Ask Mavis: Birthday Present Etiquette, Send in Your Pics, Growing Beets and More!

It’s that time again. You ask, and I pretend to know things and answer your burning questions. It really is so much fun to open my inbox and see the wide variety of questions you guys have. Reminds me that my readers are so diverse and pretty dang awesome. So keep those questions coming and I’ll keep racking my brain for answers. As always, please pipe up if you have any input or are knowledgeable when it comes to any of the following questions:

Hi Mavis, I have a question about birthday parties. My child will be entering kindergarten soon and from what I hear there are birthday parties several times a month. What advice can you give me about shopping for presents? How much should I be spending per present? What are some ideas for presents?

~ Thank you,
Julie

This is a tough one, because from what I’ve learned, it’s different all over the country. It’s even different depending on the school, because some schools have an all or nothing policy, meaning a kid invites the whole class or doesn’t distribute invitations at school at all. That often results in 20+ party invites a year! If that’s the case, know that the attendance at those parties will be high, and an expensive gift is typically not required. If you know any of the other parents, you could go in together on a gift, or I’d top the gifts for acquaintance-type classmates at $10-15.

If it’s an actual friend, I’d go higher in value but not necessarily cost. When my kids were young, I’d hit up the after Christmas clearance sales at Target and stock up on really nice gifts at about 70% off. I tried to buy toys or games I knew my own child would love, or a random assortment of exciting looking things I knew wouldn’t annoy me as a mom. Then I could pull them out of the closet and wrap them up as needed. It helped me stay within budget and score some nice gifts!

Hi Mavis! First of all, I LOVE your blog! It’s probably the only one I check on a daily basis. So thanks for writing such entertaining and inspirational stuff! My question has to do with the pantry and garden submissions. I see that those were yearly projects the last two years. Are you still accepting photos/stories for those series? I would love to submit some pictures but want to make sure you’re still accepting them.

~Angela

Absolutely!! If you would like to have your garden, pantry, chicken coop or something you’ve made featured on One Hundred Dollars a Month, here’s what I’m looking for:

• Your Garden Pictures and Tips – I’d especially like to see your garden set ups, growing areas, and know if you are starting seeds indoors this year. If so,  show me some picture of how you are going about it.
• Your Pantry Pics – Submit at least 5 HIGH QUALITY pictures of your pantry/fridge/cabinets, as well as a short blurb {at the very least} about you and your food habits.
• Your Chicken and Chicken Related Stories – Coops, Chicks, Hen’s, Roosters, Eggs, you name it. If it clucks, send us some pictures to share with the world.
• Cool Arts & Crafts – Made from your very own hands with detailed {and well photographed} pictures and instructions.
• Your pictures and stories about your pets. The more pictures and details the better.
• Garage Sale, Thrift Store and Dumpster Diving pictures and the stories behind the treasures you found including how much you paid for them.

If I feature your pictures and the stories behind them on One Hundred Dollars a Month, I will send you a $20.00 gift card to the greatest store in the world: Amazon.com. Go  HERE for the official rules.

In your efforts to downsize/minimize, do you ever worry about having things “stashed” for emergencies? I keep an emergency kit and try to keep our general items stocked up. I feel like I regularly waffle between wanting to get rid of everything except necessary items and having enough to keep us afloat in the event of a natural disaster or emergency. Thoughts?

~Tiffany

I went the bucket route. I have the Grab and Go Emergency Food/Supply Bucket from Valley Food Storage. Products. Not only does it come with a week’s worth of food for 4 people and some great emergency supplies and medical equipment, but they are all packed into one handy dandy bucket so it can easily be shoved in the corner of the garage. If you’re stranded, lose power, find yourself stuck in a storm, just grab your bucket and you’re all set. I know I’ll sound like a walking advertisement for them, but I promise they aren’t paying me a dime to plug them! I just like the lack of clutter and the prepared feeling knowing I have all this stuff:

• Survival Equipment
  • 1 x SOL Emergency Blanket, (56″x 84″)
  • 1 x Fire Lite Fire Starter
  • 4 x Tinder Quick Fire Starter
  • 1 x Slim Rescue Howler Whistle
  • 1 x Button Compass
  • 1 x Duct tape, (2″x26″)
  • 1 x SOL Survival Instructions
• Medical Supplies
  • 2 x Antiseptic Towelette
  • 1 x Ibuprofen (200mg) 2/pkg.
  • 1 x Triple Antibiotic Ointment, 0.5g
  • 1 x Bandage, Adhesive, Fabric, Knuckle
  • 2 x Bandage, Adhesive, Fabric (1″x3″)
  • 1 x Safety Pin

• Additional Supplies
  • 1 x Berkey Sport Bottle Portable Water Purifier
  • 1 x Gerber Multi-Tool
  • 2 x Light Sticks

Hi! First of all I LOVE your blog!! Thanks so much for sharing everyday something new with us. I have a question for you, and couldn’t find an answer anywhere. I start my beets from seeds since 2 years and for one seed planted, most of the time I have what looks like 2 to 4 seedlings coming out. Last year I tried to separate them and plant the second one somewhere else, I was not very successful but I wasn’t sure it was the reason. So my question is, is it actual seedlings, or should we keep it all together since they come from the same exact seed and they will form all together only one fruit? Thank you!

~Julie

Great question. Beet seeds are actually little capsules with two or more seeds inside. If you want to grow nice plump roots, you have to thin them. I never try to replant the seedlings I’ve thinned, though. The easiest way to thin them is to weed out the weaker seedlings soon after germination. Then, a week later, thin seedlings to 3 to 4 inches apart. That should do the trick! You can see more of my beet tips on my post How to Grow Beets {Start to Finish}.