Time Banking (who needs money, anyway?)

[Nenuphar]

I recently came across some information on something called "Time Banking". It is a community-based program that has been implemented in cities and towns across the world. While I do not have the time or resources to implement the program myself right now, it is certainly something I would participate in once in place.

In a nutshell, time banks are a more flexible and fluid form of bartering/trading services in which the unit of exchange is an hour. No money is exchanged. People exchange services based on an hour of time (or a fraction of an hour). This way, people of all ages and skill sets are valued equally - for example, an hour of carpentry work or gardening is worth as much as the hour taken to bake 2 dozen cookies by a senior citizen or an hour of math tutoring by a high school student. There's a nice cross-over into environmental benefits - for example, some of the services can include carpooling, lawn mowing (1 person owns the whipper-snipper, leaf blower, and lawnmower and trades this yard service with 20 people, instead of all 20 people owning these pieces of equipment).

For more information, here are some good links to begin with:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_Banking

http://www.timebanks.org/international.htm#CANADA

http://www.timebanks.org/

http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/small-business/banking-time/


I thought this program might interest you to know about. Feel free to spread the word!

[Niobe]

I think this is an awesome concept! I've read up on this a bit as well. Our community has a small program which involves "community money" and is basically a barter system trading goods and services. I put up a website for trading services/goods in our community, but haven't followed through with it much. Would love to see the day when money is not what makes "the world go round".

[Nenuphar]

There is also a good interview with Stephanie Rearick on the Conscious Media Network site about time banking, though you have to be a subscriber to view it.

Niobe, it's great to hear that something similar has started in your community. How large a community do you live in? How many people, would you say, are participating in the program? Or is it just starting up?

What I have read about time banking appeals to me because such a wide variety of services are valued and exchanged (everything from plumbing & carpentry to drives to appointments and flower bed weeding) and because of the age range of participants (children right up to senior citizens). Seems pretty neat! :p

[rhythm]

Yes i know of this ..great stuff .. the way to GO ..indeed

i belong to a local system called LETS where we trade money free..

it is an exchange of energy not cash ... a great way back to the old way of Bartering

there may be one in your area if you live in the uk ...look it up on the net .. i know it is

country wide ...or start one your self if you feel so inclined ....;)

love and sharing rhythm ...:typing:

[THE eXchanger]

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[shybastid]

I would love to work for someone on their farm here in Northern California in exchange for some of the harvest at the end of the season.Cutting trees.hoeing pruning whatever. Although Lake Tahoe is "Eye Candy," it does not grow crops up here very well. OK SOME crops grow well up here indoors. Yeah, We're up at higher ground and pretty safe here if the SHTF..but I wish to be selfsustained or offer services to trade for FOOD. Then? when TSHTF down below? My new best friend Farmer Brown can come up here..because I helped him when he needed help..and I have a food connection.

[SteveX]

This is a really cool way to do things. I think I'll look into it. Thanks for posting.

[Ross]

Great Idea,

When we were kids we would share a farmers paddock with other neighbours in town. We would grow mass Potatoes, Pumkin, Sweet potatoes, Carrots. We would do all the hoeing, planting, caring and harvesting. We all got an equal share and it was a lot of fun with lovely veges for all. See now that was from the old days that the folks grew up with.

Peace

[SteveX]

This was very similar for me Ross. When I was a kid on my Uncles farm we used to help out with the haymaking. Next doors farm had a combine / bailer and in exchange we would help with their haymaking.

My cousin, now on a farm in Canada, does exactly the same thing over there... lol on a much larger scale. This is indicative of country life but the hardships of urban life could benefit greatly from this Time credit / share platform. Neighbours might actually interact lol.

[shybastid]

Supurb..... I'm renting out one of my boat docks with a discount to a family down the Mountain in exchange for some of this years Harvest of their corn,blueberries, apples, and walnuts. I can't afford to buy a boat,so I rent out the docks. I'll work on the other slip to discount so when Avalon members come to Tahoe....we can go yachting using their boat. Good? Is that being a Team player?
I feel better....AND I'm not kidding.

[Nenuphar]

This is a short video (less than 3 minutes) that sums up Time Banking nicely!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uR8ArHGgA7A

Here is another good one, less than 9 minutes long, coming out of the UK:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_nW__d0Yr4


Enjoy, spread the word, forward these links! :typing:

[sjkted]

I tried something similar to one of these and it didn't work for me. That said, I don't think the concept is flawed, it just needs to be tuned a bit.

