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Is Bartering Alive and Flourishing


ValW
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But the comment about "wind-up" was not directed at any particular poster, so I thought I had better take no chances and ensure that it was not me.

Jon D sorry, the comment was supposed to be directed at "Val-thingy" ![blink]

I mean........................ a Yurt to live in while renovating a wreck and doing the good life thing AND bartering, not impossible but shades of La-La land as far as I am concerned.[;-)]

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I don't know if it's all over France, but here even decking needs planning permission if it's over a certain area!

Bartering works in a sortof fashion - if you give them something they will always give you something in return, although it's not always something you want / need, just something they have to hand....

Farmers will cut and bale hay for half of the bales, a big farmer round here 'charges' 2/3 of the bales though.

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Blanche whatsit

You're on the forum for France Magazine have you not bothered to read the magazine.  It's not my idea to live the good life whilst doing up a wreck and living in a yurt - it's already being done by Maylin Tan & Keith Bishop-Bourne I've just stolen the idea

Val thingy!

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Val

Re. the Yurt / renovation and bartering:    

Obviously not impossible but not something that many would take on lightly. [Www]

If you have enough money, good health, a reasonable command of the language,  and no family responsibilities (children / elderly parents etc. ) then why not.

Re. Bartering - you asked and we gave our opinions![;-)]

As for the magazine there is only one that I buy and read and it's not that one![:)]

Do report back with your progress[8-|]

Bonne chance!

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 "The biggest problem now with renovating a property yourself, must be the alteration of the CG Tax, unless it is going to be your main home and you are in the Tax system. Now that the only amounts you can offset are TVA bills from French registered workmen,  it does put a damper on a lot of the profit element and the fun [ some might disagree  with the fun word] of doing up a ruin yourself and looking at a house /home  you have put together yourselves."

 

An important point, (made by Gastines I think)copied from the House Renovations forum. Don't forget that only "the registered artisans" can buy their materials at the 5,5% TVA rate and do the work at this TVA rate on properties over 2yrs old .

 

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Val, France magazine and Living France have rather different markets, its by no means a given that people with a home in France would buy 'France Magazine' as there is much more information about the practicalities of actually living in France, in the 'Living France' magazine.
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  • 2 weeks later...
Hello Val,

having lived in a yurt myself, summer and winter, I personally think your idea is a very good one although I`m a bit weird like that and if your going to stick at it you`re going to have to be a bit weird like that too.... :)

Of course I don`t mean that in a nasty way, it`s just that living that close to the elements takes a certain type of person and a completely different set of priorities comes into play. Esthetically they are a wonderful dwelling and feed you spiritually in a way you would never get from a modern caravan. Practically....... well ...... it will test your metal.

Temperatures inside are quite a challenge to regulate satisfactorily, I always seemed to spend a lot of my time trying to sort out this problem.

Another time consuming task I recall was trying to keep nature out :) ...... principaly MUD! but also gods little creatures who think it`s a great idea to live in your yurt too.

People might think it`s all very hippy laid-back and groovy, but actually you have to be quite disciplined in your daily chores otherwise life will quickly descend into a rather messy mess...and then there`s the toilet issue!

As I said at the start I think it`s a good idea and I admire the adventurous attitude your taking , but as with most things a little out of the norm in France your likely to come up against some opposition, especially deep in the countryside, so be prepared for a lot of explaining.

The success of your ideas will depend a lot on the community that you find yourselves in, and obviously some will be more open to you than others. Unfortunately this is`nt always that obvious at the begining and is likely to fall into place more by luck than judgement.

Hope you don`t find this reply too negative, I`m not an expert on yurts but if you have any questions that you think I might be able to help you with don`t hesitate to e-mail me.

One last thought, why not get in contact with the people in the article and get some feedback from them, I`m sure they`d be happy to pass on any useful information that they have gathered.

Best of luck

Norman.

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Hi All, WOW! Just been reading all the posts on Bartering, sounds like a lot of paranoia, and quite negative, now that ive actually been living in France for a while though i can apreciate what people are saying,  In any country theres tax to pay and if your not paying youll be in the soup, but i supose its getting things in perspective, if you have a deal with a neighbour whair you do something for a box of veg or vice versa, theres no point loosing sleep over it, your neighbour wont run you in as he's in the same boat as you.

 There seems to be a lot of people working on the black, this i feel is totaly different, there able to undercut the artisans because they pay no social charges and tax, the English on the black work for other English for cash and me thinks this is bound to cause some resentment among the locals, who will run them in, fair enough me thinks... aaa who knows, for me i try and keep a simple life, i doo everything myself although i will swop some mellons for some tomatoes with my neighbour, ill go and see the impo and ask them if they want a tomato or piece of mellon. im shure they wont be interested.. chears m

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