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Frequently Asked Questions

About Timebanking and TimeOverflow

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Timebanking FAQs

If you have a question that is not answered here, please Contact Us and we will reply and update this page with the Q & A.

What kinds of exchanges can I make?

Everyone has skills and knowledge to share!

Example of exchanges that have happened in the past include: having a coffee with someone who needs a chat, mowing the lawns, dropping someone off at the airport, teaching someone to swim, taking someone's rubbish to the dump, trading a kombucha SCOBY starter, chatting in a new language, help signing up to vote, make your own moisturizer, art classes, music classes, help fixing a tape player, cutting a tree, grammar checks for CV's, cooking a yum meal etc etc.

The list is endless! Sometimes we might not realise the things that we do for others are inherently valued! With Timebanking, all time is valued equally, no matter what skills/ knowledge or resource you are sharing. Have a think about things you like to do that you could share with others, and what things you might need or want to learn!

What if I'm low on timecredits?

It's ok to be in 'Time debt.' Unlike the normalised capitalistic system of thinking, at the Timebank we take a lifetime approach, recognising that sometimes you might have more time to give and other times you might be in more need, and time poor. And that's ok! There is no punishment for being in 'time debt.'

 

Reciprocity is a key value of Timebanking, and the idea is that you will reciprocate your time when you have that time to share. It is just as important to build community, through meeting Timebank members and sharing your skills and knowledge, as it is to be making time credits. The person who is offering you a trade, may also benefit from the opportunity to share with you! So don't hold back because you are low on Timecredits, get involved now!

What about tax?

Although Timebanking is generally considered as an alternative currency, because Timecredits relate to the quantity of Time and not the value of the NZD, IRD currently does not consider Timebanking taxable in New Zealand, so long as members do not exchange skills that provide their main form of taxable income ($NZ) for Timecredits (as of advice received in 2010).

Will Timebanking affect my benefits?

No. Although Timebanking is generally considered as an alternative currency, because Timecredits relate to the quantity of Time and not the value of the NZD, WINZ does not consider timecredits as income/expenditure. However some frontline staff get mixed up with Timebanking and other alternative currency schemes. If you have any problems with WINZ about timebanking please let us know. We are working on an information sheet for WINZ staff.

Is it safe?

At Tai TokerauTimebank we do our very best to make sure you will be safe while Timebanking in your community. All new members follow a sign up process that involves an orientation and referee checks. We always ask permission for police checks and follow up if needed. We advise that if you feel uncomfortable meeting someone at their home or your home, then you could first meet in a public space.

How do I find the Tai Tokerau Timebank site?

→ go to www.timeoverflow.org 

  • click ‘enter’ in the middle of the screen

  • type in your email address and password

  • Click the check box beside ‘remember me’ so you don’t have to keep typing your email address and password everytime you go to the site

  • Click the ‘Enter’ button

Is there an App?

  • Yes! Finally we have an app which you can download the free. In fact we have two!

  • To download the Wix Spaces App to follow this website go to http://wix.to/GhcDLvq?ref=mam you'll get easy access to events and news and other updates

  • Download the TimeOverflow app on your phone or tablet from your usual App store and refer to this page to help you understand and use the new site.

  • NOTE: the App is currently only fully functional for android. It works with Apple but seems to have fewer features.

  • Having an app is one of the biggest advantages of changing to the TimeOverflow software. Now you can see in real time when someone requests or offers something and can easily respond. 

  • The instructions below are for if you are on a laptop/ computer screen - on the app instead of words you might just have icons, e.g. a pencil for edit/ update and + button for creating an offer/ request.

How do I find another member or my own profile?

  • Type the first name in the search box on the Members page (the page you land on when you first login/ enter the site), then press ‘search’. 

  • Click on the name of the profile you want to view.

  • Member profiles appear in order of who was most recently online, not alphabetical order like the previous site

How do I record an exchange?

  • There’s no ‘record an exchange’ button!

  • Only the person who received the help/ service can record the exchange

  • Find the profile of the person who helped you (see Q2 above) - click on it then click ‘time transfer’ (top right)

  • Type in the hours and/or minutes that you need to give

  • If there was an offer it relates to, select it under ‘post’ 

  • In most cases there will be no ‘post’ to choose - just write in the comment something that shows what the exchange was for, e.g. Dog walking x2 April or Thanks for the yummy baking.

  • Comments help us know what type of things members help each other with - important for our reporting

  • Comments are visible to other members - you can choose not to leave a comment if you want the exchange to be private

  • Note: you cannot edit once you have created a time transfer. So please double check you have the time correct and your comment is clear. If you do accidentally give someone 20 credits, instead of 2 for example, that person will then need to create a time transfer with you, giving you 18, so in the end the balance is correct. Hopefully this doesn’t have to happen very often as it puts our statistics out for how many hours people are actually exchanging. Comment for this can be ‘fixing a time transfer mistake’.

How do I change information in my profile?

