Amanda emailed in the following tip:
I just had an exciting frugal occurrence and I wanted to share! My husband and I are on a tight budget as we just started our own business. This week, we had an unexpected $200 expense (not work related) and that made our grocery budget extra tight.
As I was looking over our pantry and fridge, I realized I had an abundance of coconut oil and coconut flour. I posted the extras to my local moms group on Facebook asking if anyone would be willing to trade some meat for either of those items. Today I met with another mom who traded me for a chicken, 3 packages of bacon, and 6 pounds of ground beef (all pastured-raised, grass-fed)!
Apparently she had been planning to purchase a gallon of coconut oil anyway, so we both left feeling like we had helped each other and saved money at the same time!
I just wanted to encourage other families in tight situations to remember that bartering can be an option! -Amanda
photo source
Tuesday was one of those days.
You know the kind… where it feels like you wake up behind, you feel frustrated, there are countless interruptions, and the more the day goes on, the worse it gets.
By the grace of God, I didn’t fly off the handle at anyone, but I certainly felt like it could happen at any moment. I was anxious, unsettled, and just plain irritable.
The house was messy, the kids were needy, I got some discouraging feedback on a project I’d put a lot of effort into, and I never made it out of my PJ’s.
Late afternoon, I had a conference call with my managers about a contract we’re negotiating. Since they are like family, when they started the conversation asking me how I was, they got the honest answer.
“Well, I’ve not showered today. I’m still in my pajamas. And I basically feel like I’m failing at everything in life… I’m a failure as a wife, as a mom, as a friend, and as a businesswoman.”
Overly dramatic and almost entirely unfounded, I know, but that’s just how I was feeling that day.
I want to be honest in my relationships instead of sucking in my feelings and pretending everything’s okay. Plus, confiding in true friends and letting them pray for you and encourage you can often be the best remedy when you’re having a tough day.
After we got off the phone call, instead of wasting more time and making my day even worse by beating myself up over having a bad day, I decided to assess what went wrong so I could help prevent the rest of the week from going downhill, too.
As I analyzed my day, I realized there were six key things that were major contributing factors to my bad day. And I thought I’d list them as a reminder to me (and anyone else) for the future.
So here are six ways to guarantee you’ll have a bad day:
1) Don’t Get Enough Sleep the Night Before
I stayed up way too late the night before… and it wasn’t because I was working on some world-changing project. Nope, I was mindlessly browsing the internet. I know, sooo noble and worth losing precious sleep over.
2) Don’t Have a Plan for the Day
I woke up late and tired. Without a plan. And just let life hit me as it came.
Eventually, I got around to writing out a to-do list for the day. But by that time, I was so behind it was just more discouraging than it was helpful.
3) Don’t Shower or Dressed
Yup. It’s true. I was still in my PJ’s at 5 p.m. and I finally just gave up hope of changing out of them.
So I felt gross and messy and unkempt all day… which totally makes you feel cheerful and excited about life. Or not.
4) Don’t Stay Focused
Some interruptions came my way and I let them suck way too much time and energy from me. Instead of waiting to answer that non-urgent email and phone call until I had a time block to deal with it, I let the inbox and phone control my morning — which is always a recipe for my day getting out of whack.
And it was a recipe for complete chaos and frustration when my day was already off to such a poor start.
5) Don’t Count Your Blessings
I spent too much time fretting over a negative comment someone made and let that frustrate and irritate me until I couldn’t see any of the blessings of my day. Which then, in turn, only made the day seem clouded over with more frustration.
6) Do Beat Yourself Up for All the Ways You’re Failing
This final point is KEY for having a bad day. Take a lot of time to mull over everything single last thing you’re doing wrong and every area of your life that needs improvement. It will seal the deal for you and your bad day.
So there you have it! Six guaranteed ways to have a bad day. Did I miss any points? If so, let us know in the comments.
And do yourself and your family a favor: don’t try this six-step plan at home.
I’m f-i-n-a-l-l-y getting around to telling you about my very successful one-hour freezer cooking session that I did recently.
So this Peppermint Skinny Chocolate was a winner. I was kind of hesitant about how it would turn out, but I followed the recipe exactly — including the tips the blog suggested — and it was delicious. In fact, it was so good that I was tempted to literally lick the bowl out. Instead, I scraped it clean (see above).
If you are looking for a delicious and healthy chocolate recipe, I recommend this Peppermint Skinny Chocolate.
I cut it in small pieces and stored it in the freezer and it’s the perfect treat on a hot day!
Next up, I made a batch of Homemade Energy Bites. These are the snack of choice for my kids this summer. And I love it that they are packed with pretty healthy ingredients.
One batch lasts the three kids about a week. But I can’t always keep up with the demand, so Kathrynne asked me if she could learn how to make them, too. See pictures of how her batch turned out here. 
And while I was busy making Skinny Chocolate and Energy Bites, the guys were whipping up a batch of Whole-Wheat Pancakes.
I love baking and cooking together in the kitchen as a family. And now that we’ve overhauled our lifestyle with the move to TN, it’s becoming a fairly regular occurrence around here — which is so much fun!
Recipes made:
Peppermint Skinny Chocolate
Whole-Wheat Pancakes
Homemade Energy Bites
