Using Hours rather than dollars is more like helping a friend or family member. It puts relationship back in exchanges and gives people options when there isn’t enough money for what is wanted.

Think of it as a game that uses play money. This money is in Hours. If I offer to cook a meal for 2 Hours and you want this, we talk and work out the arrangement. After the meal, I get 2 Hours credit and you are debited that time which you owe to the members of the Time Exchange. You owe me nothing.

Continuing the game idea, if I need a haircut, I could invite my friend Joan to join the game and cut my hair. Joan joining the game makes it larger and more powerful. You got your meal. I’m going to get my haircut. You could place a free ad in the Marketplace & Time Exchange to do errands (or whatever you choose) to clear the 2 Hours you owe. Trading locally in Hours leaves more dollars in our pockets to spend on items we can't get locally and connects us in ways that would not have happened otherwise.

This combo of people being more connected locally and being able to make natural exchanges that have not been monetized, fosters a closer-knit, more loving community. There are many expressions of this. Jimmy Hendrix said: When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.