  • Click on your email address (top right) then ‘update my profile’

  • OR On the members page, enter your name in the search box, then click on your profile when it appears, then top right ‘update’ (on the app look for the pencil icon).

  • update the description about yourself 

  • you cannot remove your email address, that must be visible to other members

  • if you need to change your email address that will affect your login - please contact taitokerautimebank@gmail.com to arrange this

  • ideally your phone number will be visible to other members so they can contact you easily, but if you only want contact via email, you can remove your phone number

  • your gender and date of birth are not visible to other members

  • there is nowhere to enter your address so remember to give it to someone who is coming to your place for an exchange

  • Please make sure your postcode is correct, don’t delete it as it shows us where in the district we have members

  • Automatically you will be tagged with your town. If you want to add other tags, simply type them in here. E.g. ‘gardener’, ‘teacher’, ‘golf’ This is optional.

  • To add or change your profile picture, click ‘change your image’ and select a photo to upload. You may be asked to crop it, this can be a bit tricky. Your Local Coordinator can help if you have problems with this.

What’s the number that appears beside or under a person’s name on their profile?

  • The number is a user number: shows when someone joined the TimeBank website

  • #1 was the first person or organisation that ever signed up to the TimeBank

  • The bigger the number, the more recent the member

  • There are more numbers than current members because some people signed up on the old site but never followed through to become members, others have since moved away, passed away, left the Timebank or not joined the new site yet.

How do I see & respond to Offers and Requests?

  • Just click on offers or requests tabs (top of the page under the blue header)

  • Click the blue title of the offer or request to find out more about it

  • To respond, contact the member via email or via texting/ phoning (texting first is recommended before cold calling - unless you know the member well) and sign your text message so they know who you are!

  • There is no internal messaging system on TimeOverflow - just use your own email or phone service to contact others

How do I add Offers or Requests?

  • When under your profile, click the little plus [ + ] button beside the word offers or requests to add new ones

  • Or under Offers or Requests tabs, on the right there is a plus [ + ] button with the words ‘create offer’/ ‘create request’ button to click on 

  • Put a short title e.g. Baking, Compost help, Mending toy

  • Put more explanation in the description - please note that this is visible to anyone not logged in so don’t add contact info etc! Logged in members will be able to see your phone/email so if you’d rather state a preferred method of contact simply put ‘Contact by phone’ etc in the description.

  • Ignore the ‘Is it a group request/offer?’ question

  • Choose a category (not many to choose from so might have to be ‘other’)

  • Please add tag - e.g. garden advice, painting, baking etc which will help others see your request/ offer and also helps us know what kinds of services are required/ exchanged (for reporting)

  • Please delete old offers or requests that have already been answered

How do I change or delete an Offer or Request?

  • Click on the title of your request/ offer then click on ‘update’ or ‘delete’ (top right)

  • Requests and offers don’t expire, you have to go into them and click delete

  • Please check which offers and requests you have (from the old site), some may need to be deleted or changed now

How do I find out what new things are listed in the Timebank?

  • Click on email address at the top right, choose ‘update my profile’

  • At the bottom of this section, you can see ‘Notifications’ - make sure both boxes are ticked so you ‘receive email notifications’ and ‘receive mobile notifications’

  • Email notifications = 1 email per week (Monday night) with current requests and offers, this is automatic from the site

  • Mobile notifications = notifications on your phone or tablet when a request or offer is listed, ONLY IF you have installed the app (android only) - recommended! 

  • Please do start with these boxes ticked so you see how it works - only untick the box if you really don’t want to hear about others’ requests and offers

  • You can find out what other members have been doing when you go to their profiles and see what exchanges they have done

Where can I see the exchanges I’ve done?

  • The ‘Movements’ section at the bottom of your profile shows who you have exchanged with and what you have received (will be followed by a red number) or given (green number). (Hopefully this will be renamed to Exchanges soon!)

  • On April 25 2023, all exchange data since our start in 2017 was moved from the old to the new site. The numbers are correct, but there is no detail about what the nature of the exchange was - only who it was with and how many hours were given or received.

  • ‘this user isn’t active’ means the person you did the exchange with is not active on the new site (they may not be in the Timebank anymore), you still have the hours you gave/ received.

  • Unlike the old site, members can see each others ‘movements’ i.e. list of exchanges

What is the ‘Tags’ tab for?

  • Under Tags there are 3 tabs

    • ‘Members’ is the first one you land on - you will see where members are in the region because of the Local Coordinator area tabs

    • ‘Offers’ tab shows all the types of things people are offering

    • ‘Requests’ tab shows all the types of things people are requesting help with

    • If you click on a tag it will take you to the members, offers or requests that have that tag

How do new people join the Timebank?

  • People click the Join button on www.taitokerautimebank.org  to complete a joining form and select a time for an Orientation via Calendly

  • After they have attended an orientation and have their referee checks completed, the Timebank coordinator will add them to TimeOverflow

  • People cannot join the TimeOverflow site without the coordinator adding them - so your information there is private, seen only by approved members. 

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