In case you hadn't noticed, spring has arrived! It is all glorious sunshine today, and I don't know about you but I'm feeling cluttered. Time to clear out all that stuff, and make some fresh, new, space.

Here's an idea. How about swapping your stuff? And not just the unwanted clutter, er precious and loved but sadly no longer wanted, items you have about the house.

There's lots of ways you can get, well not money for nothing but certainly something without having to part with your hard-earned, cash. Swapping is perhaps about the oldest form of commerce. You have something I want, and I have something you want, so we swap. As the Meerkats would say - simples!

Outside of the playground though, it can be hard to form a good network of people to do a bit of swapping with. Until the internet arrived. With the World Wide Web it is possible to find lots of people, all around the globe, who have something to swap.

`You don't get anything for nothing. Sadly. But you can get something without having to fork over cold hard cash. Swapping is perhaps about the oldest form of commerce. You have something I want, and I have something you want, so we swap.

Outside of the playground though, it can be hard to form a good network of people to do a bit of swapping with. Until the internet arrived. With the World Wide Web it is possible to find lots of people, all around the globe, who have something to swap.

The sites I've looked for here are the less obvious ones. We all know about things like nanny sharing, car sharing, and home exchanges. You'll find a note of websites in these areas at the bottom of the article.

But the focus in this post is on the swaps you might not have thought of!

Swap Time

Last year I looked at the ways you can barter. One of these was an exchange of skills. Cleaning, ironing, gardening, accounting, bookkeeping, beekeeping. You'll find the post HERE. One website I mentioned was Time Banking UK. It includes a number of videos showing time banks in action and various time bank events.

StreetBank also puts you in contact with your neighbours. You sign up with your postcode, and can then see everyone within a mile radius of you, and what they're offering. It's more than just sharing skills, it's also for exchanging, lending and giving away things. A little like Freecycle in some ways, on an even more local level.

Swap Books

This is a clearly a big favourite. Book swaps have sprung up everyone. My local train station has one set up in the Waiting Room, and I use it. All you have to do is replace a book for a book - either put back the one you've borrowed or put a new one in there. Many people I know have one in their workplaces too.

They're all based on an honour system, but it seems to work well.

There's online versions too. I love the artwork on Book Mooch. You put up books you don't want. And mail them when requested, for which you get points. You can then use these points to get books from others. Read It, Swap It has a running total of the books available on the site. When I looked this was 362,162.

What I like about all these swapping schemes, whether it is a shelf in your office or via a website, is that you don't have to find someone who likes your book AND has a book you like. Plus there's no need to return the book afterwards, so that does away with the guilt. Or maybe it is just me with a tendency to borrow books from friends and then forget who I borrowed them from?

Swap Clothes

This is increasingly becoming a popular past time around where I live. A few of the mums have had 'swap shops'. You take along your clothes, and swap with someone else. It's been a great way for me to boost my wardrobe. The thing is, I have stored all my clothes from my teens and early 20s. All the best items anyway, as I figured that all that 80s stuff would come back into fashion one day. Plus I went through a stage of buying vintage designer gear.

However, while I am losing weight and getting myself fitter, the truth is. I am never going to be a size 8 or 10 again. I don't even think I want to be, not when I remember how hungry I was for most of my late teens. Because I just don't have that sort of natural shape. My natural shape is maybe a 12. But probably a 14 as I'm too lazy to exercise as much as I should (and life is too short to do stuff that bores the pants off me!).

If you don't have any local events happening among your friends, you can host one yourself. Or pop online. Swop2Shop and BigWardrobe allow you to sell your clothes rather as you would on an online site like eBay (you can upload pictures too), for points that you can spend on other items on the site.

Swap Seeds

If you've any space at all, even a windowsill, save some cash by growing your own vegetables, herbs, and flowers. Plus, they look nice. I wrote about saving money with your garden recently, you can read the post HERE.

The Garden Swap Shop helps people to swap seeds, and also plants and gardening equipment. If you live in the South East or fancy a bit of a trip to the seaside, then you might want to take a look at Seedy Sunday. This is, according to the website, the UK's biggest community seed swap. It is held in February of every year, in the Brighton and Hove area.

