Neighborhood Spendonomics
By Tara Gentile
Sent: Friday July 09, 2010
Tara Gentile is the blogger behind ScoutieGirl and the founder of a boutique web design company.
Minding your money
It pays to consider where our money goes once it has left our wallets. What are we really buying?
Mindful spending is not about getting by with less, but about thinking about where your money goes when you purchase something.
Consider this next time you break out the bucks:
Who am I supporting with this money?
The cash you spend goes back into the system created that item or service: the overhead, the equipment, the marketing. At the Red Wing Shoe (http://redwingshoes.com) factory in Minnesota, you can see money spent on boots and sneakers hard at work stitching seams, operating machinery, and providing local jobs.
Will my money benefit my community?
Buying from a local business means that you're partly funding the payroll, sales and property taxes that then enrich your community's schools, libraries, and roads. Buy from local farms and you support the new and thriving alternative food economy, according to FoodRoutes (www.foodroutes.org).
What am I getting out of this purchase?
Sometimes we consume simply because we think we should, without considering the true satisfaction quotient of what we're buying. Higher quality goods may cost more but they have often greater benefits. Repeated studies have shown that money spent on living life, not having stuff, is what makes us happiest.
Tell us about satisfying ways that you spend.
Tara Gentile is the blogger behind ScoutieGirl and the founder of a boutique web design company.
Tara Gentile is the blogger behind ScoutieGirl and the founder of a boutique web design company.
Minding your money
It pays to consider where our money goes once it has left our wallets. What are we really buying?
Mindful spending is not about getting by with less, but about thinking about where your money goes when you purchase something.
Consider this next time you break out the bucks:
Who am I supporting with this money? The cash you spend goes back into the system created that item or service: the overhead, the equipment, the marketing. At the Red Wing Shoe (http://redwingshoes.com) factory in Minnesota, you can see money spent on boots and sneakers hard at work stitching seams, operating machinery, and providing local jobs.
Will my money benefit my community? Buying from a local business means that you're partly funding the payroll, sales and property taxes that then enrich your community's schools, libraries, and roads. Buy from local farms and you support the new and thriving alternative food economy, according to FoodRoutes (www.foodroutes.org).
What am I getting out of this purchase? Sometimes we consume simply because we think we should, without considering the true satisfaction quotient of what we're buying. Higher quality goods may cost more but they have often greater benefits. Repeated studies have shown that money spent on living life, not having stuff, is what makes us happiest.
Tell us about satisfying ways that you spend.
Tara Gentile is the blogger behind ScoutieGirl and the founder of a boutique web design company.
