Time Banking: Turning time into money
14 March 2009
7 Comments
Posted by Randy
What is Time Banking?
According to TimeBanks.org, Time Banking at its most basic level is simply about spending an hour doing something for somebody in your community. That hour goes into the Time Bank as a Time Dollar. Then you have a Time dollar to spend on having someone doing something for you.
Time Banking works like “bartering”, in which two people trade goods or services instead of money. For example, if someone needs an hour’s worth of help to build a house, fix the sink, or mow the lawn, a time bank will match that person with someone who knows how. In exchange, that person will spend an hour helping someone else.
“You receive something, you provide something” – it is a form of paying it forward.
Where to start?
If you want to join an existing time bank you can check out the Time Bank Directory to see if there is a Time Bank near your area. If you’re not near any time banking area and you want to start your own, or bring Time Banking to your neighborhood you will need the Time Banking Start-up Kit, which provides step-by-step guidance for explaining Time Banking, finding members, running orientation meetings, dividing up leadership roles, and more.
For more information about Time Banking – check out www.timebanks.org
