So, as I said, my wife wants a boat.

After some discussion, I bit the bullet and said worse case scenario, we would have one by next spring.

That would give me some time to pay down enough debt that taking on another bill wouldn’t make us any worse off than we are now, and would also provide the opportunity to bargain hunt during the winter months when the boat prices are down.

Then I saw something that reminded me of the one red paperclip story.  If you aren’t familiar with the story, it’s about Kyle MacDonald who traded his way from one red paper clip to a house in one year.

Hey, if he traded his way from a paper clip to a house in a year, I certainly should be able to trade my way to a boat in eight months (March 2010).

So, the one red paper clip served as my inspiration.  Next question: what do I trade?

After wandering the house a bit I found my answer.

The Stainless Steel Coffee Mug.