until 6 am?

Not everyone is happy about it either. Lucy especially.

Goal #3 – Get Organized

September Goals

  • Finish all Christmas ornaments {about 1/2 way done}
  • Finish at least 1 rug {nearly halfway done!}
  • Pull everything together for turkey rug {drawing out the pattern today}

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

This is the tutorial I used in case anyone is interested. I decided not to make any shades for the sunroom windows. All that sunlight…. it’s too beautiful to cover up.

Goal #5 – Master Bedroom Make Over 

This year I’ve painted both closets, removed wallpaper, painted walls and trim, painted my writing desk, installed a new light fixture, plus added new curtains and rods. Whew! I think I’m done.

Goal #6 – Kitchen Update 

I don’t know about you, but I LOVE a clean {and bare} counter top. 🙂

Goal #7 – Install Vegetable Garden Done!

Yesterday I cleaned up the garden beds a bit by pulling up the spent green green plants, thinning the basil seedlings {I’m hoping I planted round 3 early enough} and pruning the tomato plants. I also planted a patch of lettuce and a row of radishes.

I was thinking about planting a packet of sugar snap peas but I think I may have missed the window of opportunity on those as they take 62-75 days until harvest. I think it was around mid to late October when we got our first killing frost last year… so I decided not to chance it and will plant my packet of peas next year instead.

Goal #8 – Explore More of Maine 

For the last 8 days the only time I have left the house was to wander over to the neighbor’s place or to walk Lucy on the beach. There have been multiple pajama days and it has been lovely.

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

We had dinner with our neighbors! 🙂 And had a yard sale. And I think that will be the extent of my social calendar for the year.

Goal #10 – Read/Listen to 12 Books 

Last week I listened to Evvie Drake Starts Over on audiobook and I enjoyed it.

Currently waiting to read:

So far this year I have read/listened to:

Goal #11 – Learn A New Skill or Craft

My neighbor got his new glass kiln {you can see the pictures here} and attempted his first ornament last week {a Christmas tree}. The timing was off so the tree separated, but he is still in the experimenting stage {the hardest and most expensive stage if you ask me} but I know he’ll get there and once he does, I’ll get to go over there are play with glass. I am super excited!!! I already know what I want my first project is going to be.

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

The year started off great… we were visiting a lot of new places adn then things just sort of fizzled out. And well, now fall is nearly here and all I want to do is stay home and hook rugs. 😉

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 4827 sales on Etsy. That’s up from 2804 on January 1st! Only 173 sales to go before I hit my goal.  It was yet another insanely crafty week. I made a bunch of redware ornaments, listed some new wool bundles on Etsy and put a few kits together.

I don’t know about you, but I am counting down the days until it’s too cold to play outside and I get to stay in all winter. Yee-Haw!

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

  • The HH’s meal plan for the month: Snacking & BBQ {out of charcoal, boo hoo}
  • My meal plan for the month: Ice Cream, Pie, Salads and Pickety Bits

*********

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

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.

Bits and Bobs for Early September – Beach Edition

The links in the post below may be affiliate links. Read the full disclosure
By Mavis Butterfield on · 11 Comments

bits and bobs: A random assortment of things; small remaining pieces and things

My sunrise walks on the beach with Lucy are getting later these days… I think at the height of summer we’d be there around 5:30 in the morning, and now it’s closer to 6:15.

People are leaving few things behind these days as the crowds are thinning out and we’re seeing more and more of the locals out for their morning walks instead of tourists. My guess is that after this weekend, they’ll pretty much all be gone.

Here are a few things I spotted that were left at the beach over the past week:

Wishing you all the best on this lovely late summer morning, have a great weekend. 🙂

~Mavis

Whale tail hooks can be found HERE.

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.

Gardening in Coastal Maine – Early September in the Garden

The links in the post below may be affiliate links. Read the full disclosure
By Mavis Butterfield on · 28 Comments

Hello Thursday, you’re looking lovely so far.  The sunflowers are blooming like mad and the fuzzy bumble bees are HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY! I hope they give the people out on a walk a big smile.

