Life Is Like a Box Of Chocolates...

(This post is a repost of a note posted on Facebook by my friend, Angela Matthews of Frog Valley Artisans - who have great hand-crafted gifts, by the way.)

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Yup. $3.96 or more! If you're interested in the logic, keep reading.

OK. So you keep hearing about shopping locally this holiday season. It kind of sounds like a good idea but is it really worth it? How much difference could your shopping dollar really make in your piece of the world? For those of you who took advanced economics, skip this demonstration. Everyone else, pay attention.

We'll start with you receiving a nice rounded $100.00 paycheck. If you spend an average 25% of your income on expenses that are run by big corporations (usually mortgage, utilities, etc.) you have $75 left. If you're really good, and I am supposing you are, you will put $10.00 in the bank or some other long term investment. Now you have $65 to spend.

Let's say that you decide to shop at a local grocery and spend your remaining money at your local, independently owned grocery store. This is a total of $65 into your community at this point.

But wait - your grocer pays his 25% (or $16.25) to big corporations. This leaves $48.75. He decides to go out to a local restaurant and spends $48.75 on a meal. You have put $65 into the community, he has passed along $48.75 and so your original $65 has grown to $113.75.

The restaurant owner spends 25% (or $12.19) outside the community which leaves $36.56 to spend. He stops in the local hardware store for home repair items. The $65 has now grown to $150.31.

The hardware store owner spends 25% ($9.14) outside the community giving him $27.42 to spend. He fills his tank with gas at a locally owned station. The $65 has now grown to $177.73.

OK. So I think you see the trend. If this pattern continues until the last dollar is reached, your $65 has now become $257.39. This means that your dollar has become $3.96.

If you like this idea read my "Bring Black Friday Home" post.

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Kelle Sparta, author of The Consultative Real Estate Agent, is one of the top innovators in the industry. She thinks outside of the box and she does it with style, which is how she managed to sell 25 houses her first year in the business in a market just like this one in an area where she had no sphere of influence! Kelle's innovative techniques took her to the top of the market in 1993 and they can take you there now. Kelle has coached agents from around the country who have been producing as much as $45 million per year in gross volume. Now she brings her unique style of real estate to you. Her dynamic presentation skills, high energy approach, and brilliant new ideas are sure to be the highlight of your day. Kelle is the founder of Sparta Success Systems, a real estate training company that provides products, coaching and training to empower agents and brokers to create lives and businesses they can love. For more information, visit her website at http://www.spartasuccess.com/. © 2008, Kelle Sparta.