Cooking and Groceries
Cooking
Each person in the house signs up for one night to cook for the household each week. This means someone else cooks your dinner at least four nights each week and your only other obligation is to help with the dishes on the nights you don't cook. There are often leftovers for lunch the next day as well.
Diet
We eat a vegan/vegetarian diet. This allows us to save a considerable amount of money and live in a more eco-friendly fashion. (We do buy dairy and eggs with house money.)
Some of us do not drink alcohol, but none of us are opposed to the (responsible) consumption of alcohol at the house. We do not, however, buy alcohol with house money and there is not likely to be a consensus on changing this.
Grocery Shopping
We pool our money to shop for groceries each month. Currently we each put $130 a month into a shared account for groceries, newspaper, toilet paper, dish soap, laundry soap, and other shared household items. This way there are no assigned cupboards or refrigerator shelves for each person. (This doesn't mean you can't have a food item just for you, just label leftovers from eating out or food you have prepared for a social gathering so it doesn't get eaten by someone else by mistake.)
Buying groceries is a task that is rotated among the housemates in teams of two.
Our community holds memberships at the Mississippi Market and Hampden Park Coop. Both are natural foods coops specializing in organic and non-gmo foods. We shop mostly at Hampden Park Coop where we receive a 21% discount on food purchases. The discount is contingent upon putting in the required number of monthly volunteer shifts: one shift for each adult in the household. Each shift is 3 hours long and can involve anything from stocking shelves to preparing food. Volunteering at the coop is one of the household chores that everyone is encouraged to do; however, if a member is unable due to scheduling challenges, it is possible to trade chores.