Barter... Do you do it now?

Now you all realize you're supposed to report all this to the IRS???

Sometimes I'll trade favors with my husband to get something done around here...he thinks he's getting lucky....but then again so do I ;-)

I'd like to have you around for sharing conversation. I laughed out loud reading your reaction to the stump dilemna.

Sometimes I groom dogs... today I groomed a dog and got some house cleaning for it. Definitely I feel I got the best of the deal!! They were happy with their dog too though and we might do that every month. So nice to have ---- and span sparkly guest bath right before we have company and I don't much like getting to the high places to dust.

__________________
~ Carol

Indeed! If they want my share of the bag of onions, I'll be happy to send 10% along to them... the ones that are getting mushy!

__________________
Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. Seneca
Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival. W. Edwards Deming

If only everyone followed the golden rule of borrowing... bring it back as good or better than when you borrowed it.

If I borrow your tractor, I'm going to ask you is there anything I should know? like is it leaking oil, etc.? If the engine craters while I'm using it, I have to replace it.

I borrowed a backhoe last year. After hour two it started getting wobbly. Carried it home. Found out I'd lost a huge pin. $300 to replace. I went back and found THAT PIN!!! Cause regardless of it's tendency to fall out (which the owner told me about, after the fact), I was still responsible.

And like you said, labor amongst neighbors is usually free...

__________________
Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. Seneca
Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival. W. Edwards Deming

We are friends with a couple who own a 42 foot wooden sailboat (the man built himself a masterpiece and did it all himself). Well, except for some welding...

This sailboat was out of the water, in a boatyard, about to get a new paint job. In addition, there were a necessary repair to be made... The huge rudder was more or less tack-welded on. I couldn't believe they had sailed it that far and it hadn't fallen off (it was hanging on by a steel "threads" as it were). This couple are retired, on a fixed income, and couldn't afford to throw any more money at their boat. They were trying to get it ready to lease (It is a Certified Teaching Vessel...). Okay, now DH gets the call they need him to weld the rudder on securely. We had to drive almost two hours each way, in the welding van (bad gas mileage), and were given gas money. It took DH 3.5 hours straight to weld it on securely (a lot of grinding/sanding/welding). The guys called in "bomb-proof" afterward and one started laughing, saying, "The boat will rot before the rudder comes off now!" Now, pics:

Grinding...you can see how big the rudder compared to DH

Shown almost done here

So, DH finishes the job, got paid for gas, and we had to buy dinner since we had both skipped lunch to get there in time (had to be done before dark---they were supposed to paint the next day & prepare to sail ASAP after that). Great affordable seafood We didn't get home until almost 10pm, but both happy the job was well done & now weren't worried about our friend sailing back. The following week, DH's buddy came over and helped him install the roofing on our porch. He has been giving DH useful tools and supplies. Tonight, he came over for some machinist work (DH is set up for machining/welding) and brought me a large packet of photo paper. These friends have given me some beautiful antiques, a wonderful chair, a 100 yr old table, and the list goes on. They are there for us if we need them and none of us keep track.

I barter as much as I can. "Larry" the 83 yr young neighbor up the road wants to get the 2nd growth Cedar DH & he cut down (the one that was the last threat to our home/orchard...should a storm take it down). He said he would use his sawmill and share the lumber if we would let him come get it. Deal! We have plenty of firewood and sure could use some nice rough hewn Cedar... Now, a friend of mine had my list her property, felt bad when she cancelled the listing & then decided to sell it FSBO. She knew I had spent a year trying to sell it, flyers, plenty of showings... So, it was her idea to give me a laptop computer in trade. It was one her DH bought her and she didn't want it for some reason afterwards. She knew I was into photography and could use a laptop for business, too. I got the laptop (cost was $1,300) and it was brand new, not used. Another neighbor, Rodney, gave me the coolest chair ever (100+ year old carved throne style chair that needs the seat repaired). He & his wife appreciate even the smallest thing. She gave me some nice handmade chicken printed kitchen items. Rodney is an Electrician and insisted on doing all of the electrical work on my porch (it will have outlets, exterior outlets, and both interior & exterior lighting). He won't take money, but will barter for anything DH can do to help him with sometime. I got 32#s of beautiful plums and gave them back some dehydrated.

manygoatsnmore took the trip North to visit me and we bartered with each other. She brought me all kinds of nice perennials/herbs to establish a bed along DH's Shop and extra to boot (pots, too). She left with wild blueberries (what a pain to dig up we discovered together) some other plant. We were both happy with our barter.

Yes, always bring back anything borrowed in the same or better shape!

I think bartering can be a wonderful art, one I have yet to master. Yet I have my reservations. An acquaintance of mine is great at bartering, but every now & then he'll mention having an extra blender or some such simple item. If I show an interest in it, he will ask what I have to barter in return. Now me, if I had an item of that type, I'd just GIVE it to someone. Firewood, services, animals - barter away! I have nothing of that ilk, so maybe I'm just jealous. But I'm afraid I'd cross that fine line between a bartering mentality & a non-generous mentality. (I'm not accusing anyone here of that!)

__________________
I brake for thrift sales.

We traded 4 dozen eggs for an old pickup truck camper shell that we made into a goat shed. I give a dozen eggs to my hairdresser for a tip when I get my hair cut. We also bartered about 150 square bales of hay to a neighbor for some labor.

__________________
“Trouble produces endurance; endurance produces character; and character produces hope” (Romans 5:3-5).

My one egg customer trades me canning jars, pyrex, and other items for 6 doz. eggs, every 2 weeks she barters with me. My neighbor gets 1.5 doz. eggs a week and if I need work done, like I got 15 yards of soil delivered, he helped with getting it into the garden.
My co-worker wanted peaches and squash this years so she game me 10 quarts of blackberries.
I just enjoy bartering, especially if it's a family in need of eggs or fruit and can't pay for it in cash. Those people I just ask that they return the cartons to me.
I have gotten real close to these people.

__________________
Debbie



Yahweh-Raah
The Lord My Shepherd

I often trade my homemade bread for my neighbor's eggs. You guys are giving me plenty of ideas, I should expand.

I believe you only have to report a barter to the IRS if it's not for equal value.

Who doesn't barter for equal value in their own mind?

__________________
Check us out out "The Modern Homestead", a small, helpful, friendly forum. Find us at "The Modern Homestead", on facebook too!

Great point, Seedspreader! I'd say the new laptop I was given in trade for the work I had done? Equal! In actuality, it was worth what I would have been paid if I had gotten that vacant land sold. Yes, agree with Marilyn, more great ideas are coming via this thread!

I do a lot of bartering whenever I can. I have traded boer buck for boer buck and got new genetics. I have traded my bucks' breeding services for hay feeders, equipment, etc. This year I traded 2 does and a buck for my winter hay supply, delivered and stacked in the barn. If an opportunity for a good trade comes along, who am I to decline?

__________________
Shannon L. Darby
"Nature is cruel, we don't have to be." Temple Grandine

Yep, been bartering all my life--my dad was quite a "horse trader" and my 31 yr old son now would do him proud . Part of our lifestyle. My parents couldn't afford much when we grew up, but we had the most beautiful yard, the biggest swingset, arbors, the most intricate clothesline. He traded and traded, welded and built from other peoples junk and garbage. Everyone rediculed his ideas about building tractors and equipment from bits and pieces, but they worked and were very efficient--when he died, everyone wanted them. Yes I barter most of the time now. I enjoy it and so does my son--he gets that twinkle in his eye like my dad did I trade sewing and alterations for a lot of things and sewing lessons.