When times get tough, it's time to start bartering.

In case you're unfamiliar with the concept, bartering involves a swapping or trading of goods and services for other goods and services without the use of money. Bartering can involve two people, several people or groups of people. In developing countries, bartering is a common mode for transactions involving food, domestic work and physical labor.

In the current economic climate, we're all getting a little more creative. I'm not only referring to using eBay or swap sites like SwapThing, but the idea of offering a service that a friend, acquaintance or professional contact values in exchange for something that you need or want to accomplish. Or, in my case, bartering involves a balance I'm looking to pay down.

So I'm running a balance at my dentist's office. I don't currently have dental coverage and even if I did, there are many services that aren't covered or covered appropriately. My dentist has been great and I've paid a nominal sum on my bill each month. In talking with him, I realized he could use my writing/editing skills to help him market his services more efficiently. I came up with a proposal to rewrite the copy on his Web sites that will help me pay down my bill. It's a service he needed and the time was right. I placed a value on my writing and editing services, offered him an hourly rate and we are set to begin work soon.

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If you're short on cash, bartering is a great idea. You can barter for everything from babysitting, cleaning and housekeeping services to repair work and professional services. Not everything in our economy needs to revolve around the cash economy. Think about bartering...

A study by two university professors has found that those who are reckless behind the wheel of a car are more likely to be reckless when investing their money. Strangely enough, they found a correlation between speeding tickets and risky investing activity, reported in their study "Sensation Seeking, Overconfidence and Trading Activity."

The professors compared Helsinki databases of speeding tickets issued in the late 1990s and early 2000s, to databases on investment portfolios and trading records. With some funky math, the professors were able to determine the correlation between speeding tickets and investment portfolio turnover.

They found that an investor's portfolio turnover rate rose 11% after each speeding ticket received. They also found that as an investor got older, their speeding tickets decreased and their risky trading activity also decreased.

The professors think that the correlation between speeding tickets and risky trading activity has to do with overconfidence. A risky driver thinks he can avoid being caught, and therefore he may also believe he can do an exceptional job picking stocks. So all you speeders beware: You're probably playing a little fast and loose with your investments too. Take more time and look at your investments carefully before heading off into the land of high risk stocks.

Tracy L. Coenen, CPA, MBA, CFE performs fraud examinations and financial investigations for her company Sequence Inc. Forensic Accounting, and is the author of Essentials of Corporate Fraud.