A Little Help from Our Friends

Save money by bartering with friends

Not long ago I was reminded about the art of bartering. I was also reminded about what friends are for. Friends, it turns out, are for bartering — especially when they're unemployed or struggling with money issues just like you. Friends, it turns out, are pet sitters, house sitters, baby sitters, painters, landscapers, plumbers, household packers and movers, and a host of other valuable things. When you barter, you can get a lot of value without any money.  You don't need a credit card or a payday loan, either.

We could all use a little help now and then

Here's how bartering among friends started happening for me. I had been unemployed for over nine months when I finally started back to work. Because of that extended and unplanned vacation my finances were stretched to the limit. But just before my layoff, I had been planning a four-day reunion get-away spanning a weekend. I was going with three childhood friends to a cabin on a lake a few hours' drive away. My new employer was flexible about giving me two days off without pay, but as the time approached, it was looking like a financial impossibility.

I have an elderly dog that needs a pet sitter when I can't be with her. The pet sitter was going to cost $200 for four days. Taking into consideration lost wages, pet sitter expenses, and gas and food expenses for the weekend, I wasn't going to be able to pay my mortgage when I got back from my trip, and I was ready to call it off. Kenneling my dog would be about half the cost of the pet sitter, but even after shelling out only $100, I wasn't going to be able to pay the mortgage. For health reasons, my dog isn't a good candidate for conventional kenneling, and I'm not a fan of kenneling for any dog, anyway. ... click here to read the rest of the article titled "A Little Help from Our Friends"