The hanging basket is still hanging in there… I haven’t fertilized it at all this summer, just watering it like mad as the basket portion seems to dry out pretty quick if I don’t stay on top of things.

Here’s the latest aerial photo of our garden plot the HH took with his drone.

With the cooler evening temps lately, it definitely feels like things are beginning to wind down in the garden.

The tomatoes though… they’re still going strong. We had BLT’s yesterday with one of our giant beefsteaks. It was awesome.

Have you grown ancho peppers before? Does this look like it’s ready to pick?

The hot peppers…. I harvested those yesterday.

And just look at those baby brussels sprouts… only a few more weeks to go.

The cabbage is getting close too.

But the thing I’m most excited for are the pumpkins and winter squash. This green one above will turn into one of those super warty orange pumpkins. 🙂

We have over a dozen butternuts growing in the back right now.

And a few baby boo pumpkins as well. Those will go on the front porch as soon as they turn orange. I don’t know about you, but I am looking forward to decorating my front porch for fall. Hopefully I’ll be able to find some purple and orange pansies at the garden center soon. Last time the HH checked, all they had was mums.

Things are changing pretty quick around here, and I’m pretty pumped about it.

And last but not least… zinnias! Their colors are so vibrant. I love them, I’ll have to remember to grow them again next year as they really do add a nice pop of color this time of year.

How is YOUR garden doing these days? Are things winding down? How much longer do you think you have until it’s time to harvest your winter squash? Curious minds want to know.

Have a wonderful day everyone, LIFE IS GOOD.

~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.

Everything You Need to Know About Garlic and More

The links in the post below may be affiliate links. Read the full disclosure
By Mavis Butterfield on · 8 Comments

Garlic is one of the easiest crops to plant…ever.  You basically just dig a hole, plop in a clove, and cover it with dirt.  It sits there in winter and then, without any further effort, in the spring, it pokes its green little shoots through.  Easy peasy winter gardening.

If “dig hole, drop clove, cover” isn’t detailed enough, then I guess I could provide a few more details.  To plant garlic, start with a healthy bulb. You can find them at your local nursery, online, or use previously grown bulbs.  Separate the bulbs, no need to take off the paper like protection around each clove.  Drop one clove into a hole about 2″ deep.  Space them 6″ apart.  Then, cover with dirt.  Do this in late fall, a couple of weeks before the first freeze.  Then, all you really need to do is wait until spring.

When spring comes, the garlic will send up shoots called scapes.  They are basically the stem of what will eventually become the flower {hardneck variety only}.  Wait for the scapes to curl twice {that’s my rule of thumb, there are some people who say sooner} and then clip the scape off.

DON’T throw the scape away–they are freakin’ delicious.  Chop them up and use them as you would green onions in your cooking–or turn them into garlic scape pesto.  When the bottom 5 leaves or so have turned brown, go ahead and dig them up.  To dig them up, dig around the bulb with a small shovel.  Be careful not to hit the garlic–if you cut the bulb, you’ll have to eat it right away.  Lift the garlic out of the dirt and remove any excess dirt.  Don’t cut the leaves off yet.

Before you can store garlic, you need to let it cure.  To cure it, just hank it to dry {leaves and all} in a cool, dark place.  One week in, you can braid the stalks of garlic together, if that is how you plan on storing it.  Allow the garlic to cure for a full two weeks, though, before you store it.  If you decide to clip off the leaves, instead of braiding the garlic, you can store it in a brown paper bag with holes poked in it–just make sure to put the bag in a place that is on the cooler side.

Garlic has about a bazillion health benefits, give or take:  It provides protection to some cancers.  It has been shown to lower blood triglycerides and overall cholesterol, and because it had blood thinning properties, it may prevent blood clots and reduce pain.

Studies have shown that eating or taking a garlic supplement daily can boost the immune system–and help cut down the duration of some viruses.  With all of the health benefits of garlic, it almost makes the resulting stinky breath seem like a minor inconvenience. Plus, let’s be real:  it tastes great in just about everything except chocolate cake.

So, grab a mint and a garden shovel and get your garlic on.

~Mavis

How-to-Roast-Garlic3
Roasted Garlic

 

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.

Mavis Butterfield Etsy