The one I did was a local barter group. It worked by each member giving a pre-set number of hours per month. Each member offered services to other members and could receive an unlimited amount of service from other members. If a member was about to go over their pre-set monthly limit of hours, they would still accept service requests from other members, but delay the service until the following month.

It sounded good, but in practice the bar was set way too low. The majority of members were offering services that nobody would pay for and the few members who did offer real services were bombarded with requests. When I spoke with other members, there were always stories about this or that great member who had left the group. After staying in for about 5 months, I decided to leave. I had provided service to about 10 members and when I looked at the roster, I couldn't really see any services anyone was offering that I needed.

One of the inherent flaws with this type of system is that everyone's time does not command the same value. For example, in professional services there is a long training period followed by practice until one gets good enough to offer services as a professional. It's expensive and difficult to go through this process and often when you pay an accountant or lawyer the higher fees, it's partially because they spent so much money and time at school and post-grad training without pay.

I still think this type of a model would work, but I think it needs to be tweaked a little bit...

--sjkted

[sjkted]

The other issue with a system like this is that there is no built-in incentive for barter members to do a better job.

If I have a competitor who is able to do the same work as I do at half the price and half the time, it forces me to re-think the way I do things and improve my level of service. If I don't, I won't be in business much longer.

With a setup like this, what incentive is there for a barter member to work harder, improve themselves and their service, and get extra training? And as a customer, what recourse do I have if the work is not done to my standards?

Ultimately, I think more than the issue of currency, this is the downfall of barter-type organizations...

--sjkted

[Nenuphar]

The success of Time Banks and similar programs does depend, of course, on the integrity and motivation of the participants. Joining up to see what you can get for the least amount of effort on your part is definitely not the right motivation.

Re: incentive to provide excellent service and to keep improving, participant word-of-mouth and a system of ratings/reviews goes a long way to ensure that people who aren't in it for the right reasons get weeded out fairly quickly, especially in a small community.




One of the inherent flaws with this type of system is that everyone's time does not command the same value. For example, in professional services there is a long training period followed by practice until one gets good enough to offer services as a professional. It's expensive and difficult to go through this process and often when you pay an accountant or lawyer the higher fees, it's partially because they spent so much money and time at school and post-grad training without pay.
--sjkted

I completely relate to what you are saying. At the same time, from what I understand, part of the philosophy of time banking is to promote the idea that all members of a community - and the skills they have - are equally valuable. It's a concept that is both appealing and also hard to get used to, living in a society where education and having "A Profession" is held in higher esteem than someone who dropped out of high school, just got out of prison, but can create a kick-ass garden! Speaking from a personal perspective, my Dad was a professional in one of the fields you mentioned (undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees), and I know if we had had a highly organized system like a time bank functioning in our area, he would have participated in exchange for services like gardening/yard work, painting, carpentry, etc.

I think organization is the key, having a program that is well managed, where detailed records are kept, where participants are accountable for their level of service and reliability, and where participant feedback is listened to. I guess that is why the time bank set-up has caught my interest: it seems like it is well thought out and organized.

Here is a short video tutorial showing how Time Bank software works in tracking the exchange of services, informing participants of gatherings and community events, etc.

http://www.timebanks.org/swf/tour/weaver-demo.htm


.

[sjkted]

The success of Time Banks and similar programs does depend, of course, on the integrity and motivation of the participants. Joining up to see what you can get for the least amount of effort on your part is definitely not the right motivation.

Re: incentive to provide excellent service and to keep improving, participant word-of-mouth and a system of ratings/reviews goes a long way to ensure that people who aren't in it for the right reasons get weeded out fairly quickly, especially in a small community.




I completely relate to what you are saying. At the same time, from what I understand, part of the philosophy of time banking is to promote the idea that all members of a community - and the skills they have - are equally valuable. It's a concept that is both appealing and also hard to get used to, living in a society where education and having "A Profession" is held in higher esteem than someone who dropped out of high school, just got out of prison, but can create a kick-ass garden! Speaking from a personal perspective, my Dad was a professional in one of the fields you mentioned (undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees), and I know if we had had a highly organized system like a time bank functioning in our area, he would have participated in exchange for services like gardening/yard work, painting, carpentry, etc.

