Mindful Consumerism FAQ: What am I allowing as I #ShopSmallLiveBig in 2018?

Here you will find some of the most pertinent questions that I have been asked since announcing that I would only be spending money at local retailers this year. If you have any that are not covered here, please feel free to ask so I can address it.

[Image from publicdomainpictures.net - CC0 Public Domain]

Q: How do you decide that a business is too big to support?

A: Well, it depends on several factors for me but it basically boils down to whether or not I feel comfortable spending money there. I do a fair bit of research on the company if I have any reservations to make sure that I can make an informed decision. Let me give you some examples.

There is a company called Family Express that owns and operates about fifty gas stations and convenience stores across Indiana. Family owned and operated, they are based out of Valparaiso, Indiana. This company strives to hire good employees and treat them well. They pay them wages that are considerably higher than the industry standard and they have a pretty good approval rating from their employees. With all of this in mind, plus the fact that conservative estimates show that they provide about 500 local jobs, I am happy to APPROVE this as a locally owned business that I can support.

Then there are Lyft and Uber drivers. These are not local companies and they take about 20% of the total fare paid to the driver (buuuut if you want to get technical about it, this could be thought of as the driver's dues for using the app and getting vetted through a reputable company). There are local alternatives in my community including the local taxi services and the city bus system but these services stimulate the local college-town economy here by servicing places and hours that just can't be covered by the other alternatives. I guess it really just boils down to the situation in which these services might be used and that is why I have listed them as APPROVED IN MODERATION.

The last example is all about sandwiches. In Indianapolis, Jimmy Johns locations are owned by a franchise company called Finner N Finner. Here in Lafayette, Burger King is owned by Carol's Corp. and Subway is owned by Bauer Incorporated. Most of these franchise companies are not locally owned or operated, they pay their employees very poorly, the corporate structure is atrocious, and they don't even provide a redeeming product or service to the community (except Jimmy Johns, which will always hold a special place in my heart, but I digress). There is no good way to spin it that I could approve spending money at these places during this experiment. Even if they were owned by someone here in town and not a franchise company, I still don't think I could support them because they still pay thousands of dollars per month in franchise payments. When people ask me if I will shop at these places, I say, "ABSOLUTELY NOT."

Q: What about FREE stuff from national chains?

A: The goal is to keep my money in my community. By taking free items from national chains, I might be keeping myself from otherwise buying the same or similar product from a local retailer. I might accept these items in order to donate them to the local homeless shelter or food pantry but it's really a slippery slope for me, personally, so PROBABLY NOT.

Q: What if someone else buys something from a national chain for you?

A: Most of my family and friends know that I'm doing this and will hopefully have it in mind should they decide to buy me something. With that being said, however, I will not be a jerk and refuse the item or service if it does happen. If I genuinely feel that partaking in the gift will be compromising to this experiment, I will graciously accept it and then donate it to someone else so I guess this is also ALLOWED IN MODERATION.

Q: What about existing bills and contracts?

A: This is admittedly a tricky one. The big ones for most people will be phone and internet but I don't pay for either of those due to reasons that I won't discuss here. I don't have a good solution for them, either, aside from finding local companies to buy from or going without. If you're locked into a contract already, obviously your contractual obligation supersedes your resolution to spend only locally. The big one for me has been health insurance. Although there is a local company that I could buy it through, I get a great deal on it from my work and it really isn't possible for me to switch and afford to live. The best thing that I could think to do is visit only local, private practices to make sure that they get paid by the national insurance company that I'm bound to. The moral of the story for this one is, "DO THE BEST YOU CAN."