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Voting with your dollars

When my first child was a baby I set it up so that diapers, wipes, catfood and litter appeared at my doorstep each month. When we needed a different size diaper, I just updated my Amazon subscribe and save. Over ten years and around $2000 in savings later we were no longer getting diapers (and sadly, catfood) but toilet paper, pretzels, laundry detergent, lip balm, gum… it took me 45 minutes to delete each and every subscribe and save that I had set up. Why did I do that when I was saving $200 a year on lots of items my family used? I believe in voting with your dollars.

Voting with your dollars is spending money mindfully. You can purchase things from stores or online merchants that do the right thing, align with you politically, make donations to charity - whatever it is that is important to YOU. When you purchase something, the profit can be used for many things by the business. Maybe it goes toward the mortgage on a Small Business owner’s house. Maybe it goes to setting up sweatshops overseas. Maybe it pays someone a living wage. Maybe it ends up in a business owner’s pocket and it becomes a political contribution to a candidate you don’t support. Maybe it goes to a candidate you DO support.

Voting with your dollars takes time. You have to research the companies you buy from, figure out where to get things you need, but you can start small and choose what is important to you! Your values don’t have to align with mine. Personally, I don’t go through the Chick-fil-a drive through on my way to karate. I don’t go to Hobby Lobby for crafts. Like I said before, I stopped ordering things from Amazon and I canceled my subscribe and save orders. When we stopped buying from Amazon, we briefly switched our business to Target, but then switched again. Both of those things were so convenient, and my kids still occasionally whine, “Mom, are we STILL boycotting Chick-fil-a??” but it’s worth it. I promise, even though that chicken is really good.

You may have seen there is a boycott today. You have probably seen the posts and signs saying “Don’t spend money at Target, Walmart, Amazon. Don’t buy gas. Only use cash. Spend money at small businesses.” That’s great, and I support that - especially supporting small businesses! But that’s one day. Little by little, you can do more and eventually you will get to a point where every day is a boycott day.

For a good first step, look at where you spend most of your money. Probably groceries and gas? Gas is tricky and I know we all want to depend less on gas. Trying to use less gas is good. Buying an electric car (I won’t be buying a Tesla) is good. Is it something we can do today? Probably not, and that’s ok! We do what we can do when we can! Buy your groceries from companies you feel good about. You can research your local grocery stores at Opensecrets.org or use the Good app. Opensecrets.org has more recent information, but the Good app is constantly updated and you might find smaller grocery chains there. You determine your own qualifications that you want the companies to meet. If you know your grocery stores are owned by a large company, look up the company. Most grocery stores are owned by Walmart, Kroger, Albertsons etc. If you live near me, I have found that Giant and Wegmans are fine by my standards. I also like Costco for keeping their DEI policies. There may not be one grocery store that is better than the others. That’s ok. There may be one you have to shop at due to location or prices. That’s ok too. You do what you can with what you have.

Once you figure out where to shop, look at what you’re buying. Most packaged foods come from one of a few different companies. Nestle, General Mills, Nabisco, Kellogg’s, etc. Look at where you buy your clothes. I like Gap/Banana/Old Navy, and J.Crew, but I’m not thrilled right now with Anthropologie. We’re not eating at Papa John’s or Chick-fil-a, but the mom and pop pizza shop down the street that lets us have our local Dem zone events and my kids’ birthday parties there? We ate there last night.

If you’re just starting out with voting with your dollars, it will take time. Companies and situations will change (why are the only clean bathrooms on 95S at Chick-fil-a??). Just do the best with what you have. The Just Bare frozen chicken nuggets at Costco are a pretty good replacement for Chick-fil-a, and cheaper too!

Voting with your dollars

When my first child was a baby I set it up so that diapers, wipes, catfood and litter appeared at my doorstep each month. When we needed a different size diaper, I just updated my Amazon subscribe and save. Over ten years and around $2000 in savings later we were no longer getting diapers (and sadly, catfood) but toilet paper, pretzels, laundry detergent, lip balm, gum… it took me 45 minutes to delete each and every subscribe and save that I had set up. Why did I do that when I was saving $200 a year on lots of items my family used? I believe in voting with your dollars.

Voting with your dollars is spending money mindfully. You can purchase things from stores or online merchants that do the right thing, align with you politically, make donations to charity - whatever it is that is important to YOU. When you purchase something, the profit can be used for many things by the business. Maybe it goes toward the mortgage on a Small Business owner’s house. Maybe it goes to setting up sweatshops overseas. Maybe it pays someone a living wage. Maybe it ends up in a business owner’s pocket and it becomes a political contribution to a candidate you don’t support. Maybe it goes to a candidate you DO support.

