Measuring life’s decisions by the numbers
Kid Rock’s concert tickets are $20. Apples are $0.25 cents cheaper at the other grocery store. I spent $3.48 for a gallon of gas instead of $3.69 elsewhere.
We measure life’s decisions by the numbers.
When it comes to spending and saving money, numbers guide us: X amount of money is earned; I can afford to spend Y amount in my budget.
But there is another color to numbers, one that isn’t as obvious, that is important: the impact on our local community:
- Spending $20 at a big box store vs. spending $20 at your local grocery store.
- Spending $10 on the major label artist’s album vs. buying your local musician’s release from their merch table.
- Spending $30 to attend a concert at the stadium concert vs. $30 at the volunteer run music venue…
The importance of spending at our local, small businesses has been talked about a lot over the last decade. (See: 3/50 Project)
But what hasn’t been measured is how good it feels to support that local business, that warm feeling inside your heart, not just your stomach, when you buy coffee from an independent café vs. the chain.
We can’t measure that, how good it feels, with a simple number.
But we can sure feel it.
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