Being a first-time homeowner was certainly an educational experience. When I moved here, the first surprise was that every single one of the three toilets here had a plumbing problem – problems that hadn’t shown up in the professional home inspection before I’d closed the deal. It was kind of funny, at any given time a different toilet might work or it might not – we played toilet roulette.

After hacked repairs, two toilet replacements, and a few plumbers, one toilet still just wasn’t right – it was leaking through the ceiling below! So, Andy and I pulled the toilet up, and tried to run an auger through it ourselves. In a blonde moment, I dropped the entire 6 foot plumbing snake down my cast iron pipes. #@%&*!! Now I really had a problem. Andy thought it was funny, I was worried about how expensive yet another call to a plumber would be.

And so begins my Craigslist hacking.

In my moment of despair – err, creative genius – I posted an ad on Craigslist, offering my web development services in exchange for plumbing help. To my surprise, it wasn’t long before I was contacted by a plumber who needed a website – hooray! He fixed my pipes in a jiffy, and even repaired my vacuum cleaner as well. I set up a free website for him. It was an awesome win-win, and that led me to wonder what else I could do.

That experience taught me that boundaries are arbitrary. They’re put in place by some people for other people, but they’re not absolutes that you have to live by. Just because I’d never seen anyone barter services before didn’t mean that I couldn’t do it.

Since then, I’ve bartered, through Craigslist, to have my entire kitchen remodeled, tile laid and countertops replaced with granite tile. I’ve gotten my bike fixed, in exchange for helping organize a bike shop.

I’ve set up two successful photoshoots, both exchanging portfolio experience for a subject. Once, I was the photographer, of a Zumba photoshoot. I had so much fun – I learned about low light and snapping active poses, learned to put my subjects at ease by dancing along with them, and learned how to use an iPad and smartphone to generate on-the-spot model waivers. And I met some really cool people, too! A second time, I was on the other side of a similar deal- as the subject of a fabulous engagement shoot by Disha Dewan. Thank you, Disha!

Each experience gave me more confidence to create new opportunities. I wanted to volunteer at a middle school that had no after-school programs – so I just created one. I started teaching Zumba in my neighborhood, to get to know my neighbors and affordably practice Zumba, simply because I could.

Guidelines for boundary hacking

Though the rules – either on paper, or directed by what people usually do – aren’t concrete, I do believe there are a few very important people-guidelines for boundary hacking. My two short rules for this:

1. Create win-win situations. The goal is to find exchanges that work well for both parties – not to take advantage of free stuff. Mind the karma.
2. Always be nice. Don’t force an idea, deal or request – if it’s a true win-win situation, nothing should need to be forced.

It’s pretty cool how far you can take this if you just assert what you really want. Even little expressions of creative assertiveness are really rewarding – like the time I got peanut butter cookie dough from a restaurant, instead of the baked cookie.

What neat opportunities have you created for yourself?