Loomio
Sat 23 Nov 2013 11:58PM

Should we use monetary funds inside the commune?

GJ Garret James Public Seen by 13

This was posted by Lee during the 11/23/2013 meeting:

I would prefer not to use any money within the community itself - I dont mind sharing pretty much everything - but we will need money for outside community use... perhaps one account for business purposes and one account for personal things and vacations - both needing approval by our "board" (which by the way my vote is to call it "The Heart" <3)

GJ

Garret James Sat 23 Nov 2013 11:59PM

I like this idea, although I would like a clearer picture of what personal accounts are for

GJ

Poll Created Sun 24 Nov 2013 12:00AM

Use a time banking/barter for internal use of exchange instead of money. Closed Sat 4 Jan 2014 11:08PM

Use a time banking/barter for internal use of exchange instead of money.

Results

Results Option % of points Voters
Agree 100.0% 3 KMF JB SM
Abstain 0.0% 0  
Disagree 0.0% 0  
Block 0.0% 0  
Undecided 0% 6 GC LN GJ SP CS SC

3 of 9 people have participated (33%)

GC

Gene Cox Sun 24 Nov 2013 12:12AM

I would like to discuss this further in terms of creating local economy.

LN

Lee Nelson Sun 24 Nov 2013 12:55AM

How about offering "non-monetary" CSA options. Basically allowing people to barter for their CSA boxes. Bringing in needed supplies for our community?

GC

Gene Cox Mon 25 Nov 2013 2:08AM

What about a work or labor share program internally? I can outline a few options in the forum.

KMF

Kelli Marie Frances Mon 25 Nov 2013 4:30PM

Yes, we definitely need to expand upon this subject. I like the idea of time banking/barter within the community on a personal level. I'm interested to learn more about a labor share program internally for a bit more structure. Since this can be completely customizable to our needs, demands, etc.

GJ

Garret James Thu 28 Nov 2013 6:30PM

Im going to further the timeline of this discussion. I think everyone will be ok with that.

GC

Gene Cox Fri 29 Nov 2013 4:29AM

Bartering can turn out to be very unfair. Say my skill set is fixing autos, or something else that doesn't need to be done on a frequent basis, or I'm producing clothes that don't need to be constantly replaced, it makes it very difficult for me to barter. If there are 10 people that grow food, it becomes competitive.
One way of labor exchange would be to list all the tasks that need to be done within the community and the number of hours needed at these tasks per week, ie garden:120 hours, cooking: 42 hours, kitchen clean up: 42 hours, child care: ? hours. Then everyone is asked to work the number of hours required (total hours/community members) and everyone submits what they want to do that week, signing up for shifts. Anything extra is worked out between co's, ie I want to go for a massage for 1/2 hour, or a walk alone, would you mind watching my child for the 1/2 hour? Then you "bank" that 1/2 hour for time off, which could be a non work shift, time away from the community, exchanged if someone is willing. I also suggest community property: tool shares or libraries, clothing, obviously food, automobile, computer, etc, which is beneficial for lots of reasons. Yes, this is highly customizable, some communities track hours, others go on an honor system. Some are high in personal property, others in communal property.

LN

Lee Nelson Fri 29 Nov 2013 8:00PM

I still think vacations will be the biggest issue. They tend to be pretty expensive depending on where you are going and what you are doing.
Hmm perhaps we can set up an "exchange" program with other communities to exchange people for vacation times? Might be a great way to learn some new skills as well!

GC

Gene Cox Sat 30 Nov 2013 3:02PM

Yes, that's what the FEC does, they call it LEX (Labor EXchange). You can work in another member community and the hours you put in there count as your home community hours. Vacations are usually used to visit families outside the community during holidays, since a lot of communities are already very peaceful and relaxing; the normal stresses we need to take a break from aren't always there. A few communities also "vacation" together, beach, mountains, parks, or whatever, a family unit.