Bartering

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.

ED3,
They have local papers around here called, "The Pennysaver"; and
locals advertise personal items in there. They assign a price
and then finagle it down to bare miniumum. Don't know if your
country does that. But that's what they do 'round here. Good luck ED! What you're going through is difficult, as we all know.
Prayers and blessings,

Thank you. We are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. whew.

This is not bartering, but I got the price of my haircut down from $18 + tip to $7 + tip by telling my haircutter that I lost my job, nothing personal, but I'm going to go to the $7 haircut place now.

She would rather have that money than lose it because it's better than nothing at all since she lost her part-time job (I didn't know that at the time). Being honest and telling her that I will come in when she's not busy worked.

Anne even with the super market bargains, food is still too expensive fore me to buy what I need to cook cheap enough meals for people to barter with me for, plus what could I get in return? The only things I could possibly barter for is yard work and work around the house. I am trying to do as much of that myself as I can.

chatty, you aren't kidding. Food is expensive, especially healthy food. I can't wait for the farmer's market to open.

Saundra, it really pays to be honest!

We don't barter. I believe it's an insult to another (especially at our market) to offer. If I want something badly enough, I buy it. The people are in business to make money and I pay if/when I can afford something I need.

Our business policy does not allow for it either.

It's interesting to read this topic this morning, having just returned from a place where bartering is essential and pretty much the only way most people can afford to live. When tourists give all their stuff away to the Cubans, we give knowing full well that whatever they can't use for themselves, they will use to barter for goods and services that they could never afford otherwise. We've seen over the years how a few scraps of clothing can be bartered for repairs to furniture and then those pieces of furniture can be bartered for appliances or materials to repair their houses.

Since many people lost everything in the hurricane, this year many Cubans bartered with the tourists for clothes. For example, the guy who takes people horseback riding didn't want money, he wanted clothes and shoes, especially children's shoes. And many of the employees preferred clothing or useful things over monetary tips. Even if they have money, they can't buy the things they need. The only way they can start to rebuild their lives is to take the stuff the tourists give them and start bartering their way back up to where they were before the storm.

I was just thinking about how my husband has often bartered with the people who call him to do repairs in their homes. He knows that many of them don't have much money, so he'll either charge them for only the materials and a few dollars for gas, or he'll barter for food...one woman from Bangladesh cooks the most amazing samosas and pakoras...he'll often do the work in exchange for a cookie tin full of pakoras!

Bartering is an essential part of life in most parts of the world. As more immigrants become enmeshed in our society and we all continue to feel the impact of this financial crisis, we'll probably see bartering become more common here (it goes on, we just might not always see it).

WELCOME HOME EAGLE HEART..
Its so good to see you back among your sisters on BWS.

If our government messes with our money anymore and the economy gets much worse, we may all learn what bartering is all about, for real!!!

Well, personally I will take all the worthless money I can get my grubby hands on and worry about it later!!!!!!

I did it again today. My car needed a front end alignment and I was quoted $48. I said I'm out of work and the going rate is $40. He said $45 and I took it because he's close and my car was in bad shape. I don't mind compromising when I'm geting the best in town.

Even people who can afford to pay full price, barter around here.
They think it's just good business, I guess. And that seems
sensible.

I'm with you Chats. I'll take all the worthless cash I can get
my hands on, too. If anybody is giving it away, I'll take it! LOL...

Saundra, you go girl. Every dollar counts!

Agree. Glad to hear Saundra has the courage to get good deals.
I recall grandma saying, "Don't be penny wise and dollar foolish."

Old saying: "If you count your nickels and dimes, your dollars take care of themselves."

Of course, I'm not as old as this saying!