Small Town AK

Lately, I have been quite obsessed with moving to a small town. Not that Anchorage isn't nice, but I feel like I am missing out on some things. I feel like the hustle and bustle of the "big city" is getting to me. Plus, I feel like if I lived in a small town more people would share some of my core values... mainly about how they shop.

I'm not a fan of chain stores (with the exception on Costco... I love Costco. And I shop at Target more than I should, but I digress). I feel like they undermine local stores and they encourage people to fill their lives with things they may not need. Obviously, it is hard to shop exclusively at small, local shops. I would love to buy all of my clothes at boutiques, but my budget doesn't allow me to. And we don't really have a local grocery store. But with those two exceptions, I have been trying my best to shop local. There is a book that I have been interested in buying that Barnes and Noble has in stock... but I have decided to wait until I can get my hands on it at work, or at Title Wave so that I can support a local business. I try very hard to make my money speak for me.

I feel like if I move to a small town, more people will share this value (even if it is out of necessity). Plus, I think it would be nice to live somewhere that my kids could walk from one end to the other and I wouldn't have to worry about them. There are obviously down sides to living in small towns, but to me it sounds amazing. I think something that makes it more appealing is the fact that everyone thinks I am crazy for wanting to do it.

But alas, since we refinanced our house this year, it will be a while before we get to live our small town dream... in the mean time I am going to live in my little house, shop locally, and tell anyone who will listen to do the same....

Oh, and a quick note. If you didn't know, you can hook up your Carr's card with your AK air account and earn miles for shopping! Amazing. I just did that today... I'm probably the last person to find out about it, but in case you are like me, you can go here and sign up. :)