The basics.
Time banking, as we have in Columbia, is an administered system for giving and receiving services locally. It is -- so you know -- officially a Columbia Association project.
It's not the same as bartering.
In a typical bartering system, two people exchange directly for equal value. It's tough to find an equal and equitable match. For example, I may want three hours of your technical support to get my website transferred to a new domain. But you might only want one hour of my social media consulting. Or you might want a single hula hooping lesson from me, and I might want seasonal acupuncture sessions. How do we reconcile the difference in the value of what we have and the amount of each others' services that we want? Were we just bartering between ourselves, it probably wouldn't work.
It's different: it's a bank ... of time.
In time banking, I offer services that I believe others might want. Others prove me right or wrong by "buying" my services -- or not -- with timebank dollars that they have earned. For example, I was able to get some clothes mended by a time bank member. I found her listing on the T-B directory, sent her an email through the member-to-member email system, described the project scope and asked her if she wanted to do it. Thank goodness, she did. I spent six timebank dollars, and she earned six timebank dollars. An hour is an hour ... is an hour.
In timebanking, the value of every members' time is treated equally. An hour is an hour, regardless of who provides what service. You don't like that? You won't like timebanking.
Time is time ... is money in the bank.
It all counts. The time it takes to set up an appointment with someone. The time it takes to drive to and from a meeting. The time it takes to deliver services. Bottom line: Any time you spend to coordinate and deliver services counts. FYI: Hours are rounded up to the nearest 15-minute increment.
But cash is cash ... is an expense.
Say I was going to make a hula hoop for someone who'd requested this of me through timebanking. I'd add the time it'd take me to find out what he or she wants, purchase raw materials, make the actual item and deliver it or arrange for pick-up. Material costs to construct the hoop would be a direct expense to the time bank member who wanted the hoop. Having conversations and upfront agreements about such expenses is, of course, a good practice.
Also, when you finish up a project and are debiting your hours from someone's account, the number of miles you drove for this project are tracked.
Video explanations of time banking.
From YouTube and a time banking community in London, UK.