I never buy weed from Amazon
To cut down eating out in general I've tried limiting myself to local restaurants. My rules are that if I want to eat out that's fine but I have to want it enough to 1) get my fat ass out of the house to go get it and 2) go to a local place.
If I'm going to eat something bad for me I might as well pay a bit more for something more local that tastes better.
I buy something from Amazon everyday to accelerate climate change and the deterioration of capitalism. So that my socialist utopia can emerge where we all have small businesses. /s
I don't really go out of my way. It's more like an ingrained habit.
Most notably, I've never bought a single thing from Amazon. I don't even have an account with them. That's not an ethical decision though - it sort of works out that way, but really it's just a gut-level reaction. The whole idea just repulses me - just looking at a page from their site is somehow gross and creepy.
By the same token, there's a long list of businesses I've either never gone to or at least haven't in the last twenty or so years - Walmart, McDonalds, Starbucks, Taco Bell, Olive Garden, Kroger, Subway, Jack in the Box, etc., etc. Basically, if they're big enough to run national level advertising, they are eliminated from my consideration. And again, it's not really a conscious choice - they just gross me out. It's like the instant I set foot in a place like that, I can feel it corroding my soul.
So when I'm looking for somewhere to shop or eat or whatever, just like anyone else does, there are specific places I don't consider at all. And all major corporations are on that list.
So what's left over - what I choose from - is local or regional, not because I go out of my way to choose them, but just because they're the only ones I'm willing to choose in the first place
And the sort of surprising thing, even to me sometimes, is that I'm by no means starved for choices. There's a world of alternatives out there.
That's really impressive you've never bought a thing from Amazon. I also avoid chains, but I do buy from Amazon because I get free gift cards I spend there, but I don't give them my own money, and just use it to pad my wardrobe or buy birthday gifts. But I haven't been in a fast food chain or a Walmart in years. I am always amazed when I drive by a chain restaurant and it's full of people, like why would you want to eat that when there's a world of great food out there?
I can sort of understand people who can't bring themselves to avoid Amazon - again, for me it's really just a gut-level aversion that happens to coincide with an ethical stance. If I didn't have that gut-level aversion, there's a good chance I wouldn't be able to resist either.
But yeah - the chain restaurant/coffee shop thing just makes no sense to me at all, no matter how I look at it. There are regional and local versions of pretty much anything one might want, and they're pretty much universally both better and cheaper.
I buy vegetables from the local farm stand whenever I can. I have one around the corner from my house and they're just recently starting to get a good amount of stuff. Signed up to be a CSA member this year too.
If at all possible I pay in cash to small businesses. No cc fees for them. Big stores …screw them. I want my points.
I tip higher at small restaurants than at chains
By shopping at them, giving them positive reviews (when they deserve it), and hyping them to others who live nearby.
I've effectively stopped shopping on Amazon. Almost everything is available by another, smaller website that has way faster shipping since Prime Shipping is a complete farce now.
Even the weird niche stuff can be found somewhere like Walmart. AliExpress, too. Which, at the rate Amazon is going, will soon have faster ship times too.
AliExpress, too. Which, at the rate Amazon is going, will soon have faster ship times too.
Yeah, maybe like 4 centuries from now. 2 day shipping is still way better than "maybe 2 months or something" from aliexpress
The last time Amazon Prime Shipping actually took 2 days for me was pre-COVID. Now, it says 7 days but last time I ordered, it took 9 days.
Last time I bought from AliExpress, it took... 9 days. It just depends on where you're shipping from and the available shipping options. They're advertising free 12-day shipping and I've had multiple instances of items arriving early.
Ordering from Walmart has always been a good experience for me. Especially when I can do in store pickup to keep my meth head neighbors from plundering my porch. However, the one item I did try to order from AliExpress never arrived, so that left a bad taste in my mouth.
I go to my local bike shop for parts 🚴
And service. Well, expensive things I'm likely to screw up myself. Just had my suspension serviced and all of my pivot bearings replaced.
Also things I don't feel like dealing with like new bars.
I don’t use my platinum, obsidian super primo credit card at small businesses. I use debit or cash
I try to snop at snaller businesses whenn I can
I like to get food from small restaurants and food carts. The only times I'll ever go to chain restaurants anymore is if family planned dinner there or something.
I mostly eat at local restaurants.
There's a corner store around the corner from me where I buy like 99% of my groceries. It's a local business and it's less than 60 seconds walking distance from me. Plus it doesn't price gouge me the way the chain grocery stores do
I prefer vegetables from the local farmer when they have them in stock at the grocery store.
I buy electronics from the not small business but the big chain that actually has a physical store in town.
