Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Paying for meals...and cooking them

[Rob Sandelin (robsan]

Sharingwood  charges kids a dollar a meal, adults $2.50, non-cooks 
$4.00!!!! We typically do dinner Mon-Thursday and on Sunday once or 
twice a month.  We charge kids a dollar because some kids eat lots, 
others eat little compared to adults.  Actually if we were worried 
about it we should charge some of us MORE because they eat so 
much.......we don't worry about it, here, have seconds.....

There is a list of all the dinner eaters posted in the commonhouse.  If 
you are NOT going to eat you cross your name off. If you don't, you are 
charged for that meal.

So at Sharingwood you don't have to cook to eat, you just pay more.  
Cooks buy the food for the meal they cook and what they spend is 
credited towards their account. We just give our receipts to our 
wonderful bookeeper who tracks all this stuff.  The extra money which 
accumulates is used once a quarter to buy bulk items and an occaisional 
kitchen widget.  So my family of four accrues $28 a week in costs for 
community dinner.  My wife and I both cook once a month and so our 
family lays out about $50-60 for purchasing food and so that is 
credited to our account.  Once a month we pay the bill which is the 
difference between what we paid in to purchase food and what we have eaten.

So where else can I feed a family of four  with homemade beer, lasagne, 
organic salad, and homemade bread for $7?

Rob Sandelin
Sharingwood