I think organization is the key, having a program that is well managed, where detailed records are kept, where participants are accountable for their level of service and reliability, and where participant feedback is listened to. I guess that is why the time bank set-up has caught my interest: it seems like it is well thought out and organized.

Here is a short video tutorial showing how Time Bank software works in tracking the exchange of services, informing participants of gatherings and community events, etc.

http://www.timebanks.org/swf/tour/weaver-demo.htm


.

I agree completely and this is why I initially joined up. I was hoping to get some help with gardening, car work and house work, but it seems like many of the services were just laughable such as:

- access to a member's library of health books (can't take them out, but free to read on site)
- can spend the night at a member's residence in Jamaica
- phone consultation on how to improve security at home
- companionship services
- singing telegrams
- referrals to nutrition programs based on internet research

I was astonished that I was the only one providing business-level services. There were no accountants, lawyers, mechanics, electricians, handymen, gardneing people, etc. Nearly all of the services ranged from wacky to barely usable IMO. Towards the end, it kind of felt like I was supporting a private welfare system, as I wouldn't be able to recoup any of my time from services from other members, even though there were some 30+ other members.

I think the key is implementing some bar of standard, although I'm not sure how that would work in real life.

--sjkted

[Nenuphar]

I agree completely and this is why I initially joined up. I was hoping to get some help with gardening, car work and house work, but it seems like many of the services were just laughable such as:

- access to a member's library of health books (can't take them out, but free to read on site)
- can spend the night at a member's residence in Jamaica
- phone consultation on how to improve security at home
- companionship services
- singing telegrams
- referrals to nutrition programs based on internet research



Oh, man - now I see where you're coming from! That is pretty bad. :der: (I can only imagine what "companionship services" consisted of. :behindsofa: ) I feel sorry for the person/people who tried to get that program up and running. Good intentions, but....eek!

.

[onawah]

Apologies. Posted this twice by mistake. See next.

[onawah]

I am a Coordinator for a TimeBank. This town is very liberal with a large alternative community, and TimeBank works pretty well here. Our members are mostly self-motivated, and we haven't had any big problems as yet, after almost 3 years, but it was slow in starting and is not extremely active, primarily because people are unwilling to learn how to navigate the TB website, which is cumbersome, though in the process of being upgraded. So just getting people to participate has been challenging, though getting them to join has been easy. We have close to 100 members now.

Some services are certainly more popular than others, for example, massage therapy. But each member can limit the time the number of TimeBank transactions they engage in, so that's manageable. Members can also informally come to their own agreements if they feel a need for some monetary compensation--for example, receiving 1 hour of TB credit plus $20 for a 1 hour massage, which is still a good deal.

We create opportunities for members to do volunteer community work and get TimeBank credits for their efforts. For example, being a traffic marshal during a parade, helping to clean up the downtown or a nearby creek. Organizations appeal to us for volunteer help, and by doing so, we are contributing towards building a more closely knit community for everyone, which is gratifying.

We have a monthly Open Meeting, often a potluck, with planned activities such as demos of skills being offered, showing videos about other TimeBanks, book swap, seed swap, etc. They are always enjoyable, and members get credit for attending and bringing guests.

We have official TB Workdays, where we go as a group to help out someone in the community who is in need. They don't even have to be a member!

There are some much older, better organized and active TimeBanks around. Some are 501C3s and have gotten quite professional, but ours is,in keeping with the character of our small town (pop. around 2,000), casual, loose and fun.

We just avoided setting our expectations too high and went with the flow; the results have been quite lovely!:decision:

[Nenuphar]

Thanks for your post, Onawah! It's great to hear about a Time Bank set-up that seems to be thriving. I love the idea of giving credits to people for doing community volunteer work. The monthly meetings/potlucks sound like a wonderful idea too - an opportunity to meet others in the community, to see what kinds of services are offered, and to share experiences - the good, the bad, and the ugly! *L*

Very inspiring! :tea:

[Productivemind]

This is a fabulous idea in my opinion, and I'm motivated enough to begin a Time Bank in my little town. I love that participants' times are all valued the same. While I realize that people spend much of their time and money being educated to be professionals, as I have, there comes a time in this world when we all must be equal. There are lots of folks who are uneducated, but very hard workers in many fields that I consider expert because of their knowledge about what it is they do. I see enormous potential in this in a small community like we have here, with no out of pocket costs for anyone on the labor. I am most definitely going to check out all the information I can find on this and put it into action. Thanks so much for all the ideas, and especially the ones that expose potential areas of concern. Every new business has to work out the kinks, and if people who join have pure motives, it should work out.

