To think we should promote a barter culture?

[FiveMetresUp]

I was just reading on another thread about people who struggle to cook as they are so busy or just generally not very good at cooking. There are also other people who are great cooks but rubbish and cleaning. There are also other people who have skills such as hairdressing or decorating.

Do you think we should promote a culture where we can swap skills rather than paying for things?

Would everyone really trust some uninsured DIY-er to piss about with their plumbing or electrics??

Why would you assume it would be unqualified people who would do this?

I think a ualified electrician or plumber would rather pay for services they need than swap their often expensive labour for it.

Install someone's new central heating in exchange for a button being re-attached to a cardigan?

No, maybe do a lot of work in someone's house in return for them doing a lot of work in your car. Or getting you something else you couldn't really afford.

Install someone's new central heating in exchange for a button being re-attached to a cardigan?

My QUALIFIED DH would think that was a good deal. He could install a radiator no problem, but has had a missing button on his work shorts for weeks.

I can apply eyelash extensions. It was my job for several years. In theory, I could have swapped extensions for a blow dry, clean my kitchen, or a couple of hours babysitting.

The OP didn’t mention she is a qualified plumber?

Lol. Yep. I am trying to think of a word for the tokens...rhymes with honey?

So that only leaves out the millions of people who would no more want or consider eyelash extensions to be anything they'd trade anything else for, including money, ever.

The reason we have money is that barter doesn't work beyond a village.

There are several versions of the OP’s idea anlready operating, where people trade skills or abilities. Not necessarily professional skills, eg an unskilled person could help with your house move, or look after your cat while you’re on holiday.

I used to be in a Local Exchange Trading System (LETS) and would proofread or edit people’s letters in return for an agreed number of LETS units. Then I’d use those units to pay someone to do something I wanted, eg cut my hair or clean my windows.

It’s sn excellent scheme. Worth finding out if it’s already operating in your area.

It might have worked a long time ago, but these days, there are so many people who are utter piss takers, many dishonest people as well. So I think if you have someone do something for you, you should pay the proper cash value for the service.

She's not proposing that though. Everyone already knows about little local groups who do this. And those people still use money for all kinds of things, all the time, every single day.

She's saying we should promote this as a culture, which can't work. "where we can swap skills rather than paying for things?"

We introduced money for a reason.

Little groups doing it when it suits them is not a cultural shift.

More about LETS:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_exchange_trading_system

https://www.letslinkuk.net/home/find-lets.htm

https://www.letslinkuk.net/regions/uk-map.htm

LETS doesn’t aim to replace money. It’s an extra. Something that gives you some additional options.

We used to do things like this.
For a few years we had a local teenager keep her pony’s with ours and in exchange she did jobs around the yard to cover the cost. She agreed to do X numbers of hours each week. If she did more than that we would pay her or she would swap it for lifts to shows etc. Her parents were not horsey so she got the help and guidance she needed and at a fraction of the cost.

Yes so why would the OP trade a skill she doesnt have? She would trade skills that she does have. Like perhaps the ones she spoke of in her OP.

Why would nobody ever pay for eyelash extensions again? That doesn't make sense.

If you cannot see the issue then I think you have led a very sheltered life.

What if you plumbed in my washing machine and I did a shit job at cleaning your house?

I don't think you're proposing we get rid of money entirely right @FiveMetresUp ?

You're just proposing that the as hoc infrequent arrangements that already exist should be encouraged and we should find ways of enabling them to happen more frequently and more easily?

So everything from:

I own a hedge trimmer, I don't own a pressure washer so I borrow my friend's whenever I want to pressure wash the patio, and she borrows mine to cut her hedges.

To

I can fill in a tax return without it freaking me out too much, or take up a dress, or bake a birthday cake. I'm quite happy to do those things in my spare time. Well I wouldn't want to do too many tax returns 😅. But I'm really not a whiz at DIY and would be delighted to exchange some skills with people who are.

Someone who knows what they're doing might think getting some new wash in grout for the patio sorted is an easy job. I don't. But they also might think flipping the collar on their favourite shirt so it lasts an extra few years is basically impossible, while for me it's a couple of hours work that I can do in front of the TV.

My mum was a part of something called Time Bank for a bit which was this idea - people would walk dogs or do DIY or cut hair or whatever and bank time they could use to have other people do things. It wasn’t 1:1 trades as there were several hundred people in it. It worked well for her - she did some dog walking and had people help her move.

I think it all stopped because of insurance - obviously none of this help or work could be properly guaranteed and someone started asking questions about that. It only works if everyone is happy with taking the risk

I do this loads! I am a qualified masseuse and swap massages for various things. Other therapies mainly, but also getting my boiler fixed by my mate's sister (who is a plumber!), minor DIY stuff from a carpenter friend and childcare.

I used to belong to an organisation where you did stuff for others and 'banked' the time spent doing it. When you needed something done, you could draw out the hours you'd volunteered. So I did dog walking / visiting for someone while they were on holiday. And I used the time I earned by someone else coming and doing my garden (bloody hate gardening).

It worked well but relied on reasonable numbers of people with different skills signing up to the organisation to make it work for everyone.

That can happen anytime with tradesmen. Go on any local Facebook page and there are people slagging off a plumber / builder / painter.

I do reciprocal cat sitting with a neighbour & recently swapped a catnip plant for a small set of shelves.

For anything more complicated I think you’d have to be sure the person knew what they were doing & agree on the standard of the results. What if the fixed dishwasher starts leaking again a week later?

No thanks.