In this economic climate, bartering has been making a comeback. Bartering is the basic swapping of goods for services, goods for goods or services for services. Its that simple. And yet many people are hesitant to approach someone about bartering opportunities.
With some basic bartering know-how and a little gumption, you could save your family thousands of dollars each year by bartering just about anything!
Bartering doesn’t have to be complicated
Barter with your garden's bounty!
Maybe your neighbor has a beautiful crop of tomatoes while your peppers are your stellar crop this year. Why not offer a swap?
Not a baker? No one has to know if you barter for yummy homemade desserts.
Does your friend make the best pies in three counties but her homemade bread flops every time while your pies are a kitchen fail but you bake bread like you’re Sara Lee? Why not swap out some pies for a few loaves of bread? Or some of your homegrown eggs for your neighbors homegrown sausage? Bartering and homesteading are perfect matches!
Bartering Services
Bartering services has become wildly popular again.
You'll find more people willing to barter than you expect in your local community.
Now, bring it back down to your local community. Maybe your hairdresser needs her roses pruned and your husband has the know how to do that? Barter his services for free haircuts! Why pay for something totally when you can barter to absorb some of the costs associated with services you need?
Bartering for babysitting? Absolutely.
What about swapping babysitting duties with a friend so you can each do your Christmas shopping without kids in tow? Put those babysitter costs toward gifts (or think of it as a deposit into your “sanity bank account” and stop by Starbucks)!
What are you waiting for? Take the step and approach someone about a bartering opportunity today! You can save your family some money, get some great local goods or services and build your community, one barter at a time! Not only that, in crisis situations, it never hurts to have invaluable bartering items such as these on hand.
Have you ever bartered? Do you have any tips for our readers?
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Love the article. I grew up in a farming community and bartering was very common. My father was a farm mechanic and he very often came home from a farmers field with a bucket of navy beans or a burlap bag of potatoes. My favorite thing he was paid in was the time he came home with a full blooded german shepherd puppy! My mom wasn’t so happy though. I wonder if the government is working on a way to tax bartered goods though?