'Tis the Season to Spend Wisely

As the recession deepens in the U.S. and more and more jobs are lost, every consumer dollar spent counts more than ever.  It's time to reassess the  "American way" of spending to excess—on credit—for unnecessary stuff.

This is the holiday season to spend—to splurge, even, if you have the means, but in the way that will do the most good for the greatest number of your neighbors and fellow citizens.

GIVE TO CHARITY.  To the greatest extent that you possibly can, give to the needy.  Give clean coats and blankets to Willing Partners for a neighbor who is cold.  Sacrifice some canned goods from your pantry for a neighbor who is hungry.  Get a card from an Angel Tree and shop for someone whose provider is out of a job.  If you can pay a little extra to Appalachian Electric Power for their Neighbor-to-Neighbor fund, please do so.

https://www.appalachianpower.com/communities/NeighborFund/default.asp

BUY LOCAL, AND BUY AMERICAN.  What little bit that American shoppers can afford to spend this holiday season should not go to China, to add to their trillion-dollar trade surplus.  Keep money and jobs in this country.  The crafts at Rooftop of Virginia on Main Street Galax are wonderful, as gifts and for decorating your own home.  Recently, I found a cinnamon broom made in Georgia, leaning against a whole aisle of cheapo holiday imports in Dollar General.  It's now on my hearth, sending out its soothing fragrance and reminding me of the Georgians who made it. 

For USA-made bows, wrapping paper, and tags, pop into K-Mart.  I also found USA made wrapping paper just inside the front door of the Galax Dollar Tree.

GET CREATIVE FOR A CHANGE.   Mold an heirloom ornament from clay with a child, instead of buying a Chinese-made toy for a child that will break in a week and is probably toxic.  Give homemade cookies in a recycled tin.  Knit or crochet a scarf.  Whatever you make, try to use American raw materials, and imagine yourself saving jobs, preserving families. Artifax in downtown Galax carries Sculpey brand clay, made in Illinois.  It can be shaped into ornaments and baked hard in your oven.  You buy it in individual sticks, by color.

GIVE A SERVICE.  Those ubiquitous gift cards from franchises of huge corporations are okay, but a better gift idea is a gift certificate from a service business in your own local area. Send a loved one to a local salon for a manicure or a pedicure.  Pre-pay local massage therapists Loren Webster (276-579-4041; www.lorenwebster.net) or Bradley Crotts (336-325-0169) for a massage.  These days, who couldn't use a massage?

BUY ONLINE if someone wants something specific, and you can't find anything in your local stores that wasn't produced in a foreign sweatshop.  Many retailers are offering great deals this holiday season, and with free shipping from many stores, you're saving the money for gas and the time spent standing in line in stores.  Simply google "[product] made in USA" and you'll be amazed what you can find online that you can buy with a clear conscience.

IF YOU MUST BUY AN IMPORT, support a poor village in the developing world by buying fair trade handicrafts from artisans.  Ebay, of all places, has a new site devoted to this cause.

http://worldofgood.ebay.com

GO LOW TECH.  Yes, your teenagers will hate it, but unfortunately it is now impossible to buy electronics made in the USA—and if we (consumers, not the government) don't do a rescue operation with our spending dollars in the next few years, that will be also be the case with clothing, furniture, and a lot of other things.  Rediscover old fashioned toys and sports that don't require batteries and don't need to be recharged or hooked up to a computer or TV set.  More than 15% of America's children are clinically obese.  It's high time for high kites.

Think of each holiday gift you make as a gift to the recipient, a gift to the supplier, and a gift to the manufacturer.  Spend your holiday dollars where they will do the most good.  Don't forget the little guy (and gal) who's trying to survive in a small business near you.  I have vowed not to step foot in Wal-mart until after Christmas, so sickened am I by the corporate and consumer greed that took the life of one Wal-Mart employee in New York.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/29/business/29walmart.html

A Wal-Mart boycott may cost me a little more, especially since I can't buy my whole Christmas, groceries and all, in one place, but gas is cheap now, and I could use the exercise.  And Wal-Mart is rich enough.  I just imagine myself working off the Christmas calories ahead of time.  By scouring alternative sources, I have found many wonderful things that Wal-Mart doesn't carry, such as:

• stained glass art by a local artisan, found at Grayson Florist in Independence
• goat-milk soap, also by a local artisan, found at Rooftop of Virginia, Main Street Galax
• a 1000-piece Nativity puzzle from White Mountain Puzzles,  http://whitemountainpuzzles.com, or, I found mine at the hardware store on Main Street, Sparta--a terrific place with a huge array of merchandise and the best customer service anywhere
• Christmas cards by Smiling Moon Studios, Studio City, CA, found at Ross in Bristol
• Krispy Kreme lemon-filled doughnuts--at least I've neverseen these in Wal-Mart, but they typically have them in Food Lion.  The ones in the Wal-Mart bakery just don't compare.
• Great books, not necessarily bestseller mass market paperbacks (but they have those too) at Chapters books, downtown Galax.