If your holiday shopping list is longer than your present cash flow and the credit cards are also at their maximum level, don't fret; there is an alternative.

Although this is the original method of conducting business, nowadays businesses overlook the way our ancestors traded. I am talking about bartering; trading your goods and/or services for merchandise you would usually have to buy with your scarce commodity -- cash.

As we turn into the new Millennium, there is so much we can gain from reverting back to the way business was primarily conducted -- a system where money never exchanged hands for goods and services.

The bartering method is distinctively good for new and existing businesses, where the company's cash flow is unpredictable and sometimes next to nothing.

I recently read where an agency hired consultants costing thousands of dollars without spending a dime.

They exchanged these high-cost services with goods, thus exchanging goods they already had in stock for the services of the consultants to help them expand into new business markets.

They could not have afforded the consultants fee if they had to pay in dollars for it.

This old-fashioned concept of conducting business is becoming increasingly popular and is shedding its ambiguous image in North America -- where it has been used by shady business owners just trying to avoid paying taxes.

Now the growth of the Internet has given the world access to bartering trade exchanges, creating limitless possibilities for individuals not only in large countries but in small ones as well and in turn eliminating the previous geographical barriers.

If you are seriously interested in bartering, you should first join a trade organisation. Try the following websites: The International Reciprocal Trade Association at www.irta.net National Association of Trade Exchanges at www.nate.org These two sites have lots of helpful information for getting started.

Trade associations charge a membership fee, which varies depending on the extent you would like to participate.

As in any business dealings, be careful. Make sure your bartering partner has the goods or can provide the services they said they can. Before making any commitments you should: If possible, conduct a background check into your potential bartering partner; Get a valid banking account; Ask for their credit card number; and Obtain references from their previous bartering partners.

Don't feel restricted. Get creative! You can just about barter for anything legally possible. For the times when you are giving yourself a reward for accomplishing a difficult task, and short on cash, you too can turn to bartering.

So as you can see, you need not let the holiday shopping binge diminish your precious cash. Get out your beads and start trading.

My sincerest wishes to all, a healthy, and a stress free as possible holiday season. See you next year. My challenge to you is not to wait for the New Year to start jotting down your goals for 2000. Start today! Remember, goals, not resolutions. Resolutions generally tend to be boring and too stressful to accomplish. On the other hand, setting attainable goals can be easier to achieve and definitely more realistic.

Cindy Swan is a Professional Organiser with over 20 years of office administrative managerial experience and a member of the National Association of Professional Organisers. Her column appears in the Business section on the first and third Thursdays of each month.

Address inquiries to Cindy Swan, PO Box 304 St. George's GEBX or email her at organize y ibl.bm No caption