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 "Your time has value." Maybe not in cash but in terms of labor. With this idea the “barter economy” was introduced in Greece, one action brought in from abroad, but very useful at a time when the income of Greek households has significantly decreased and all try to find alternative ways to get out of the daily frustration. 

Some municipalities have found the right time to set up "banks" that operate without money. The only "currency", which they give and look for from each member is time-labor. Every hour worked has the same value regardless of profession. So within the network exchange services, a cleaning lady gets as much as the doctor. The lawyer as much as the plumber. Two hours teaching English are equal to two hours of childcare. 

In Attica pioneer is Agia Varvara municipality, while some cities in the province implement rather similar programs, such as Volos, Corfu and Rethymno. 

In Agia Varvara, an area where the majority of residents do not have high incomes and a high unemployment rate, the "Bank for Time" found fertile grounds and good feedback among the population. 

It began operations in early January and now has 36 registered members, and applications of residents willing to exchange services are increasing with every single day. 

Accounts 

Each bank has an accounts supported by withdraws and deposits from each member, except that instead of cash accounts are kept in labor. For example, for two hours a painter can paint a mathematician's room, so he will receive two hours credit in the bank. The mathematician can "repay" with two-hour lessons to the daughter of a homemaker. Hours earned by every member helping their fellow citizens, accumulate in the bank and they can be used when he needed. Anyone who becomes a member is not obliged to do anything he himself did not propose to do. Prior to becoming a member a person describes what services he could offer to the bank and what services he might need in return. 

However, "Bank for Time", which is there to help all Agia Varvara citizens, does not provide a person with a paid job. This is perhaps the only difficulty which the initiative meets, as told "Ethnos" "banker" Maria Koumboula, one of the managers of the system. "We would have greater involvement, but many people are affected by unemployment. On one hand the need for people to accept free services from each other increases, however many people are looking for a job and have no free time," said Maria Koumboula. 

Information about the "Bank for Time" in Agia Varvara municipality (20 Irakliou Str., Makrigianni Square) can be obtained by phone at the following number 210-5691161.

What do the "insiders" say 

"Everything becomes easier when you get some help" 

Mrs. Vasso Koursari has been dedicated to the “barter economy” for 4 years when her mother was sending her to help her neighbor, and she in turn was returning the favor. So when the municipality of Agia Varvara created the "Bank for Time" she hurried to enroll and be one of the first residents in it. Retired but an active person, she did not hesitate for a moment to offer her services. "I can care for the elderly, pay bills and cook," said Vasso Koursari and in return she wants to learn English. "In my life I have experienced very difficult moments, but what I have learned is that everything becomes easier when you help one another. This is how we survived poverty and this is how I believe we will bring the country back on its feet," she emphasizes. 

22-year-old George Farmakopoulos who studies Industrial Management at the University of Piraeus, is also one of the "depositors" in the "Bank for Time" of Agia Varvara. He has already benefited from the "barter economy" by giving Italian lessons to a teacher of macroeconomics, who in turn paid with lessons in accounting. "There are many ways to reduce costs, while helping and creating new friendships," said the 22-year-old student and added "the joy I feel when someone I've helped, passes his exams, cannot be paid with money ". 

Services point in Magnisia 

50 people have started and they have the ambition to become more than 1,000 

You give your car for a walk in Pilio and get you a full vegetarian menu for three days. You offer English lessons and you get "paid" by getting your room painted. You exchange a pair of shoes for the services of a plumber who fixes your broken sink. 

Functioning since last October in Magnisia is a Local Alternative Point (ΤΕΜ), for the exchange of goods and services, with 50 people who have the ambition to become more than 1,000 in a year. 

One of the first members of ΤΕΜ is Maria Houpi, who a year and a half ago moved from Athens to Portaria, Pilio, and found out about the idea from foreign websites. She discussed it with several friends and eventually agreed to offer it to the President of the Association of Consumers in Volos, to the director of the Municipal Health Organization, to a priest and to some very young people who knew about the system of exchange. 

This is how they created the website www.tem-magnisia.gr, and made the first registrations and the first exchange. 

"I offer English lessons, my car, aromatherapy sessions. I can babysit and give my garden away for small events. 

My first exchange was with an electrician. He linked one MFP to my computer and showed me how it works, and I cooked him a vegetarian meal, "says Ms. Houpi. 

For tender unit the network members have TEM, which is pretty much equal to 1 Euro. From the commercial shop an electrician may take a pair of boots, costing 150 ΤΕΜ and to make improvements in the shop for the same value. So the merchant and the customer will be even. 

Of course, the trader does not have to take these 150 ΤΕΜ from the same customer, but from someone else, i.e. he can give the boots to the electrician, (both must be members of the network) and write down "bill" of 150 ΤΕΜ, which he will take from another customer for another service. 

Websites 

"Barter economy" has gained positions also in many Internet websites which offer very different services, depending on the needs of their users. 

In the site www.carpoling.gr, one can find pensioners who travel in one direction and are looking for company, mainly to split the cost of the car. 

Villa exchange is a widespread practice abroad, and it has started to gain supporters in Greece as well. If you are a member of the website www.elladahomeexchange.gr you can find people from different parts of Greece, who would like to exchange their villa. 

The site www.parkaro.gr allows a parking spaces exchange. For example, if you have parking in Ambelokipi you can swap it, during the hours you do not use it, with someone who has a parking space in Kolonaki, provided you participate in one database. 

It is applied in 26 countries 

A patent with…international past 

Deals without money are applied in over 26 countries including USA, Japan, Britain, countries in Latin America, Italy and Spain. 

10 years ago in Argentina, which was reigned by social chaos and political instability due to the failure of the state, a movement for solidarity economy (nodos) was born, which aimed to support the local economy and strengthen the sense of self-preservation. Even the Argentinean Ministry of Economy acknowledged the strength of the movement, offering assistance and training on Internet technology. 

The neighborhood and urban agriculture movement was born in Vancouver, Canada. It received a great response, with 44% of food was grown in backyards and balconies of the houses. 

It is estimated that 10% of European workers are employed in different sectors of the social economy. One of the most popular systems for non-cash transactions is LETS (Local Exchange Trading System) with has its own internal currency. It was founded in Vancouver and is now spreading in various countries.