AIBU to think MN could re-start the economy in small micro-ways?

[raspberryroop]

Had this silly thought rumbling around in my head for a while and the starbucks thread has really set it off - could the might of MN help sort the economy out ? Shopping locally and independent whenever possible, employing cleaners without guilt knowing its helping a family and local economy, ebaying or giving away as much as possible and trying to spend the money locally ? I'm sure it makes no statistical sense but I'm sure there are lots of ' simple but clever' things we could do and think of that might make a difference?

For some people it just isn't possible to shop independently.

The idea of buying your meat from the local butcher, your fruit and veg from the greengrocer, your bread from the baker etc is a nice one.

however, the cold, hard reality is that buying the whole lot from Tesco will be far cheaper.

YABU to think MN-ers are all interested in 'simple but clever' domestic stuff rather than out there making a big difference to the economy running companies and paying hefty taxes.... Thing big!

It's a really lovely idea. It would be lovely to go back to the days of having a natter in your local butchers, bakers, greengrocers, etc - but i for one couldn't afford to shop locally. A tin of beans is the best part of a quid in my local shop! If I shopped locally, my food bill would be doubled. fifty odd quid for my hair as opposed to fifteen. 50p more for a loaf of bread.

It all adds up. I am not alone. I bet there are loads of us who just could not afford to do it.

And loads more who probably could, but there aren't any local shops. Or don't have the time to trawl round local shops getting everything they need. Which you'd have to do several times a week, because you can't carry the same amount of stuff as you could get on a supermarket shop.

Then there's the parking...

I don't know about that, Nancy66. We've started buying meat locally & found it far cheaper & far superior quality. From a passing glance the other day, the veg at the market looks a lot nicer than supermarket stuff & also at least the same price if not a bit less.

some areas don't have lovely greencrocers or markets we have a farmers market once a month and the prices are sky high it isn't always possible to browse and shop locally, yes I can go to the corner shops and buy milk and bread but it isn't always possible to have that lovely locally bought lifestyle,

I am needing to go to the supermarket Will go on friday anyway yesterday i spent 20 quid in the local shop just getting bits and pieces I was

Cogito - I would love to think Globally and am a member of some groups but this is something that I can do each day, easily by making 'better' choices. I don't propose everyone suddenly abandons Tesco's but just try to buy one thing locally, for me its meat, go to a local cafe rather than a multinational, sort out their clutter and ebay it or give it away. As I say it probably doesn't make much sense but aid give to women to start business/buy animals has been show to be far more helpful than money given to governments. Even if people can just open a savings account with their local credit scheme - I do think we can help - woman to woman - family to family.

I live 5 mins away from a 'Village' high street, there are approx 80 shops, we have 1 bakers and a pet shop, the rest are clothes shops, opticians, banks and takeaways.
1 mile away we have a supermarket that sells local meats, vegetables, fruit and cheese whenever possible, the food IMO is of higher quality and worth the extra cost but I can not afford go feed my family from there everyday, so only shop there when I am looking for something different, in an emergency or for a treat.
I would love to do my bit, but either local is not available or too expensive

I do buy locally most days though bread Milk potatoes wine drinks but I can't really afford to be buying a lot every day locally

A few days ago I was poking around on websites looking at local businesses for sale in my town and was astonished at how many local small businesses that I thought were thriving were quietly being put up for sale and really not making any money at all for their owners.

A fantastic deli I use a lot, a really good local restaurant/cafe with queues outside the door every lunchtime, another popular cafe started just 2 years ago and I thought doing a good trade, three local newsagents closed in the last few months. Empty shops everywhere in my town and by the look of things a lot more joining them after Xmas. The only thing that does well is the charity shop sector. We have now literally got a whole street full of charity shops and every single one used to be a small independent business that closed down in the last 5 years.

Not sure what can be done because the fundamental problem is that rents and rates are so high that small businesses just cannot survive. Bottom line is that customers are having to buy less of everything because money is tight but rents and rates have not fallen in line with that and things like energy costs and insurance have kept on rising. Hence small businesses are struggling to cover overheads.

If you buy a chicken in a supermarket normally and change to buying it from a local shop instead you don't re-start the economy, you're just switching your £ to a different retailer. Nothing extra has been gained. Starting a business would re-start the economy better because you are potentially creating something that didn't previously exist.

Our local stuff does turn out to be cheaper but then I live VERY rurally and I am a SAHM so have the time to find the right places and to get there during the week - I am lucky.

I like this idea though and a friend and I recently did a 'pamper night' in order to boost our local, literally in our village, beauticians and craft people, it was fab, the beauticians expanded their client base and our local craftspeople (who were amazing) made a load of sales and increased their order books - this is where I think we can make a difference in a local way - and we raised nearly £300 for the church roof as a by product.

Oh, and my nails and eyebrows looked great...

Its a really good idea, I just posted something similar on the starbucks thread. For a lot of people it isnt practicle. Not just money wise, but who has the time to go to the market and the butcher and this shop and that shop when they can whizz round a supermarket on the way home from work?

We buy our veg from the local market as its much cheaper than any supermarket nearby.

Meat wise we are still buying at the supermarket unfortunately. We are on a really tight budget. But as soon as we can we are hoping to switch to the local butcher as the meat is miles better.

I suppose if we all changed just one thing, we might start getting somewhere. Its a pity our high streets are disappearing to the huge corporations.