Ideas to Support Local Economy / Not Patronize Out of State Coporations

[try2bfrugal]

What are some ways you have found to keep money in the local economy and/or patronize charities over out of state, for profit corporations? Here are some things I have thought about -

Patronize local credit unions
Shop at farmers markets
Dine at mom and pop restaurants
For entertainment - local activity clubs, museum memberships, public parks and beaches, fraternal organizations
Cooking local food from scratch when possible
Shop at local charity thrift shops
DIY cleaning supplies and toiletries

[treehugger]

Nice list. I especially like your idea to visit local parks and museums.

- Join a CSA (by definition, local). I found one that delivers produce from several area farms, some even in my city. I pick up my box every other week at the library, and the CSA donates 5% of the box price to the library.
- Volunteer with a local charity. No matter what one's interest is, there is a local charity that needs volunteers. I volunteer regularly with greyhound rescue, and, bonus, I have made some really good friends this way.
- Take city- or county-run public transportation.
- Check out local music venues that book small bands. Usually the tickets are pretty cheap, the venue is probably locally owned, and the band is essentially a small, local business. Buy a CD. :)

Kara

[try2bfrugal]

I forgot to add razz's comment from a previous thread - "I believe if everyone chose to live as simply as possible, it would make a difference because the corporations would lose their clout as we can chose to consume very little."

[awakenedsoul]

Great thread. I do all of these things. It's a nice feeling. I went and had my car washed at this really beautiful Armenian owned hand carwash that we have here. They have a koi pond with fish and water turtles. It's like a private little garden. You can buy food from a machine and feed them. I sat out at the table and chairs and knitted my farmhouse dishcloth. They do an incredible job on your car. It's so professional. I love going there. I make sure to tip the cleaning guys well. They work so hard.
I go to our library's Fiber Arts group each month and teach people who want to learn how to knit and crochet. It's kind of like volunteer work, but I just do it. I bring extra knitting needles, crochet hooks, (that I bought used at a local church thrift shop,) and yarn.

[rosarugosa]

I consider my local economy to include all of New England, so I am just as happy to patronize a business in ME as in MA. We do almost always take our vacations locally. (I haven't left New England since the Niagara Falls trip of 1998). And those who have gotten to "know" me a bit on this forum will realize that while I've come a long way, I still give a bit of a boost to the local economy when I'm in spend mode. But now I save up my allowance first for that purpose. :)
I definitely make an effort to spend at independent stores, and some of the chains I patronize (Market Basket grocers, Ninety-Nine restaurants) are local as opposed to multinational conglomerates, so that's pretty decent too. While we were in the Berkshires, the attractions we visited were Mt Greylock (free state park), The Mount (Edith Wharton's historical home/garden run by a non-profit group that we contribute to), and MA Museum of Contemporary Art.
The annual crafts fair I attend with sister and friends is a group of all small artisans, and I always try to do some of my holiday shopping with them.
Now that I'm spending less, I try to be more mindful of whom I'm supporting with my expenditures.

[SteveinMN]

When I hire a tradesperson/contractor or service, I try to pick local mom-and-pop shops. For instance, our trash collection is done by "Ken Berquist & Son" a couple of towns over, not by Waste Management or Veolia. Similarly, my plumber is literally down the street (several blocks, but still).

We are members of the closest food co-op. We are members of and use our local library. And credit union (trying not to repeat items others mentioned).

When we don't get the choice of an independent, we at least try to keep it in Minnesota. For us, that would mean Target rather than Walmart or Kmart, a SuperValu market or Target rather than Walmart or -- well, actually, Minneapolis/St. Paul is an interesting grocery market, with no Safeways, Krogers, Publix, HEBs, Winn-Dixies, Wegmans,....

That also means buying 3M products rather than the competition, Toro yard equipment instead of Hondas or MTDs, and so on.

It sometimes can be quite challenging, and we've been fortunate in that we have not had to consider solely the price of an item. But, then, we realize "price" is more than what we pay at the register or at the kitchen table.

