How to Support Main Street Instead of Wall Street

Banks charge 2% of gross sales to the vendor when you use a credit card. The banks have enough money and power. Stop using credit cards to purchase things, particularly when you are dealing with a local vendor. Debit cards have similar charges that tend to be a flat fee of about 25 cents per purchase, again, that went straight to the banks. Yes, credit and debit cards are handy. But you are paying the banks for the service they are providing. Did you MEAN to pay the banks 2% of everything you buy? If not, stop using credit cards.

Get out of debt. Any debt that is not self-liquidating is BAD debt. Self-liquidating debt is the sort where, by borrowing money now you'll have more money later, enough to pay back this loan plus interest and still come out ahead. Business loans and student loans are self-liquidating debt. Car loans are generally not, unless you're talking about your FIRST car that lets you get a job. Do not borrow to buy cars. Save up to pay cash for cars. A mortgage might or might not be self-liquidating. For that matter, student loans might NOT be self-liquidating! Debt is too normal these days. It's is BAD. Get out of debt and stay out of debt and don't do stuff you can't afford.

Get involved in town or city government. There are a ton of committees that need your energy and time. The world is run by those who show up. These are unpaid positions and incredibly easy to obtain: just show up at a few of the meetings. I guarantee you that you'll land on a committee within a year. They make a REAL DIFFERENCE in your community. Go be one of the leaders.

People in my area find that Freecycle isn't that great but Craigslist is: there are a lot of Craigslist listings that are FREE, but even if they're not they're still worth looking at. (I recommend you charge $5 or something just to cut down on annoying calls from people seeking something for absolutely nothing.)

Everyone should have poor skills. Everyone will be poor at some point in their life: you'll have infants or sick elders and be unable to work, or you'll be in training or infirm from old age or struck down by disaster yourself. This is part of the human condition and isn't remarkable. Being poor *for a while* is normal.

Save 10% of whatever you make. Resilience comes from being aware that shit happens and being okay with rolling with it. Saving 10% when you're working is the NORMAL thing that people did throughout history. If you aren't doing that it's because you live in a sick society that believed the banks when they said "don't worry, we'll just give you a loan if you need it!" Don't believe this. Save for yourself. You are human and subject to human conditions.