Barter for babies!

A few days ago I wrote a post about how we got everything for my daughter secondhand (crib, clothes, uh, breast pump). I was lucky enough to have GREAT family and friends with kiddos just a little older than my own bundle who donated almost everything, barely used, just to get it out of the house, help me out, or both. If you're the first of your buds to join the parental bandwagon you might want to check out the latest economic craze, bartering. Yep, just like the good ole days, people are swapping something they need for something they don't. There are a few websites that are really popular, or you can use social networking sites like twitter, facebook, and myspace to post what you are looking for.


Swaptree - Trade books, music, dvds, or video games. Signing up takes 8 seconds. Best part, when you're done with the book(music, dvd, or video game) trade it in for something different! Over 48,000 options!


Friendly Favor - You sign up for this site and simply ask for what you need; support, items, donations, help, anything.


Craigslist - The classic standby. Tons of categories organized by city. Most item descriptions have a picture. You can get used furniture, clothes, look for jobs, computers, anything on this site.

Toyswap - Swap, sell, or buy pre-owned toys. You do need to have a Paypal account.

Toys to Trade - Clean out clutter with toys your kids have outgrown on this organized swapping site. They have separate search engines for natural and organic toys.

Swaptoys - Buy, swap, or sell toys.

Or get your mommy friends together and set up your own toy swap meet!



Try it. See what happens!

How green is your baby?

My little one is green.

Super green, and she doesn't even know it.

I first started accepting offers of gently used baby items out of politeness. Somebody would say,"Do you have a Boppy pillow/playpen/baby bottles?" and when I said no then they would tell me that I could have their old one. I would just nod and say OK, hoping they would forget because I did NOT want their used baby stuff.

Then I started getting some really good stuff.

Her crib was bought from a church sale, her changing table came from a yard sale. Car seats and a stroller were given to use by a friend who had just finished using them. Another friend donated clothes, a playpen, a walker, and toys that her little girl had grown out of. I borrowed burp cloths and bibs. My little girl racked up.

This is what I learned: There are tons of baby items that are used for a short period of time that people are desperate to get rid of. By using pre-owned baby items I can funnel the money that I save directly into her college fund. It's also one of the best ways to recycle, repurpose, and live green. I encourage you to look for gently used items for your baby. You just might be surprised at what you find.