Here is the 6th Question of the Week in which we focus our attention on our Pagan pennies. Last week we look at paying for our magical education this week we look at paying for the rest of it. This can be a tough concept for a lot of people, because it can make them face some personal prejudices that they may not even know that they had. Everyone no matter how rich or poor they might be when it comes to their own personal finances only has so much money to spend. What is important is how they spend it.
Now like with most of the questions I’ll be asking there is no right or wrong answer to this one. This one is just about putting some thought in to what you do with your money and making some informed decisions. In my early days as a Wiccan everyone I knew who was on the path was short on cash. Over the course of the past 15 years things have changed a fair amount, but there are still a high number of people at the poverty line or below. Maybe this is more a local thing I’m not sure, how do things look in your area?
People often joke about people of the Jewish decent being rich or tight fisted with their pennies. Have you ever wondered where the jokes come from? Think about it for a few minutes, the last time you where at an event hosted by someone from that community where did they get the supplies for it? In my experience they likely will have purchased them from another member of their community. As a community they support growth within the community by purchasing from and encouraging others to purchase from other members of the community. Interesting why to spend your money isn’t it? Not to mention a great way to support your community. So what do you do with your Pagan Pennies? Do you make a habit of supporting the small local merchant? Do you buy from the big chain story because it is a little bit cheaper? Or do you fall some where in the middle supporting them when and where you can, but going for the cheaper option when it is there?
One of the things I mentioned in the last paragraph is the idea that people support and encourage others to support a locally owned Pagan Business. In your experience is that what we do with Pagan/Wiccan stores? I’ve seen it go both ways with communities being hugely supportive of a store and I’ve seen communities eat stores alive as it where. I think in the case of stores it comes down to the owners and what they give back to the community.
As always I’d love to hear your thoughts on the topic.
Hmmm, interesting question. Most secular businesses I know don’t go around advertising their religious or spiritual beliefs (though there are definitely exceptions, gods save us). I wouldn’t support one store for being Pagan owned and operated over another, just on that basis alone. That all said…
What I look for in a store first, is low prices, followed by selection, and finished off with helpfulness/courtesy. Money IS tight, living in one of the states with the highest rate of unemployment, and myself unemployed. I tend to buy merchandise from the stores that I know is locally grown or produced, and am even willing to spend a little extra to do so. I like shopping at stores that carry what I need, to get it “all out of the way” at once. But … I could find the cheapest store, with the best selection, and if the employees are rude, surly, scowly, or unhelpful, I probably won’t continue to shop there. As a rule, I’m not overly fond of shopping, and if my experience is bad, I’m not going to want to go back.
Priority-wise, I’m currently in the middle of readjusting, new as I am to this woefully insufficient stipend from the unemployment insurance agency. Food has become my highest priority, followed by heat, a place to stay, electricity, and running water. It’s possible to live without these, I’ve done it, but … I have children to think of as well. Internet and a phone are a close second in my priorities, as I have to be able to find a new job. Working in computers, it’s essential, if not for finding a job, then for keeping abreast of the latest developments in my field, to remain competitive in the marketplace.
New clothing and entertainment are things I’ve lived without for a long time now. I have enough to get by, though it does get depressing feeling like the only reason I have money at all is to stay alive, and never getting to splurge on myself. Until recently, I would splurge on myself from time to time anyways, for my own sanity. Now, it’s a luxury that’s becoming less and less affordable. But it’s still important. If I have to pay for some of the other things in life that actually bring me happiness, instead of just essential security, then… I do so. Be it travelling to visit a loved one or family member, or just a coffee outside of the house. My sanity is important to me, and being shut up in the house all day, every day, despairing at my inability to afford to get out and enjoy my life just because of the price of gas, is just as bad as not having a roof over my head, or food to eat. To me.
.-= Ryan Sutton´s last blog ..Poem for Herne =-.
I will reply to the issue of supporting your local pagan store. We lost a good one some years back because as the owner said,” people are buying on the internet.It is cheaper and faster”. It broke my heart, because the owner and her store was a ray of light. I spent a lot of time there hanging out, making connections, discussing various subjects and learning.Having said that, I have noticed with pagan/new age/witchcraft stores, that they tend to take on the energy of the owner, and even the owners practices( honest or not). We have several in our area, and other than the one that closed, I would not SET FOOT IN THOSE STORES IF SOMEONE PAID ME. I would rather order it over the internet rather than go in the stores, when as soon as I walk in I feel like there are bugs crawling on me.
So once again, there is ( for me) no ,”set in stone” answer. If I can, I will support my local pagan item suppliers. If they have questionible practices ( such as spells to make people buy things they don’t want…etc) then I would rather go to http://www.azuregreen.com.
If we are talking specifically craft-related items, I always get them from the same place in Halifax. The people are pleasant, the prices fair, and they generally either have what I need or can get it. Now granted, I could get the same things at the big box-stores for less. Especially once you factor in shipping. But I see no problem with spending a bit more to support the smaller stores. And if that means I need to save longer to get it, that’s fine too. Consequently, I am always saving for something from there
Otherwise, for non-craft-related items, I like to support local stores here in the city, preferably ones owned/operated within the queer community, whenever I can. Sadly that is such a small niche that it is not possible to get everything I may be looking for, but they are always my first choice. I do go to the big box stores as a backup. With the exception of Wal-Mart, which I have a long-standing dislike of that I can’t see disappearing any time soon.
M