Are any of you gals bartering to save money? I plan to borrow a neighbor's spread to administer weed control and together we may rent a pressure washer to clean our vinyl sided homes.

Rather than purchase pine straw, I now rake it from the boarding stable - which allows the horses to access once covered grass.

I have some lawn fertilizer left over from last year that I'll also apply sparingly. I've raised the lawn mower blade to 3" to allow the centipede grass more root shade. Although I may need to aerate (borrow neighbors yard cleats), this technique also deters weeds.

What chores/objects are you bartering/sharing to save money?

Bartering --not yet. Probably because we don't know people well enough in our immediate neighbour to feel comfortable to do a barter.

Meredith mentioned that she did do it.

I've also heard of a trend for women to have home parties and exchange their used clothing with one another. There are rules on the condition of the clothing: ie. wearable, good condition, reasonably in fashion/classic. This sort of concept works real well with women who have a more fun, bohemian/adventurous sense of style.

No bartering for me yet. Not sure I would have anything to barter. This is all new to me.

Mustang,
Sounds like a great idea. Haven't tried it yet, but it's an
appealing thought!

I'm still bartering at the farmers' market, jewelry for produce. A nice pair of earrings can get me a month's worth of vegetables from one of the gal farmers. I may not be making a lot of money but I'm definitely well-fed.

If I could think of more people who'd barter, I'd love to. I'm working on trading bead lessons for housecleaning, although I think this is just a one-time deal.

…interesting word; ‘bartering’. Never heard it before.

We are desperately trying to sell cartons of my Mom’s belonging. The items range from chandeliers, Persian rugs, fine porcelain to precious costume jewellery. They are much too valuable to throw away. At the same time, we aren’t looking to make big money here either. Where are all the people looking for bargains?

I have put all her appliances, including a washer and dryer in EBAY, where the bidding starts at 1 Euro, or one dollar. No responses! Not one! We finally sold her beautiful couch for 15 Euros. She has an elegant English dining room...I put it in for 300 Euro...it's worth about 15,000€. No responses. Her single bed with the electric motor to adjust the foot and head area was expensive. We can’t give it away! No one wants her TV sets. They even have expensive holders to monitor on the wall.

We have at least 12 cartons of flee market articles, we would love to give to anyone looking for such items.! Not one call came in from the newspaper advertisement.

The salvation army took only some of my mother’s clothes. The rest weren’t fashionable enough? Whaaat? I am forced to throw out her leather pocketbooks, some never used...the list goes on and on.

I have also contacted organizations that bring goods to poor countries. They are overloaded with stuff, and don't need anything at the moment. Can you believe it?

We live in a throw away society. I can’t understand this. I would have been pleased as punch to receive some of these items as a young mother, struggling with every penny.

So although I know many people are trying to make ends meet, and bartering sounds like an ideal solution, I don’t understand where the people are when we want to ‘give’ them something. Maybe they don’t check Ebay or buy the newspaper? I don’t know,…but still, there are ways to do that for free.

Our world lives in overabundance it seems. And many young people are filled up in their apartments with things from their relatives. My own sons don't have any more room. I think that is a reason as well.

orchid, I've also heard and read about that. I think it's a great idea. I'm considering having one with my Girl's Night Out group.


meredith, you are one wise woman.

EW, I can't beleive no one can use her things in this economy. Holy cow. That's surprising. But now that I think about it, I remember Mom talking about trying to get rid of things and people not being interested becasue it wasn't nice enough. I found that odd.

Is there such a person or buisness who would go to her home and do an estate sale? Or maybe soemone who has a second hand shop that would look and give you a price to take it all away?

I can't stand the thought of good items getting thrown in the dumpster. It's horrific.

EW, are you familiar with yard or garage sales? That's how I clean house once a year and I usually make good money doing it.

We put an ad in the local newspaper, and on the day of the sale we put signs up in surrounding areas directing people to our home. Then we have everything outside in the yard and driveway where people look and gather and buy all kinds of stuff that I would have just thrown away. Do they do that in Germany?

Another idea - - is there a college town or a place where young people are starting out? Maybe they would really appreciate a nice sofa for cheap, or some of your other items.

Good luck!

Kathy, they don't do yard or garage sales in Germany. If they did, I would do one in a flash. Not all is lost;...sold Mom's tv for 16 euro/bucks today . lol

That's a good idea about the college students. I could post a list on their bulletin board. The college is only 20 minutres from us.

I am soooooooooooo glad when this is over. I literally feel burned out. Not only moving my mom, but my website is getting so complicated, and I don't have the peace of mind to take in all the lessons. I actually broke down and cried infront of the stupid screen today. I told my husband I would just love to down size and make my life easier. If we did that, I wouldn't have to work anymore. His reaction was leaving the room and yelling back, - do what you want! What compassion; Really. I think he wants me to kill myself working. Okay...maybe not really...but then again? Who knows...me just feeling sorry for my wee little self. I'm not sleeping much lately. So much going on in my head. I just wanted to vent.

Vent away my dear friend Edelweiss, we all need to once in awhile. You have your hands and heart set to overflowing right now and thats enough to make anyone throw their hands in the air and say ENOUGH!!! Doesn't sound like your Mr. is much help either, geesh!!! Just take it slow and you'll find it all takes care of itself sooner or later, so to speak.