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By Mike Barclay of 10CentsWorth.com.
A few weeks back a friend of mine who works for a local radio station approached me. “Would you be interested in passing out a bunch of flyers for an event we’re doing if I got you some concert tickets?” I instantly said yes, seeing as I’m the world’s biggest concert guru. Now I am the proud owner of free tickets to two shows I’ve been hoping to see.
But were they really free?
Technically the tickets were not free. Did I have to pay money for them? I did not. Was there some type of exchange that was beneficial to both parties? Yes there was. We used a medium that most people today don’t really think about, or even understand they may be doing. It’s called bartering.
Bartering is defined as trading goods or services without the exchange of money, according to Dictionary.com. We should all look into it. How much money would we end up saving if we traded services or items around the house for something we did need?
Here are three great sites I’ve found in my swapping frenzy as of late.
Most people use Craigslist for classifieds, but have you ever clicked on the “barter” section in your cities? Craigslist is great if you want to go super general. And it’s always going to be local. If you’re looking for more specific swapping, check out these next two sites.
SwapTree.com – As I mentioned before, I’m a big music fanatic. So when I found SwapTree, I wet myself. It’s all about media: books, DVD’s, CD’s, etc. You can trade your stuff or browse what other people have and make an offer. Needless to say, I’ve had it up on my computer screen for the past week, constantly looking at what I can find.
Zwaggle.com – Zwaggle is strictly for all things tot-sized. Babies, toddlers, you name it, they’ve got something for it. It’s a perfect site for new couples having their first child and for the couple with kids who’ve outgrown everything and want to get rid of the stash.
So the next time you want a new CD, clothes, books, or need something fixed and can offer something in return, remember you don’t always have to use dollars. Look into trading or swapping and see if you can do it without having to touch your wallet.
This post is brought to you by CouponCactus.com, a great source of online coupon codes for taxes, groceries, and more.
Woman are better at riding out stock market crashes, while men are more likely to sell during lows, says the Sunday’s New York Times. “There’s been a lot of academic research suggesting that men think they know what they’re doing, even when they really don’t know what they’re doing,” said John Ameriks, a Vanguard exec who co-authored the study. (Kind of like how men hate asking for directions…)
Men’s overconfidence led them to trade stocks nearly 50 percent more often than women. “This added trading drove up the men’s costs and lowered their returns,” the story said.
It is interesting that the story and the researchers interpret men’s propensity for selling in a volatile market as overconfidence and not emotional weakness. I bet many people – men and women – who sold stocks as the market fell last year were motivated by fear. Fear that their investments, their retirement, and their future would be dashed if they didn’t do something about it.
The emotional pressure to survive a falling stock market may have been felt greater by men, who carry a societal burden to be breadwinners. That could be a factor in why men mistakenly sold off stocks more often then women. If there’s one thing I’ve heard about being a good investor, it is that you can’t make financial decisions based on emotions and come out ahead.
Men’s overconfidence, however, also led them to take greater risks than women, which can mean bigger returns. Women feel safer with the slow and steady earnings from bonds, apparently.
Loading ...It’s unclear how significant these differences are, and the reasons behind it. Nature? Nurture? Or…? Researchers are studying how our emotions effect our finances and are looking at ties between testosterone and risk-taking. In the meantime, I’m holding onto what I’ve got.