Voting with your dollars takes time. You have to research the companies you buy from, figure out where to get things you need, but you can start small and choose what is important to you! Your values don’t have to align with mine. Personally, I don’t go through the Chick-fil-a drive through on my way to karate. I don’t go to Hobby Lobby for crafts. Like I said before, I stopped ordering things from Amazon and I canceled my subscribe and save orders. When we stopped buying from Amazon, we briefly switched our business to Target, but then switched again. All of those things were so convenient, and my kids still occasionally whine, “Mom, are we STILL boycotting Chick-fil-a??” but it’s worth it. I promise, even though that chicken is really good.

You may have seen there is a boycott today. You have probably seen the posts and signs. Don’t spend money at Target, Walmart, Amazon. Don’t buy gas. Only use cash. Spend money at small businesses. That’s great, and I support that - especially supporting small businesses! But that’s one day. Little by little, you can do more and eventually you will get to a point where every day is a boycott day.

For a good first step, look at where you spend most of your money. Probably groceries and gas? Gas is tricky and I know we all want to depend less on gas. Trying to use less gas is good. Buying an electric car (I won’t be buying a Tesla) is good. Is it something we can do today? Probably not, and that’s ok! We do what we can do when we can! Buy your groceries from companies you feel good about. You can research your local grocery stores at Opensecrets.net or use the Good app. Opensecrets.net has more recent information, but the Good app is constantly updated and you might find smaller grocery chains there. You determine your own qualifications that you want the companies to meet. If you know your grocery stores are owned by a large company, look up the company. Most grocery stores are owned by Walmart, Kroger, Albertsons etc. If you live near me, I have found that Giant and Wegmans are fine by my standards. I also like Costco for keeping their DEI policies. There may not be one grocery store that is better than the others. That’s ok. There may be one you have to shop at due to location or prices. That’s ok too. You do what you can with what you have.

Once you figure out where to shop, look at what you’re buying. Most packaged foods come from one of a few different companies. Nestle, General Mills, Nabisco, Kellogg’s, etc. Look at where you buy your clothes. I like Gap/Banana/Old Navy, and J.Crew, but I’m not thrilled right now with Anthropologie. We’re not eating at Papa John’s or Chick-fil-a, but the mom and pop pizza shop down the street that lets us have our local Dem zone events and my kids’ birthday parties there? We ate there last night.

If you’re just starting out with spending with your dollars, it will take time. Companies and situations will change (why are the only clean bathrooms on 95S at Chick-fil-a??). Just do the best with what you have. The Just Bare frozen chicken nuggets at Costco are a pretty good replacement for Chick-fil-a, and cheaper too!

When my first child was born I set it up so that diapers, wipes, catfood and litter appeared at my doorstep each month. When we needed a different size diaper, I just updated my Amazon subscribe and save. Over ten years and around $2000 in savings later we were no longer getting diapers (and sadly, catfood) but toilet paper, pretzels, laundry detergent, lip balm, gum… it took me 45 minutes to delete each and every subscribe and save that I had set up. Why did I do that when I was saving $200 a year on lots of items my family used? I believe in voting with your dollars.

Voting with your dollars is spending money mindfully. You can purchase things from stores or online merchants that do the right thing, align with you politically, make donations to charity - whatever it is that is important to YOU. When you purchase something, the profit can be used for many things by the business. Maybe it goes toward the mortgage on a Small Business owner’s house. Maybe it goes to setting up sweatshops overseas. Maybe it pays someone a living wage. Maybe it ends up in a business owner’s pocket and it becomes a political contribution to a candidate you don’t support. Maybe it goes to a candidate you DO support.

There is a boycott today. You have probably seen the posts and signs. Don’t spend money at Target, Walmart, Amazon. Don’t buy gas. Only use cash. Spend money at small businesses. That’s great, and I support that - especially supporting small businesses! But that’s one day. Little by little, you can do more and eventually you will get to a point where every day is a boycott day.

For a good first step, look at where you spend most of your money. Focus on things like groceries because changing your grocery shopping habits can be more immediate. Research your grocery stores and once you figure out where to shop, look at what you’re buying. Most packaged foods come from one of a few different companies. Look at where you buy your clothes.

If you’re just starting out with spending with your dollars, it will take time. Companies and situations will change, so just do the best with what you have.

Don’t forget - you can call your senators, attorney general, governor or house rep and tell them what they’re doing WELL too!

Vanguard friends:

I will be teaching my normal Wednesday 7:15 am yoga class in Morgan and my Thursday 7:00 am yoga class in Orion classes this week, but I will also be filling in for Dora:

Thursday 11:30 am Bogle
1:00 pm Orion

I hope to see some of you there!

Those who live in freedom will always be grateful to those who helped preserve it.

There has been a lot of talk on inflation, so let's take a look at what inflation is.

You might want to get your COVID vaccines scheduled soon! Also, don’t forget your flu vaccine.