Cash is nice but barter might be better in the tough economy

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No credit? No cash? No problem.

That is, if you want to give online bartering a try.

That’s what Valerie Whitlock did. The 37-year-old actress and writer from Studio City holds down sporadic film and television gigs to cover her rent, utilities, car payments and insurance. For everything else — headshots and haircuts, clothing and cut reels — she barters her handcrafted jewelry on the Web.

‘Bartering is something wonderful in good times and in tough times. We are all thinking of ways to make our dollars stretch farther,’ said Mary Hunt, founder of money management website Debt-Proof Living.

More people are turning to Craigslist, SwapThing and other websites during the financial crisis to trade for what they need or what they want. These cashless transactions pick up in every recession, economists say. But the Internet has given the practice unprecedented reach.

‘In cyberspace, there is no distance between two points,’ technology forecaster Paul Saffo said. ‘What the Internet has given us is convenience and scale.’

Read the full L.A. Times story on bartering here.