And The Rest

Carsharing is always a good way to save money. Take a look at National CarShare, and RideShare. To help save on childcare, there's NannyShare and The Nanny Sharers.

And finally, the ultimate money saver. Swapping your home for a holiday. Check out Home Link and InterVac.

Local exchange trading systems are also known as Lets for short. Another sort of trading system you'll come across are time banks (as is my local trading system). Both are schemes that allow people to trade services for some sort of credit rather than money. Barter instead of cash, sort of.

These systems are ideal for those short on cash, and for frugal families but they also form a great structure for community support. You do need to make sure that you've got the time to spare though. And keep in mind that they're not about getting something for free.

Lets and time banks are a new way of doing what people used to always do in the past - essentially it is neighbours helping neighbours. As such, many of these systems are also a great way of getting to know people and participating in the local community. Especially useful if you have moved to a new city or area.

Your inner trader

This is how it works. You do something, anything that you're good at for another member. It might be setting up a web page, walking a dog, DIY or baking a cake. In exchange you'll get credits that you can then spend on the services or goods offered by other members in the scheme.

Sounds like a great idea in theory, but does it work in practice? PlayPennies mum of one Rachel works part time, three days a week. "I joined our local time bank because it sounded like a great idea. Every penny counts at the moment. I'm sad to say though that so far I haven't had the time to do anything. I haven't even read the directory. My husband has pitched in with a couple of things though - he's a lawyer and a keen gardener. We've donated a little bit of legal advice, and tomato plants! In return we got our fireplace fitted, which actually cost us a few more credits than we had. My husband is tied up in a big project now, so I have to find something on there I can do to make it up. For me that's the main downside as I've not got a lot of spare time, if any to be honest."

Under many systems users can start by requesting services rather than performing them. However, the used credits do have to be paid back. And it is the scheme that is owed the credits, never the person providing the service.

Lets vs time bank

According to the Times newspaper the main difference between Lets and time banks is their 'currency' system. "Lets tend to operate in more affluent areas than time banks. The 300 or so British examples are run by members and exist as friendship networks as much as alternative economies. Each uses a named notional currency - “readies” in Reading, for instance, and “concrete cows” (CCs) in Milton Keynes - equivalent to the pound for tax purposes."

So with Lets, services are given a value. You'll be charged more credits for carpentry than you would for ironing, for example. Time banks, on the other hand deal exclusively in time.  "An hour of work, whatever it is, costs and earns one tax-free time credit." Possibly for this reason you tend to find time banks in more impoverished areas. The Rushey Green Time Bank in Lewisham, south east London, has found that the "most common exchanges are in DIY, garden work, cooking and dog-walking".

Local community, global phenomenon

There are hundreds of Lets around the UK, with the system available in countries around the world including Australia, New Zealand, France and the US where it all started. Time banks were the brainchild of former US civil rights lawyer Edgar Cahn. They now exist internationally as well, and are an increasing presence in the UK.

Cahn had a desire to establish an economic return to community values. Time banks are designed to achieve this. As he explained to the Guardian while visiting the UK "Every capacity that has enabled our species to survive, such as caring for each other, relying on each other, has become excluded from our economic system. I realised that there was no way  to build communities we wanted to live in if we didn't completely reassess our value system and start rewarding human as well as financial contributions."

No guarantee

One downside of Lets and time banks is that there is no guarantee. If a scheme folds then it ceases to exist. You will lose any credits or time credits held in the scheme. For this reason, members of Lets and time banks are advised to never take on jobs that they are not willing, and able, to do free of charge.

And finally

How to find a Lets or time bank? Using the internet of course! For a directory of Lets in the country, and to learn more about the schemes, visit Letslink UK. The website for Time Banking UK is well worth spending some time on. It includes a number of videos showing time banks in action and various time bank events.

Have you got a barter scheme in your area? Maybe it is something you started yourself. Many canny parents have clubbed together, for example, to provide babysitting services. Share your experiences here and tell us what you think!