The LETSaholic Twist: Everything you always wanted to know about LETS ... but didn't know who to ask James Taris Author

THE LETSAHOLICMy name is James Taris, and I’m a LETSaholic. That is, I can’t get enough of LETS. LETS stands for Local Exchange Trading System. It is a group of people from a small community who all agree to exchange goods and services with each other without the need for cash. Once you have grasped the LETS philosophy, then trading in LETS points becomes an enjoyable and rewarding experience. My LETS philosophy is …Don’t think of LETS points like dollars. Think of them as favours. LETS Favours.I became involved with LETS in 1993, and once I understood and accepted the principle of give-and-take with my fellow LETS members, I quickly noticed a sharp rise in the quality of my lifestyle.Having a limited income meant I could only afford to pay for the essentials in my life: rent, gas, electricity, phone, petrol, food, clothes, and so on. Everything else became a luxury, which I either did without, or chose to do myself. That all changed with LETS, because I found I could at last enjoy some of the luxuries in life by offering a range of goods and services through my LETS group. Very soon I was mowing lawns, removing rubbish and painting rooms. Later I was also designing business cards, brochures and newsletters; I even traded tiny picture frames, small bookcases and kitchenware.In return I received massages, piano tuition and restaurant meals; computer support, computer software and web design services; greeting cards, teddy bears and bonsai plants. I would have reluctantly bypassed these goods and services if I had to pay cash for them. Thankfully, LETS made them all possible.INTERNATIONAL LETS FAVOURS TOURSIn 3 years, from 2002-2004, James Taris (from Melbourne, Australia) travelled to 19 countries on 5 continents learning about LETS systems around the world and sharing his LETS philosophy to every group that hosted him. The LETSaholic Twist, is a complete account of all the information he shared with his audiences. It is a development of over 10-years-experience with LETS and includes many innovative ideas gleaned from other LETS systems he came across on his travels. Apart from using his time to promote his hosting LETS groups through media interviews and provide training services for their members, James also traded a variety of other services on his travels, including: painting, renovating, manual labour, house cleaning and organising, dish washing, shoveling snow, web site design, desktop publishing and even dancing!FOUNDER OF LETS-LINKUP.COM - INTERNATIONAL LETS DIRECTORYIn 2001, James Taris founded LETS-Linkup.com ( http://www.LETS-Linkup.com ) which is an International LETS Directory listing over 1500 LETS groups from 39 countries around the world. It is designed to encourage LETS members from everywhere to communicate with, share, and help, each other. It is the only source of contacts used by James to connect with the LETS groups that hosted him on his international travels. Most LETS group entries on LETS-Linkup.com have full contact details including phone, email and even web addresses.