Doesn’t that look like fun? Practically losing one’s pants in a swarm of manic people aggressively trying to score a $3 waffle iron sounds so much better than sitting comfortably at home with one’s family, enjoying a full belly and a football game. Except, no it doesn’t. For so many reasons…

As the foliage fades and the days shorten, the ‘holiday spirit’ starts rearing its marketing head. In no time we’ll be bombarded with ads and jingles for ‘can’t miss’ holiday shopping sales from all the major stores and brands. There will be an endless barrage of marketing ploys from Box Store Advertising firms who will try to convince us that we should cut short, or even fully forget about spending Thanksgiving Day with our families and instead risk getting trampled so we can score $3 waffle irons!!  (I mean, who doesn’t want a product that gets reviews like this: “I purchased this…, got it home, pulled it out to get it ready to use only to discover it had already been used with dried batter and grease on it.” Or this: “Not much good to say about it. I suppose you can not expect much from something whose instructions tell you to ‘insert waffle’. Not waffle batter, waffle.” Or this: “You get what you pay for. This is garbage.”)

While you’re counting your pennies this season, trying to maximize your gift giving power, keep in mind keeping your money local not only means you are spending money on quality hand-crafted goods made by your neighbors, it means more of your money will come back to your community. When you purchase those $3 waffle irons, over half that money will leaves the community never to be seen again. If you instead spend that $3 locally, over $2 of goes right back into our local economy. That might not seem like a lot at $3, but imagine your spending $300 – it adds up quickly.

So step back and look at the forest for the trees and you’ll see why spending your money locally is one of the best investments you could make. When you shop at the Moretown Artisans Sale, other local shows or any locally-owned store this holiday season, not only are you supporting your neighbors, but you’re supporting your community and your state, rather than lining the pockets of some Big Box Store CEO who doesn’t care about you or your town. And you can have seconds at Thanksgiving dinner.

Have a look at this awesome info-graphic, learn more about Local First here, and be sure to SHOP LOCAL this holiday season!