Acres of Acorns

Retirement Strategies For Late Starters

3 Ways To Make A Social Impact With Simple Household Spending

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There are ways to make a social impact, not just by giving to charity, but also with regular household spending.

Since we’re spending money anyway, wouldn’t it be nice to do a social good at the same time?

Here are three ideas:

  1. Put your money where your values are.  

Why not feel great about being a fashionista?  This summer, I am building my wardrobe capsule with pieces that are not just fabulous but help others earn a living wage and practice their crafts.

Boutique Mexico sent me this awesome tote crafted by artisan workers practicing an ancient craft of weaving.  Each piece is an original work of art.  Wearable art that supports artists. Could it get much better than that?

Whenever I take this bag to a summer concert to carry my light jacket and wallet, I can feel great about a fashion statement and providing a living wage to a worker in the Yucatan.

  1. Buy from companies that give when you purchase.

Tom’s shoes started a “one for one” by giving a pair of shoes to someone in need for every pair purchased.   

With Amazon smiles program, the shopper registers with their charity at Amazon.com and when they log in through the “smiles” program rather than directly, Amazon donates .05% of the price of the eligible purchase to the charity.  All you need to do is register and then log in differently to give.

Target Stores, for example, is dedicated to supporting communities they do business in. They give 5% back directly to local communities where their stores are located.  Once again, you don’t need to do anything special other than to shop there.  

You can’t help but feel great about your purchases, right?

  1. Buy from companies that treat their employees really well.

Support the companies that support their employees.

If a company consistently makes the Fortune 100 best companies to work for, they must be doing something right. If a company makes a great profit, does good in their communities and the employees love working there, that’s the pinnacle of capitalism.  Let’s reward them by supporting their products.

The top three of the Fortune 100 best companies to work for in 2017 are:

Google!  When too many new moms were leaving, they enhanced their parental leave policy with great results.  Their attrition rates for new moms dropped 50%.

Weigman’s Markets – flexible schedules and free cakes on your birthday!

Boston Consulting Group – provides plenty of growth opportunities for hard workers as well as “self care” benefits such as sabbaticals.

Check out Fortune 100’s list for 2017.

Feel good about your spending.