Bartering Services and Goods

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ILLUSTRATION: MOTHER EARTH NEWS STAFF
Bartering services for goods enabled one Florida man to trade his scissors sharpening services for a prime rib steak dinner.

Bill Wodraska shared some of his thoughts regarding one of mankind’s better ideas — barter — and offered up an interesting suggestion: “I’d like to see a continuing feature on bartering services and goods,” said Bill. “You’re on!” MOTHER EARTH NEWS replied.


Fire Wood for Legal Services

My wife and I recently completed a swap (our first, but by no means our last) that may provide helpful inspiration to other folks who are just starting the lengthy–and costly–process of acquiring a homestead.

We used practically all of our hard-earned savings to purchase 18 beautiful woodland acres up here in the Pine Tree State (on which we plan to build a passive solar home and finally begin to live our dream of a country lifestyle), and we hadn’t figured in the added cost of the lawyer’s fee! So when a booming bill arrived in the mail a few weeks after the deal’s closing, my wife and I (and our wallets) were caught totally by surprise. It was apparent that legal fees had been affected by inflation … and this one had grown right out of the reach of our budget!

  • Published on Sep 1, 1980
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