Shaping your world: what you spend your 💰💰💰 on matters more than ever
By: Andee Liao
Tags: Community Development, Money Mindset, Philosophy, Community, Money

photo credit: Micheile Henderson

Preface: I’m writing this from a place of privilege and I recognize not everyone can act on this right now. But I do think it’s important to do what we can.

Where you spend your money matters. In the free market, capital is allocated by how profitable an endeavor is: how many people want this, at what price, and how much does it cost to produce? You, as the consumer, can affect the first and second part of of this equation, which in turn affects the third (through economies of scale).

This has always been true.

And now, more than ever, it’s important to vote with your wallet. If you’re in a fortunate enough position to have disposable income, you can put that money to supporting people and communities and businesses that might not survive with you. Here are some to consider:

Medical staff and others on the front lines

Obvious first place to send some money is the people and organizations who are doing the most for using during this crisis. There are many organizations looking to feed medical staff. You can donate directly to organizations like the CDC and WHO who are doing more large scale interventions. You could buy a cake for a food delivery person! If your birthday is coming up, Facebook has a great fundraising feature where you can ask for donations for your favourite charity instead of birthday gifts.[1]

The communities you care about

For some reason I’ve always assumed my dance studios were pretty profitable. Maybe because I feel like I’m paying a pretty penny for classes, maybe because so many of them have been around for so long I just assume they’ll always be around, maybe because I’ve consciously and subconsciously bought into the bullshit STEM narrative[2] of art not deserving funding. But obviously I’ve never done the actual math on rent and payroll costs in a very expensive city like San Francisco.

I chose dance as an example because that’s a community I deeply care about, one that’s given me so much and has really built me up to be the person I am today. Obviously what this community is for you could be completely different.

A few communities that I’ve been supporting lately:

Dance : both my studio and my favourite instructors

: both my studio and my favourite instructors Music : lots of labels are doing charity concerts, and ajunabeats recently did a sale where all proceeds go to supporting the artists

: lots of labels are doing charity concerts, and ajunabeats recently did a sale where all proceeds go to supporting the artists Food : I don’t like take out, I’d rather cook when I’m at home. But ordering from my favourite restaurant has been both a treat and a way to make sure those places remain open when SIP is lifted. Some restaurants have also pivoted to selling their high quality ingredients. Some are directly seeking donations to support their staff. You can also provide meals for those affected and support local restaurants at the same time!

: I don’t like take out, I’d rather cook when I’m at home. But ordering from my favourite restaurant has been both a treat and a way to make sure those places remain open when SIP is lifted. Some restaurants have also pivoted to selling their high quality ingredients. Some are directly seeking donations to support their staff. You can also provide meals for those affected and support local restaurants at the same time! Fitness : I am unashamedly a Barry’s bitch and I’m super happy barry’s is keeping all full time employees and instructors. I think they’ve really lived up to their hype about community, and that really says something. Especially now!!

: I am unashamedly a Barry’s bitch and I’m super happy barry’s is keeping all full time employees and instructors. I think they’ve really lived up to their hype about community, and that really says something. Especially now!! Meditation : I started paying for the Calm app cause it’s one of the things keeping me sane through this whole thing. Obviously there’s free meditation content out there, but if you find something that’s creating value, why not pay for it so it survives so you can keep getting great content?

: I started paying for the Calm app cause it’s one of the things keeping me sane through this whole thing. Obviously there’s free meditation content out there, but if you find something that’s creating value, why not pay for it so it survives so you can keep getting great content? Fashion : I’ve never really been a consistently fashionable person (most of the time I wear a giant sweater and leggings to work because #engineer), but it’s always been a channel for self expression and creativity. I’ve been focusing a lot recently on ethical, sustainable brands who are sending some portion of their revenue/profits to COVID related charities

: I’ve never really been a consistently fashionable person (most of the time I wear a giant sweater and leggings to work because #engineer), but it’s always been a channel for self expression and creativity. I’ve been focusing a lot recently on ethical, sustainable brands who are sending some portion of their revenue/profits to COVID related charities Gaming: I caved and bought a Switch[3] and a bunch of games. I’ve always been a fan of the games you can play with friends, like Super smash bros, Overcooked 2 and Love in a dangerous space time. NO I HAVE NOT BOUGHT ANIMAL CROSSING NEW HORIZONS BECAUSE I DO NOT WANT TO LOSE MY LIFE TO A GAME

The communities I’m supporting are reflective of the things, people, and activities I love. They’re what makes this world worth living in for me, and I want to see these communities survive this pandemic. We’re going to get through this. But not all of the businesses we love will.

If you’re one of the people fortunate enough to have kept your job and are working from home, please please consider spending that paycheck wisely. I hope you can take some time today to think about the communities you care about, check in on how those communities are doing, and see if you can do anything to support them.

Imagine the world you want to return to when this is all over. Then think about where to send your money to shape our world in that image.