Here's something you probably didn't know about Lulu Thrift. I teach yoga. It's a skill I have which doesn't make me much money, but gives me a lot in return.
Don't get me wrong: I like getting paid for what I do. But there's a warm fuzzy feeling that comes from helping people feel better about themselves that (almost) transcends the warm fuzzy feeling I have when I deposit a check into my bank account.
And while teaching yoga won't make me rich, having a skill I can share can pay off in other non-cash benefits too.
I have a fellow yogini pal who once told me you can "swap yoga for anything". She didn't mean ditch down dog for a gym workout, she meant literally swap yoga classes for other goods and services. It's a bit like the system of bartering in times before credit cards: the farmer in the village who used to trade his potatoes for having his roof thatched. Or something like that.
Anyway, back to this friend of mine. She used to teach a lawyer private one-on-one yoga classes in the lawyer's home. Her payment? Free legal counsel when she needed it. And thanks to the recession, it seems this ancient system has become popular all over again lately.
Another girlfriend had an even more stylish result on her adventure into exchanging goods and services. She made friends with the owner of a very swanky shoe store in the upscale DC neighborhood of Georgetown.
When the owner needed yoga instruction, my friend was only happy to provide it - in exchange for designer shoes. A one hour private yoga class with a good teacher can set you back anything from $50-$150, but since my friend was receiving in return a pair of kicks worth around $450 each time I reckon she came off the better out of the deal.
I am going to take this exchange philosophy even further and move it on to the next level. It's my belief that you can exchange just about anything. And in these tough economic times (oh how it pains me to keep writing that sentence) we could all use some no-cash gain, right?
If you have a skill or knowledge someone else can use, you can bet there's something you can gain in return for it that might benefit you. Maybe something even more valuable to you than the gift you are giving.
I'll give you another great example. Mr. Thrift and I share an accountant. Last year's tax return cost me only my insider knowledge of London. Our guy was off on vacation with his family and needed recommendations of places to stay and sights to visit. So I spent an evening working up a list of things to do in my hometown, and voila, no fee for 2008.
There's a pretty basic no fee site called barterbart where you can offer up your skills and request someone else's in return. Think of it like eBay for talent with no money involved. A recent search turned up a woman in Illinois who wanted to exchange her time sitting your pet for either an engine tune up for her Toyota or some Botox injections. Go where you want with that one. Another man was willing to build your Iowa deck in return for a used car for his daughter.
So think about what you know. Do you have insider info on a region or a language skill to share? Do you play an instrument or know sign language? Can you bake really well or have spare time to look after someone's elderly relative or small children? And in exchange, rather than seek cash, you might find there's something you can get in return that meets your needs even more at this time.
Strike up a conversation with the next person or group you meet and see if there isn't some mutual good you can do each other. It's free, it's good for you, good for them and great for the planet. I like to think of this as an exchange of energy, even love. But there you go, that's the crusty old yogi in me I suppose. Next I'll be knitting myself some yoghurt and wearing hemp.
