The city of Decatur has been touting/mentioning the “3/50 Project” for over a year now, encouraging residents to spend just $50 between three local businesses over the course of a month.

A noble goal certainly, but it was only recently that I took a moment and actually thought about how much my household actually spends at “local”, independent businesses in a given month.  And between the restaurants, shops and haircuts, I determined the total monthly amount was a heck of a lot more than $50.

So it’s sort of shocking from inside the “Decatur bubble” to think that a majority of the population can go through a month without spending 50 clams at a local business.  Having not always lived in a state of local-euphoria, I can certainly see how it’s possible, especially when cost is a strong, #1 priority.  Still it’s impressive how EASY it is to spend money locally in this city.

So I’m curious how much other local residents spend locally in a given month, and what prevents you from spending even MORE locally?