With family budgets running dry, swapping is a hot trend this summer. A recently laid-off marketing director and mom is making it easy for moms across the country to swap baby clothes, shoes, toys, books and even hand-made items online. Her site’s North Carolina group has 14 members to date.

Darcy Cruwys’ new Web site, www.swapmamas.com, was born out of necessity and fed by her desire to help others and the environment through recycling, according to her site. She says after her daughter was born, two of her friends—who had both given birth to baby girls a few months ahead of her—mailed her their maternity clothes, and then, baby clothes as their kids outgrew them. Now that their daughters are all 5-years-old, they continue to pass along clothes, although they live in different states.

“I knew how fortunate I was to have this incredible support, especially being a single parent on a very limited budget,” Cruwys’ write on her site. “But I always felt for those who weren't as lucky. What about parents who didn’t have a network of generous friends like I did? For me, that was the key.”

To start trading, moms must first do a free sign up, fill out a profile—which includes uploading a photo and creating a custom page—before browsing groups to connect with other moms. Groups run the gamut of interests and needs from homeschooling and educational supplies, to scrapbooking, coupons, and kids’ books and movies. Moms can opt to swap “even steven,” (give a book, receive a book), just give stuff away, or engage in old-fashioned bartering through online comments.

Another mom whose taken bartering to new heights in Tammy Bunn, in Johnston County. She runs Barter4Kids, a service where parents can donate used children's items and earn bartering credits toward other things they need that are donated by other parents, according to WRAL. Bunn runs the service out of her garage. She and her husband, William, have seven children, and their happy family photos give their site a personal touch that moms can relate to.

Like Cruwys, the Bunns say they know that times are hard right now so they wanted to give parents a simple and affordable solution to “buying" clothing for their kids. The group’s members include moms who live in Raleigh, Garner, Clayton, Zebulon and Knightdale.

No doubt about it: When the going gets tough, moms get going.