But let's take a look at your average Rabbit living a relatively simple lifestyle here at DR and see what we come up with and then we'll see how some of the other factors may affect things.
First, a little background on our alternative economy here at DR. People here can work in various ways in exchange for DR Hours, our alternative currency. These hours are valued at $7/hour which sets sort of a DR minimum wage. Not all work is paid in hours as some is still done as on a volunteer basis.
| Hours per week |
| Meetings | 5.0 |
| Cattail Food Co-op dues (includes food,utilities,etc.) | 7.5 (or $52.50) |
| Cook shift | 5.0 |
| Cleaning and other cmty chores | 3.5 |
| Total | 21.0 hours/week |
| Dollars per week |
| Vehicle Co-op mileage (average 50 miles/week) | $25.00 |
| DR Dues (2% of income or $15/quarter) | $1.25 minimum |
| DRLT Lease Fees ($25/month) | $6.25 |
| Phone Bills (based on $10 base and
$20 long distance per month) | $7.50 |
| Health Insurance | $20.00 |
| Rent (estimated) | $25.00 |
| Travel (estimated at $1500/year, 4 weeks away) | $30.00 |
| Total | $115.00/week |
So if you were earning $7/hour doing something at DR or for the wider community you could meet your basic needs with 17 hours of income work plus the 21 hours of meetings and work for DR Hours (including meals and house cleaning)
Of course these are the minimums. If you are building your own home you will have additional expenses (on the order of $5,000-20,000 depending on size and style of building). Also you may have extra expenses because of previous debt, outside obligations, etc. For some people this could as much as double their cash needs! It can be really worth it to pay off those debts and even come with some savings to put into building your home. (We are hoping to set up loan funds for home building some day.)
Also we should be clear that like many people in the wider culture we do a lot of stuff outside of our normal work week. Some of these are fun and exciting things like dinner with our neighbors at Sandhill, sing-a-longs, roller skating, or just hanging out and talking. Some things are more like work: talking through a hard interaction with a community mate, picking up a visitor at the train station, giving a tour of DR, etc. A lot of these things are done to benefit DR and help make our community grow and achieve our mission of education and outreach. So it is essentially doing volunteer work for a non-profit that you care a lot about.
In addition, some people's work is seasonal so it can mean doing extra work during the summer to save up money and DR Hours for the winter months.
We hope that this look at our basic needs and expenses here helps to give a feeling for the flavor of what it currently takes to make life work at Dancing Rabbit.
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