by Skylark Disraeli
As a self-employed single parent, the cost of co-housing seemed prohibitive. Ultimately, I located a situation that worked and leapt at the opportunity. I haven’t regretted it. Not only has cohousing turned out to be as affordable as I’d hoped, I’ve actually experienced a series of what I think of as financial windfalls. These surprises, detailed below, have quickly eased my mind about the affordability of collaborative housing:
Community-based resources
In the project in which I currently live, each household has the option of paying just $5/mo toward an intra-community high-speed internet service. Savings from this one resource alone totals $40/mo. Also on hand are shared tools, laundry facilities, lawnmowers, toys, blenders, state-of-the-art juicers, a trampoline, bicycles, and cars. A neighbour who has lived here for only four years is confident she has saved several thousands of dollars to date! This week, a car-free coho needed a vehicle to be able to attend a specific event; within three hours of her emailed request, use of a car had been offered. For those of us running home-based businesses, the shared office (landline, fax machine, copier, computer) provides savings in both money and travel time. Apparently, the community also hosts a very cozy room with cable TV in it. With all of the activity here, I haven’t had a chance to try it out, but it’s good to know about for days in which I need to be extra low-key!
Gifts
Something I’d always wanted for my four-year-old son but simply could not justify spending on was a large train set (preferably Thomas the Tank Engine). Within a week of move-in, we were gifted with two. (My son also gets to play with the seven additional train sets one neighbouring boy has!) We’ve additionally been offered beds, a dresser, internet cables, you name it. Aside from direct offerings, the community hosts a “free table”, upon which members of the community place clothes, hairstyling products, DVDs, books, printers, you name it –all for the taking. The value of relevant offerings received in the first fifteen days? An estimated $1600.
Conversation
As a home-based business owner, my work can be rather isolating and ideas can simply run short. Dialogue with two different neighbours triggered a successful idea for increased sales. This kind of inspiration happens daily: Self-employment is common among cohos and we support each other through networking meetings, the sharing of ideas and direct collaboration.
Recreation
In our three weeks here, we have not spent a penny on recreation! Who needs expensive municipal pools when our community’s many children gleefully share five acres of fields and trees, a trampoline, paddling pools, sprinklers, a ping-pong table, an indoor playroom, two outdoor play apparatuses with slides and swings and, of course, each other! What adult needs a gym pass or theatre tickets when travelling plays come to us, theatre is created on-site, global dance is a community-hosted event, and chefs co-create shared meals.
Food
This is an odd one that I cannot yet explain. My son and I are on a special healing program which demands a hefty monthly investment. In cohousing, our food costs have dropped by a sheer 30%. We’re still eating all-organic (and even have it all home-delivered by another business run out of the same project); the only variable I can factor in is fun! It seems that in having our emotional and recreational needs met, we are simply less dependent on food to serve those needs. My bank account is grateful for this interesting twist.
Labour
Because cohousing communities attract both creative and skilled people, labour and maintenance on the completed building is largely addressed in a very cost-effective manner, keeping unit values up while maintaining balanced strata fees.
The benefits of cohousing are primarily described as social and environmental. While these statements are indeed accurate, it is worth recognizing that these aspects of cohousing directly trigger a positive upward spiral in the realm of personal finances, as well. As a financially conservative person who has had to budget severely in order to move through an intensive progression of homelessness to housing to homeownership to cohousing, I do not for a moment suggest one throw caution to the wind and commit beyond their means. I do, though, encourage one to look at the greater economic picture when asking, “Can I afford to be in cohousing?” The answer might prove very valuable indeed.