Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Meal Tracking Programs

[Mary Vallier-Kaplan (marycvk]

Sorry for the delay.  Our meal manager was on vacation for a few weeks.
System chugged along without her which is a testament to its value.  If you
want more info you care reach her at ruthcaswellsmith [at] gmail.com

Here is what she said about our meals system.

"We have developed a system utilizing Google Spreadsheets and Google Forms.
 Each household has their own account, and they sign up electronically each
week via a Google Form.  Meals are set at a fixed price, and there is a
pantry fund which operates as a slush fund and provides money for purchases
of essentials such as olive oil, spices, etc....Cooks submit their expenses
after a meal and can be reimbursed or credited for them.  Automated scripts
run after the expenses are submitted which debit each household account
accordingly.  Households can view their account at any time. We have
someone who administers the system, making weekly runs to the bank to
deposit money and get cash back for reimbursements.  It seems to be working
pretty well, and has greatly reduced the problems with late signups and no
payments that we had when we were still using paper, and envelope, and
cash."



On Thu, Mar 13, 2014 at 1:49 PM, Kathryn McCamant <
kmccamant [at] cohousingpartners.com> wrote:

>
> Our Nevada City Cohousing mealtrack software program was written by one of
> our members. I keep encouraging him to make it available to other
> communities for a fee.... But other work seems to pay more.  Would your
> community be interested in purchasing such as system?--basic mealtrack
> software plus a few hours of consulting with your community tech team to
> understand the back end and customize to your needs. How much would you be
> willing to pay for such a system?
>
> Our mealtrack system post all common meall menus, sign ups and does all
> the accounting so we have a running credit/debit of what your family owes
> or is due on the system. When you get to more than a couple hundred
> dollars in either direction (ie some people seem to always to the
> shopping), then you can ask to get some money out or pay in to get more in
> balance. Its a really nifty system!
>
> Katie
>
> --
> Kathryn McCamant, President, Architect
> CoHousing Partners, LLC
> 241 Commercial Street
> Nevada City, CA 95959
> T.530.478.1970  C.916.798.4755
> www.cohousingpartners.com
>
>
>
>
>
> On 3/13/14 10:39 AM, "Sharon Villines" <sharon [at] sharonvillines.com> wrote:
>
> >
> >Katie mentioned that they have a great mealtracking program. What do you
> >use? And what do others use?
> >
> >We are still paper and pencil on a bulletin board and I find it very
> >inconvenient. There could be many more possibilities if we had it online.
> >
> >Sharon
> >----
> >Sharon Villines
> >Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC
> >http://www.takomavillage.org
> >
> >
> >
> >
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