Cohousing-L Mailing List: web based communications; meal accounting

[Lynn Nadeau (welcome]

Lynn here, RoseWind Cohousing, Port Townsend WA.
Nobody seems to have yet mentioned this wrinkle: there are communities such 
as ours where one or more households cannot or will not use the Internet for 
community communications, including email. Email, one can at least print out 
a copy and deliver it to those people, or post it at the common house. But 
ongoing stuff is harder that way. 

We do fine with partial Internet use:
Our web site (www.rosewind.org) has public and members-only areas. The 
latter includes past minutes, committee descriptions, and budget and finance 
stuff. I like that I can look and find out what part of my committee's 
budget has already been spent, in which line items, for example. (Those 
without such access can ask the Treasurer or members of the Finance team.) 

Email connects with almost all our households, and is used for minutes, 
announcements of events and meetings, and discussion of current topics and 
proposals. Print copies of emails sent to the whole community are posted at 
the common house. A calendar on the common house bulletin board notes 
meetings and events. 

Meal tracking is via a spreadsheet kept by a certain member or someone he 
delegates it to. At cooked meals, this person has a notebook with a printed 
sheet for that meal. Each household has a line noting whether they have 
pre-paid credit or not, and payments received that day (either advance, 
just-for-that-meal, or credit against cooking expenses, if not taken in 
cash). We've done it that way for several years and it goes smoothly. Most 
people either pay in chunks, or take credit vs cash when they cook and need 
reimbursement. Adults pay $4 for a meal, of which $3.50 is available to the 
cook(s) for expenses; the rest accumulates for purchase of spices, oils, 
flours, and other staples for the pantry. Each week, the account keeper 
updates the data base. 

Lynn at RoseWind
where we have a house about to go on the market - 2 BR, 2 bath, $400,000.
See http://www.rosewind.org for photos and details.