EDIT: Sorry, I meant to post this in the Casual Talk section. Will try to get it moved.
I have been living on a shoestring since 1992 and have to watch my spending and stay out of debt. One help is barter -swapping things you can do without for things that you need.
Last week my long-suffering wife told me that she could no longer cut my hair due to arthritis in her shoulder, and that I would have to go to a barber. For most of our long married life, we lived 30 miles from the nearest barber shop, so she cut my hair each week from the day we were married. Then we moved to town when I got unable to do physical work.
I started looking around for a barber shop and could not find one. Since the last time I had been in a barber shop, they now are called salons or stylists, with both women and men customers, and I was afraid to go in one of those- wouldn't know how to act!
I finally found what looked like a barber shop out on the edge of town. It looked run-down, and the barber pole was missing (later I found out somebody had stolen it). I went in and the place was dark as a tomb. I thought the barber was closing up, but he said no, his lights had just gone out and he didn't know how he would ever afford an electrican to fix them. I looked around and said maybe I could fix them if he would cut my hair. So we traded. I got a haircut, the best I had in the past 50 years! Then I went home and dug out my old electrician tool pouch and went back and traced down his problem. One of the wires in a switch box had slipped out of the wirenut. I put it back and got his lights on. He was happy, and said that he had some other electrical items, if I wanted to trade for more haircuts. I will probably go back next week for another free haircut and some more work.
How much do you use barter, and how do you handle reporting it on your tax returns?
I have been living on a shoestring since 1992 and have to watch my spending and stay out of debt. One help is barter -swapping things you can do without for things that you need.
Last week my long-suffering wife told me that she could no longer cut my hair due to arthritis in her shoulder, and that I would have to go to a barber. For most of our long married life, we lived 30 miles from the nearest barber shop, so she cut my hair each week from the day we were married. Then we moved to town when I got unable to do physical work.
I started looking around for a barber shop and could not find one. Since the last time I had been in a barber shop, they now are called salons or stylists, with both women and men customers, and I was afraid to go in one of those- wouldn't know how to act!
I finally found what looked like a barber shop out on the edge of town. It looked run-down, and the barber pole was missing (later I found out somebody had stolen it). I went in and the place was dark as a tomb. I thought the barber was closing up, but he said no, his lights had just gone out and he didn't know how he would ever afford an electrican to fix them. I looked around and said maybe I could fix them if he would cut my hair. So we traded. I got a haircut, the best I had in the past 50 years! Then I went home and dug out my old electrician tool pouch and went back and traced down his problem. One of the wires in a switch box had slipped out of the wirenut. I put it back and got his lights on. He was happy, and said that he had some other electrical items, if I wanted to trade for more haircuts. I will probably go back next week for another free haircut and some more work.
How much do you use barter, and how do you handle reporting it on your tax returns?
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