[early morning]

"price" is more than what we pay at the register or at the kitchen table
+1
We try very hard to stay local but do end up spending at ALDI and Trader Joes for staples. Our local IGA is expensive and DIRTY. Most of the meat we buy is direct from the producers. Most non-consumables are purchased second hand, or sometimes scavenged. One thing I have trouble with is large appliances. When the freezer went, we had no luck finding a good used one fairly quickly, so had to settle on purchasing one from a big-box. But at least we went to the one that employs my BIL, lol.

[Miss Cellane]

I consider my local economy to include all of New England, so I am just as happy to patronize a business in ME as in MA. We do almost always take our vacations locally. (I haven't left New England since the Niagara Falls trip of 1998). And those who have gotten to "know" me a bit on this forum will realize that while I've come a long way, I still give a bit of a boost to the local economy when I'm in spend mode. But now I save up my allowance first for that purpose. :)


I have to admit that I like the idea of treating all of New England as local. I can drive to Maine in 15 minutes and to Massachusetts in about 40. Parts of my own state are over a two hour drive away.

I also shop at Market Basket, a local chain that surprisingly doesn't have any sort of loyalty card. Use a credit union as well. I live close enough to downtown that I can walk to the local bakery, sub shop, hardware store, family-run pharmacy and drug store, pizza place, and yarn shop. The best farm stand ever closed two years ago, but the town has started a farmer's market downtown that, while not a perfect substitute, is more than adequate.

There's a local pottery place that has great deals in their showroom--I've seen their pottery in gift stores in many places--they've become my go-to for presents when I need one. I rent from a small local landlord, not a big management company (and get a much better deal and better maintenance and snow removal, as well). Over the last few years, I've made a project of visiting all the small, local history museums--nearly every town in New England has an historical society or house of a famous local person that you can visit. Many are only open in the summer, so it's not a year-round project. (Did you know that there was once a flourishing silkworm home industry in Connecticut?)

I volunteer at the local library, reshelving books. The staff thinks I'm slightly nuts for doing this two hours a week, but this way, I get to see all the new books that I might otherwise miss. Does it still count if I volunteer with an ulterior motive?

[Lainey]

I mostly food shop at the local Safeway and Costco (vs. Walmart or Super Target) because I like that they pay decent wages and benefits. So they're not a locally-owned company, but the money their employees make stays in my community, and the benefits mean they'll get health care when they need it.

[Blackdog Lin]

I fill all our prescriptions at our small local drug store. It costs me very little extra, and I want to be part of keeping our handy local drug store open. If our small town didn't have the drug store, it would be a 12-mile (one way) trip to the next nearest one.

For the occasional "gift card" type of generic gifts, wedding/baby showers and the like, I give only gift certificates to the local grocery store. DS's birthday/Christmas gifts also include the same local grocery store gift certificates. At Christmas our hairdresser and paper-deliverer get local hardware store gift cards.

And I never donate to large national charitable organizations (worthy though they may be); instead I send anonymous money orders to the families profiled in the local newspaper who have had a house fire and lost everything; or who have lost a loved one and I hear through the grapevine that there's no life insurance for the funeral; or a family with a cancer-stricken child having to travel out-of-state for treatment.....I guess I definitely believe in keeping our charitable giving local.

[SteveinMN]

I fill all our prescriptions at our small local drug store. It costs me very little extra, and I want to be part of keeping our handy local drug store open. If our small town didn't have the drug store, it would be a 12-mile (one way) trip to the next nearest one.
I like that! I've tried to do that in the past; the closest independent pharmacy was a hassle to deal with compared to the one my medical coverage wanted us to use (which even had a branch right on the campus at work). Fortunately, I found another one not much further away. Nice to deal with; many more amenities than the first "indy". The medical plan, though, really wants us to go mail-order for continuing prescriptions, so it's far more expensive and a monthly hassle to deviate from their preference. Finances may make that decision for us. I hope not.

[Lainey]

. The medical plan, though, really wants us to go mail-order for continuing prescriptions, so it's far more expensive and a monthly hassle to deviate from their preference. .

