Dollar Alternatives Catching On In Some Towns

Some towns are taking note and learning how to survive a depression by using old tricks from history’s playbook. When people have no ready cash on hand, some towns are trying to stimulate commerce using some dollar alternatives that work in local areas. One of these alternatives is scrip, local currencies that can be used to trade within a select group of merchants. Another alternative that can work is a time bank. Instead of using dollars, people trade hours for different services. Each of these probably can’t uphold an economy all by themselves, however they do support additional ways to create commerce when cash is in short supply.

Scrips

It’s actually legal to print your own money, or local currencies, as long as it looks nothing like official Federal Reserve notes. Many local groups that start printing scrip usually make it very colorful and visually appealing. The Detroit Cheer, a relatively recent scrip being printed, features the Spirit of Detroit (a Roman-looking superhero) in the buff. This mythical figure stands over the city skyline with a family in one hand and the sun in the other. The N.C.Plenty is another beautiful scrip that features flora and fauna of North Carolina.

Scrip can be purchased using dollars, or received in exchange for a good or service – as long as the merchant is a participating member. The Detroit Cheer, for instance, started out as scrip printed by tavern owners, but soon was being used by other businesses in the area, including a pizzeria and a doggy day care center. Scrip can sometimes be traded back for dollars, but not always, since the merchant must accept the scrip and can refuse to use it. Since many people have to start out either working at a participating merchant or purchase the script via dollars, there are still limits on the procuring scrip for people outside regular commerce, like the unemployed. That limited merchant and member participation and low distribution might account for why only 20% of scrips survive. For people wanting still another dollar alternative they can explore the time bank.

Time Banks

A popular way to create commerce is by using a time bank. Time banks work on the concept that everyone’s time has the same value. Thus, if you spend one hour doing something, you should be able to get credit for someone else’s service that takes one hour too. Thus, you are not actually receiving a trade or barter, but getting credit for doing something for someone else that you can use later. In this type of system, everyone’s time has the same value, even if your service is different. Time banks started off as local affairs, sometimes appearing in a community of close neighbors. They can work well whether you have a few or many people participating in the time bank, as long as those services provide value to the community. Now, you can hop online and find out what types of services you can trade in time hours by going to this directory: http://www.timebanks.org/directory.htm.

The beauty of time banks is that you don’t start off with any cash whatsoever. Thus, the unemployed and poor can access this system without using dollars to “buy” time hours, the way you would scrip. Instead, they simply have to offer some service of value to the community to get credit that they can use to trade for some other service being offered within the time banks network. For that reason, they tend to involve local communities where services, not goods, are being traded in time hours. However, with the advent of online work, it’s feasible that if you have a skill that can be traded in any network, that you do not have to be local to participate. A good example of a skill that can be traded in any time bank, regardless of location, is web programming.

Community Is Emphasized

Regardless of whether you choose a time bank or scrip, the concept that upholds both these dollar alternatives is accessing community resources. Your community is the network of participating members. For that reason, you want to join the community first and find out what is being offered before you actively participate. You may find some groups cannot offer the types of goods or services you require, while other groups do. In addition, look at the stability of the community and how well the scrip or time bank is accepted by its members. Remember that commerce isn’t just about what price one assigns to a good or service, it’s also about the value traded back and forth in the community. As long as you have something someone else wants you can participate and use these alternatives to help support you financially when times are tough.