[Lost Soul]

Sounds almost like the monastic way described by John Peniel in his book. The tax people will hate it (batering).

[onawah]

Sounds almost like the monastic way described by John Peniel in his book. The tax people will hate it (batering).

TimeBank thought of that, which is why it is really based on volunteerism, not barter, and why everyone's hour is given the same value. Everyone is essentially volunteering their time to the community--TimeBank essentially just keeps track of the hours, members, services offered, etc. although they also help to promote community volunteerism. Goods or money are not exchanged as part of a TimeBank transaction, though members can certainly do that off the record if they so choose.

[xbusymom]

I am currently in the process working with Bob Blain (creator of the Hour money www.hourmoney.org) to create a new form of time-money.



BOB,
...your ideas are fantastic! I love the Time Aid Credit Slips (TACS=TAX) with the gifter sign line and the receiver line, as a way to tell if the bill has been redeemed

* I love word play - the first thing that came to mind was "sticking this in the face of FED RES BANK"*; and the TAG teams with the notarized stamp along with the community services listing is great too, and I would love to get this rolling...

the bottom could be a different long version of the TACS acronym of "Together All Can Succeed" and leave the word PROSPER out of it to signify the moving away from the FED monetary system


Hi Bob,
OK... I redid the formats to incorporate some of my son's design ideas... and added 4 more denominations for "DAY-hours".
www.yoglin.com/TACS.html

I also would like to do the border text in all the different language translations like you have on your bills... and there is still lots of room per bill to add pics of local/community, AV (authorized validators) signatures, maybe develop all new catch-words for the denominations (my son says to skim over the klingon dictionary and pull terms from that- at this point in the revamping of the monetary system- anything is possible- something might catch the eye or have a nice ring to it).

I also had some time to let the MONEY SYSTEM idea simmer in the subconscious- and what I came up with is ...
1) combine the Ithaca system (www.ithacahours.org) of static bills for "wages earned= time spent doing a service" utilizing the "barterBIZ List" of who will accept the local TACS, plus
2) any slip that has a new pledge on it gets turned in (and swapped with a blank one) to the AV for validation with the pledgOR who then gets added to the community list
2a) ... set up a community review committee for BBB/complaints and draw up a procedure for removing people from the TACS list (for bad products/services/customer relations, etc.)
3) the point is to create "unlimited money"- not control or restrict it *(nobody is poor in time- everyone always get 24 new hours every day)... the only NATURAL - and self-regulating- restriction would be daily/weekly scheduling priorities for each person)
4) And since the TACS bills are always exchanged value(service) for time- I guess we would have to figure out how to come up with an average time that it would take to complete a task(products). and we could allow a time-curve for learning new skills or employing the disabled...
5) we need to get with Ithaca and find out how they did the time vs. dollar exchange rate...

thats all for now, and by no means perfect, but we are gettin' there...

-laura

Any input from y’all would be very much appreciated...

[Nenuphar]

Renewing the discussion for new members and guests! :bump:

[shadowstalker]

Shoot I do time banking all the time, cuz my friends are as broke as i am. The process is not that hard really, If need be put things in a ledger to keep track.
Time banking is awesome.

[Lost Soul]

Good to have when the monetary system collapses. We exchange services without money. Everyone is happy (provided the services rendered are up to snuff). Of course, for those who want to opt out or can't render service, there's always that shiny stuff called gold and silver.

[Snowy Owl]

The Financial Cartel do not want money it goes trough theirs ears but they want people be poor so it is profitable.

