A few weeks ago, I was trying to find a way to take a short vacation I’d planned more than a year before. The problem was that I’d been unemployed for most of that year and had just started back to work. I was scratching the bottom of the barrel, financially.

I could get time off from work without pay, but that would take such a bite out of my next paycheck that I wouldn’t be able to pay a pet sitter to take care of my elderly dog. I considered getting a payday loan, but I knew that borrowing would only make the situation worse and I didn’t want to end up in need of credit repair or a debt relief program.

Ask a friend for a favor

I was lamenting this state of affairs to a friend I had worked with at the company where I had been laid off. My friend was in no better financial shape that I was, but she immediately offered to take care of my dog so that I could take my vacation. Read With a Little Help from Our Friends.

And be ready to offer something in return

My friend wouldn’t let me pay her, but she told me I could help her move to her new condominium about a month down the road. A bargain was struck, and pretty soon it snowballed. I was trading services with friends and neighbors and we were all getting deals we couldn’t afford to buy with cash.

Bartering is the new universal currency

Some time later, I came across an article in the Moscow Times that let me know I wasn’t alone in my new bartering lifestyle. Apparently it’s boom time for the barter system in Russia, too. Russian companies are short of cash because of the network of nonpayment brought on by the global financial crisis. As a result, special websites have sprung up to facilitate bartering deals.

Milk for a bulldozer in Russia

For instance, a dairy in Russia paid for renovations by giving a construction company several tons of canned condensed milk; the construction company then traded the milk for a bulldozer from a tractor plant. The tractor company, in turn, traded the milk for other food to stock its company cafeteria.

So far, barter makes up just two percent of the overall Russian economy; still, it amounts to billions of rubles. And the barter industry is practically the only sector of the Russian economy that’s actively hiring.

The Russian bartering company Rusbarter is recruiting potential franchisers, encouraging them to set up regional barter offices with promises of profits after just one month. “The worse the situation is in the economy,” said Anatoly Abadzhan, head of Rusbarter, “the better it is for us.”

Bartering is like money in the bank

I had nothing to lose from the economic crisis except my job. So for me, the financial downturn kind of leveled the playing field. I’ve never had much financial flex, but now, just about everyone I know is pressed financially and willing to barter.

Next time you find yourself daydreaming about low interest loans or looking at junk emails that violate approved patterns of speaking or writing (“payday loans no faxing,” “money loans,” and “mycashnow” are some of my favorites), remember: the worse the situation in your bank account, the better bartering is for you.

Not long ago I was reminded about the art of bartering. I was also reminded about what friends are for. Friends, it turns out, are for bartering — especially when they’re unemployed or struggling with money issues just like you. Friends, it turns out, are pet sitters, house sitters, baby sitters, painters, landscapers, plumbers, household packers and movers, and a host of other valuable things. When you barter, you can get a lot of value without any money.  You don’t need a credit card or a payday loan, either.

We could all use a little help now and then

Here’s how bartering among friends started happening for me. I had been unemployed for over nine months when I finally started back to work. Because of that extended and unplanned vacation my finances were stretched to the limit. But just before my layoff, I had been planning a four-day reunion get-away spanning a weekend. I was going with three childhood friends to a cabin on a lake a few hours’ drive away. My new employer was flexible about giving me two days off without pay, but as the time approached, it was looking like a financial impossibility.

I have an elderly dog that needs a pet sitter when I can’t be with her. The pet sitter was going to cost $200 for four days. Taking into consideration lost wages, pet sitter expenses, and gas and food expenses for the weekend, I wasn’t going to be able to pay my mortgage when I got back from my trip, and I was ready to call it off. Kenneling my dog would be about half the cost of the pet sitter, but even after shelling out only $100, I wasn’t going to be able to pay the mortgage. For health reasons, my dog isn’t a good candidate for conventional kenneling, and I’m not a fan of kenneling for any dog, anyway.

Don’t be afraid to ask for help

I was venting this frustration to an ex-coworker, when she surprised me by offering to care for my dog in her own home for the four days. I don’t know why it hadn’t occurred to me to ask – I know she likes dogs, her six-year-old son knows my dog and they love playing together, and I trust her. But I’m not in the habit of asking for favors, and I just never thought of it. I was thrilled.

I was even happier when I offered to pay her two weeks after I got back, and she insisted on doing it for free. But I wanted to do something in return so I asked her what I could do and she said I could consider helping her a month down the road when she would be moving into a condominium. A bargain was struck. It felt fair. We were both better off for the deal and we were both freed up from a financial concern. I couldn’t afford a pet sitter. She couldn’t afford to pay movers.

Don’t be afraid to offer help

A few weeks later, my neighbor had to leave town to help her elderly mother who had just had surgery. Normally, she would pay someone to come by every day, water plants, collect mail, and just generally keep an eye on the place. She had just gone through a period of unemployment herself, and was worried about leaving her house unattended. It was a no-brainer. I watched her place.

Be prepared for the snowball effect

It turned out my neighbor’s son is a carpenter and I had a carpentry project in my house that I hadn’t been able to afford finishing because of my layoff. So the son returned the favor I’d given his mother. Then it turned out that his sister was in the middle of a huge a gardening project. The weather was fine, and I decided to help her out. And on it went. Like a chain reaction.

Bartering with friends is a luxury anyone can afford

This kind of bartering isn’t only for the unemployed and recently unemployed. It’s a perfect alternative for anyone who doesn’t want to use a credit card or get a payday loan for things they don’t really need, but would sure like to have.  And even for those with cash at the ready, bartering is a great way to keep in touch with friends and to make new friends. The keys to making it work are being willing to ask and being willing to give back.