Host a Swap and Save Money

Green Saves Green 

Day 17

I gave up a while ago trying to come up with clever blog titles for this month's Green Saves Green posts. Sorry about the redundancy. But really, we're all looking to save money, right? And people doing a search for being green and saving money are more likely to come across these posts if I don't give them clever titles. 

Our topic today is hosting a swap. What's a swap. It's an event where you bring items and other people bring like items, and then you swap them. Not very difficult, huh? What kind of items can you swap? Pretty much anything but popular swaps are clothing, books, music, and unused kitchen items. 

Put all the items you have for the swap together, and then let everyone take turns choosing one new-to-them item for each item they brought.

It's a great way to reuse and recycle items, and it can save you a lot of money - especially if you do something like a children's clothing swap.

Another type of swap is a food swap. Everyone agrees to make one dish, preferably one that freezes well. They make as many of that one dish as number of people who are participating in the swap. Then you meet, maybe make it into a girls night with some wine and a chick flick, exchange food, and everyone has a freezer full of pre-made dinners. While this isn't necessarily green, it can save money because the food for the meals can be bought in bulk which is usually cheaper. It can also save trips to the grocery store because you don't have anything for dinner (which is sort of green - keeps your car off the road for a bit). 

What type of items do you have that you can swap for items that you need? Chances are you know people who would love to participate in this type of event and save some money along with you.