That talk with my uncle about buying local changed how I shop

My uncle Dave came over last Saturday and saw me loading up a cart from some big online store. He just said, 'You know that money leaves town and never comes back, right?' I always thought buying local was just a trend for rich people. But he showed me his receipts from a local hardware store over 20 years, averaging $45 a trip. Has anyone else had a family member call them out on something like that and actually make you stop and think?

3 comments

3 Comments

karen3611mo ago

Ha, @hannah400 nailed it! My buddy Steve's dad made him do the same thing with his local butcher, and now Steve swears by it even though he used to call it bougie.

vera_lewis21mo ago

Wait, your uncle kept receipts from 20 YEARS of hardware store trips? That blows my mind. That kind of record keeping is next level dedication, not something I could ever pull off with my kids' school papers everywhere. But I gotta admit, seeing the math laid out like that makes the whole local thing feel way less like a rich person's hobby.

hannah4001mo ago

And it's funny 'cause once you start looking, you see that same kind of smart paying off everywhere, not just at stores.