Tag Archives: Bartering

Money Alternatives

A concern expressed by many people in these challenging economic times is that they just don’t have enough money to take care of their needs. While the supermarket tabs and the utility bills are constantly rising, the income amount remains static. It may therefore be difficult for the average person to find practical ways to get more money to offset this perpetual shortfall.

It seems that our lives are consumed by the never-ending pursuit of money. Employees work at jobs they dislike to receive a pay cheque; business owners sacrifice family and leisure time to increase profits; dishonest persons design schemes to acquire ill-gotten gains; and the authorities raise taxes to increase the flow into government’s coffers.

This financial reality led me to consider our need for money. The quotation from the hit musical Cabaret, “money makes the world go ’round” is very appropriate, as it almost feels like the Earth would grind to a screeching halt without the fuel of funds to keep it moving. How did money become such a central and indispensable part of our existence? Continue reading Money Alternatives

Back to the Basics of Bartering

Our current economic system has socialised us to exchange a form of money – whether cash or credit – to receive goods and services. Unfortunately, whenever we run short of this precious monetary commodity, we’re unable to obtain the things that we need or want.

In these times when finding extra cash is definitely challenging, we have to become creative if we want to maintain our standard of living. There really is no shortage of the items that we need in the marketplace; the problem lies with our inadequate supply of money to pay for them.

What if there was another way to get products and services without having to spend money?

In olden times before a system of monetary exchange evolved, people were able to acquire the things they needed to survive, by exchanging an item they already had with other people’s goods. Continue reading Back to the Basics of Bartering