The corporation I work for is doing the same thing. Wonder what's going to happen to the brick and mortar stores?

[Miss Cellane]

The corporation I work for is doing the same thing. Wonder what's going to happen to the brick and mortar stores?

The brick and mortar stores will either adapt or close.

About a block away from my house, there is a family-owned pharmacy. In the past ten years, they have changed a lot. They still do prescriptions and sell all the usual stuff you would expect to see in a drug store. But until the chain drug stores, which have become mini-marts carrying groceries and the like, this store has focused more on health-related things. They have a big business in medical aid type stuff--you can go there and try out the several lift chairs that they have on the floor. You still have to special order the chair, but you can sit in the sample and see the fabric swatches and order what works best for you. They have several different types of canes and walkers and wheelchairs and that sort of thing--all of which you can try out before buying. Doctors and PTs from several towns around send their patients there.

They have an authorized branch of the Post Office in the store. Parking is so much easier there than at the main PO that I never go to the main one anymore. They have a small section of New Hampshire produced foods and gifts. Everyone in town knows about them.

It doesn't hurt that they are in the same shopping plaza with the best pizza place in town, and the best dry cleaners/tailors (also owned by the owners of the pharmacy).

[SteveinMN]

Originally Posted by Lainey The corporation I work for is doing the same thing. Wonder what's going to happen to the brick and mortar stores?

The brick and mortar stores will either adapt or close.
The independent pharmacy I left is about the same size as the one I use now, but the new one has, as Miss Cellane noted, a pretty good lineup of durable medicals. They also carry a much wider range of over-the-counter drugs and beauty aids than the old store. And a Web site through which you can contact a pharmacist or order a refill Rx; the previous store probably has a computer or two in back, but not even their own Web site (in 2012!). The persons behind the counter also are devoid of customer service skills and fairly -- umm, content-free. Their only saving graces are that they offer delivery and that there isn't a Walgreens or CVS within miles.

More and more brick-and-mortar stores are going to face similar challenges. If it isn't medical plans "encouraging" the use of mail-order for continuing meds, it's a company like Amazon offering same-day delivery (https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=200105970&tag=duckduckgo-d-20). Even supermarkets -- around here, Walmart and Target are doing fine, and so are the high-end stores. The ones with problems are the ones holding middle ground: not the selection, not the quality, not the price. Being conveniently located will help those stores survive for a while. But they will have to offer goods or services which are either difficult to find or use with other companies if they want to make it long-term.

[cx3]

The independent pharmacy I left is about the same size as the one I use now, but the new one has, as Miss Cellane noted, a pretty good lineup of durable medicals. They also carry a much wider range of over-the-counter drugs and beauty aids than the old store. And a Web site through which you can contact a pharmacist or order a refill Rx; the previous store probably has a computer or two in back, but not even their own Web site (in 2012!). The persons behind the counter also are devoid of customer service skills and fairly -- umm, content-free. Their only saving graces are that they offer delivery and that there isn't a Walgreens or CVS within miles.

More and more brick-and-mortar stores are going to face similar challenges. If it isn't medical plans "encouraging" the use of mail-order for continuing meds, it's a company like Amazon offering same-day delivery (https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=200105970&tag=duckduckgo-d-20). Even supermarkets -- around here, Walmart and Target are doing fine, and so are the high-end stores. The ones with problems are the ones holding middle ground: not the selection, not the quality, not the price. Being conveniently located will help those stores survive for a while. But they will have to offer goods or services which are either difficult to find or use with other companies if they want to make it long-term.

I agree w/SteveinMN on this.It's really going to be increasingly more difficult for the smaller stores to compete with the big boys.
I also supported a local pharmacy.It went under anyway.Some of the employees from that pharmacy went to work for one of the big box pharmacies that came to town.
We buy our beef from a local organic producer.That is about the only local business we support regularly.But then again,there really is no such thing as a local business around here.The closest gallon of milk is 7 miles away. The county seat is 11 miles away.