Buying American - USA Folks, What's This mean to you?

[Boyd]

Inquiring minds want to know. With the talk and government encouraging us to buy "american" how are you making a difference in your part of the world?

 

[Sunny the Hippie Chick]

Its kind of hard to find stuff made in USA around where I live.. If I find it and can afford it. .Then I will buy it.. Wish I could find more affordable stuff Made in the USA.. Im on a very limited buget.. I rarely buy any thing but food any way..

 

[lux_interior]

I buy whatever is cheap, because that's what I can afford. When Obama brings about this "change" he's been talking about, and fixes our economy, then I'll worry about where the stuff I buy comes from.

 

[Rootball]

How can I buy USA? Is there some stuff made here now?

 

[Boyd]

that's what I am kind of stuck with too. I wish I could buy more... and stay away from the big box retailers that import from cheaper Asian countries, but Unenjoyment has me kind of stuck in a rut.

 

[mjdtexan]

I buy as much American stuff as I can. If it cost a few dollars more, I still buy it. I would never ever buy a foriegn car. Competition is a good thing though, I believe that, when the economy is good. When it aint, its very important to buy from home.

Just my 12¢ worth (inflation due to over printing of the dollar)

Mjd

 

[Sillystunt]

you get what you pay for...cheap toys + lead poison! But i do agree they are hard to find and more expensive.

Ny husband tries to make alot of stuff and we buy local but USA products are hard to come by. I mean your FORD truck isn't even 100% USA

 

[saddina]

Hmm, I think some of the issue is that many things are simply not made in the USA anymore, or are "assembled in the USA, out of imported parts".

I buy locally grown food as much as I can (and grow a good deal of our diet here), but I don't know that any purchases are made solely on the place it's made, beyond food. Then again I buy alot off of Esty (christmas gifts and funky shirts), most of that is USA made. I suppose for most things I make it myself.

 

[debilorrah]

American made = higher prices. We live paycheck to paycheck so cost is key when we shop.

 

[Rosalind]

It depends. Mostly I buy for quality. When it comes to food, no question, the more local the better, and I do my darndest to buy food that was grown and processed no more than 100 miles from my house. This is not as hard as you'd think, although I admit to getting hungry for salads in January. Our local beer is so good, I'd put our local microbreweries up against any Munich Oktoberfest contestant. Yum yum!

Many good things (like KitchenAid mixers!) are made in the US, and for sure I have loads of KitchenAid stuff. Clothing is more difficult--even if it's sewn here, most of the fabric comes from overseas. My job requires a degree of professional dress not offered by Carhartt, unfortunately. It's also darn near impossible to find fabric made in the USA, most all the textile mills here are closing or have converted to making finished products out of Chinese textiles. This winter's sewing projects will be some nice work clothes, but sadly they are going to have to be made from overseas fabric. The best I can do is European fabric, where at least it's paying people a decent wage as opposed to undercutting minimum wage laws. I draw the line at wearing knitted wool undies.

Honestly, I don't buy much in the way of consumer goods. I shop for quality because it lasts so long you don't really need to buy another for decades. Right now all my money goes to house renovations, which are all local lumber cut out of state-managed forests. I only owned one new car ever, so my auto $$ goes to support American used car dealers. I make a lot of things or buy them at craft fairs that have local artists. In many ways, my shopping habits are probably terrible for any economy, including the American economy--just because I don't buy much of anything.