Shopping locally and being frugal

The purpose, for me anyway, of shopping frugally is to buy the least expensive and cost effective item with the smallest amount of financial outlay.

This brings about a dilemma. If you follow the above code, you are, if you’re not careful, assisting the demise of the Village, Corner and High Street Shop.

All too often, the cheapest way of shopping is either online or popping down a huge Business Park or Shopping Outlet complex.

We are a nation of shopkeepers (Napoleon Bonaparte)

The heritage and culture of our Country lays within ‘the Shopkeeper’, the local community, the Village way of life where we all looked after each other more.

I’ve tried to express this in the Growing up in the 1950’s Going Shopping page. This page shows the Village where I lived as a child and had the full works; at least six shops, 2 Public Houses and a Railway Station - it now has no shops, one Public House and no railway going through it at all thanks to Dr. Beeching!

Looking at things now, the ‘Corner Shop’ or the odd more rural Shop caters for the little things; the items you run out of like Sugar, Biscuits and Birthday Cards etc. In fact, even these are now in danger from Petrol Stations, the giants of finance and can under cut prices, even if not to the extent of Supermarkets, because they have a more captive audience.
Most of these smaller Retailers do however sell Newspapers and Magazines and can make up a bit on the impulse buys - like you go down for Sugar and buy a Magazine or a Kit Kat as an extra.

Where I can I will buy locally, but this is usually the above items plus more specialized stuff such as my Chicken Feed, Fuel and a few other things.

The positive about buying the larger item locally is that it’s easier to take back should something go wrong of course. You buy a Laptop online, save £50 maybe, but if it goes wrong, there’s the postage and long wait for it’s return.

Frugal is not just cheap and cheerful

The other day I went with my daughter to buy the Grandkids new School Shoes. We went to a privately owned Shop in a suburb of Southampton. Sure she could have saved on total outlay if she’d have gone ‘down town’ to a major Retailer, but putting the cost of petrol, the car parking and general hassle of fighting your way through hundreds of people with the time taken, it is the better deal.

So maybe frugality is not just about saving money, it’s about saving time as well. All the time you’re saving time on that sort of thing, you could be spending it more wisely somewhere else.

Frugality should also be about living within a comfort zone. It’s not about buying the least expensive ‘cheap as chips’ item (see ‘What is being frugal’ on the main website.

Some cynics would say that all the time one is being frugal, one is also doing someone out of a job somewhere and to some degree, I can see where they’re coming from. But by spending wisely, you can still support your local private business’s and help keep them going.

Another great side of shopping locally is you get to meet people, you get to chat with many of those around you and who knows, that can lead to so many other things; friendship and even work!

After all, would you want to start up a business in our new culture and current financial situation? It’s difficult, but it’s about balance, thrift and looking (hate to use biz speak) at the bigger picture.

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