[Ki's]

It's a wonderful idea. I'm convinced community's could build comfortable and fulfilling lives by living off the land and trading services but I have a couple of concerns. Firstly, for as long as we are unable to actually own our land -- they call it property tax...but we know it's really rent -- we're kind of tied in forever to a monetary system to hold the land.
And second..what about those willing and able to offer professional services, ie: medical. I'm a nurse and though I would be more than happy to trade my nursing skills there is that whole icky law suit thing.
I don't mean to defend mainstream medicine. I've certainly put my license on the line often enough by smiling politely to the doctor as I write the next drug order and then whispering counter advice to the family...but, how do these community's address these kinds of issues?
My opinion (and I know it's a bit off topic) but it seems we spend a lot of time telling people to wake up but there is no plan for when we've awakened. It's kind of like...AH-HA I see what they're doing and we just keep watching as they just keep doing.
What's the plan?
I think it would go a long way to aiding the cause by pushing hard, loud and in great numbers to abolish property tax and the laws that prevent us from sustaining ourselves from the land.
Maybe we need to take a clue from the Amish...they seem to have it down

[Snowy Owl]

The Regional markets inside a States, a Provinces ofr even parts of states or Provinced do indeed have narrow relations between themselves, this is a commercial advantage. Micro-Industry work great they do extremely well in so many countries. Coopérative for vegetables and even animals farming are common in many countries. Complementary Inter-Regional allows Regions to be as Autarcic as possible. You talk about Amish Ki's y, well their regional market is furnished and provide by them. Mormons are great in constituting strategic reserves in food waters and yes fuel. Each Region will become less dependant on big corps or huge importations. Honestly in 20 years of research it is the sole economic model I have foud to avoid the dislocation of society.

[xbusymom]

... the sole economic model I have found to avoid the dislocation of society.

ok, so where does one start ? I want to DO something, i just don't know how to get things from point A (theory/model) to point B (results)... especially when I am still mired in the monetary tarpit...

[Snowy Owl]

Just with Authenticity.

Look around, see if the needs of locals or tourists are covered.

Then find regional producers of those elements. Tell him the Truth, manifest that you are local, then as the producers the best price for locals (a good secure base for producers)

Then do not sell bu delivers the regional productions to expected solidarity of Locals.

Same can be done on autonomous radio, you can start to articulate the concept of Regional Development and do not forget that this program is indeed as prove in so many regions, it promote Regional Synergy. Producers will delegate quite a few thing if their undercontractant are local.

Being local is being narrow, clean cut is a must, solidarity is at its max. Good luck

Snowy

[onawah]

ok, so where does one start ? I want to DO something, i just don't know how to get things from point A (theory/model) to point B (results)... especially when I am still mired in the monetary tarpit...

If you want to start a TimeBank, start here:
http://www.timebanks.org/
You can check to see if there is one already in your area and if there is, you can join that one.
There are other similar organizations as well.
Good luck!

[John Parslow]

Hello all I think is a brilliant idea and one which I would personally love to participate in. I pledge to try and get one going in my area and thank you for all the links it would be very interesting to know if there is one already here ...

Love and peace to all. JP :cool:

[onawah]

Hello all I think is a brilliant idea and one which I would personally love to participate in. I pledge to try and get one going in my area and thank you for all the links it would be very interesting to know if there is one already here ...

Love and peace to all. JP :cool:
Google Time Banks in Europe. Check on Youtube. There are quite a few in Europe and some of them have made delightful videos about their activities. Our new TB project which just started last week is called "Community Eats". We are having a weekly community dinner, prepared by volunteers, paid for by donations, featuring as much locally grown and organic food as possible, no GMOS, no irradiation, etc. We are serving, soup, salad and bread and comers are welcome to bring potluck dishes to share.
We are holding this at a recording and dance studio which also has a kitchen. We are going to be videoing preparation of the food and showing it at the gathering (from 4-8PM) for diners, and also on Youtube and Facebook. We want to educate people about how we can get back to local sustainability, how to grow, shop for, prepare, store and plan for healthier eating. This is such an important, basic step, and food brings everyone together in a very good way.

Good luck!

[grannyfranny100]

I believe the book was first issued in 1980.
Watch out for the term barter. If it truly was bartering, the IRS would be at your door since barters are taxable!!
Given our economy now, the IRS wants a 1099 for garage sales over $600 and I suspect that they will go after TimeBanks, too.
It seems to be social work on behalf of the disadvantaged, mentally handicapped and teens in trouble.
I thought it might be a good way for out of work people to start home based businesses and grow them but it doesn't seem to have developed in that direction.

grannyfranny

[sjkted]

I saw another concept along this line that I like. Take a look http://wevegottimetohelp.blogspot.com/

--sjkted

[Snowy Owl]

One book I recommend and that is so adequate for this time of ours.

SMALL IS bEAUTIFULL BY sCHUMACKER

sNOWY

[Nenuphar]

"Bumped" for renewed discussion! :biggrin: