In the past few years we've learned some great ways to save money with trading, or co-ops. They've been so helpful to us, I thought I'd share a bit about how they work.
Trade Networks:
A couple of years ago Jared came home and told me that he'd learned about a great opportunity for us to do fun things and not have to pay a lot for them. Itex, a company that would allow us to trade our extra inventory, or services into a pool with thousands of business, both local and national. We would be given a currency for our trade that we could spend on anything from any of the businesses in the network. We've done trades before for our garden boxes, windshields, things like that. But it was limited because the company we traded with would need to want what we had to offer. These trade networks are nice because we weren't limited to doing trades with other businesses that have a need for our products.
I thought it was a really cool concept. I guess there are a few organizations that do this kind of thing here locally, we know of two, Tradia (which we aren't members of but apparently has more stuff in the neighboring county) and Itex. We've loved it and I just thought I'd post about it here because I know that some of my friends might have a use for something like this.
Just some of the things that you can do on trade: gymnastics lessons, voice and piano lessons, theater tickets, restaurant gift cards, water park passes, mini golf passes, bounce house, car detailing, car window tinting, gift baskets, printing (Christmas cards, Jared's travel stuff), pumpkin patch passes, jewelry, photography services, handyman repairs, plumbing services, electrical services, flowers (roses), Gold's gym membership, limo services (fun for kids birthdays), plants and flowers for the yard, fruit (local apples and peaches), clothes, renting campers, vacation rentals, and having photos and home videos converted to digital formats, golf, etc.
Itex also has a marketplace where you can sell anything that you many no longer need or want, much like an ebay or craigslist posting. Only you get trade currency instead of cash.
We love doing taking our kids out to plays or going to the water park. This has made those things a lot easier to do. I think everyone has something they can offer on trade. Some things are more time intensive and may not be as easy to trade. But I think we all have something that someone else needs.
Babysitting Co-ops
Shortly after we moved here, I was introduced to the neighborhood babysitting co-op. Wow, what a great concept. The last few years of volunteering at the kids' school would have been so much easier with something like this in place. Every mom has to go to the dr. or dentist sometimes. Or maybe we just need to clean the house in peace, go on a run, or go to lunch with your husband. Whatever it is--it is very hard to find a babysitter during the daytime. And it is equally as hard (at least it is for me) to ask someone else to watch your kids unless you can do something for them.
Co-op solves that dilemma. In our co-op, each of the moms takes a three hour shift. We have 9-12 shifts and 12-3 shifts. Once a week, once a month, whatever you choose to do. The morning shift drives any kids that are staying all day to the afternoon. Afternoon feeds the kids the lunches they brought. You earn one ticket per hour/child for each kid that comes to your shift. This makes you highly motivated to make your shift fun and to keep the kids happy. If the moms and kids don't want to use you, you won't be able to use co-op because you will run out of tickets. My kids are so excited to go to co-op and play with their friends. And they are so excited when it is their turn to host. They've met lots of new friends this way. I've met lots of new friends this way! And I love that it allows me to be more involved in their school.
I love the ticket system. It really motivates you to want to have a houseful of kids and to make it fun. When I have a girls weekend or a race, it is so nice that Jared doesn't have to miss work. And the kids BEG to go.
Date Night Co-op
This works the same as the weekday co-op, only we don't use tickets. We had 6 families in our group. So that meant we could go out on a date every Saturday night for free, and we only had to give up one night every couple months to host. Hosting was pretty chaotic, but fun. We didn't have any babies in our group, and most of the toddlers had older siblings to help. So it worked out pretty well. Usually not every family used the date night co-op each week.
Clothes and Toy Swaps
One of the women from co-op organized a clothes swap. It was fantastic! We earned a ticket for each item donated, and paid a ticket for each item that we took. I got Miles some really great stuff for this next year. It was great not to have to pay anything for it. All of those who donated clothing were able to have the first dibs on everything, then after they were done, friends and family or other people were able to take whatever they wanted without having to use tickets. The remains were donated to goodwill.
Anyway, I am sure there are plenty of other ways to save, but these were ones that have really helped us. If you need more information on starting a babysitting co-op, I'd be happy to help you get started!
