I’ve been discouraged recently with how my vote may or may not do anything to change the state of who is in charge. I have quite a few strong opinions about politics that I won’t distract the conversation with here, but regardless to say I’ve found a way that makes more of a difference for those around me and thus me personally so let’s explore how I’ve learned to vote with my money.
Disclaimer: This post has links to outside people and websites that have nothing to do with me. Also this was written and created by a human without AI so hopefully that gives you some confidence that these are actually human thoughts. Also maybe give me some grace if there’s a small error. Love you all!
Using Cash is a vote with your money
This takes the least amount of research and just a little time, but buying with cash is a huge vote with your money. The banks and finance mega-businesses don’t get any kick back from using cash. That may be why they’re trying to ban it… But let’s go through two scenarios:
Notice in the cash scenario, all of the $50 stayed in the community and was able to be reused by multiple people and being exchanged for multiple services. In the credit scenario, even after five transactions $8 of the original $50 had already gone to the bank! Using cash keeps the money and wealth in your local community so everyone is able to benefit. Note: This doesn’t take into account taxes, but you can do your own research on that… anyway…
Who Benefits?
I’m sure many people have different ideas about who benefits from the credit card fees including paying for points and such. I love my credit card points and that makes it difficult for me to quit also. I love when I can get something for ‘free’. Unfortunately I also know that that ‘free’ is actually benefitting the banks and credit card companies much more than I will ever benefit. ‘Free’ is also sometimes ME when I have to pay interest if we don’t pay off the entirety of the card bill each month. So is it really free?
Another struggle for me is getting cash out of the bank. Everything is digital now so getting cash out is sometimes difficult, time consuming, or I have to pay an ATM fee which isn’t helping my anti-bank thoughts. However cash allows me to know exactly how much I am able to spend. Dave Ramsey is especially fond of cash based budgets especially for those attempting to escape the peril of dept. Also ATMs are generally more small business owned than larger corporations. Wawa has fee free ATMs and if you get a couple hundred out at a time, the fee is much less than the 3% cost per purchase for cards.
Buying Local is a vote with your money
Buying local from farmers’ markets, neighbors, and friends is the best because you actually can talk to the person who will be using what you bought to help them eat and make more of those items. All of those dollars that you spend go directly into your local community. It might take some time to find local items, but if you’re in southern NJ you’re welcome to sign up for Jersey’s Agriculture Email List below:
Maybe an email list isn’t for you, that’s okay. There are other ways to make sure your money goes where you want it. As we all struggle to buy everything locally, for me snack foods are especially difficult to find, the Buy’r app allows you to learn more about the products in the grocery store.
The Buy’r app helps you understand who makes the product you’re buying or thinking about buying. I’ve used this in the grocery store to help me find family owned brands or at least avoid private equity or mega-corporations.
In 2025 the Buy’r app is in beta testing, but you can sign up and still use it as you would otherwise. I’ve even found a family owned paper products company for paper towels and more.
Now that we’ve talked mostly about buying things, let’s talk about some community aspects that most people have a tendency to forget.
Giving excess to neighbors impacts more than a vote
Although this doesn’t technically have to do with money, giving your excess garden plants, time to help with skills, inviting for dinner, etc. is a way to truly change the atmosphere you are living in.
Building community is a skill that we lost when we invited screens into our daily and minute by minute life. So let’s give you some ideas: It could involve you spending money on buying extra food for dinner to invite over a neighbor once or twice a month. Maybe you know how to change the oil of a friend’s car and you do that for free or for some free baby sitting for a date night. If you grow a garden and have excess herbs, fruit, or veggies, give some of those away. This could be as easy as leaving them on neighbors’ door steps if chatting isn’t your favorite thing. — I would avoid leaving zucchini on doorsteps of people you don’t know. Those of us who love zucchini would appreciate it. I’d just recommend asking first. —
A simple idea to build community and combat loneliness is to make the front of your house, apartment or yard, a place to sit and people watch. Allow the birds, leaves, and wind to distract you from your phone. Wave at passing cars or people walking their dogs. Invite people to chat with a silly question of the day like ‘what’s your favorite smell?’ or ‘what ice cream flavor would you be?’. If you’re looking to build the skill of conversations, Questions for Humans is a great resource.
Building a local community, although sometimes tedious, will affect you much more than casting a ballot once or twice a year.