And Now for the Rest of the Story.....

So whatever happened to…..

I know you’ve been wondering and waiting for updates on many of my adventures (just play along with me anyhow), so this post is dedicated to bringing you up to speed.

First off, the Buy Local experiment –

I’m happy to report that we are still buying primarily local, despite the end of our three month challenge to buy exclusively from locally owned businesses. One of the great side effects of our experiment was saving money. We were so laser-focused on only buying what we needed due to the limits of our shopping options that we spent significantly less money. Now that the flood gates are open and we’ve made occasional necessary trips to Wal-Mart and Home Depot, our expenses are right back up there.

I found myself in Wal-Mart recently to allow my youngest offspring to spend the gift card he received at his birthday party. While he agonized over which Lego set to buy (this can take hours and is very much a big part of the joy of Legos), I wandered the aisles. What a mistake! Looking back I wish I had just endured the running commentary on the pros and cons of Bionicles versus Star Wars, instead of setting off for the back of the store to buy quart-size zip lock bags to freeze all the fresh fruit we’d been harvesting.

GONE LOCAL Week Ten: Now's the Time

I’ve always thought that as our society has progressed (relative term), locally owned businesses have been slowly picked off one by one, leaving us with a homogenized majority of stores. The stores of my youth – the Creamy Freeze, Save-a-Cent, and Lakes Market are long gone. But as I’ve gone in search of the locally owned stores I’ve discovered there is truly an abundance of them. Something is happening now. There is an energy, a movement if you will, that is re-focusing consumers on buying local again. Much of the growth that is slowly lifting us out of this recession is coming from small businesses – locally owned.

My best guess for the reason behind the momentum is two trends I’ve observed. The first trend was made necessary by the recession. This is the trend towards simpler lives. When things get hairy in terms of financial and physical security, we hunker down and focus on what’s most important to us – our health and our happiness.

GONE LOCAL Week Nine: Buying Local Bottom Line

When I announced that we were GOING LOCAL on January 1, my husband’s first comment was, “Can we afford to do that?”  I assured him we could, although I was not certain of that fact. Now, with two full months of buying local behind us, we are both pleased.

While we may have spent more on items like saline solution, birthday gifts, and beer/wine, we have saved in other areas. But the biggest reason our budget looks so bright and shiny, is that there has been less impulse buying and much less oh-that’s-such-a-good-deal-why-don’t-I-just-pick-up-six-while-I’m-here purchases most commonly made at stores like Walmart and Giant that I no longer frequent  Another area of huge savings has been the near complete halt to internet shopping. It’s much too easy to add things to a virtual cart and press “next,” without considering the consequences.

GONE LOCAL Week Eight: Only in Generica

It’s restaurant week in York so there is a virtual smorgasbord of options in affordable, delicious local dining this week. I’m not certain why anyone would choose a chain restaurant over a locally owned restaurant. In addition to supporting your community, the food is better, and far more interesting.

Saturday night my love took me out for dinner at the WhiteRose Bar & Grill where we supped on meals served on “hot rocks” - pieces of stone heated to 650 degrees. These steaming hot stones are delivered to your table along with the fresh ingredients for your meal. You get to cook dinner yourself on your personal rock (carefully). After sprinkling the rock with sea salt, the food is placed directly on the stone. There’s no oils involved which keeps the meal fairly healthy, especially as restaurant food goes. It was an absolute treat. If you’re headed out for restaurant week (it continues until March 2), I highly recommend it.

The biggest dilemma this week has been the search for a backpack.

Week Five GONE LOCAL: Buy Local, Buy Direct

This buying local is getting to be a habit now, but as I wrote a check for my Pampered Chef order as part of a fundraiser for the SPCA, I paused. Are Direct Sales local? If you live in a rural or semi-rural community such as ours, you are more than familiar with the party invitations that say “no obligation to buy”. When shopping and employment options are limited, it’s easy to see the draw of becoming a “consultant” or “rep” or “ adviser” for any number of Direct Sales companies. Tupperware is still out there, but boy has the landscape changed when it comes to home parties.

I’ve been to parties where we tasted so many different dips that I wound up throwing up half the night.  I’ve been to so many jewelry parties, I had to create a new system for storing my treasures. (see pic). And I’ve been to parties where it was necessary to draw the shades to protect the privacy of the guests as we perused the samples of toys, lotions, costumes, and tools that promised to add a little spark to our love lives. Sometimes it’s a great chance to get out of the house and enjoy some girl time, but more times than not I spend much more than I should and come to regret it.

Confession: I have been a rep for one Direct Sales company for ten years. In the beginning I went at it great guns. I didn’t know anyone in this town, and I used it as a tool for meeting new friends. It worked. Some of my best friends were a result of my business. These days the business is very low key. It pays for my own products, my cell phone, and provides an excellent tax write off, but I’m certainly not making any money.

There are plenty of people who do make good money from Direct Sales. Some of these people live in my community. So, even though their business is national and the national office certainly stands to profit much more than they ever will, do I consider their business “local?”  I do, and here’s why.

As I said at the start of this post, employment opportunities are very limited in this small community. This is why most people commute a healthy distance to work every day. But for those of us who are bound to this community because of family responsibilities, profitable work is hard to find. By the time you factor in child care and transportation, a part-time job hardly pays.

Enter Direct Sales. It’s a great solution for self-motivated people and they can work their own hours. But Direct Sales is no easy money. I know of which I speak. You can make money, but you’ll bust your butt to do it, not to mention strain the bonds of friendship and get tired of hearing yourself talk. So my sympathy goes out to anyone trying to earn even a partial living in Direct Sales, and I am ready to support them as a local business (this doesn't mean I’m hoping for any more party invitations though). I know these women are working very hard for every penny. They are my neighbors and friends and if I can help them to pay a few bills or take an extra vacation, I’ll do it. I’d rather give my money to them, than some large national retailer. And besides, who can ever have enough stoneware?